Fandom The Day The World Changed { The Last of Us 1x1 with icedthemoon }

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

Good. He needed Josh’s head in the game. If they were going to win this battle, he needed everyone completely on board. “We can only hope.” Soren walked them to the other officer who waited a little less patiently than he would like though given the circumstances, that was reasonable honestly. “No word from the last unit that went down there yet, but they haven’t been gone long. Research is still flying back to Central, but we have word that WHO thinks that if our people can figure something out, they’ve got some ideas. They’re saying it’s Cordyceps. Like the fungus. It’s gotten in people’s brains.” Soren scrunched his face together. The officer continued. “They’ve been dealing with this here for almost a week I think someone said. That’s why the lower levels are the way they are. It’s ground zero.”

The woman reaffirmed her smile, happy to have completed her job and unhappy at the news she was going to have to deliver. She was better than a gopher, but she would rather that than go back inside that building. “I am sorry to hear that,” she said with little personal touch in her voice. She was sorry, but everyone’s someone was bitten or dead. She didn’t have enough in her to care about everyone. “Thank you for letting me know. I am sure that both Officers Truelson and Smith will be glad to hear that you are alive and well.” She turned back to the hospital and sighed. She really was going to have to go back in there now.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Josh walked over to the other officer alongside Soren. He listened to the person and he couldn’t help but scrunch his own face up. In their brains? He didn’t like that, nor did he like the idea of being in the hospital where it was ground zero. His mind went back to Hayden as he stood there, waiting and for what he didn’t know.

Jacob watched the woman and heard a little personal touch when she said she was sorry. He looked at her and sighed. At least his brothers were safe. He didn’t know about his dad or even Hayden and Kyra. Had something happened to Hayden and that was why Josh finally joined the military. Jacob didn’t know, and that made him a little nervous.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

Soren groaned and then finally looked away out past the people and towards the windows. It was getting darker out there now. The other officer continued. “A bunch more people are finally making it here from other places. It’s rough out there but it’s rougher here.” He gestured to the windows where they could see more soldiers filing in towards them. Soren nodded. “Great, I need to debrief all of them.” He turned to start moving that way but stop as the officer called “Sir! They’re sending you home. Everyone from earlier needs rest and-“ Soren shook his head. “After. They need to understand what we know.” He pointed to the officer. “Can you have them send me everything they can on this fungus brain thing?” Then he moved away to meet with the units coming in.

With her job now done, she gave a firm nod and turned away, unsure how to continue this conversation or even if she should. So instead she swiveled around to start to go back inside when a whole troop of soldiers started piling in.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Josh was standing beside Soren, waiting as he heard the soldier say more men were on their way. He looked out the window and felt a wave of relief. Then his head snapped around. “Home?” His voice was quiet but he followed Soren. He was part of his team now, even if it was just the two of them. Josh would wait with Soren until they were finally dismissed and he could leave this hospital for the moment. Jacob on the other hand saw all the soldiers piling in and he was looking for the ones possibly coming out. His eyes searching for his younger brother.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

These were people from all over. How did they even get people here? That was impressive. Must have been the copters they had. That had to have been the only way. Soren pulled over their unit leader as they came in to start his debriefing. He needed to make sure everyone was very much aware of what was going on. He needed them to know that an uninformed team of five meant to grab some research was not going to cut it. Finally, as they moved away to start their business, another officer came over. “Okay, Truelson,” he nodded towards Josh not knowing his name but assuming it was because he didn’t know everyone, “you can go for now. Boss wants you back at 0600. If you don’t have anywhere to go, you’re stuck here sadly. They’re working on setting up a more permanent lodging center for us, but they’re not ready yet. They’ve had to clear out a bunch of spaces.” Soren sucked in a breath. Nope. He did not have a place to go. He looked to Josh. “Um, I can get you back to your parents’ probably pretty easy as long as nowhere’s blocked off. Can I flash my badge to get me places?” The other nodded. “Great. Then I guess I’ll be back in a little bit.” He smiled at Josh. “You ready to go home?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Josh looked at Soren then at the other officer, nodding back. He was anxiously shifting in his spot as he heard that if there was no where to go. Soren would be stuck there. That wasn’t good. He looked at him again and nodded. “I’m definitely ready to go home.” He said, and without hesitation, he walked out the front doors. As he made his way towards Soren’s truck, he felt a body slam into his side. Immediately Josh frozen expecting to feel a bite when he heard sobbing instead. He twisted and saw that it was Jacob holding onto him. “Jacob?!?” Josh asked, wrapping his arms around his older brother. “J- Josh.. m- mom’s dead.” Jacob’s voice was quiet and Josh’s world froze. No. No. Dead. Not her. “Are you sure?” Josh asked quietly and Jacob nodded. “She chased me.. after she was bitten.” He said with a shaking breath. Josh felt his eyes tear but he swallowed that back. He turned to find Soren, to ask him if he could bring them both back home.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

When Jacob came running at Josh, he was about three seconds from grabbing his head and ramming his knee into him. Thankfully, he was caught enough off guard for his reaction to only be looking extremely on edge and prepared to do something horrific and not actually doing it. This was the other brother. Oh good, they found another one. Now all they were searching for was- but the news came soon after. Oh. Oh not another one. First Hayden’s dad and now their mother. He frowned but kept away. This was family business. His attention was pulled away by Cynthia Gallows as she appeared beside him to report her findings. “Yes, I’ve noticed,” he responded. “Thanks anyway.” He wished her safety as she disappeared into the hospital. Both hands on his hips, bottom lip caught between his teeth, he decided to give them a moment before interceding. “Alright, everyone is gonna pile into the truck, though someone is going to have to sit in the back, and I haven’t had time to clean up Hayden’s mess so… sorry about that.” He let out a long breath and then put a hand on Josh’s back. “I’m sorry, kid.” He turned a gentle smile towards Jacob. “That’s horrible for everyone. Jacob right? I’m Soren. Your brother and I used to be neighbors. Well, neighbors adjacent. Not so much anymore though.” He shrugged. “Things happen. You guys ready to go?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Josh held onto Jacob for a few more moments before he heard Soren. Right. He could cry at home. He felt the hand on his back and sighed, a little shakily, and nodded his thanks. “I’ll take the backseat. I’m okay with that.” Josh said, patting Jacob’s back and turned to get into the truck. He wasn’t worried about sharing a space with Hayden’s mess. Jacob looked at Soren, biting his lip and swallowing back tears. “It’s nice to meet you.” Jacob said, holding out a hand. His voice was soft and possibly a little shy. Jacob was outgoing in the family, but around new people along with being as stressed as he was? He was as shy as Logan. He’d be more outgoing when he had a chance to relax. ​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

Soren took Jacob’s hand and with a bit of a firm grip shook it. “Sorry we met under such absolutely horrifying circumstances. Kinda thought I’d meet people more organically like the sister.” He walked towards the truck, fishing out his keys from one of the many pockets. “She is something else, let me tell you. I was coming home from getting groceries, and there she is suddenly talking my ear off. Told me to come by more often. Didn’t have the heart to tell her that we didn’t do a lot of hanging.” He unlocked the truck and got the engine running. “Has anyone heard news from her or the rest of his side of the family?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Jacob smiled a bit at the firm shake. And then he couldn’t help but laugh hearing Soren talk about Kyra. “She really is something else but she’s super sweet. Just a major ball of energy, and try betting with her. It was certainly interesting.” Jacob said, his comfort level going up as he got into the truck. Jacob looked over at him and shook his head. “Not that I know of. Josh?” Jacob turned to look at Josh who had been looking down. “Other than his father being dead, I haven’t heard from his side of the family at all.” Josh said as he looked out the window, anxious to get home to Hayden. “Oh. I didn’t know about Michael.” Jacob said, looking ahead. He glanced at Soren, letting his brown eyes linger for a moment before he turned away to look out the window. “So.. how long have you been in the military?” Jacob asked, glancing over at Soren again.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

“His dad too?” Soren let out a long breath. “God, this nightmare hell of a day just keeps getting worse.” He ran a hand through his hair, elbow resting on the drivers side door to prop him up as he drove. The roads were not a good option right now, and he honestly was not sure how he was going to make it back to the hospital or if by morning Josh could get back. The voice beside him pulled his attention again and he let the worries slide away for the moment. “Oh, uh since I was eighteen and could be. Rough home life led to rough outside life which led to real rough school life. So military was the answer. Joined the army first, because they came to my school and told me they could give me a purpose far away from where I was. Jumped on that. Found the one thing I was good at, I guess, and my excelling led to a rare opportunity to join FEDRA instead.” He laughed. “You know, most people in that are retired old guys who were once fancy general people and want to make an extra seven thousand a month for this? Yeah, I got a recognition for being one of the youngest. That’s just crazy, because I feel old all the time.” He shook his head and turned the conversation away from himself. “What about you? ER Nurse? That’s pretty cool. That’s real life saving stuff right there. How long have you been in it?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Jacob listened and watched Soren for a moment. Rough life. That sounds horrible, and Jacob could sort of relate. Kinda. “Oh. I’m sorry to hear that. But at least you found the thing you do really well at. And uh. If you hadn’t we wouldn’t have met at all probably.” Jacob said, looking at his hands in his lap. He glanced up at Soren again, smile on his face. “Well. I’ve been an ER Nurse since I was 22. I had to get my nursing degree and then I did my residency at Lakehill actually. And from there I specialized in ER and Trauma. I’ve always wanted to help people and this was the best way to do that. Even if Logan decided to be a nurse too.” Jacob explained, rolling his eyes at the last sentence. That was his rough life, his twin copying him with everything. So probably not at all like the man beside him now that Jacob thought about it.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

“So being a hero runs in the family then,” Soren commented with a smile as he glanced back at Josh. “Two nurses, a military man.” He shook his head with a grin before his eyes widened, and he was whipping the truck around some oncoming traffic that was most definitely not abiding by traffic laws, though honestly, who was anymore? Who could? There were so many abandoned cars, and they were having to get around the people who were running after anything that moved. If he didn’t think about it, running over people trying to eat him didn’t make him feel so bad. “Shoot, I am so sorry. Everyone okay in here?” He glanced at Jacob for a moment then back at Josh and then back at Jacob. “We’re getting real close now, so don’t stress too much. Though I’m a little bit afraid more of them are out now and we’re going to have to fight our way to safety.” He smiled nervously. “But I think we can handle it. Truck full of heroes can do anything, right?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Jacob looked at his lap when he heard that, though his eyes shot up when he felt the truck whip around oncoming traffic. He hadn't been out of the hospital since the outbreak actually started so he had no idea what the city looked like now. He tried to ignore the fact that they would run over people. All he'd ever wanted to do was help, and even that wasn't really possible anymore. Josh and Jacob nodded their heads at Soren's question. Jacob looked over at Soren and swallowed hard, memories of his mother chasing him, wanting to eat him were gnawing at the back of his mind. "I wouldn't say we're heroes anymore, at least not Logan and I. Our jobs are probably over, we can't help these people." Jacob said, looking at the people that were running after others, blood on their clothes. "But yeah, I guess we can do anything." He added, halfheartedly, looking out the truck window.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

“Don’t say that,” Soren said almost immediately after seeing the downtrodden nature of this new acquaintance. “I know it seems pretty grim and hopeless, and let’s be honest, that’s because it really is, but also, it’s not.” He flicked his eyes back to the road even though he wanted to look at Jacob. He wanted to force him to pay attention and made that connection. “Your brother here dropped everything to go in there with me. He pulled out some research that they’re telling me is gonna give us the answers. That’s hope right there. You were out in the overflow I bet saving literally everyone out there. I don’t know if we can help the people unlucky enough to start growing a fungus in their brains, but maybe we can help everyone else, yeah?” He pulled onto their street, looking around to see if there were any roaming unfriendlies out there. Some were down the street, and if they were lucky, maybe they wouldn’t notice the large and noisy truck. “Like those people in this house waiting on you. Help them first.” He pulled the truck into the driveway and cut the engine.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Jacob's gaze flicked over to Soren when he heard him. He knew it was grim, he'd seen the faces of the people taken to the lower levels. The terror and sadness on their faces. He looked back at Josh when he heard that, but his brother ducked his head and looked out the window. Jacob looked back at Soren, hearing him. "Yeah. I guess we can help as many as we can." Jacob said, a small smile on his face. He saw the people further down the street and hoped that the truck wasn't noticeable. Jacob and Josh were both happy to see their parent's house, and Josh reached up and set a hand on Soren's shoulder. "We have a spare bedroom, and you're more than welcome to stay here. I'm sure our father would be more than okay with that." Josh said, looking at Soren, even as he wanted to run out of the truck, inside and to Hayden. He held himself in place, waiting.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

Soren shook his head as appreciative as he was. “No, I couldn’t do that. You’ve got your whole family here,” what was left, “and you need to take care of them.” He pulled himself away, opening the front door to get out. “I don’t mind going back there. Besides, I probably won’t be able to sleep so I’ll just work while I’m the-“ As he slipped out of the truck, turning to close the door, his eyes went wide and he was already racing around to the other side as someone was racing up, screeches and all. This was not one of the ones down the street that they saw when they came in. He had no idea where she had come from. His hands shoved straight against her right as she was grabbing for Jacob. As she stumbled back, he took a quick step forward to firmly place himself in between the crazed woman and the ER nurse. As she ran at him again, this time he yanked at her arms and moved his leg to trip hers, pulling them both to the ground. She squirmed so much more than normal people, but he was able to get her pinned on her stomach on the ground. He didn’t have a weapon on him, and he could not let her hurt anyone, so he wrenched up her head with fingers in her hair and smashed her face into the concrete driveway. He winced at the sound. He looked up in time to see that yes, this was in fact loud enough to draw the others’ attention, and they were racing towards them. “Jacob, you run into that house right now and you close that door!” He ordered as he peered over at the open front door where Hayden stood with wide eyes.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Jacob looked at Soren, secretly hoping that he'd agree and stay with them. He was finding the military man fascinating. As he got out of the truck, he heard screeching, and a woman was running towards him. He backed up against the truck door as his eyes widened, seeing Soren put himself in between them. No. Jacob's eyes were wet as he felt fear in his bones. He watched Soren go to the ground with her and then he felt like he was going to be sick when he saw him smash her face into the concrete. He was frozen in place, until he heard the order. It was about that time that Josh had gotten out of the truck and saw the others had come this way. "Hayden! Get inside!" Josh called, as he pushed Jacob. That got him moving, but he gave one look back to Soren before he ran to the house, grabbing Hayden's arm. "Shut the door!" He said, trying to get Hayden inside, and the door shut. Josh loaded his rifle with the little bit of ammo he had left. He reached into the truck and grabbed Soren's, tossing it to him. "Let's save them." He said, aiming his rifle and shooting the first one that got close.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

Soren caught the rifle and aimed just long enough for the second one to get close enough to shoot. As they fell, he peered over at the door and let a small iota of relief wash over him as he saw it firmly shut. Good. That’s at least four they have saved today. He turned his full attention back to the coming attackers. Only one left. He shot, and they dropped, and he was officially out of bullets. “Why don’t we get inside before more show up?”

“No!” Hayden screamed as Jacob grabbed his arm and shut the door. He wriggled from Jacob’s grip and slammed a hand against the door. His Josh was out there with more of those people who wanted to kill him. Yes, it was dangerous to open the door, but it was more dangerous for them to be out there even if he was with military neighbor who convinced him to join him in some fool’s attempt to save the world. What were they going to do other than get themselves killed? By the time he was free of Jacob and fumbling with the door to pull it open, the danger seemed to mostly be over anyway. Not that he saw that. The only thing he saw was Josh to whom he, like an idiot, ran to despite whatever was out there. If he had to wait any longer, he was not going to make it. The world was so close to dark, and he could not handle any longer without him. The not knowing hurt so much.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Once the last one was taken care of and the danger seemed over, Josh was breathing hard. As the door swung open again, his gaze drew to see Hayden running towards him. Josh had enough time to hold his rifle so it wouldn't hurt them, and opened his arms. He held onto Hayden the moment he could, and tucked his head in the other's neck. "We need to get inside my love. It's safer there." Josh whispered, even though he didn't want to move. Jacob stood at the open door, a breath of relief as he saw that both his brother and Soren were okay. He looked around but didn't see any more of those people. Josh tried to move from Hayden just enough to grab his hand to lead him inside. "Let's get inside." He said louder, agreeing with Soren.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

Tears of relief, joy, settling fears, and potential panics fell down his cheeks as Josh took his hand and he moved inside as he was told. He glanced at the bodies, but they weren’t even the worst he had seen all day. While they were gone, some of these neighbors too turned. He watched them run after anyone in the streets. He watched people kill them. He watched those people be killed. There was nothing he could do to help. All he could do was wait. Soren followed them in and closed the door, and that was enough for Hayden he wrapped his arms around Josh and breathed in heavily. “I am so scared,” he whispered into him like they were the only ones there.

Soren did not plan to stay. The offer was nice, and he really did appreciate it, but he felt like he should be somewhere he could actually be doing something. He would maybe sleep a little while and then bounce right back in. So he was going to make sure everyone was okay here and then he would drive back to the hospital where he would probably live for the foreseeable future. He frowned towards his arm. It felt a little weird. He shrugged his vest off, it was fitting all wonky anyway, and pushed up his sleeve. Ah, well, that was why. Not a bite or anything like that, but it clearly did not like when he fell down with the lady earlier. It had some really nasty scrapes that were soaking into his sleeve. “Oh great,” he muttered. That was going to be a bit of a detriment to his work. “Uh, you guys have anything I can, um, clean this with maybe?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

The moment they were inside, Josh wrapped his arms around Hayden when he felt his partner do the same. He heard him whisper and just tightened his hug. "I know. So am I." Josh told him as he turned his head and kissed his cheek, his jaw. Anywhere he could. Grounding in his fiancé was all he could think about. Until he remembered his mother. Josh pulled away and looked at Lucas who'd come over, along with Logan. Jacob sniffed already knowing what Josh was going to say.

He didn't want to hear that again, so when he heard Soren as about cleaning his arm up, he took the out. "Come with me. I can clean that for you. I have a first aid kit I keep in the bathroom, though usually it's for Logan or Josh if they hurt themselves helping out around here." Jacob said, gently taking Soren's hand of his non-injured arm and aimed to lead him away from the living room, down the hall and the first door to the right. It was a big enough bathroom with a double sink and a stand up shower and toilet. "Sit." He said, gesturing to the toilet with its closed lid. A perfect seat for a wounded patient.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

If he could spend the rest of forever in Josh’s arms, he would. He would stay right there and never move again. He would live out the rest of his days inside this house and never leave. His dreams of becoming a marine biologist died with every other person that did too. His dream of a wedding was just a thought, because how could they possibly do that when the world was ending around them? When his dad wouldn’t be there to see it? He didn’t know where Kyra and his mom were. He lost his phone in Soren’s truck hours ago. Oh, that was back now. He could go get it? No. That was too dangerous. Plus something was wrong with Josh. He looked at the entire family. “What’s wrong?” He had a feeling he already knew as much as he didn’t want to.

Soren hadn’t been expecting to be taken away, but considering he just brought the ER and Trauma nurse home, it made sense that he was not about to clean his own wound. Jacob could definitely do it better than him anyway. He slowed as he took in the bathroom. Nice size. He looked at the toilet and nodded. “Yes, sir,” he answered with a little smile. He kind of liked being told what to do. Well, not usually, but in this moment, yeah. He liked the authority Jacob held. The confidence in his work. He sat on the toilet and preemptively held his arm out from the rest of him. “I don’t think it’s too bad,” he began. “I mean, it stings a lot. And it’s gross. It’s probably not that bad though.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Josh shifted uncomfortably as he sighed, hearing Hayden ask what was wrong. "Mom.. Mom's gone." Josh breathed out, his hands started shaking as he swallowed hard. He and his mother weren't as close as he and his dad, but she was his mother. She dressed his wounds, kissed them better, held his hand when he was little. She had always been there. Lucas' eyes widened at the information as a choked sob slipped free, hand over his mouth. He couldn't believe it, and neither could Logan. Admittedly, Logan was also closer to their father, with Jacob being the one that was the closest to Claire. He was just refusing to accept it had happened, even if she'd chased after him.

Jacob blushed softly at the 'yes sir' as he pulled out the kit and then looked at his arm when Soren held it out. Not the worse he'd ever seen, not by far but it was still not that pretty. Jacob grabbed a wet cloth first, to get rid of the obvious dirt, debris and blood. "It's definitely tamer than some things I've seen." Jacob commented with a chuckle. He grabbed the alcohol wipe and sighed. "I'm not going to lie Soren. This isn't going to be great. It will absolutely sting." Jacob warned him before he started cleaning the cuts out. "You should've seen this one time that Josh got a scrape like this from falling off his bike. He cried like a little girl the whole time I cleaned it out. And he was also sixteen." Jacob said as he tried to distract Soren from the sting of the alcohol. He wanted to get it very clean to reduce risk of normal infection.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

No. No not her too. Not after his dad. Hayden gasped even though he already knew. That was the only reason that everyone came back and she didn’t. He shoved a hand over his mouth, closed his eyes, and turned away like the tears didn’t exist if no one else could see them. There were too many losses this day. Too many losses for everyone in the whole world. The whole world. Everyone was dying. There was no rhyme or reason to it. Everyone. Dead. He rested his head on Josh’s shoulder and tried not to cry anymore. He was so tired of crying.

Soren watched Jacob examine the wound. “I’m sure it can’t be any worse than what I’ve dealt with before.” He gritted his teeth anyway in case he happened to not be able to handle it like he thought. If he could handle what he did today, some alcohol wipe should not be a problem. The sting did bite pretty hard and he held his breath so that he wouldn’t wince. He wanted to make sure he didn’t look weak or anything, though he wasn’t entirely certain why that would matter. He would not just someone else for that he didn’t think. He laughed at the story. “Sixteen, huh? That wasn’t too long ago for him. Good thing I’m a big boy, huh?” He chuckled a little and shook his head.
​