Chapter 7

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"ALIANA!!!" I yelled as my cousin slapped the back of my head and rode off.

I got on the bike again and rode off after her. We stopped at Melanie's house again a little while later, and I felt like my legs were gonna give in from all the paddling.

I slapped the back of Aliana's head and with as much speed as my tired legs allowed, I ran inside.

Closing the door, I ran into the kitchen giggling as Aliana opened the door and walked in.

"Get the fudge back here, no one gets away from me after slapping me!" She said with a big laugh.

I stifled a laugh and ran out when she wasn't looking.

As I ran out looking behind me, I slipped on a twig and fell face forward onto the driveway.

Somebody caught me before I hit the ground. Thank my lucky stars.

I looked up to see that it was Felix's friend that had caught me. What was his name again? Mark? No Marcus, I think.

"Uhmm, thanks." I said standing straight.

"No problem, but you should be more careful." He said with a smile.

"Haha, I will." I said and started running in the opposite direction as Aliana came back outside and started running after me again.

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I sat in the lounge a small while later, picking up a glass of water and sipping on my glass as I looked ahead at Marcus who was sitting opposite me.

I gestured for him to drink a glass of water, as I put down my empty glass.

I got up a little while later and went to get my notepad from the kitchen.

Walking back, I sat down on the couch again and opened my notepad again. I scribbled Marcus' name in the list of council members and handed it to him to look over.

"If you don't mind, can we use your house as the council meeting area, teaching zone, and medical care zone?" I requested, picking up a sandwich and biting on it.

"Of course. You can also add me as one of the medical counselors, I had taken a lot of medical lessons in the last two years." He stated and handed me back the notepad.

"Understood." I said and added his name to the list of medical counselors.

We sat in silence until Melanie and Felix arrived.

"Hey, Avery. Help me, carry all this inside." Melanie said staring at me with annoyance.

"I told you that I'll do it myself, It's not my fault you didn't listen." I said standing up and walking toward the door.

"Do you need any help?" Marcus asked standing up.

"No need, I can handle it." I said and walked out behind Melanie.

*sigh* "How much did you even pack?" Melanie asked as she looked over at the multiple bags of things across her driveway.

"Uhmm, Mel?" I called out to her looking at all the bags she had brought over from my house.

"What?" she asked looking at me with a raised brow.

"More than half of these have to be stored back there.." I started as I looked at her pointedly.

"What?!"

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It was nighttime by now. I lay in bed next to Melanie who was snoring loudly tonight. She must have been exhausted from carrying all those bags back and forth earlier today.

I on the other hand had been banned from going outside for a while because of my continuous coughing. *cough cough* Speak of the devil.

I tried to limit my coughing as I lay there, thinking about what we were gonna do tomorrow. It felt like the problem had been settled.

Everyone just needed to settle down... I felt like I was forgetting something.. What was it?

We have everyone in our neighborhood safe and under secure eyes, so what was I missing..

I had a strange feeling it was something crucial.

I sat up and got off the bed. Pacing across the room, I tried to gather my thoughts. What else had I thought about?

I hit my head in frustration a few times as I tried to remember what it was.

Kids. What else?

Kids..... And babies! Oh my frick, the hospitals..!

I went over to the bags containing my stuff and took out a hoodie. Putting it on over my nightgown and pulled up a pair of jeans over my pajamas.

Putting on my sneakers by the door, I snuck out of the room and walked downstairs into the kitchen.

Taking out a few bottles, I washed them and put them on the counter as I warmed up the milk.

Pouring the milk into the bottles, I closed them all up and put them into a bag.

Walking out I was about to open the door when I heard a rough voice speak from behind me.

"Where are you going, Avery?" Marcus asked standing next to the couch with his arms crossed over his chest. "Didn't I tell you to stay inside for a while?"

"I know you did, but this is important." I said opening the door and stepping out when he grabbed my wrist to stop me.

"What could be more important than your health?" he questioned pulling me away from the open door.

"I may have forgotten that there's still some other types of kids left to rescue." I said trying to shake his hand off but his grip was firm.

"Who did you forget? Me and Felix can go get them." he said with a small sigh.

"The newborns.." I let out and his face showed more frustration.

"Were you planning on going to every hospital or something?" he said sarcastically. "Stay here. I'll get ready and then get Felix. We'll take care of it." he said dragging me over to the couch.

"They could be dead by the time you guys have gotten ready!" I said as I stared at his retreating back.

"They could all be possibly dead even if we get there five minutes from now." he said and disappeared upstairs.

I gaped at his statement and did my best not to think about what he'd just said.

I stood up a minute later and went to warm up the milk again.

As Marcus stepped down a second later, I handed him the bag with the bottles of milk.

"Take these with you." I said and stood back next to the kitchen door.

"I'll be back in less than an hour. Do not leave the house." he commanded and stepped out of the door.

"Yes, sir." I grumbled behind him.

He closed the door behind him, and I watched him as he left from the window.

"I'm gonna go get Melanie now." I mumbled with a smile.

"Hehe."