Nomad 101 (Completed)

Chapter 28

I probably would have posted this earlier in the day but I got distracted by A Series Of Unfortunate Events on Netflix. Enjoy!

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Nomad Rule #8: Don't steal each other's food

**| Sang's POV |**

When I finished with the hydration, Sean cut me loose. I smiled.

"Thank you for keeping me company," I said.

He blinked a couple of times, taking in my thanks before breaking out in a wide grin. "Anytime, Pookie. Take care of yourself."

I nodded and went to search for Marc, Gabriel, Luke. When I found them, I broke out laughing.

They had a game of touch football going on. Gabriel and Luke were on one team, surrounded by adults, other teenagers, and children as young as three years old. They were covered in grass and dirt but were laughing as they waited for the signal for the next round.

Marc was on the other side with more adults, teenagers, and children. He was eyeing Luke, trying to figure out what he had plan because Luke definitely had something up his sleeve with the way he was smirking.

Someone blew a whistle and the football went into play on Marc's side.

Marc grabbed a hold of the ball and went to make a run for it but all the little kids decided he was a jungle gym and tried to climb him. When the kids on Marc's side saw them doing it, they decided to join in and Marc ended up having a wrestling match with them, trying to stay on his feet while they climbed all over him. He finally went down while laughing as they continued to climb all over him.

I was laughing hard, holding my side. When was the last time I laughed so hard? Have I ever? It was a wonderful, warm feeling.

The game went on without Marc as he continue to roll around the ground with the little kids, leaving the older kids and adults to go another round at touch football.

The rest of the evening was spent like that, playing touch football and entertaining all the kids. I was watching Luke as he acted just like the rest of the kids, goofing off. They ended up just making up their own rules as they played to accommodate the silliness of the children and Luke. I sat on the grass, the younger kids surrounding me as we watched them.

I had a little girl, about three, sitting in my lap. She had tried to go and play but had tripped and came to me crying. A boy was next to me, eyes wide as he watched everyone run around. He wanted to go play but he was too shy, even with my insistence that he go join. Bray was on the other side of me, going on about her Papa being too trusting of a client of his company's and losing another job.

My heart went out to the little girl and her dad. Despite all that they went through, she was still smiling. And her dad had taken time to braid her wild brown curls this morning, making her feel like a princess. I couldn't fault him when he puts his little girl first.

When the sun began going down, I felt a little sad that the day was ending. I did feel better thanks to the hydration but I still felt tired. Hopefully I slept hard enough to keep the nightmares away tonight.

People returned from their job searching or from working and collected the kids. The volunteers helped clean up and I nodded to Tryst before he took off.

"Where are we sleeping tonight?" Gabriel asked, taking a child down off his shoulder. His hair was a complete mess from playing so much but he didn't care, his eyes bright with happiness.