Free Trying to Survive (Part 3) by C.J. Crowley Page A

Veronica mainly kept to themselves. It was just an all-around horrible night.
       I spent a few minutes talking to them, but they seemed distracted and distant so I left them alone… I noticed that Allen rarely took his eyes off Clara’s shadowy figure on the other side of the room, even though I’d disarmed her.
       Guess I can’t blame him… He probably didn’t get much sleep either…
       I was dying of boredom. Jenny was the last one to open her eyes, and the moment she did I jumped up and walked over to Brian. He was rubbing his face and looking around the fully stocked, untouched store. “This is unbelievable.”
       He laughed through a long yawn and reached back to inspect the bandage near the back of his neck. “At least this didn’t happen for nothing.”
       Just to try and cheer him up, I said. “You have no idea how stupid I felt when I found out the shredders slowed down during the day… I’d still have two eyes if we just waited to try and escape my neighborhood until the next morning.”
       Brian continued to laugh, and then made a jokingly pained face. “Oh, yeah. That’s rough man.”
       Jenny bluntly cut in. “How do you feel?”
       “Uh… It hurts like hell.”
       She kneeled down beside him and gently pushed him forward. “Does it feel hot or itchy?”
       “Not that I can tell.”
       Jenny peeled away the bandage and her face twitched, seemingly showcasing concern. “It looks a little irritated.” Walt was standing right next to the duffle bag drinking some water, so she called over to him. “Walter, get me the alcohol.”
       Brian groaned out “Really?”
       “Don’t even start with me. This is serious. We’ll do it every few hours if we have to.”
       “Great…”
       I glanced back and noticed that Clara was sitting in the corner alone. Her hands were interlocked on her lap and her eyes were forever glued to the floor. When I saw the old blood stains on her clothes it reminded me of the night I found her in Melanie’s room.
       I got up and walked over to a shelf filled with snacks. Within a few seconds I spotted some chocolate doughnuts and brought them over to Clara. “I bet it’s been awhile since you’ve had something like this.”
       She only made eye contact with me for a moment before she looked away and shook her head. “I’m not hungry yet.”
       When Allen got to his feet and started walking around the store, Jenny jumped up and grabbed her rifle. Allen stopped and put his hands up to about shoulder level. “I just want to look around.”
       Jenny took a few steps forward and looked him over. “Once I’m done here we can walk around the store together and get to know each other… For now, I’ll have to ask that you sit down.”
       Veronica seemed somewhat annoyed, but she stayed quiet as Allen walked back over to her and sat down. After I told them everything, they were a lot more understanding of our distrust for them. I had a good feeling about them (unlike Naya). I just hope I wasn’t wrong. Though I did learn to never ignore my feelings in a situation like this again. Fortunately for them, I wasn’t getting any bad vibes. Otherwise, I truly would have had Walt let them out on the side of the road… Or they’d be dead.
       I sat down next to Clara and Walt walked up to us. He smiled and said “If you don’t eat those, I will.”
       Walt’s smile quickly faded when Clara picked them up off the floor and held them out. “Go ahead.”
       It was ironic to think that we were finally in a quiet, reasonably safe place with plenty of food and no one cared. It’s all we’ve been worried about, what Brian almost died for… Yet now that we’ve found it, the circumstances that led us here have made it almost meaningless.
       Sitting there and trying to think of something to say made me truly understand just how important Melanie’s presence had been for her… She’d know exactly what to