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DESPITE ALL that had happened in the CDC, being there was oddly comforting, as selfish as it made Mya feel. Her hair still wet from the shower, Mya padded barefoot into the recreation room. It was still hard for her to truly wrap her head around the fact that the CDC actually had hot water. She'd almost forgotten how it felt to shower, it had been too long and she hated that. Yet it was hard to enjoy the virtues of the CDC all while knowing the rest of her family were still above ground, forced to face the horrors this new world had to offer. Mya would've given anything to have them here instead of her.
It was nice to see everyone else at peace though, Carol curled up with a book while Sophia and Carl competed at a board game, with the kind of childish joy that Mya thought was long lost to the world around them. Perhaps they hadn't gotten the answers they'd came for, but at least they were safe for once. "Who's winning?" Mya asked the children as she sat down besides her mother who offered her a warm smile.
Sophia rested her chin in her hands hopelessly, it was strangely nice to see that her worst worry right now was losing at a game of draughts. "Carl. He's too good." She announced glumly.
"My dad taught me to play." Carl clarified triumphantly, before pausing thoughtfully, likely realising Sophia never had a good father figure in her life, "But you're good too, Sophia."
She seemed to be content with this answer, turning to face Mya to gauge her reaction. The older sister nodded in reassurance, "See? There you go. Practice makes perfect, and we have all the time to turn you into a board game pro now."
Sophia pointed towards the pool table, now seemingly bored of draughts, "Can you teach me how to play that? Mom said you had a big pool table in your house." She asked.
Smiling, Mya realised she had almost forgotten about her old pool table completely. Her home in general felt more like a distant memory of a bygone time, it was nice to remember just how simple life had once been though. Perhaps it would become a reality again, "Mom's right. Y'know, Faith wanted to learn how to play too." She recalled, just another of Faith's childish whims. One day, she wanted Mya to teach her pool, the next day, she wanted Gareth to teach her how to pitch a tent. Between that and Faith almost getting expelled from the first grade, Mya was used to having her hands full with her daughter, "We tried to teach her, but she got bored and wanted to use the cues to start a campfire in the back garden."
Carl, who had been sat besides Sophia and listening along, let out an amused string of laughter, "She sounds funny. I wanna meet her." He stated, an innocent enough request yet it was enough to stop Mya in her tracks - what she wouldn't give to have Faith here too.
