Inside, Neo dropped Jan off first. She was placed in a room with some other ladies that looked to be about her age, some of them were sitting in the center with a board game in the middle, another lady was off in the corner reading a book in her rocking chair. Rosie was the next to go, on the same floor there was a little area of connected rooms with what seemed to be a nursery. Five babies were sleeping, three extra beds were off in the corner. Neo went in with Rosie and introduced her to the people that were awake. A nurse and a concerned father were glad to meet her. Jack got placed into the nurse’s arms and the dad showed Rosie where some beds were for her to sleep in. Neo came back out and we went to the next floor.

“Ok, now these are the normal rooms. We have some spares, but you guys have to double up. I think Bob and Jay, you guys get this one,” Neo pointed to a room on his right, it had one bed and a window that looked out over most of the plantation. The medical ward was shining off in the distance. They both thanked Neo and went into their room. The door closed with a quiet click. “Ok, next is Jerry and Margaret, you guys are siblings, right?”

“Yeah, we’re twins, actually,” Margaret seemed at ease in the dark hallway. Neo nodded. We walked down the hall a bit to find an open room. It had bunk beds.

“I call top!” Jerry ran inside and scaled the side of the beds to plop down on top. Margaret laughed and grabbed Neo’s hand.

“Thank you, Neo. I have no idea what we would have done without you,” Neo patted the top of her hand.

“Ah, it’s no big deal. Just take care of that arm you were telling me about, you should probably see Maribelle about it tomorrow.” Margaret nodded and said her goodnights to Emery and me before going into her room. Neo closed the door behind her. “And then there were two. Ok, so there’s an empty room next to my wife’s and me, you guys don’t mind being so close to the new couple, right?” Emery and I nodded. I knew that she must be as desperate to sleep in a bed as I am. I haven’t slept in a bed for two years. Neo chuckled at our eagerness. “Alright then,” He led us to the end of the hall, two rooms were at the end. A short woman who looked to be about twenty months pregnant came out when she saw Neo.

“Baby, you’re back! I missed you so much,” Neo gave her a little peck on the head and slid his arm around her waist.

“I missed you too, Connie. These are some of the survivors that I found, meet Oliver and Emery. These two teenagers have been taking care of a bunch of adults that act like toddlers for around two years,” Connie laughed and leaned into Neo more.

“That sounds like you and Nestor when you guys were in high school,”

“Maybe, just maybe.” I had never seen Neo look that at ease as he was in that moment. I wonder why Nestor made him go out scouting, considering how pregnant his wife is and how likely it was that Neo could have died out there. Connie didn’t seem too upset about him having to leave, but maybe she was just being tame in front of Emery and me. I can only imagine how we look. Two, young, scarred, and beaten teenagers that look like they haven't slept in a year are just standing in front of her. I also wonder if Neo and Connie have been a thing since they were in high school, it’s nice that they’ve stayed together for so long, but I didn’t think that Neo was the family man type. I also never would have thought that I was the type to be a survivor in the zombie apocalypse and have to take refuge with a gang, but here we are.

“Well, you two must be tired, and I would hate to keep you up. I also want to make my husband make me some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because I’m hungry and no one makes them as well as he does,” I smiled at that. We said our goodbyes, Emery and I turned to our room only to pause.

“Neo, there’s only-” Neo and Connie had already closed their door before they could hear our objection. There was only one bed.

I looked at Emery, she looked back at me, an ever present blush was growing over her cheeks.

“Well, I can sleep on the floor, it’s not a big deal,” Emery walked in and pulled a pillow off of the bed.

“No, I refuse to let you sleep on the floor, it’s cold, and you need a bed more than I do.” Emery held the pillow tight in her right hand.

“You’re the injured one, you need it.”

“Well, I’m injured so you should let me do whatever I want.” I crossed my arms over my chest and smirked at her. We had a deal that the injured person got to make the well person do whatever they wanted. My smirk faltered when I remembered the catch to the deal as it rattled off of Emery’s lips.

“But I have the nurse’s pass, so I get to overrule you!” The pillow she was holding smacked me in the stomach and I fell backward onto the bed.

“Oh, two can play at that game.” I grabbed the other pillow and sat up. Emery stood before me in a fighting stance. She held the pillow like a baseball bat and was winding up to take another swing. I grabbed the two corners of my pillow and threw it over her head. I pulled the pillow back and brought her on top of me. Emery let out a giggle and caught herself. Her hands were on either side of my head, and I could see how happy she was. I wanted Emery to be this happy all of the time. I would do anything to make her keep on smiling like that. I realized that I had been staring at her, and the pillow was still around her back, keeping her from getting up. I let the pillow fall to the side and Emery got off of me. She sat at the head of the bed and let out a sigh.

“This is ridiculous, we’ve shared a bed before. We can just do it again, right?” I looked up at the ceiling.

“But, that was before, you know, and I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable or-”

“Ollie, stop!” Emery put her hands on mine and kept my nails from digging into my palms. “Ollie, I never feel uncomfortable around you, and I don’t care. You’re still my Ollie, and you better never forget that.” I smiled.

“I won’t.” Emery really did care, friends care about each other like that, I can be my friend’s Ollie, right? Emery scooted over towards me and dragged my head towards where the pillows should be. My legs and feet were still hanging over the edge of the bed, so I felt a bit like a contorted pretzel. Emery snorted and moved my legs onto the bed. I sat up and took my shoes off, Emery did the same. She paused and I looked at her. “What?”

“I forgot that I was wearing your shirt, do you want it back?” The sleeves came down to my elbows on me, but on Emery they almost came down to her wrists. The Hawaiian shirt was almost like a dress on her, and the white floral designs looked really pretty with her hair. She had taken it out of its ponytail, so it was wild and everywhere.

“I’m not gonna wear it to sleep, so if you don’t want to wear it you can leave it on the chair.” Emery nodded and started buttoning it up. I raised an eyebrow at her, and a sheepish grin spread on her face.

“I’m cold.” I nodded and unceremoniously plopped my head back down on the mattress. Emery grabbed a pillow and dropped it on my face. She got into the bed next to me and rolled over so her face was towards me. I sighed and put the pillow under my head. I grabbed the covers and pulled them over the both of us. Emery was already asleep. I didn’t understand how she could fall asleep that easily. I could hear her slow breaths and I tried to focus on them, so they would lull me to sleep. I was just about to sleep when I remembered that the door was open. I got up as quietly as I could to not disturb Emery. I got to the door, and I could hear crying from across the hall. It was Connie. She was sniffling and sobbing. Neo was clearly trying to calm her down, but nothing seemed to be working. I couldn’t make out what exactly she was saying, but it sounded like Connie was really upset that Neo had left, that she was worried that their child was going to be fatherless. I closed the door and tried to hop back into bed with Emery. I felt like I had just intruded upon their privacy. I know that if I had ever heard my parents talking to each other like that with the door closed, I would have been grounded if I was caught. The thought of my parents made my chest hurt more, in a different way than how my ribs were aching. This pain was in my heart. I bit my lip and a hot feeling was welling up behind my eyes. I couldn’t start crying, I needed to sleep and if I was crying it was going to wake up Emery. Emery needed to sleep more than I did. She took most of the night shifts, and it was hard to convince her into taking a nap when there was so much to do with the group. I bit my lip harder and fought against the warm feeling. It eventually went away, and I lied there staring at the ceiling. Maybe Emery wasn’t sleeping. She moved closer towards me and poked me in the arm.

“You ok?” I grabbed her hand with my left one and squeezed it.

“Yeah,” I could hear her hair rustle against the bed as she nodded. Her arm stretched out and her hand hooked onto my side. She pulled me closer and nestled her face against my shoulder. I looked over at her. Her eyelashes were resting on her cheeks, and she looked so peaceful. I felt a smile creep onto my face, and I fell asleep with the picture of Emery looking so safe replayed in my mind.