Escape

Chapter Seventeen

Lea's P.O.V 

After awhile, we have to move on. A meeting had ensued the next morning after Brian and I fell asleep outside, and it was decided that it's best to just continue on without Aaron and Brie.

Brian hasn't been too talkative since he had to make the decision to leave. It may be for the best, but it's not like we're content with it. And I think that he feels guilty that with the small chance that they are alive, he's not doing anything to help them.

Justin's been quite silent since the decision. I don't think he resents Brian, but he's definitely upset. He had finally done the right thing, only to come back to Bryna disappearing. He's treated me respectfully, and I can't be sure if it's because Brian's practically glued to my hip, if he actually respects me as a group member, or because he knows that Bryna respects me, as do the twins, and they'd all kick his ass if he so much as touched me. Probably the latter.

I think Alex has taken the biggest hit, though. He still hasn't spoken much, but he agreed with Brian on leaving without Bryna. I think that's eating him up inside. 

The guys have all known Bryna longer than I have, and for them it's not so much Aaron as it is Bryna. They want him back too, but Bryna's their leader and closest friends. I don't much hold it against them.

"How long do you think it is until we get to Rhode Island?" I ask Brian.

He looks at me then shrugs lightly. "Probably a few days or so. Brie was more accurate. It's not long now, that much I can say for sure."

I nod. "Do you have any contacts there?"

"Yeah. Alex and I have a family friend who lived there before the war. We're hopeful that they're still there. What about you?"

"Aaron mentioned an aunt and uncle once." I shrug.

"Mh. Do you think you'll be able to contact them with him gone?" Brian asks.

I hesitate. "I'm not sure. But I should be able to, right? I know their names."

"But not what they look like," Brian points out. "Anyone could pretend to be them." He frowns.

My heart sinks. It's times like this that I could use my brother's reassurance that he'd figure it out. I'm all by myself now.

Brian must have seen my expression. He puts a tentative arm around my shoulder and pulls me closer to him. "Don't worry about it. We'll figure something out. If it comes to it, you can stay with us," he assures me.

It's not Aaron's reassurance, but it satiates my worry for the time being.

~~~

That night we're sitting in a small apartment, all of us on the living room floor, eating the non-perishables from the kitchen that had been left behind. The bedrooms reeked of death, so we were avoiding them as much as possible, and the bathroom smelled pretty much the same. 

Justin scoffs at something, and we all look at him. He shrugs once he sees our looks. "I was just thinking that Bryna would have made some comment about how we could have chosen any room in the building and we chose one that smelled worse than the sewer we had to stay in three years ago."

Brian and Alex smile in amusement. "She would have, yeah," Alex says.

Guilt radiates off of Brian in waves, and I give him a small sympathetic smile.

"She'd also smack you for feeling so guilty about leaving her behind, Brian," Justin says, playing mediator. "She'd probably beat us all for moping around about her."