I look over to Alexia, who’s curled up on the side of the couch and playing with her hands. I was surprised when I woke up to find her cuddled up around me asleep. But that being said, I need to be careful these next few days. I do wish for her to fall in love with me, but with an apocalypse, it’s going to be hard to separate actual love and a Hero Syndrome. I’ve read about it in a psychology book that I found in this library. The Hero Syndrome in layman's terms is the rescuee falls in love with rescuer or hero. Now that might sound good and all at the moment, but falling in love for the sole reason of them saving you, that love isn’t going to last for very long. I’ll just have to keep enough distance that I can in this environment and see how things go.

My head is throbbing and my body is stiff and sore. Probably from being smashed into the wall earlier. Also there are a few places on my body that feel like it’s sunburned, I need to see how bad it really is. I look down at my body, (I also need a change of clothes). (I need to get a good look at my whole body) I glance over at Alexia, she sees me and looks away nervously (nope, can’t ask her for the time being. Wish Doug was up here, also it would just feel weird to have Helen do it) “I’m assuming the packs are out and ready to go” I ask Alexia, my voice still raspy (I’ll need some water too). “Yeah, they’re over there” she reaches her hand out and points to the other side of me, the packs are only a few feet away from the couch. I scoot to the edge of the couch with some effort, (This is going to be a fun time). “Could you hand me that bottle?” I point the bottle I had drunk out of before. She crawls to the edge, grabs the bottle and crawls over to me. I take it then try to get up with several moans, my muscles scream in protest. (Yep that’s what I thought) I smile to myself, “Do you need any help?” Alexia asks beside me with a worried face. “You make me sound like an old man. I’m not there just yet” I joke towards her, she gives me a disappointed look. I grunt and shake my head, I pat her leg “I’m fine, I just need to work my muscles or they’ll be sore for a lot longer than necessary” I push off of her leg and make it to my feet, (could have been worse) I shrug to myself, just have to stretch it out. “Are you sure you don’t want my help?” she asks again hearing my pain. “I need to do a thorough body examination, meaning I have to check every bit of my body. But by all means you welcome to come along for the ride.” She blushes and quickly looks down at the couch, “relax, that was just a joke. But if Doug comes up while I’m gone, send him to the restrooms. I may need him to apply some ointment”. With that she looks worried again, “It’s okay, I’m going to be fine. From what I can feel, it’s only like a bad sunburn. It won’t take that look to heal up.” And with that I grab my pack I made a while back, I head to the restroom. Grunting and moaning on the way.

I stood in front of the mirror looking at my dirty face,(looks like someone tried to rub some of it off). My shirt was off so I could look at the front and back of my torso, which had reddened in some parts of my chest, stomach, and arms. It seemed I didn’t get burned anywhere past my abdomen which is good considering what I had gone through. From what I could see of my back, it didn’t get burned, I’m assuming since I was against the wall that was considerable cooler than the room itself that it didn’t do anything to my back. I got some lotion out of the pack and rubbed it around the red areas, while I let it be absorbed, I grabbed some paper towels and begun to was my face as good as I could. I put a new shirt and threw out my jeans, the shirt can be used as rags and everything else wasn’t damaged. I only have one extra pair of clothes inside the pack now, I’ll just have to see what they find and if they know how to wash clothes my hand. I grab my pack and my old shirt then head back out to the library.

When I get back to the couch Alexia is laying down on her side, fast asleep. (A lot has happened emotionally for her and cried a lot too. That takes a lot out of someone) I lean my pack up against the corner of the couch. I sit on the edge of the couch beside her, I use my fingers to move the strands of hair from her eyes. Her eyes are really red from crying so much, not to mention how puffy they are. I unzip my pack slowly as not to wake her up, I grab another bottle, scissors, a band-aid, gauze, and some antibiotic cream. I put the bottle down on the ground for later, I use the scissors to cut out some of the burned areas of the shirt, then cut the rest into strips. I lay two strips down on the couch beside everything else and put the rest into my pack. I pick up her left arm, which is on top, and examine it. (Just as I expected and thought I saw earlier) her wrists are red from the tie and bits of the wrist is scratched up from the railing. I grab her forearm and slid the sleeve past her elbow. She wakes up from the movement, “hmm… What are you doing?” Alexia mumbles. “I noticed your wrists were a little injured, so I’m patching them up” I reply, “They aren’t that bad” she said back, still not opening her eyes. “Maybe not, but I want you to be in pristine condition ma belle” I say grinning, maybe hoping to get another reaction like before. Don’t know if she caught it since she didn’t react to it. I hold her hand with one of my hands and rub the cream on with the other, she makes a fist from the pain and stinging. I put a gauze pad over the scraps and take one of the rags and tie it around her wrist. I look at the other hand, “Could I have you sit up? Or else the other one is going to be tricky. Also you need to hydrate yourself, so yes sit up for me” “ugh” I hear her groan. I help sit her up, in the fading light of the day I can see her pale face. “Are you feeling okay?” I ask, “I’m just tired, and slightly hungry” she replies sluggishly. “For now drink this, and I’ll get you some food after I finish up with this wrap” I put the bottle in the hand that I already wrapped up. I stare at her with pressed lips for a moment, “What’s up?” I hear Doug say as he comes up. “Oh nothing a little rest can’t solve” I say while still looking at her face. I take her other hand and begin to wrap it, “So. How’d it go? Find anything of use” “Nope. Everything has been turned into a crisp” he replied, “Figures. I didn’t have much hope for it when I shut that first door”. “So… Are we going to be alright for tonight?” “I imagine tonight should be fine. The lamps had half a day to charge beforehand, so they should last through the night. Also it’ll take the creatures a while to stumble back over here since it’s been a no go for so long already. But if you want to make sure, you can set up a fire outside on the stairs or something.” I reply to his question. “That’s okay, I’ll take your word for it” he gives a sigh. I get done with the wrapping and put everything away into my pack, I grab out some chips and jerky. I notice Alexia staring at me with blank eyes, I open the bag of jerky and take a piece out. I hold the side of her neck and head with my hand, “Hey, are you doing alright?” I ask Alexia. “Mmhmm” she hums, “well open your mouth and take this” she focuses on my hand and opens her mouth. I put the piece of jerky into her mouth and she begins to chew it, “Here’s everything else” I put the bag and chips on her lap while she begins to eat. I sit beside her and take a swig from my bottle. “So. What are you planning on doing now?” I look at the couple, Doug sifts his feet “Well… Before having found this place, we were heading to Boise in Idaho, which is directly across the patch of National Forests from here. We had heard that there was people there trying to reestablish the town, though I don’t know if it was true or if it’s still there. We decided to stay here since it was in fact stable and that we knew it was. But now, I guess we’ll just go back to the original plan.” “Boise huh” I respond. “Well, at least that’s the plan for us. What are you going to do? I mean, you’re welcome to come along with us. I know the skills you have will definitely help, and I can’t imagine what being alone is like.” “Boise, mmm… How do you plan on getting there?” I ask. “Walking of course” I roll my eyes, “you know what I mean”. “I was planning on taking route 12 until halfway through the forest, then trekking through trees and mountains the rest of the way.” I give a puzzled look “Wouldn’t it be easier to use the roads all the way” He just smiles at me. “Let’s just say, the only time the creatures are truly troublesome is at night when we’re trying to sleep. The rest of the time, it’s the humans that are the danger to us. Which you got a tiny taste of it today. But trust me, it’ll be safer to venture where the rest of people don’t very care to go”. “Okay then. Well I suggest everyone getting a good nights sleep then, we should get an early start tomorrow” I look over to Alexia who had finished her food while we were talking and is now laying back down, awkwardly since I’m in the way.

I stand up, easier than the first time since my muscles stretch out most of the soreness throughout my activities. I grab my pack and put it with the rest of them, I then open the one we made for Alexia and pulled out a blanket. I walked back over to the couch and threw the blanket onto it. I slid my arms under Alexia and picked her up princess style, “What are you doing?” Helen asked. “Moving her to the smaller couch. You two can take this one since it’s bigger” I walk over to the only other couch. “Where do you plan on sleeping?” Helen asked another question. “Mmm, don’t know” I shrug, she raised an eyebrow. “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on sleeping with her” I say (even thought she technically slept with me already. But no way I’m going to bring that up). “I’ll figure something out” I walk back over to the bigger couch and grab the blanket I threw on there. I walk back over to Alexia while unfolding the blanket, these things are almost like thermal blankets, they are light and thin but sure keep in the heat. I fling one side of it in the air and let it fall over her body. “You two need to get something to eat and drink too before you go to bed” I point at the both of them. I walk to the packs and crouch down next to the one that was made for Lisa, (might as well get everything sorted out from her’s. We’ll need everything we can get our hands on).

Once I’m finished with the packs I grab myself a blanket and a sleeping bag. Helen had grabbed a blanket from her pack and the both of them are laying on the couch. I toss the items on the ground next to the couch Alexia’s on, I go to find a bean bag in the corner. I situate everything in a way that will hopefully be somewhat comfortable, I would use a cushioned chair but I’ve never been able to sleep properly sitting up. The reason why I’m sleeping by Alexia is to check up on her if I do end up waking up during the night. I’m sure her being pale and sluggish is fatigue, but you can never be to cautious in this world that we live in now. I’ve already had something to eat when I was sorting the packs, so ready to sleep.

I lay down on the sleeping bag and against the bean bag. I get as comfortable as I think I can given the position, (I’m starting to regret the idea of staying away from Alexia. One last cushioned night would’ve been nice. But if all goes well, I will see cushions again in the future. And maybe a place beside Alexia too). “Good Night, ma belle nouvelle famille trouvé” I say as I drift off into oblivion.