Chapter 48 - Day 31

When Mark arrived, Natalie would explain the situation to him. Everyone was gathered into the living room. Rebecca had been the one to call the meeting. Natalie insisted she rest a bit more, but she insisted that she was fine. Rebecca had already told everyone, including Natalie, her part of the story. Natalie and April explained their parts, and Josh and Jake had given their parts. Everyone was glum. It made sense, though; they had just lost a member of their group.

There were no remains left either. Nothing was there. Natalie had gone back out to see if she could find the smallest of clues that maybe John's Mother lived, but there was nothing. Mark already introduced himself to them, and shortly after, Natalie gave him the rundown. They were all just sitting there with no idea what to do.

Finally, someone spoke up. "How are John and Don?" Rebecca asked while looking at Natalie.

"John will be fine. I was able to patch him up in time before the blood loss would become a problem. As long as he takes it easy and rests for the week, he will make a full recovery." Natalie would reply.

"And Don?" April had asked with worry in her eyes.

Natalie didn't know how to answer her. "You... said he died, right?" Natalie asked, and April would nod with a grim expression. She never wanted to recall that memory—Don's lifeless body sitting against the vehicle with an arm-sized hole through his chest. Rose would also answer, "Yes. I checked his pulse. He was dead." Rose would comment. There was some slight discomfort in her voice, but overall she seemed fine with speaking on the matter.

"We all saw it." Jen would speak up, and Boss would nod.

"And then he just got up, right?" Jake asked since that was what they all told them, and they nodded silently.

Natalie would sigh heavily. "Well, here's my verdict. Don is fine. In fact, there are no problems with his body. I highly doubt you are lying to me about Don's death, so we will have to wait until he wakes up." Natalie would remark.

"How long will that be?" April asked, still holding a worried expression.

Natalie would shake her head, "I am not sure. If there is nothing wrong with his body, it is most likely something to do with his mind. When it comes to problems with the brain, the deductions are usually hard to anticipate." Natalie would answer.

"Did you take a look at his brain?" Rose inquired, and Natalie would nod. "I did. Nothing wrong. Just a lot of activity." Natalie would remark.

"Well, at least he will be fine." Ion would comment. If there was any silver lining, it was the fact that Don and John were still alive, and they lost no one else.

After that remark, there was another silence. No one knew what to do. Usually, by this time, John's Mother would be asking people to form at the table for a delicious home-cooked breakfast, but she wasn't there. Everything was so different. No one knew what to do.

"I am going to to the garage..." Noah would excuse himself first. It wasn't like he was insensitive to the matter at hand. He just felt like he could have a clear headspace in an environment that he was best suited in, but as he got to the garage and tried to begin working, he found his arms and hands shaking. Soft tears began to fall onto the worktable in front of him. Tyrone had excused himself and was about to follow Noah. Still, when he saw Noah crying silently, Tyrone also felt like crying. Tyrone was used to losing people in groups, but this time it hit differently. John's mother was kind to him and would often sit down with him and have talks with him when he felt down about things. She reassured him that everything would be fine and that he would get to go back home. So he decided to mourn with Noah.

Josh left the living room shortly after and went outside to where it all happened. Now that he could grief, a slew of sadness would flood him like no tomorrow. He remembered how John's mother treated him with kindness and affection. She accepted him as one of their own. In fact, John's mother felt like a second mother to him just as much as John felt like a brother instead of a cousin. Of course, there were times John's mother supported him and times she scolded him. But, even when he had his troubles with girls, John's mother always tried to cheer him up and help him out. She didn't have to do all of that, but she did so anyway. Now, Suddenly, that was gone. Just thinking about it caused the tears to form and run down his face.

Jake had followed Josh. They were friends, after all. He would often come to hang out with Josh and John here. John's mother always welcomed him with open arms. Even when he had his own problems to deal with, she seemed to always accept him. He recalled one night he showed up at their doorstep severely wounded. After all, he didn't have a family, so he didn't know who else to run to. John's mother answered the door, and when she saw him, she instantly called for help. They rushed him to the hospital, and she paid for everything. She never asked for anything in return, and when he asked her what he could do to repay her, he recalled her saying one word with the brightest smile on her voice, "Live." Recalling that memory also caused the tears to build and overflow suddenly. He would approach Josh and place a hand on his shoulder to mourn alongside him.

April decided to check up on Don, but as she sat in the chair and stared at him, she suddenly had tears begin to race down her cheek. It was for a couple of reasons. First was that they lost John's mother. Sure, she only met her recently, but she had pretty much spent an entire month with her. She grew attached to the woman and how she was always comforting. April often talked to John's mother about problems that she couldn't talk to with anyone else. She didn't understand it, but she felt like she could always go to her for consolation. When she was done, she always felt refreshed and ready for whatever was to come, but now that was gone. She would never get to hear her words again or feel such comfort.

The second reason was that she nearly lost Don. No, that was incorrect. She did lose Don. He died. She truly believed if anyone were going to live till the end, it would be Don. He would overcome everything that came at him, but she was proven wrong when she saw that hole in his chest. Don wasn't invincible, strong, yes, but not invincible. He could die just as easily as they could. When he died, she felt her entire world crumble. She had been with Don forever. She was always with him. When she finally began to live with him, it was the best time of her life. She was living with the man she loved even if that man wasn't returning her affection at the time. He generally did care for her. She could have easily enjoyed life like that, but when she found herself pretty much married him out of the blue, she was overjoyed. The love of her life had finally accepted her affections and returned them in kind. He had opened up to her, and she was able to live the life she truly dreamed of, but then it was taken away suddenly. That is why she broke down and gave up.

However...

Don lived. Somehow, someway, Don was alive. She was grateful for that. She was delighted, but she was also sad because John's mother was gone. Her emotions were conflicting, and she could do nothing but mourn and cry in silence while also speaking in murmurs, "Thank you. Thank you so much for coming back. Thank you so much for living on. Thank you, Don. Thank you." She repeated herself over and over while also crying and mourning the death of another. She felt guilty for being happy that Don was alive because of how relieved she was by it; meanwhile, John's mother was not.

Catalina, Juan, and Sofia were just as sad. Sofia had asked them where the nice lady was, and they had to explain to her that she was in a better place. Since she saw her mother and father crying, she wanted to try and cheer them up. She told them everything would be okay and that if the nice lady was in a better place, then there was nothing to cry about. No one in the room scolded her because everyone knew she was just a child. She didn't know what those words meant. She didn't know John's mother was dead. Catalina and Juan would hug their daughter while continuing to cry, and their daughter would comfort them just as they would do for her when she was crying.

Alice and Sarah had to excuse themselves and went into the kitchen. They looked around the area. It was only yesterday that they were in this kitchen cooking alongside John's mother. They opened up to her more than anyone else. They told her everything about their lives. How they were studying to go into the medical field. How they had lost their own parents to illness that had no cure. They felt that if they studied hard enough, they could get into the medical field to prevent other children from losing their parents to illness with no cure. If they could find a way to develop a cure for the illness that had none, then they felt like they could do their parents proud, but all of that change when they were brought here and experienced the hell they were in. John's mother was a blessing to them because it reminded them that there was still good in the world. With her gone, they felt like a major piece of their life was gone. So they comforted one another while mourning her death.

Rebecca and Rose decided to go to the makeshift shooting range to try and clear their head. While Rebecca never lost anyone, Rose did. Plenty of times, in fact, but after her plentiful times experiencing death, her death, in particular, it was like she was barely able to feel any emotion. She did feel emotion, but it was only ever a small amount. Even if she felt discomfort, she couldn't feel sad. They stood side by side in silence and fired at the targets before them. Rebecca wasn't crying, but she felt sadness in the depths of being. She felt like she was partially responsible. She was at the front door when it happened but was unable to do anything. If she had been able to do anything, maybe even use her Seed, then perhaps she could have done something. Perhaps, John's mother would still be here. The what-if started to fill her mind, and she started to become upset with herself.

As for Rose, she also felt some form of guilt, even though she didn't understand it. It was a disgusting feeling in her stomach. She thought that if she had stayed back, would she have been able to do anything? John's mother may have survived. If that was the case, they would be having pancakes right now, but instead, they were mourning her death. The shoots came out slow from both Rose and Rebecca; each shoot missed its mark, though. Not a single one hit, no matter how much they tried to focus. Their concentration was stuck on the what-if.

Ion and Jessica stayed in the living room with Mark and the others. Sure, Ion and Jessica were in this place for about three weeks, so they didn't know much about John's mother; however, they felt sad. As if something was missing. They didn't know what parental affection was like, so they didn't know what they were missing: the love and care of a mother. They only felt sad and lost. They knew that losing someone close was sad, so they mourned her death, but deep down inside, they felt lost about it.

Jen and Boss also seemed to mourn in silence. They didn't know John's mother. They only know how sad it was to lose someone. So they decided to stay in the living room.

As for Mark, he knew that death was inevitable for all groups. Someone would eventually die, but he wasn't heartless. He knew how saddening it was. So, he would also mourn her death. What he did was a bit different, though. He was thinking of creating a tombstone or something that could be used to send the woman off with good memory.

Ryan, Dillian, and Susan had gone to the basement to mourn. Ryan recalled what Rebecca asked of him the day it all happened. He gathered everyone to the basement. He had finished coming out of the master bedroom since he went through a check-up with Natalie when it all happened. He rushed to gather everyone else and was going to get April and Natalie. That was when he heard the explosion and decided it would be best to close the door. He knew April was strong, and even if Natalie was a non-combatant, April was with her. Plus, Ion and Jessica told him to just go ahead, and they would deal with the intruders.

As they watched in the basement, they heard a loud explosion followed by a quake which scared everyone. John's mother said she would see what it was, but everyone tried to stop her. She said she wanted to make sure everyone was fine and that John and the others weren't back. She needed to make sure they were safe. No one could stop her, not even Catalina and Juan. They knew that if Sofia was in danger, they would do the same thing. Ryan felt guilty because he didn't stop her. If he had stopped her, she would still be alive, but wouldn't that mean Ion and Jessica would have died?

While they were all mourning the death of their family. Ryan started to feel sick to his stomach. The guilty was overwhelming. "Never again." He stated firmly with a shake of his head which drew Dillian and Susan's attention. "What?" Susan asked, sniffling. "I never wanted to feel like this again. If we were stronger, we could have helped. If we were stronger, we might have been able to save John's mother. I don't want to be weak and helpless anymore." Ryan stated firmly. Dillian would wipe his tears away. "Okay, but what can we do? We don't even have a Seed Power. We can't use a gun, and we don't know how to fight." Dillian would remark. "I don't care!" Ryan shouted. He felt angry right now. Not at anyone in particular, but at himself. "I will train like there is no tomorrow. I will learn how to use a gun. I will learn to fight. Will you two join me!?" Ryan would grit his teeth. Both Dillian and Susan could see the expression on his face. Out of the three of them, Ryan was less compassionate about everything. In fact, he was usually a coward, but right now... something seemed different. The Ryan before them wasn't the same.

When they saw this, they started to feel the same. If they were stronger, they could have kept everyone safe. They hadn't even been taking Rebecca's training seriously, but if they had, would they have been able to do anything?

Maybe.

They felt like it could have prevented a death.

They would nod and accept Ryan's proposal. "Never again." They both said, and Ryan nodded. "Let's start now. Let's go on a run, let's do our workouts, and when we can, let's practice what Rebecca taught us." Ryan would remark, and both Dillian and Susan would nod.

The reason they felt like this wasn't just because of Ryan. Out of everyone here, they knew they were the least productive. Even Alice and Sarah, who had experienced hell, were doing their absolute best; meanwhile, they were sulking and wishing to go home. However, John's mother never said anything about it. She just smiled and always told them to hang in there. She always told them to keep their chin up and that everything would be fine. She always encouraged them to do something but never forced them when they didn't want to. They felt guilty because it felt like they were leeching off of her kind nature. They never wanted to feel like that again. They refused to, and so the three of them rushed out of the house to begin training.

But before they did, they would gather everyone into the living room. So they asked everyone to meet in the living room, and everyone did. A good while had passed for everyone to mourn. Still, they felt like there was nothing else to do, so they just kept mourning until Ryan, Dillian, and Susan asked them to meet in the living. They found it odd that these three didn't seem as down as the rest, but they didn't pay much attention to it.

Once everyone was in the living room, April included, Ryan would begin speaking.

"First..." Ryan would speak up. "We want to apologize to everyone! We are sorry for not contributing the entire time! We have done nothing but leech of everyone's kindness. We are sorry!" Ryan, Dillian, and Susan would apologize in some way or another. No one said a word. They didn't understand what was going on.

As Ryan came back up, he could see everyone was confused. "Allow me to explain. The death of someone dear to our group has woke us up. It has shown us just how weak we are. Dillian, Susan and me. We have done nothing to help all of you. All we did was sulk and despair. We felt like with the way things were, we could easily go home as long as we laid low..."

"But!" Dillian would pick up where Ryan left off. "We were wrong! I do not want her death to be in vain. She was important to all of us, some more than others; however, if we continue to stay weak like this, then what is that saying to those who took from us!?" Dilian would exclaim.

"That will we just take it lying down!" Sussan would interject. "I never want to feel like this again. I know these two do not either. We plan on putting all our into surviving. We plan on doing our best and become stronger. We will awaken our Seed so that we can protect everyone! I refuse to lose anyone again!" Sussan would exclaim just as passionately as Ryan and Dilian had expressed.

"I refuse!" Ryan shouted. "Regardless if all you want to continue mourning, we will be doing our best. I strongly encourage the rest of you to do the same. We need to become stronger! Don can't protect us forever, and Ion and Jessica are in the same boat. It could be any one of us next time, and even if it's me, I want to at least have a fighting chance next time! So, regardless of what you all do. I just wanted to tell you all that there is no reason to give up! It isn't what John's mother would want. She would want us to continue on. She would want us to fight back and stay strong! I want to honor her wish. It is the least I can do and I will do it!" With those words, the three of them raced out the door to begin their training. Leaving everyone speechless in the process.