Clarkesville (Chandler Riggs)

Chapter 19

"Anna? Where is Anna?" Freddie frantically searched the ground for the girl, while the rest of us nervously looked around. I had totally forgotten about the two quiet children. No wonder Anna was lost.

"We have to find her..." It sounded as if the boy was having a major panic attack. "She gets so scared of them!" He ran over to Joy and began pulling on her arm.

She looked down on the boy and nodded her head encouragingly. "Okay sweetie we will." The boy's facial expression switched from terrified to hopeful. I watched as Joy viciously eyed Vincent.

She turned from the boy, and started whispering loudly to Vincent.

"I don't know about this."

Chandler put his hand on my shoulder and lowered his voice. "This..this group. These people... It's just not safe."

"Well, we can't just leave. Brianna likes Luke, and is pretty attached to Sammy." I tried my best to whisper as I leant into him. "Plus that was what we were looking for, right? More people? More safety?"

"Yes, but not these people. That guys Homer was enough to stay awake at night." Chandler said. I was glad he felt the same about Homer's creepy self.

I thought about the poor boy who was helplessly asking for assistance with finding his sister. I thought about Sammy dying from her illness, Daniella's new relationship with Sean, and Vincent's danger to the rest of these innocent people.

But since the world went to shit, all that mattered was my safety, and the people I wanted to stay alive.

"Well, then what do we do?"

Chandler sighed, and nodded his head. "Tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night what? We sneak out?" I looked around to make sure no one was eaves-dropping. Luckily, everyone was minding their own business.

"Exactly. We can try to gather some extra food for a few days tonight and in the morning. We leave before sunrise." Chandler silenced his words.

"What if someone decides to take watch? How are we gonna leave then?"

Did I really want to leave this group? Besides Vincent, I felt a bit more sure about staying. Joy was such a good mother figure, although we have barely met.

Luke and Sammy were our age, and hanging around Anna and Freddie would give me a good idea on how to remain - or at least seem to be happy.

I just had a feeling that everything would be quite fine here.

Clearly, Chandler disagreed. After a moment or two of silence, he opened his eyes and spoke in a muffled whisper that I could only hope to understand.

"Okay. I'll wake up tomorrow, and

get up to pee. I'll make sure to make noise so you know that I'm going.

I'll stay there for about five minutes, and tell whoever that you are going

to check on me. Then we go in a different direction."

I imagined what the scenario would look like in my head, and it seemed like it would work out well. The only thing I had to worry about now was if Brianna was willing to come with us.

"Got it. And what about Brianna?"

We both secretly glanced over to our

companion. She was crossing her arms in my purple shirt, looking at Sammy who was waving her thin arms drastically at her and Luke. It made me smile; her getting along with people so well. Me, not so much.