Chapter Text
Deep breaths, that's what she keeps telling herself. Keep her breathing steady, and it will keep her mind off her growling stomach and injured arm. Deep breaths to keep her mind off the fact that they're low on food and medicine, and the younger kids are getting scared. Deep breaths to push down the fear she's feeling, to focus on keeping the other kids safe until Jay and Kevin get back.
Jay and Kevin have been gone since early morning. It's mid-afternoon now. She's done everything she could think of to entertain the kids. Now they're hungry and starting to realize rations are meager. Not enough for all of them, not enough to make it until the end of the day. When that realization washed over the kids, she had to watch and feel as the fear and dread came over them. Were they going to end up dead like their parents? They survived the soldiers; now starvation is going to take them out?
She felt a slight twinge in her arm, a wince coming across the eleven-year-old's features. Her left forearm was injured thanks to a soldier. It's because of her injury that medicine has been steadily declining.
God, where are Jay and Kevin? Why haven't they come back? Did the soldiers get them?
Ozzie shook her head. They promised to come back. Jay always promises to come back. He's never broken a single promise. And Kevin. They've already lost so many. Ozzie can't lose anyone else.
It started with the food shortage. Then the soldiers became more and more frequent. Then the shootings started. Ozzie's home had been one of many that had been stormed by the soldiers. They gunned her mother and stepfather down right in front of her, a stray bullet grazing the young girl's arm. She played dead until the soldiers left. The injury was relatively deep, and there seemed to be a lot of blood. But Ozzie was also covered in her parents' blood, so it didn't sink in right away that she was injured.
Jay had found Ozzie—he was her neighbor, her best friend. Her only friend. He saw the young girl sitting over her parents' bodies, crying. His aunt and uncle were killed, too. He didn't give himself time to grieve, not when they were still in danger. He got his friend out and took her to a hiding spot he'd found, a cave a couple of miles away from their homes. It took Ozzie a couple of minutes to realize she'd been injured. The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and her arm began to hurt. The pain snapped her back to reality. The amount of blood on her sent her into a panic.
Jay had been quick to comfort her, suggesting they clean the blood off and treat her wound—it probably wasn't that bad!, he'd said. He then suggested going back to their homes to get anything they might need, including medicine and bandages, much to his friend's horror. She wanted to go with him so neither of them would be alone, but he refused. Instead, he promised to return within the hour. And he did. Except he also came back with two other kids. Taissa O'Neill and Kevin Riley.
Opening her eyes, Ozzie took a deep breath before letting it out.
"Ozzie?" She turned at the sound of her name. The voice was small, almost scared. Five-year-old Carolina Tyler stood not even two feet from where the eleven-year-old sat; the younger girl looked pale and filthy, despite Ozzie's and Jay's best attempts at keeping all the kids clean. Hiding out in a cave would do that, she assumed.
"Hey, Carrie," Ozzie responded, her tone gentle and soothing. She motioned for the young girl to sit with her, which she did without hesitation. Ozzie gently brushed the young girl's red hair from her face, putting on her best comforting smile. "What's going on?" she asked. She started running her fingers through young girl's hair, despite the pain in her arm.
There was a long pause, one that made Ozzie's stomach lurch. Out of all the other kids, Carolina was the most talkative. She was never one to hesitate or stumble over her words. So this was a definite sign something was wrong. "Are we gonna die in here?" Carolina's voice was trembling, thick with emotion. Ozzie could see tears forming in the young girl's brown eyes. She moved closer into the older girl's embrace, an unconscious habit, hoping to find comfort in it.
Ozzie's heart immediately dropped at that. "We're not going to die in here," she said, her voice low but still gentle. "We'll be fine. I promise."
Carolina nodded, but Ozzie could still feel the five-year-old's fear and uncertainty.
Where in the hell were Jay and Kevin?
(Edited Last: June 01, 2022)