Restless

Reuniting

"I.. We.. How did... I saw.. How are you alive?" I stuttered to him. He had grown taller and more muscular than before. Aaron was previously known to be dead, under the rubble of our school. I remembered why we couldn't rescue him in the end. His leg was blown off by a grenade.

"I know it's a lot to take in but we have to move, and fast. We only have about fifteen minutes before the sandmen find out I went awol." Aaron said firmly. "Do you still have our truck, Drayton?"

"Yep, but we can't leave now, we came here to get food for everyone." I explained.

"Okay then, let's hurry. Get anything you can eat." Aaron ordered. Everyone, including Aaron, separated and searched for food, except me. I stood over peters dead body, deciding whether or not to bring him home to bury.

10 minutes later...

"This'll be enough to last us a few months. Let's go." I said shutting the trunk of the truck. Because of what happened to Peter, we had an open seat for Aaron. We all piled into our seats and Ben started the truck.

"Umm, Ben, what happened to you hand?" Aaron asked, examining ben's nub.

"Draytons sister cut it off" Ben calmly replied. Aaron looked at me with wide eyes. I smiled.

"Ben tried to pet a wolf in Ironton and it bit his hand off, or at least most of it." I chuckled. Aaron nodded in confusion.

"So how are you walking around?" Zach asked." Didn't your leg get blown off?"

"Yeah, it did. When I ran out of ammo, they took me prisoner. They did so many horrible things to me.. They put me in a cell and left me for days. They fed me nothing but food
that would give me pain.. They tried to get me to tell them where you were but I didn't.. They broke me... After a while of good behavior, they gave me this" Aaron said pulling up his pants. There was a metal bar in the place of his missing leg.

"They just gave it to you?" Luke asked.

"They promised me I could live, if I joined them. They trained me for months until I got used to the leg, then they set me out to patrol high ridge. That's when I ran into you." He stopped. He just looked at me Like he was a soldier having a flashback.

"Me?" I asked. He nodded.

"Remember when you went to the party store and got caught?" He asked me. Then I remembered. The soldier with the metal leg that let me go. That was him? "You wouldn't be the first person I've found that I knew... I've ran into four other sleepwalkers from school.. All of them good friends. I.. I murdered them.." Aaron started tearing up so I rest my hand on his shoulder.

"You don't have to say anymore. It's okay now. We're safe." I comforted him. Then he looked me straight in the eyes.

"Not for long."