Dawn's POV

The day had been passing by in a blur.

It scared me a little because I knew that I had to make a decision by the end of today.

The decision that would most definitely change my life.

When I had told Asher and Julia, they laughed at first, but when I told them I didn't know what I planed on doing yet, they both freaked out. They thought it was a terrible idea to join a gang, and that I should stick with them.

"What do you mean, stick with you?" I asked them.

They looked at each other with a guilty look, and I knew they had been talking when I was gone.

"We made a decision when you were gone Dawn," Asher explained while taking the initial blame I guess you could say.

"We decided that we can't stay here anymore with the gangs becoming more present," Julia added. "We're leaving tomorrow."

My stomach started to flutter with butterflies as I got nervous. They just added on to the level of difficulty in the decision I had to make.

Either I stayed with my friends and we moved along and found a new place to go, or I abandoned them to join a dangerous and violent gang.

I realized that the bags I had tripped over last night had been all their stuff packed up and ready to go for tomorrow.

Feeling an overwhelming surge of emotions, I ran out of our apartment saying that I'd be in the other apartment on watch.

Neither Asher nor Julia followed me in there, and I had been alone since then.

I looked out the now board-less window to see if anything had changed, but everything was the same. The alley was still empty and nothing but gusts of wind made any noise.

Sighing I sat down in a torn up chair I had picked up and I started thinking about The Midnight Mafia.

I decided the best way to choose whether to stay or go, would be to weigh the pros and cons of joining or going with Asher and Julia.

Standing up, I took my knife out of its holder and first carved a M in the floor with a line under it. Then a little bit to the right of the M I carved a F. It also had a small thin line under it.

If I stay I have my friends, but If I go, I meet more people.

Mafia-1 Friends-1

Pacing began in front of the two letters, me thinking about anything and everything that involved both sides of my decision.

By the time I was done, there were five thin lines under the M and only three under the F.

I sighed and pushed my hair out of my face. My decision had been made. To be honest, I think I had known since I was offered, but I was one hundred percent sure now.

Sitting back down in the chair, my legs hung over the armrest. I stared blankly at the window thinking about my final decision.

I was going to join The Midnight Mafia.

* * * *

Later that night, I was still debating on how to tell Julia and Asher that I was leaving them.We were all sitting on the couch eating soup from our cans.

"Dawn?" Asher asked as he cut the silence that had settled around us..

I looked up at him from my can. I had just put a spoonful of soup in my mouth so I couldn't answer him verbally.

"Julia and I were talking," Asher started to say.

I was tempted to roll my eyes. Even though they were my best friends, I was frustrated that they were constantly talking about important decisions without me. I knew they were talking about me most of the time anyways.

"We know that you are truly thinking about this offer," he continued nervously. His eyes flicked off to Julia's, then back to mine. "And we decided that the best way for you to tell us you decision, is to either come with us when we leave at noon tomorrow, or stay so you can meet Jake again"

He said Jake's name bitterly, and I knew that they were both really hoping I'd stay. That thought made my heart sink a little, and I felt bad for being tempted to roll my eyes at him. They were just trying to make it easier for me.

"Also," Julia added on while tearing up a little. "Whatever you choose, we will always be your friends, and we will accept your decision even though it may take you away from us."

I felt the tears start to well up in my eyes too, but I pushed them back down. I didn't want them to know I had decided yet.

Placing my now empty soup can along with my spoon on the coffee table, I got up and walked over to where Asher and Julia were sitting.

I stood there for a moment, then I bent down and enveloped them in a hug and whispered "Thank you" to both of them.

When I let go of them and backed off, they both smiled at me. I picked up my can off the table and walked into the kitchen to throw it away. I tossed my spoon in the sink and walked over to our bedroom.

"I'm going to pack for tomorrow," I said. I didn't want to give anything away. "Then I'm going to bed."

They both nodded and said "Goodnight" as I retreated into our room.

I took a deep breath and walked over to my bed. I picked up my backpack off the floor, and unzipped one of the bigger pockets.

Remembering what Jake had said about not needing clothes or food, I set my bag back on the ground. I really didn't know what to bring.

I started going through all my stuff to see what I had of value to me.I searched through all my dresser drawers, and even the closet, but I couldn't find anything significantly important to me.

Glancing over at my bedside table, I walked over to it. I had decided to go through it last, and when I opened the drawer, I knew I definitely wouldn't be needing a bag.

I realized I had kept all the stuff that was important to me in this drawer, and it wasn't much. I rummaged through it and found my locket. I slowly took it out and popped it open. I had a picture of my mom and dad on one side, and a picture of my sister on the other.

I quickly closed it before the water works started up. I hadn't really cried in a long time.

Putting the necklace on, I kept searching through the drawer. The only other things in there were my pistol, some ammo and some old newspapers from the early days of the plague. I decided to keep my gun in there until tomorrow, so I closed the drawer and climbed into bed.

I chose against putting on pajamas, because It didn't really matter what happened to my clothes tomorrow. I just slept in the dirty pair I had on.

The ceiling stared at me for awhile, and I stared back at it. Letting my mind wander to all sorts of places. It made me smile a little.

My new life started tomorrow. One with action, adventure, and danger.

I closed my eyes and started slowly counting down from one hundred so I could go to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be an emotional roller coaster, and I needed to prepare myself for it.

I only made it to seventy seven before I fell into another dreamless sleep.

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Hi everyone! Dawn has made her choice and I don't think it surprised many of you!

Thank you again for reading! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! I promise there's plenty more to come!

Please consider giving this chapter a vote if you liked it! And feel free to leave thoughts and feedback in the comments to let me know what you thought of this chapter or even just the story in general!

- Delaney :)