Noah came back 30 minutes later. He was sweaty and had all the basic necessities you need for a newborn. The pact set everything up and put things away; it was noon when they finished setting up. The guys were going everything for Jen, That's great but it was really getting under her skin.
"You know I can do things," she whispered, "just because I have a baby inside of me doesn't mean I can't hold my own. I can do everything you guys can"
They stared at one another for a while, Justin looked at her and nodded. He understood her. The teen gave his counterpart some things to do so she would feel more included. It wasn't much but it was something to do.
Everyone was sitting around the candles, there was nothing more to do. Justin thought this was a waiting game, you just wait and pray to God that everything goes okay. So many people have died already, less than half were alive. All the boy wanted to do was go home, go home, and forget everything that has happened. Waiting gave him extreme anxiety, he hated worrying every second of every day. Justin calmed himself down by doing his breathing exercises his therapist advised him to use. This looked weird to the others, granted they don't know about Justin's anxiety. It wasn't a bad thing at all, if anything it made him the best person for going on runs, but the three had no experience with anxiety.
Jen grabbed the notebook, that was placed in the center, and began to write. she flipped it back to the others, it read what did you think we would act like at first? . It took a few seconds for the boys to understand the question. One by one they started to share their answers and they passed the notebook around. Noah gave a chuckle while reading his, they thought he would be exactly like the stereotypes; most of them thought the others would be like the stereotypes. It gave all of them a quick chuckle, something to boost their spirits. He pact still had to wait out 3 more weeks of this hell.
Hours went by and everyone got bored of laying around. It was hard to just lay with nothing to do, sure there was drawing and writing but you could only take so much of that. For fun, they started to make a mail system of sorts to share with their new friends the Sodas. It was simple but efficient, in the kitchen they would place a box within one of the cabinets, and that would be the mailbox. Both sides would put their letters in and every day they would go and collect the mail. It eliminated the risk of being caught walking from one end of the building to the other. The mailbox cut the distance in half. Of course, they would have to teach the other pact how to use Lumna! They can't have anyone finding the letters and reading their plans. You can't trust anyone, they'll rat you out and send the predators to you.
Matthew was in charge of making the mailbox. He cut a box up to make it flat, then he cut on the lines to make squares and rectangles. After the cutting, he grabbed the ducted tape and taped too of the largest pieces to form a triangle without the bottom. Separately he cut out two triangles, the same size, to fit the sides of the larger ones. In the end, he had the finished mailbox. The team gave him a thumbs up and smiled wide; they were very proud of his work. Justin wrote down the lumna alphabet and wrote a letter explaining what it was and how to use it. Noah grabbed a colorful post-it and wrote go to the kitchen and look in the cabinet farthest to the left he gave it to Justin.
"Can you go out on this run? Try to find their door and put the sticky note on it." He whispered
"Umm.. okay" Justin's whole body shook but he agreed.
The boy prepared himself, with a box with the letters in hand he set out. Justin was shaking and breathing heavy, his footsteps were light; almost like a mouse and his feet had a drag to them. He made his way to the kitchen and counted the cabinets to find the one farthest to the left. Once he did he opened it up and slid the box in on a diagonal, then he closed the door with carefulness and made his way to do the hardest task. Finding the other pact.
Justin maintained his wariness and kept his footsteps light. Whenever he heard a slight creak he would find a place to hide and wait out for a few minutes. This made his search longer but the boy did not mind, and his team wouldn't have minded either. He made his way through the basement and opened almost every door on the first floor. Sometimes he would find abandoned supplies, or another team, sometimes even solo people! But he hated finding dead bodies, and they were everywhere; rotting away. It smelled horrendous, not even the masks he made could block the stench. Justin stuck to breathing out of his mouth, it made the smell more bearable.
However, nothing stopped him from completing this mission. The old Justin would have cowered in fear and would have never gone out, the new Justin was determined to keep his teammates safe. Sure he was still scared of so many things but at least he had a purpose for going out. He had a purpose to risk it all, he had a drive, and that's what kept him safe. His one objective was to keep everyone safe.
After hours of walking around, opening doors, and hiding he found their door. It was well into the night, Devon opened up and rubbed his eyes to wake himself. Justin handed the older man the bright post it and waited for a response.