It broke Adira's heart so much that she could have sworn the others heard it too. She looks down at his arms and watches as his arms tremble while her hands gently rub his arms trying to comfort him the best way she knew how. They stay in the same position but his grip around her becomes tighter with every second they stay sitting there. A few minutes past before he stops crying and only sniffing is heard from him. She is so in the moment with Chad and his crying that she didn't even realize they were slowly rocking back and forth. The rocking plus her smooth and gentle touch calms him down causing the sniffing to die down too.

     Adira shifts in her seat allowing her to hug him and rub his back hoping it will soothe him. She opens her mouth to speak but Chad beats her to it.

     "I'm so happy I found you." He whispers his voice cracking as he pulls her into him more, "I went to your house and- and I thought you were dead." He remembers when he got to the house and saw all the blood and all the bodies in her home with no luck of finding anyone in there, "I don't want to lose you again."

     She hums in response and this time she hugs him tighter gripping the back of his grey shirt. She takes a deep breath, leans into Chad even more and to where she could hear his heart beating. She slowly lets it out and relaxes every part of her body possible but couldn't find it in her to fall asleep. She sits up and rests her head on his shoulders just relaxing. She looks over at Madison then moves her gaze to Tyler, who was still awake.

     When Chad's crying and sniffing comes to a halt, Richie takes that time to interrupt the silence.

     "So tell me..." Richie starts, "How does a teen with three youngsters survive all this?"

     Adira shrugs. She really didn't know how she survived with Tyler and Madison but she is hundred percent glad she didn't lose them or leave them alone in a new world like this. 

     "How long have you guys been out there before the town?" Richie asks.

     "Just a few days." Tyler huffs out, "Other than that we have been in our home since this started."

     "What about you?" Adira spoke up, "How long?"

Adira took this time to question them to see what they were like even if it was just a little information. She also knew Tyler would continue asking questions when one comes to his mind.

     "Same. We only were out for a few days." Richie answers.

     "Do you know anything about it?" Tyler asks hoping for some new information.

     Both Richie and Dan shake their heads.

     "All we know is probably what you do." Dan speaks, "People are biting and becoming mutated. Military orders were to stay inside and yadda- yadda."

     "Oh." Tyler says disappointed.

     "How did you and your siblings survive?" Richie asks making eye contact with Adira.

     "Who are you talking to?" Adira asks unsure if he was talking to her or Chad.

     "You." Richie simply replied with a light chuckle, "You are the only one with your brother and sister here."

     "Oh." She says before shaking her head, "They are not my siblings, they're my niece and nephew."

It wasn't surprising they mistake Adira, Madison and Tyler as siblings, they got called siblings all the time when Darla or Lydia wasn't around. People say it was because they all look alike but to Madison, Adira and Tyler they look nothing alike. They understand why some might think they look alike, they share some of the same features. 

     "Oh well still how did you survive?" Richie asks.

     "We were held up in our own home but had to leave because it got over run by those things." Adira responds as she sits up straight and faces the two boys across, "Then we ran into your people."

     The look in her eyes read hatred as they land on Richie and Dan. The two boys look at each other ones they catch her gaze but then look back at her.

     "Sorry." Richie told her.

     "We lost people too." Dan told her, "It wasn't even our fault."

     "How about a little girl?" Adira asks her voice cold, "Did you lose a little girl too?"

     Dan and Richie look at each other and shake their heads.

     "No, but we did lose people." Dan answers, meeting her gaze.

     Silence fell upon them once again as they all stared at the candle or anywhere else but each other. Adira leaned back on Chad, who relaxes his head on her shoulder. She leans her head on his as his arms wrap tighter around her as he takes a deep breath. She has a little hatred towards them and they know that. They didn't blame her. They couldn't blame her. What they didn't know was what happened to Ashley when they got there or that Adira was rethinking how cold her voice sounded. She didn't mean for it to come out that cold especially to Richie.

      "Where did you guys come from?" Richie decided to keep talking because he is beginning to hate the silence, "I mean before all this happened, where you lived?"

     "Mulberry Lake." Tyler answers quietly. "We use to live in the new houses that were built."

     "Isn't that a rich area?" Dan asks as the name rang a bell in his head, "I heard that was a rich area."

      "It is." Tyler says with a nod, "It was." He sighs and looks down.

     "Mostly policemen, firefighters and doctors lived in that area." Adira adds in as she pulls a candle closer to her.

     Adira had thought living in an area with so many people whose job required having a gun or a strong weapon would be able to protect that area especially with such skilled men and women. Adira shakes her head at the thought and smiles at how ridiculous it seems that three teens and a little girl could make it out of there alive while they couldn't.

     "So you guys were rich kids then?" Dan asks with a smile and a hint of jealousy in his eyes.

     The corner of Adira's lips curled up as she let out a laugh kind of huff, "No. Not even close to being rich."

     "Everyone seems to think that." Tyler adds with a smile, "I kind of don't mind people thinking that."

     "Well I heard that those houses were like crazy expensive." Richie exaggerates as his eyes roll.

     "They were." Adira tells him, "The only way we were able to live there was because my mom, sister and brother-in-law was able to split the expenses."

     "Your sister still lived with your mother even when she had her own family?" Dan asks shock crossed his face.

     "No, we lived with them." Adira replies, "My mom was having money issues and we had to move in with my sister."

     "Was it just you and your mom?" Richie asks genuinely was curious.

     "No it was me, my two older brothers and my mom." She answers.

     "Wow talk about a full house." Richie jokes earning a chuckle from all of them.

     "Yeah everyone says that." Tyler informs them, "Nothing new."

     "Hmm..." Dan starts thinking, "Mulberry."

     "What?" Richie asks looking at Dan.

    "Didn't Jack send a few of our men on a run over near Mulberry?" Dan asks looking at Richie, the name ringing through his head.

     "Yeah." Richie nods knowing what Dan is talking about, "Hey, did you guys see any people over there while you were out on the streets?"

     Tyler shakes his head not knowing what they were talking about, "Not that I know of."

     Their gazes turn to Adira and Chad. Adira looks between all three of them  when she sees they are watching her.

    "The only ones I remember is Jane's mother." Adira answers, "Know their names?"

   "What were their names though?" Richie asks looking at Dan.

    "I only knew a John and wasn't there a kid?" Dan wonders trying to figure out their group's member's name.

     "Yeah, Eli or Elijah." Richie exclaims he smiles, "He was a really cool kid." Richie told them, "Friendly. I think he was our age. I think you guys would have liked him."

     Adira's eyes flicker to Tyler, who already has his eyes set on her. They share a look knowing who they were talking about. Adira slightly shakes her head as silently telling him not to say anything about it.

    "Did you guys see Elijah?" Richie asks hopeful, "He had brown or black hair, unique eyes I think it was brown and the other was hazel or green. Beautiful eyes though. Tall and skinny seems a little shy or scared." He rants.

     Adira and Tyler share one last quick look before he shakes his head, "No, I usually stayed in the attic with my grandma and sister." He didn't fully lie, he wasn't there but he was there to hear what was happening and to see the after math of everything.

     They all look at Adira, who thought about it for a second before answering.

     "No, we didn't even know anyone else was out there after all the screaming and gunshots." She lied through her teeth.

     She wasn't about to tell them she basically murdered all of them with her brothers. She wasn't going to let them know most of them are no longer alive and that one probably was already dead, because of her. It really did scare her how she easy it was to lie and how it just came out like nothing. It wasn't that she never lied because she did. It was just that she never was capable of lying while looking someone straight in the eyes, before she always ended up laughing, but she also didn't feel as bad for lying.

    "What were your guys' lives like before this?" Adira asks nodding to the two boys sitting closer together.

     "Well I worked in a bakery and was the head baker." Richie smiles proudly of the job he works.

     "Oh cool." Tyler chirps, "Adira loves to bake." He informs Richie pointing to Adira.

    "You do?" Richie questions a little shock.

    "Well..." She rolls her eyes not really wanting to tell him, "Yeah." She sighs with a nod and a smile.

     "That's cool." He nods in approval as they make eye contact.

     Dan saw the two looking at each other and flickers his gaze to Richie then to Adira then back to Richie.

     Richie kept eye contact and continues to talk, "I wouldn't really have guessed a girl like you would like baking."

     "A girl like me?" Her eyebrows lifts with a little smile painted on her face.

     "Yeah, I mean, like..." Richie tries to find the correct words, "A girl who is... tough?" He said more as a question thinking about if that was the right word to use.

     "Tough?" She repeats the word he uses.

     "Uh-" He thought about it for a second before nodding, "Yeah. You just didn't come off as the whole baking type of girl to me. The way you took down at least five of our men kind of gave me a creepy vibe. I would think you were some martial arts student or something."

     She thought about it for a minute, "I am going to take that as a complement but I do like to bake. What bakery did you work at?"

     "A café called Bliss." Richie answers without hesitate, "Have you heard of it?"

     "No I don't think they have a café named Bliss over here." Adira shakes her head looking at Tyler for confirmation, which he shrugs not knowing it either.

     "It's in New York." Richie informs them.

     "Well then that is a complete no." Tyler comments as he tilts his head to the side.

     "You live in New York?" Adira questions only to get a nod in return, "What are you doing all the way over here?"

     "We were here on a road trip before we had to go back to University." Richie informs her pointing between him and Dan as he speaks about the reason he was in her state in the first place.

     The university they were attending had given the students a week off from school since they had just finished taking a big test. So they gave them time to relax and take a break. It was Dan's brilliant idea to take a road trip around the country in the middle of fall. He thought it would be good to get away from New York and use the free week they had to go on an adventure. They've visited all the states they never been to like Maine, Texas, Colorado, California and others. The places were random as Richie absolutely refused to have a plan on how long they should stay in the area and where they should go. He simply wanted to wing it.

    Dan had argued that they needed to have a plan because if they didn't then they wouldn't be able to return home in time when they started school again. They argued about having an adventure but while Dan thought they could still have an adventure without getting lost, Richie argued that no one can have an actual adventure if they don't get lost because that's how adventure truly start.

     "You guys are in college?" Tyler gasps in shock at the two, "How old are you guys?"

     "I'm nineteen." Richie quickly answers for himself.

     "Twenty." Dan answers right after him. "What about you, how old are you?"

     "Fourteen." Tyler answers, leaning forward to look at Dan, "I thought you were at east Adira's age."

      "How about you, Adira, how old are you?" Richie nods throws a nod toward her, "Are you the same age as Chad?"

      She nods, "Yup. Madison is thirteen."

      Both boys nod as the information was processing in their heads.

     "Is he asleep?" Dan laughs a little as he points to Chad, who was sound asleep on Adira's shoulder.

     Adira let out a huff and nods, "I believe so."

      Dan yawns as he stretches causing Richie to yawn as well, "Well don't blame him. We all sure do need some sleep." Richie tells them as he adjusts himself into a laying down position with Dan and put his hands underneath his head to use as a pillow, "Goodnight." Richie yawns as Dan lays his head inches away from Richie's.

     "Night." Dan huffs out and soon they both fell asleep. 

     "Goodnight." Both Tyler and Adira respond in sync before looking at each other.

      "Well I am going to do the same." Tyler says getting up and moving closer to Madison, "Night, Adira."

     "Night, Tyler." She whispers back before he too fell asleep.

     Adira turns her head slightly to look at a sleeping Chad on her shoulder. She sighs, lifting her hand to his chin and holding it there as she slightly slides out of his hold and grabs hold of the back of his neck. She gently pushes him down to put him in a sleeping position, trying her best not to drop him or his head. But once his back hits the floor, two arms pulls her down on top of him, wraps around her waist and traps her between his body and his arms. The sudden movement makes her jump a little before she chuckles.

      "What are you doing?" Chad whispers as his eyes flicker open.

     "Trying to lay you down but now I wish I just let you drop." She answers as she tries to get back up but fails when he refuses to let her go.

     "Where do you think you're going?" Chad asks in a sleepy voice.

     "I am trying to get into a comfy sleeping position." She responds trying to unwrap his arms but again fails to do so, "Can you let me go?"

     "Nope." He responds with a lazy playful smile and turns on his side forcing her too to lie on her side, "Stay."

     "I am not comfortable like this." She informs him but her actions prove otherwise as she wraps her arms around his shoulder.

      He hums and closes his eyes again, "Just relax. This is the only time we'll get to relax."

     She gives in with a huff and adjusts herself before laying her head on his and closing her eyes. It wasn't long before they all were asleep.

     30 minutes later, Adira was awake and standing near the window separating the blinds with her arms as she leans her hands on the window sill. The sky was dark shade of blue indicating it was almost time for sunrise. She lets out a sigh as she let her head drop and turning her head to side to side causing her neck to crack multiple times.

     "Shouldn't you be asleep?" The soft voice echoes through her ears making her jump in fright and her heart to skip a beat. This action causes the chuckle to vibrate through her ears, "You would think you being jumpy would stop by now especially with those weird crawling scary things running around."

     She sighs when she turns her head slightly to see Chad standing a few feet away from her, "Yeah well... It makes it even worst. What are you doing up?"

      The footsteps and the hairs beginning to stand on the back of her neck tells her that he is walking making his way over to her and standing right behind her. He drapes one arm of her shoulders and looks out the window; his mouth drops at the sight along with his eyes slightly widen and his eyebrow goes up.

      "Wow." He breathes sounding slightly astonished, "This is one hell of a view."

      She hums in responses with a nod, "See its moments like this where I wish I had my camera."

     "And people didn't go all crazy." Chad adds in for her.

     "I wonder what made those people be cannibals. It's really is frightening" He thought out loud.

      "People were always crazy." She comments earning a look from Chad, "They just never knew it. That's frightening." She sighs, "The scariest people are the ones who don't even know they're crazy."

     He slowly bobs his head to the side in agreement before letting out a huff, "What are you doing up?"

     She shrugs, "Nothing." She huffs out and turns around leaning her back on the window sill.

     Chad catches her eyes flicker up then turns his head around to see she was looking to where Madison and Tyler is sleeping, "What?"

     "Nothing." She shakes her head.

     "It's something. Tell me what?" Chad asks leaning against the window sill next to her.

     "What if-" Adira starts taking a deep breath, "What if I am not able to protect them?" She turns her head to look at him and he catches her gaze.

      He could see the concern in her eyes. He could tell she was genuinely concern for their safety.

     "What if I can't keep them safe especially from those things?" She looks at the floor.

      "You are able to protect them." He assures her and rubs her back, "Are you actually doubting your abilities?"

      "Jane is gone, Chad. Tyler almost was so close to being bitten and Madison hit her head." She tells him looking back at him, "Because of me. If I wasn't the one who went into this stupid building she would still be with us." She kicks the wall with the back of her heel out of frustration. "Madison would have never hit her head and Tyler wouldn't have been attacked."

     "That wasn't your fault." He told her, "We weren't the ones paying attention to where she was going while you were up here clearing a place for us to stay. Madison walked off which Tyler watched out for her. Tyler pushed Madison in order to keep the thing from getting close to her."

      She sighs while shaking her head, "I promised her mother." She rubs her cheeks with her hands.

     "Who's?"

      "Jane's mother, I promised her I would keep Jane safe and now Jane is missing probably dead or running around like those things." Adira informed him, "I couldn't even do that." She sighs in defeat, "I basically failed."

      "No you haven't. Madison and Tyler are asleep right there." He points to them, "They are still here and Jane is fine."

      "A little girl can't defend herself." Adira told him, "Better yet keep them away from her."

     "She's fine." Chad repeats, "She is smart enough to hide. I believe she's fine and so should you. We will find her tomorrow when we leave and we will look all over this city, in every building if we have to. We'll find her."

     They stayed in silence allowing Adira to think for a while. Chad maybe right on believing Jane is fine but she couldn't help but still think about the fact that she may not be able to protect her niece and nephew. She did doubt her abilities to keep them safe, it was hard enough to keep herself alive but two other people she did not want to lose was even harder.

     Chad steps in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders, "As for protecting them... No one else and I mean no one else is capable of taking care of them than you." He looks her dead in the eyes trying to convince her that she was the perfect person to protect them.

     He smiles, "Remember when we first met?" He asks her.

     She smiles knowing where the conversation is going and nods, "Yeah, I do."

     "You bashed my brother's face into the wooden bench just for pushing her down in the play area and cussing at her." He says as if it just happened yesterday, "Than threw a bottle at my head for telling you to chill."

     She chuckles at the memory.

     Three years ago when Adira was fifteen, Adira had taken Madison, who was ten, to the park near their home and Chad and his siblings with some of their friends were there too. Madison was on the playground running to a swing that was open. As she began to swing she called out for Adira to go push her as high as she can and that's when Chad's brother, Ben, went up to her claiming she stole his spot. For such a young age she didn't back down and put up one hell of an argument. Madison was sitting on the swing refusing to give it up easily.

     They had argued and when Ben got heated he pushed her off. Adira was only sitting a few feet away when she saw Madison crying as she ran towards her. Madison was bursting with tears as she told Adira what happened. It boiled her blood hearing what had happen to Madison. The ten year old pointed out who did it and Adira told her to go back on the swing, which Ben wasn't even using, instead he was sitting at a bench table, which had a roof to cover it, with his siblings and friends. Adira made her way towards the group dodging little kids running around and any playing balls they were kicking. When she got there she yelled at them.

     "What the hell is wrong with you?" She remembered herself saying to him.

     Ben looked up at her. The whole group actually looked up at her, "Excuse me?" he simply says.

    She suddenly froze on the inside as all pairs of eyes stared at her. She had the sudden urge to choose an action fight or flight. Her mind was telling her to flight and run but the blood boiling through her veins told her to fight. So she did.

     "Why the hell would you push my niece off the swing and cuss at her?" She asks angry. Her voice said it all that she was angry but her eyes was shooting daggers at him.

     "It's not my fault the little bitch took my seat." He says nonchalantly with a shoulder shrug as he stuck what looked like a blunt in his mouth.

     The words he used made her clench and unclench her fist her hands pounded on the bench between two people, "First off she has a name and secondly don't use your name on her it only suits you."

     She could hear the chuckles and owes but ignored them. Ben's face was pure hatred at that moment, he took his blunt out of his mouth, "Excuse me? First off you do not know who you're messing with or what I am capable of so don't test me, sweetheart. Secondly why don't you take your hothead and that little piece of shit and go away."

     In that second, once he finished his sentence, she slide her hand into his elbow he was leaning on and grabbed his head smashing it into the table below him. Everyone at that table jumped back as she lifted his head up to see blood pouring out of his nose before dropping it again.

    "What the hell?" He exclaimed holding his nose as blood slowly gushed through his fingers and dripped down his arm.

     She shrugs with a slight crooked half smile and an eyebrow rose up, "It's not my fault your head caused my hand to slip and hit your face."

     Before she left, Chad called out telling her to just chill as she was grabbing her things. Wrong move because she picked up a half full water bottle and threw it at him getting him right in the head.

     With that she walked away and leaving the park with Madison tucked under her arm with victorious smiles.

     She chuckled at the memory. It was the first time she was ever violent with anyone apart from her siblings. It was also the first time she scared herself knowing she did that but after a while she didn't care for it. Every time she came face to face with Ben she feels some what satisfied with herself because all in all he deserved it for being such a "A-hole". She regret it at first knowing she was wrong and violence is- or was never the answer. 

     Now it was mostly the answer. In Ben's case, Adira let her anger get the best of her, which was also a first for her sense she was usually had a calm trait, but then again Ben should know not to underestimate anyone. Since then Ben left Adira and Madison alone, even after Adira and Chad started hanging out. Ben also left everyone who knew Adira alone even if she wasn't that close.

      "Even when this crazy stuff didn't happen you still were able to protect them." He shakes her slightly, "You are stronger and more skilled than any one of us. The only one determined enough to keep them alive is you and you shouldn't doubt yourself." He gives her a smile, "You are more than capable of keeping them safe."

      "That's not protection that's anger issues." Adira jokes.

      He pulls her in for a hug and they stand there for just a moment, "You also knocked a guy on his ass when some dude and his friends were bullying Tyler."

     Adira laughs at that memory too, "Anger."

      "Call it whatever you still protected them and made sure nothing or anyone harmed them." Chad told her rubbing her arms and looking at her, "Now we only have a few more hours before the sun comes up." Chad looks outside the window, "Lets waste those hours on sleep." He dragged her back to the sleeping area and they did.

     They fell asleep with Chad lying on his back,Adira using him as her pillow as her legs were bent together, Madison usingAdira's legs as a pillow while Tyler used Madison's hip as a pillow. Dan andRichie are sleeping the same way both face down with their arms being use as apillow.