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Aspen looked at him, she turned his head to the side and examined it "its not to bad, just try not to fall asleep whenever you feel like it, only when you have to, and if you ever get dizzy, weak or anything along those lines, tell us, someone, anyone." She said quietly "and when you do sleep, try to stay semi sitting up." She added quickly.
"Okay…" Mori yawned and set his head back down on Lilac's shoulder with a soft sigh. "If it's my head that's hurt, then why does that make my stomach hurt too?" He asked tiredly.
"It's a lot easier to ignore that kinda thing when you're alone. But also harder, I guess…" Kas grew a bit confused, looking down at his knees. "No distractions, but… no distractions?"
Aspen smiled at the boy "you're probably just hungry, here…" she said slinging her backpack off her back and setting and can on cheddar pringles, and a slim jim next to him, on the floor "eat these." She said quietly, she pushed the bottle of water towards him, and took another full one out of her backpack "also be sure to drink plenty of liquids, specifically water." She said smiling at him "if you ever run outta food or water, come find me, I have all the junk food you'll love." she said, her hand to her mouth, and whispering.
Lilac and Bean laughed a little, with the younger sister still holding Mori as she sat down. “Yep. We’re here to help you, kid…” Bean smiled as Lilac continued to brush her fingers through Mori’s hair. Luka hugged Kas. “I understand…” he muttered, holding onto the other boy.
Aspen turned to Mordecai she asked "do you like exploring she asked, holding a small, clay made sword out to him "we can be knights, if you want, might take your mind of the pain." She added wistfully, smiling at him.
Mori accepted the food and started eating quietly after thanking Aspen, still seeming uneasy. "Why would my head make me throw up, though?" He asked. "I don't want it to do that…" He seemed confused at the question. "Exploring…? I guess…" He hesitantly accepted the little clay sculpture.
Kas kept staring down at his knees, fidgeting uneasily. "But you know. Apparently groups are better for survival, so…"
Aspen shook her head at Mordecai's statement "I don't think it'll make you throw up, unless you eat to much" she said, she smiled at him and stood up "so kid, whats your name?" she asked him smiling, she had an idea, a game she used to play with Ocean, her little sister, she just hoped it would work and cheer the kid up.
Lilac smiled and offered a couple seats in front of her and Mori. Bean nodded and sat down, dragging Aspen down with her. Lilac leaned back against the wall, glad that Mori was feeling a little better. Luka nodded. “They are…wanna head back inside?” he suggested. He was okay with staying outside but he also wanted to check on his sisters and Mori.
"Not the food… my head hurting made me throw up earlier." Mori replied weakly, eating a bit more of the food he'd been offered. "My name is Mordechai… but I just go by Mori."
"Uh… yeah, sure. If you want to." Kas tried to get up and swore, stumbling a bit. "Stupid leg… I'm gonna get sick of this real quick."
Aspen looked at him curiously, scrunching her eyebrows together in confusion. "Huh…. tell me Mori, did it taste like…blood? what did it taste like?" she asked him softly, her face full of worry.
Lilac was staying quiet. It seemed like she was thinking about something. Bean leaned against Aspen, sighing a little as she ruffled Mori’s hair. She didn’t ask why Aspen wanted to know if it tasted like blood because she had a feeling she wouldn’t like the answer. Luka got up as well and offered his hand to Kas, willing to help him back inside. “Yeah…” he nodded.
"I-I dunno… I don't remember." Mori replied quietly. "I don't think so? I just know that my head was hurting a lot and my body didn't like it, so I threw up."
Kas reluctantly accepted Luka's help and got up with a bit of struggle, managing to follow him inside.
Aspen unzipped her backpack, as she did, she said "well, just make sure you drink plenty water, and stayed as rested as possible" she placed some chapter books next to him, on the floor, the stack consisted of 'Flora and Ulysses' "The One And Only Ivan' 'Finding Serendipity' and 'Alice in Wonderland', all books she scavenged from home; books she had once read aloud to Ocean, for bedtime. "Here I think you'll like these, you can have someone read them to you." She added quietly.
Lilac nodded, smiling a little. “I can read them to you if you want,” she looked over to Mori, offering something for them both to do. Bean smiled softly. “And I’ll see what we can do when we eventually leave,” she stood up and walked off. Luka looked around and sighed with relief when he saw Mori and Lilac.
Aspen gave Lilac and Mori one last smile before following Bean, when she caught up to her she said "hey. you okay?" She asked her quietly, slipping her hand into Beans slowly.
Mori examined the books curiously, not quite sure what to make of them. "I'm not sure if I know how to read much… never had the time or opportunity." He hesitantly picked one of them up and opened it. Kas kept close to Luka, his pace pretty slow as he limped along.
“I can help you,” Lilac smiled. “Reading was something I did a lot of before this apocalypse,” she laughed as she ruffled Mori’s hair. Bean nodded, holding onto Aspen’s hand. “Y-Yeah…I’m just worried…” she muttered, looking away. “W-What if we can’t make it out of here?” she asked, fear breaking through her voice. Luka sat near Lilac and Mori. He helped Kas down as well.
"Okay…" Mori tried to read some of the words on the page, finding that he could understand some of it, but not much. Only very basic words made sense to him.
Kas carefully lowered himself to the floor with Luka's help, running his fingers through his hair. He was perfectly fine at reading, but had never particularly enjoyed it.
Aspen looked at Bean, "hey, hey hey…" she said quietly, stopping and turning to Bean, putting her hands on her shoulders "we'll get out of here, I promise." She said truthfully, when Bean turned away she put a hand to her cheek "look, I cant promise people many things, but if these people mean that much to you, I'll make sure they all get out safely." She said in a whisper.
Earl sat on the porch, smoking yet again. The stress of being in a group had, well, stressed him out. Despite how much he liked these people, he couldn't but feel like he should be with his sister, no one else and traveling the world in the apocalypse.
"Christ, I miss the old days. Didn't have to worry about zombies or where I'll sleep. Just taxes and hunting jobs." Earl sighed, starting to mull in his memories.
Rachel sipped some more coffee, wondering if she'll pass out from too much coffee.
"Although, maybe I should stop. Could have a heart attack, which is pretty bad."
Lilac started reading all of the words Mori didn’t understand and told him their definitions. She smiled softly as she softly rested her head on Mori’s. Luka leaned his head on Kas’s shoulder. Bean rested her hand on Aspen’s, eyes welling up with tears. “T-Thank you…T-Thank you so much….” she choked out as she wiped her eyes. She was definitely stressed about everything and needed a break. She touched her forehead to Aspen’s, smiling a little. “It means everything to me…”
Aspen used her thumbs to wipe the tears from her cheeks, and smiled as she looked into the other girls eyes "hey its the least I can do for you, after everything you've done for me." She whispered, giving a small laugh."God Bean, you're just so- you're so…fucking great." She said quietly.
Bean’s face flushed lightly as she smiled. “You’re amazing too…You have no idea how much this little mushroom means to me,” she whispered, pulling the clay mushroom out of her pocket. “It reminded me of my parents…and how life was so much simpler then…” she smiled softly before putting the mushroom away. She laughed a little. “Thank you…”
Mori read along with Lilac, seeming a bit nervous still. He was more focused on understanding the words than actually paying attention to whatever the book was about. Kas yawned and closed his eyes, resting his head against Luka's with a soft sigh.
Aspen smiled "no…thank you." She said quietly, rubbing her thumb repeatedly against the soft skin of her cheek, she continued to rest her forehead against Bean's, smiling softly at her. "I always thought I was gonna spend life alone, for…well ever. Then I met you, and everything changed, and I couldn't be more thankful for it." She whispered.