Dreamers- A Merome, Pooflan, Wroetostar and Minizerk Story

⋖Chapter 9⋗

Mitch's P.O.V.

It was sad to say goodbye to Vikk and Harry, we had developed a friendship with both boys over the week we had known them, but Jerome and I knew we had to move on. I felt so bad for both of them, Harry worked so hard to keep them both going and Vikk's health was so fragile that they couldn't go anywhere, but there was nothing we could do. Nothing either of us could do would magically heal Vikk and we couldn't stay. We weren't people to stay in one place for long.

Jerome and I talked about both boys the night after we left, reflecting on what things could have been for us. They barely had anything, a shelter and each other, they weren't able to farm and Vikk's health prevented them from going anywhere. I was just glad that we weren't like that, we were able to travel and move throughout the country to find new places when resources in the old one ran out, or when the weather grew colder.

We continued our journey south, the scenery never changing much, we were just passing through miles of thick trees and forest. It was quickly back to normal, just as it had always been.

A couple of nights after we left Vikk and Harry's camp we were lying awake, staring at the stars. Jerome's hand was in mine, his head resting in the crook of my neck and he was already half asleep, despite it being quite early by our standards. I laid my head on top of his, smiling.

"Tired 'erome?" I partially slurred as I was exhausted myself. He only nodded, tightening his grip on me. I only laughed.

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The one thing I was glad about was the further south we travelled, the warmer it got. The climate became more comfortable and we continued to wander aimlessly with no real direction, collecting everything we needed to, you know, live, and honestly at that point we were kind of just waiting for the cold weather to pass.

Jerome was quieter than normal. He was a man of few words but for some reason he spoke even less than he usually did, giving me simple one word answers and sometimes even ignoring me. I tried to poke and prod and find out what was wrong but he only shook me off, saying he was fine and just needed some time to think. I didn't push him any further.

We continued to wander, sticking close. I rarely let Jerome out of my sight because I was worried about being separated but of course, the one time he disappeared from my view something changed.

I heard Jerome's startled yell from more than a hundred metres away and bolted for him, panicking, thinking he had come across some wild animal or fallen somewhere. It was neither.

When Jerome finally came into my vision, lying on his back, my eyes finally flickered up to see three boys standing over him. My first reaction was to leap to protect him but I realised almost at once that the boys weren't attacking him, they looked more confused than anything. Their gaze flickered to me as Jerome stumbled to his feet, his chest heaving in his panic. The oldest looking one stuttered out some words.

"Wh- what? Who are you?!" He sounded very, very surprised. I looked between them and Jerome, who was still panicking.

"We- we...." I trailed off, unsure of what to say. The other boy with hazel eyes spoke up, trying to get rid of the awkwardness.

"I'm Preston. This is Rob-" The oldest boy, the one who had spoken. "And Lachlan." The last boy was hiding a bit behind the two boys, blonde hair and blue eyes and quite a bit younger than them and us.

"Mitch." I mumbled, my voice trembling. "And Jerome." The older one crouched down.

"You don't need to be scared of us, we aren't going to hurt you. I'm so we scared you but you startled us." He directed the last part at Jerome who was still shaking but was slowly calming down, realising that we were okay and we weren't in any danger. My hand slipped into his, biting down on my lip.

We looked over at them and they looked back at us. Something clicked in the back of my mind and there was some flash of recognition, a little boy who resembled the youngest who was apart of our community but they left when he was young, only 3 or 4. He stared right back at me, it seemed like he knew me too.

"I know you." I said, staring. "You were apart of my community when you were little, but you left." He nodded slowly.

"We couldn't stay." He mumbled. "People were getting sick, dying. They felt like they would do better somewhere else. I mean... we didn't end up with much but.... we- I... I survived."

The other two were looking between us, confused as hell, but eventually we kind of just settled down in that spot because no one wanted to move. Everyone was still glancing around at each other suspiciously but I knew I could trust them considering the youngest boy had been apart of our community and their first reaction hadn't been to attack Jerome.

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It was a long, slow building relationship because over the first couple of days we stayed put, regaining the strength I didn't know I'd lost. I supposed that a week of staying in one place with Vikk and Harry meant I had to spend more time resting and I think Jerome and I were both glad for some company again. We both missed the two, Vikk and Harry, and their sweet, joking ways.

Both of us quickly realised that there was something more than friendship going on between Preston and Rob, I had spotted them holding hands and even a shy kiss when they thought we weren't looking. They were practically opposites, Preston loud and bouncy, the hunter of the group, and Rob was level-headed and kind, but they somehow fit together perfectly and made it work. Like Jerome and I.

The youngest of the group, Lachlan, was somewhere in the middle, he was bouncy but very shy and was honestly like the child, pretty absentminded at the best of times. I liked him, he was constantly asking me and Jerome questions about where we had come from, what we did, that sort of thing. He was bright and curious, always wanting to know more.

And the best part was, they were travellers too.

One night a few days after we first met them, while Lachlan slept tangled between Preston and Rob, we talked. Well, Jerome and Rob talked while Preston and I made faces at each other across our boyfriends arms, barely paying attention. The discussion they had was about sticking together, travelling together for company and for more strength in the group. I was excited because more people, continuing our same old life but with new friends.

I was looking forward to it.