It took a long talk with Jen, the little girl we found in the woods, to convince her to come with us. I knew it wouldn't be easy. 

I didn't want her to feel forced to leave with us; practically strangers to her. But at the same time, we couldn't leave them there. Will, her little brother, would probably need more medicine in the upcoming days, and if they stayed here, what would happen then?

When Heather picked up Will to place him in the harness she had built, Jen immediately tried to pull him back to the ground. But she calmed down once she saw how comfortable he was with her. Will was her first and only concern. I respected that; he was the only thing she had and I knew that feeling very well. 

Once I felt Jen was ready, I offered her my hand. After a brief moment of hesitation, she took it, and we started walking back to where Stella and Beverly awaited us.

"How old are you, Jen?" I asked.

"Seven and a half." She said, swinging our hands.

"Wow, seven is a great age," I said with a smile. "Do you have a favorite game you like to play?" I wanted her to relax, to feel safe. Maybe a casual talk would help ease the tension and allow us to get to know each other better.

Jen thought for a moment. "I like playing hide and seek, but Will isn't very good at hiding." She said, glancing at her brother in the harness with a hint of a smile.

"He'll get better as he gets older," Heather said, overhearing our conversation. "I bet you're a great big sister, teaching him all sorts of things."

I threw a smile at Heather. She was also trying to make Jen feel comfortable with us. It warmed my heart to see that not only had she changed her mind about taking the kids, but she was also jumping right in and helping them feel comfortable with us. 

Jen's face lit up with pride. "I try. He likes it when I make silly faces at him."

"Really? What kind of faces?" I asked curious.

Jen giggled. "Like this!" She scrunched up her face, puffing out her cheeks and crossing her eyes. I couldn't help but laugh.

"That's a good one!" I said. "Do you have any others?"

Jen nodded eagerly and showed us a few more funny faces, each one making us laugh more than the last.

"Now you!" Jen said to me.

Heather's eyes darted to me with expectation, a funny smile on her face.

"You have set the bar very high, but I can try." I said.

I scrunched up my face, attempting to puff out my cheeks and cross my eyes just like she had done. Heather burst out laughing, melting with Jen's.

"Okay, okay. You can stop now." I teased, watching their laughter stretch endlessly. But there was no sign of it stopping. "Hello? Starting to feel a bit offended." I joked, but it only led to another round of giggles from both of them.

Suddenly, Will popped his head up from the harness.

"Look who's awake." Heather said, glancing at him. His brown eyes scanned the surroundings, curious about the sudden burst of laughter.

"Willy!" Jen exclaimed, hurrying over to Heather. She brought her nose close to his, and he giggled in response.

"I think he's feeling much better." I said, admiring his beautiful brown eyes.

"He sure does." Heather agreed.

I reached out and tickled his tiny toes. "Hey there, little buddy."

Will's giggles filled the air.

"He's such a cutie." Heather said, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Will.

"Do you have a soft spot for babies?" I teased.

"What? No. Of course not." She replied a bit too quickly.

"Come on. You made that harness in less than a second." I continued, a grin spreading across my face.

Jen jumped in, giggling. "Yeah, and it's a very well-made harness." She touched it and stretched the fabric as if testing its durability.

Heather's face turned a slight shade of pink. "I did it because we needed something to carry him, not for anything else." She said defensively.

"Sure, sure..." I said, backing off with a smirk. "But you know... it suits you." I whispered, leaning in conspiratorially.

Heather raised an eyebrow, then flicked my forehead playfully. "Shut up."

After another ten minutes of jokes, laughs, and Jen making silly faces at Will, we spotted Stella in the distance. She stood up and gazed at us, her eyes focusing on the kids, a shocked expression growing on her face. Shit.

"What the hell?!" She yelled.

Jen hid behind me, scared as we approached her.

"It's a long story." I said before she could explode.

"Have you gone crazy?" Stella couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Heather pulled Will out of the harness under Stella's awestruck gaze. "Keep calm and hold him for a minute, please." She said, handing Will to Stella, who held him awkwardly as if he were a potato sack.

"Who are they?!" Stella exclaimed, looking at Will as if he were an alien.

Heather ignored her and set the medical box on the ground, focused on finding the medication for Bev, who was leaning against a tree, her eyes half-closed.

"Bev? How are you feeling?" I asked, touching her forehead. She was quite warm, but not as hot as this morning.

She gazed at me and then at the kids. "Am I hallucinating, or did you just go and adopt two kids?" She said in a weak voice.

I let out a chuckle. "You're not seeing things, but we didn't exactly adopt them either."

She sight. "What a shame, you all look so adorable together, like a real family." Bev said, glancing at the harness Heather still wore.

"Now I really think you're seeing things." I joked.

Heather chimed in while handing me the syringe already charged with the antibiotic. "We found them alone and couldn't just leave them there."

Jen looked up at Stella with wide eyes. "What's your name?" She asked, her voice small and shy.

"Oh... It's... Stella." She said, looking uncomfortable.

"Can you give me my brother back?" Jen asked politely.

Stella handed Will to Jen, and they both sat on the floor.

Stella sighed. "We can't keep them." She whispered, trying not to let Jen hear her.

"They are humans, Stella, not pets, we won't keep them." I said firmly. "We'll drop them off in the nearest town, that's it." I explained.

"Since when do you make all the decisions here?" Stella asked angrily.

"Since you seem to have no empathy at all. You're a mother, for God's sake, what would you have done?" I raised my voice a bit, my hand trembling with the syringe. Heather noticed and held it softly.

"Grace, I'll do it." She said, taking the syringe.

Gently, she peeled back the bandage covering Bev's wound and administered the shot with precision and care. Then, she left the empty syringe and stood up, facing Stella.

"This isn't going to affect the mission. We know there's a town nearby. We need to pass through it. We'll make a stop to leave the kids there." Heather said with such certainty that Stella seemed to calm down.

Jen moved closer to Beverly, holding Will. "Are you sick?" She asked.

"No, just pretending to annoy my friends, but don't tell them." Beverly said, blinking at her.

Jen giggled."Your hair is soooo cool," she said, touching a red curl that had fallen on Beverly's face. Will looked her up and down, then leaned in, trying to steal the aviator glasses from her head.

Beverly chuckled weakly, pulling out her glasses and handing them to Will. "Thanks, I like you too kiddos."

Stella observed the scene reflectively, then let out a sigh and turned back to us. "Fine. But we have to be quick." she said.

"We will." I assured her.

But as much as we wanted to wrap up "the kid's mission" quickly, we couldn't rush Beverly's recovery. It took three days before we began to see signs of her strength returning. During this time, we relocated our campsite multiple times to avoid attracting any unwanted attention, and so far, our precautions had paid off.

Will seemed to bounce back remarkably quickly, almost as if being with us had infused him with new energy. He was practically glued to Heather, or should I say Heather was practically glued to him? She'd kill me if I said so. But the reality was that Heather was the only one who could calm him down, besides his sister.

And speaking of his sister, Jen was starting to show her real personality. Extremely energetic, always jumping around like a little monkey, doing silly things, singing, and inventing little toys with anything she found in the woods.

I noticed she also talked to herself a lot, which made me think that she had been quite alone for a long time. It broke my heart a little, knowing she'd had to entertain herself for who knows how long before we stumbled upon her. But seeing her open up and let her true self shine through, it was like watching a flower bloom after a long winter.

Once Beverly was back on her feet, we headed to the nearest town. She still wasn't at one hundred percent, but she insisted on starting to move. With short breaks and the medication, she could handle long walks without any problem. As we neared the town, red flags with a black-winged emblem hung ominously from the trees. Heather and I exchanged a concerned glance.

"We're in Phoenix territory," Stella stated. "Which is weird. I've checked the map a hundred times. The Phoenix group should only control the upper west side."

"Seems they've spread out farther than we thought." Beverly chimed in.

"As long as they don't recognize us, we'll be ok." I said.

"Yeah, and now with these two, we couldn't blend in more if we tried." Beverly said, glancing at Jen, who was happily trotting ahead of us, playing with a stick. Will on the other hand was asleep, looking like an angel, on Heather's chest.

As we gradually left the woods, a dirt path emerged, guiding us toward the town's entrance. Ironically, there was a small wall, about three meters high, encircling it. No way of escaping walls in this world I guess...

Jen sprinted towards what seemed to be the entrance when suddenly, a threatening voice erupted.

"You, kid, stop!" A man sitting in a small house next to the entrance of the town rushed over to where Jen was.

Jen jumped, startled, and darted back to me, seeking refuge.

"Calm down everyone." Heather whispered to us.

"Who's going to talk?" Stella said.

"I'll handle it." I said, trying to steady my nerves.

The man gazed at us, positioning himself in front of the town's entrance. He didn't wear any uniform, no signs of red-winged emblems; he was clearly not a member of the Phoenix Group. But he did wear a large shotgun.  

If we could slip inside the town, maybe Jen and Will could find safety, and that would allow us to resume our mission. But doing that meant letting ourselves be seen, and that carried a great risk. I filled my lungs with air before speaking; everything was in my hands now. I had to convince him to let us in and, most importantly, to forget us once we were inside.

Author's Note:

Hey lovely people! Thanks for reading, you are the best, truly. I have been thinking a lot about babies since Will and Jen appeared. I happen to adore them. Do you guys have babies around? (I don't, sadly) Do you like them? 💖

Thanks for reading and leaving your votes and comments. It makes my day!!

Love ya! 💖

Ava 💫