Amelia began by kneeling next to the once bright orange sleeping bag. Fletcher lay atop of it curled into a tight ball, his auburn hair softly reflecting the light of the sunrise. She stared at his peacefulness only for a second before finally shaking him awake. It took a few moments for reality to find its way back to him. As soon as he came to, he traced Amelia's face with his chocolate eyes and gave her a crooked smile, like he did every morning - excluding the many in which nightmares woke him before she had the chance. Amelia smiled carelessly back at him as she got back on her feet.

Another smile crept across Amelia's face as she made her way to Sunny - whose nickname was given to him based on his unchangeable negative attitude. Dead with sleep, he lay sprawled face down over the cold ground with his sleeping bag and blanket well over 8 feet away from him. She closed the distance between them and squatted down near his torso. Sunny is by far the hardest to wake up. Knowing this, Amelia placed both hands on his back and began to shake him. His greasy, raven hair began flopping back and forth due to the violence of her shaking. She continued to jerk him for more than three minutes before getting any signal that she was even starting to get through to him. After receiving a small mumble from him confirming she had pulled him out of whatever dream world he had been in, she stood up chuckling and ambled towards Cate.

Amelia had saved the best for last. She bent down over Cate and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Good morning." Amelia said in a soft and sweet voice.

"Wish you'd wake me up like that," remarked Fletcher, his voice echoing over her shoulder.

"What do you have to complain about?" Sunny said angrily. "She pretty much punches me until I wake up!"

Amelia could hear the joking in their voices, but she was not in the mood to play around. After all, she had had quite a long night.

"Just shut up before I actually do start pounding you. And I don't want to hear any lip from you either Fletcher." 

God, I'm acting like my mother, the thought entered her mind before she had the chance to stop it. She felt a sharp pain in her stomach, and her mouth filled itself with a dreadful taste. Disregarding the feelings she had just unleashed upon herself, Amelia shifted her body to glare at the boys. She then turned her body back towards Cate, who was now propped up on one elbow laying on her side with her blonde curly hair spilling over her shoulders. Cate was now completely awake gazing at Amelia with her wide, olive-green eyes. And those deep, hope-filled eyes were all it took to erase the atrocious feeling consuming Amelia.

Once again, Amelia picked herself up off the ground and wondered her way back to the tree where she had spent most of the night. She let her back rest against its rough bark as the others got ready. She found herself scanning their makeshift camp, from the four sleeping bags laid out in a circle around a formally lit fire, to the red fishing pole leaned against a tall oak tree. But then her eyes fell upon their water and food supply, which consisted of three half empty water bottles, a couple of canned foods, and a small bag of peanuts. 

The realization washed over Amelia like a wave, a wave pulling her deep under the water. She had completely forgotten and wished it had remained that way. It had been almost a month since they had last went into town on a run, or at all for that matter. This was the most limited amount of food and water they had had since they banded together - and that was almost right after everything happened. Amelia had begun outlining the plan about a week ago and they were all dreading it, as they did every time.