Chapter 11 (My Beautiful Sunshine)

Chapter 11: My Beautiful Sunshine

Narrator (no one)

July 2022

About 2 months after outbreak

Ohio

Season 2

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"Cole, I don't wanna leave these people, man, but I gotta go find Annie. My mom can't take care of her; she's probably scared to death."

"You have every right to leave; she needs you, Mav. If these people can't understand that, then why are we hanging out with them in the first place?"

"They all freaked out when that kid left; they'll probably do the same again and end up getting themselves killed."

"Annie needs her brother; I'll go with you so you won't be the only one they get pissed at. They can handle themselves; we aren't responsible for them."

Maverick Hundall and Cole Ericson left the group that night. They knew their actions would have consequences, but worrying about that wasn't important to them at the moment. Maverick didn't know where Annie was, but he was determined with every bone in his body to find her, and he hoped it wasn't too late.

Maverick and Annie were half siblings; they shared the same mother, but their fathers had both left before they were born. Annie was seven years younger than Maverick, and Maverick swore the day she was born in her grandfather's bathtub that he would always protect her.

Maverick and Cole became friends at the end of middle school, practically brothers, inseparable. When they got to their freshman year of high school, Annie was diagnosed with leukemia, and that day Cole decided he would do anything for her too.

Annie and Maverick's mother wasn't the greatest; she was stressed with medical bills and even considered letting her daughter die many times because she couldn't afford her treatment. When the outbreak happened, Lucy, their mother, ran away, leaving Annie home alone. She knew what she was doing, and she did it anyway. Maverick knows she's dead; she could never survive this world, but if she miraculously wasn't, he would never forgive her and probably murder her himself.

Cole drove them to Maverick's house. The door was wide open, and the lights were off. Cole felt a lump in his throat, knowing exactly what had happened, and wasn't sure if he should hold his best friend back from the sight or not.

"Annie? Annie! Cole, why's the door open? Where is she?"

"Maverick, maybe we should-"

"Annie!"