The invasion - Anna Shumate

Chapter 12

"Anna... Anna, wake up." Brandon whispered, waking me up from a deep sleep. Who am I kidding, I have barely been sleeping. Waking up every hour looking for Sam, just to find out she isn't here. I have only been sleeping next to her for a week and now I can't sleep without her here.

"I'm up." I whispered back. 

"Mary said to come down, Joe is here." He said and jumped out of the bed, already dressed. I got out of bed, putting on jeans and one of Sam's hoodies. Everyone was already sitting at the table when I came downstairs. 

"I'm leaving with Chuck in an hour." Joe started. "I spoke to Marc again this morning, but he hasn't said anything new. I haven't told anyone that we are going out expect some of the guards and Daria, and I'd like for it to stay that way." 

"We won't tell anyone." Karina assured him.
"Can we stay home today?" Brandon asked. I was thinking the same, I was not in the mood for anything.
"Of course. Mary will stay with you, so she can update you on what happens." Joe said before leaving to get ready. 

"What is he expecting to find exactly? Marc told him that they didn't make it." Connor asked.
"Yeah.. The fact that he thinks Marc is lying, does he think he's lying about them being dead or about what happened?" Eva added. 

Mary shrugged her shoulders before answering, like she wasn't quite sure of the answer. "Mostly I think he hopes to find them alive. But I also think that he just needs to know; they have been like kids to him since they got here. He may not show it but if they are really gone, he is not gonna take it well." She explained. 

"They have to come back... I gave her the picture." Brandon whispered before walking into the living room to lay on the couch. Everyone looked at me for an explanation, they all know about the picture of me, but they probably hadn't put two and two together. 

"Brandon gave Sam my picture back. He said that it had kept her safe till now, so she should keep it." I explained. They nodded understanding.

Joe POV

I put the last stuff in the truck just as Chuck came over.
"Are you ready?" He asked. I nodded before jumping in the car. Chuck did the same and we drove out of the gate. 

"I'm sorry." Chuck said.
"For what?" I asked, I guessed it had something to do with Marc.
"For Marc. I shouldn't let him go out with them... I know that. Just because I trusted him, doesn't mean they had to." He said apologetic. 

"It's okay Chuck. Let's just find them and we can talk about it later."
"Do you really think they're still alive?" Chuck asked, not sounding sure. I wasn't sure at all, but I needed them to be alive. 

"They better be, or I'll kick their asses." I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood a bit. No need to mourn already.

We drove for 3 hours before we were out where Marc said they last were. I stopped the car before looking around to make sure we were alone. 

"I'll go in, you stay here." I said and got out of the car. Chuck got out with me to stand watch. I walked into the store as quiet as I could with my gun ready. There were too quiet for any dogs to be in here, I was almost sure of that, but you can never be 100% sure so I kept my gun drawn.

I walked the whole store, but they were nowhere to be found. I walked out to Chuck.
"Anything?"
"No." I said and jumping into the car along with Chuck. We pulled away from the store and kept driving. We hadn't been driving for more than 20 minutes before the radio started scratching. 

"A-anyone there? Come in, is anyone there?" a familiar voice said. Chuck and I snapped our head towards the other. 

"Come in, is anyone there?" the voice said again. It was Sam! I quickly grabbed the radio.
"Sam! Sam, we're here! Where are you?!" I almost yelled into the radio. 

"Joe?! Joe, is that you?" Sam's voice said, cracking at the end. 

"It's me kid; it's me." I answered, feeling the tears flood to my eyes. 

"Thank god! We are in a toy store on 3rd, just past the movie theater." Sam said. "There are 3 dogs here. I managed to keep them out, but it's not gonna last long. I need you; Tyler is hurt bad." 

"Chuck and I are coming kid, hang tight."

I stopped the car about 200 feet from the toy store. 3 big dogs were walking around in circles in front of the store. It was clear they knew there were food in there. 

"We need a distraction." Chuck said. I nodded in agreement.
"Sam, how much time do we need to get Tyler out and into the car?" I asked, wanting to know how bad he was hurt. 

"He can walk, with help. About a minute maybe." Sam answered.
"I'll do it." Chuck said, taking his seatbelt off and loading his gun.
"You'll what?" I asked. 

"This is why I came; to fix the wrong I made." Chuck said before jumping out of the car and running in the opposite direction whilst he was yelling and shooting his gun. 

"Chuck!" I yelled, but he was already gone. The dogs had followed him, so I quickly pulled up in front of the store and jumped out. 

"Sam! We need to move now!" I yelled. The door opened and there they were, both of them, alive. They had blood all over them and Sam was holding Tyler on his feet. I grabbed Tyler's other arm, putting it over my shoulder and we carried him out into the car. They took the backseat and I hurried to the driver side and drove off in a hurry before the dogs could even think about coming back. 

"Joe? Joe, where's Chuck?" Sam said. I looked back at her and shook my head, letting her know he wasn't coming back. 

"Fuck..." Sam breathed out.