9

post apocalypse begins

After a while of driving on a road leading back towards the mainland, the wagon began slowing to a halt, signaling Zumwraek to come to a sudden stop as well. He climbed off the back end and waited for everyone else to exit as well before walking over to where they were standing. Everyone except for Moomin were standing next to each other, each of them waiting for instructions. Zumwraek took a deep breath before speaking.

"Everyone," he addressed them. "We're gonna rest for a little bit. I think we've earned it." Zumwraek gave a small smile and looked pointedly at Moomin, hoping that he understood his message perfectly. The boy had been silent since they'd arrived on the island, seemingly too exhausted to talk, despite the fact that everyone else had tried their best to cheer him up as much as they could. Even Kari had managed to cheer him up once she noticed that he hadn't eaten his meal yet, something which had shocked Zumwraek to no end. She usually wasn't one to bother with him unless he was hungry or needed food, but that day she had offered him some bread as she had noticed that he was still upset from earlier. He knew Moomin liked sweets so he had taken it gratefully. The boys had done the same to them and they had accepted them graciously as well, giving them both small smiles as they thanked them for the food. He hoped that this meant that they wouldn't have to eat bread for a while, they'd been deprived of food for far too long.

Moomin nodded slightly as Zumwraek gestured for everyone to go back inside the wagon and prepare the beds in order to sleep. While the boys were busy doing so Zumwraek made sure that Moomin was okay and that he was sleeping peacefully. Once they were finished and the bedding was ready Zumwraek told everybody to stay put and wait for him as he went in to the front of the wagon to check on his mother.

He walked up to her side who still sat huddled in a corner of the wagon, her head hung low as tears dripped down her cheeks silently. Her eyes were bloodshot, her cheeks and lips stained red from all the times that she must have been rubbing at them in order to dry them.

"You okay, mum?" he asked her quietly. His tone was gentle, kinder than he had spoken all day but it was still cautious in case she lashed out at him. However, she just nodded her head as she stared blankly ahead. He knew why. It had been a few hours since they'd entered that awful place and he'd said nothing since then to encourage her to speak or tell her how she felt. She knew that he wanted to comfort her, but he couldn't do anything about her current state of mind. And he hated that he wasn't able to fix it.

As Zumwraek continued to observe her, concern written all across his face, his eyes moved down to her shaking, quivering body. His eyes travelled downwards as her hands rested heavily against her stomach, clenching and unclenching nervously as the tremors wracked through her. Her breathing was shallow and slow, and he worried that she may pass out at any minute. He had a feeling that if she fell asleep while on watch he wasn't going to be able to wake her up. So he did the only thing that he could think to do. He took her hand in his own, interlocking his fingers between hers and brought her hand to his forehead so that he could kiss it gently.

His eyes glanced upwards from where he'd been looking at her hand resting in his as he watched Zommie approach him and sit beside him.

"Hey, you guys alright?" Zommie asked quietly, casting a glance towards Moomin to reassure himself that he was fine.