Once I've returned from my shop raiding, I see Jonah on the ground reading a comic book on the ground while Adam sleeps on our only couch. I sigh and drop the clothes to the ground in the corner, and glance at the clock on the wall.
"What are you doing up? It's ten o'clock." I say and ruffle his hair. He smiles at me and sets the comic book down.
"You told me to watch him. I was." He scrunches his face in confusion then. "You know him?"
I nod. "This is Adam, he's the boy I went to homecoming with. Kinda funny that we found him, huh?"
"Pretty lucky for him, actually. if you hadn't saw him outside and cleaned him up... he would be dead right now."
I look down at Adam, sleeping peacefully on the couch. "That's our job. We take are of ourselves, but we take care of everyone else too. Here, take this sleeping bag and a couple extra blankets. It's supposed to get cold tonight."
Jonah nods and excepts the blankets before taking them to the corner of the room. He falls asleep a few minutes later, and then it's just me taking watch.
I peer out the window every now and then, checking for any more brainwashed soldiers out and about. I don't see any.
This leaves for a boring watch. Believe me, a bring watch is much better than an exciting one, because the last thing I need is to wake Jonah up to the sound of me shooting a bunch of soldiers.
My thoughts drift to mom and dad. So sweet and innocent, and killed for not obeying our insane president.
Everyone who agreed to take the serum with their food signed a paper and turned it in to the government. Those who didn't were confronted and given one last chance to take the serum.
Naturally, my family and I refused anyways.
Soldiers burst into our living room one afternoon, firing guns, not caring what they hit because they knew that all of us had refused.
Their bullets found my parents. Jonah and I ran from the house and in the woods. We watched from behind a clump of bushes as the soldiers walked away from our house like robots. As soon as they were gone, I went back to see if my parents were truly dead.
Needless to say, they were. Lying on the floor and caked with dark red blood, their arms and legs bent in odd angles. My mother's wavy brown hair was fanned out on the floor, and my dad's glasses were cracked and broken beside him. Glass littered the floor and the sun shining inside made it seem like it sparkled.
My brother broke out into sobs, and I could see the tear tracks through the dirt on his face. I felt some tears drip off of my face, but I had to stay strong for my brother. I wiped them away and started to pack up things I thought we would need to live on our own.
Like my dad, I needed glasses. My eyes were horrible, and without my glasses I couldn't tell you the difference between a pumpkin and a face.
I packed up all of the different glasses that I had gotten over the years as well as my limited supply of contacts and their tiny case.
Jonah insisted we bring some picture frames with us. We also brought a few meaningful things and gifts from our mom and dad. And our dog Lenny's collar. He was shot as well.
Food, water, hygiene products... everything we thought we would need.
And then we left.
Jonah and I both wanted to give our mom and dad a grave, a proper burial. But of course we couldn't because the soldiers had done such a messy job at killing them so there was blood everywhere. And, to top it off, we were pressed for time.
We wandered the streets of Manhattan, looking for someone to help, but everyone was gone. They had all either been killed, taken away as a brain washed soldier, or fled. We were on our own.
That was when we found this new place that we are forced to call home.
"Jenessa?" Adam's voice snaps me from my thoughts. I look over at him to see that he's propped up on one arm and watching me. I re-adjust myself in the chair before responding.
"Why aren't you sleeping?"
He smiles slightly. "I was. Where did you go?"
I gesture over to the pile of clothes and deodorant. "I needed to get you clothes. I hope we don't have to leave soon." I look at his wounded leg to see that the blood has completely soaked through the bandage.
He looks down as well. "Wow."
I shake my head at him and grab more bandages and moving towards him. I kneel on the ground in front of him and he sits up straight so that I can rewrap the bandage.
"Does it hurt?" I ask, and he clenches his teeth, nodding.
I search for a few minutes before eventually finding more pain killers and antibiotics for his leg. He takes the pills as I continue to rewrap his leg.
"Maybe tomorrow we can get you crutches or something." I say once I'm finished, resting back on my heels. He shakes his head.
"No, you guys have already done to much for me." He says, and then repositions his leg back up onto the pillows. "I've pretty much burned through your medical stash."
I shrug my shoulders like it was no big deal, but it was a big deal. Medicine and first aid kits were hard to find because everyone took them when they fled. They were harder for Jonah and I to find, and we were lucky we had what we had. But I couldn't tell that to Adam.
"It's fine. Jonah and I can go and look for some more tomorrow."
He lets his head fall back to he pillows. "You guys have already done to much for me. I feel bad, you already have one person to take care of." His eyes fall to the sleeping Jonah, and I try to shake it off.
"We take care of everyone that needs it." I say. "You should go back to sleep. It'll help with your leg." I say.
"You sure you don't want me to take the next watch?"
I shake my head. "I'll be fine. I'll sleep another time."
The truth? I haven't slept in days. But I was the one who always had to take watch, because Jonah was young and he needed his sleep.
Sure, I've dozed off for a few hours here and there, but a full nights sleep? Forget about it.
But Adam wasn't dumb. He sensed that I haven't slept in a long time. He crosses his arms stubbornly.
"You've done too much for me. Let me take watch so you can get rest."
I sigh, giving up hope, and curl up on the floor in front of his couch. Just before I drift to sleep, I feel him drape a blanket over my shivering body, and I smile to myself.