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k_a_webb“I’d like that,” Anna said, taking the jacket and slippers. “Thank you for offering.” She bit her lip. “I don’t know if it really is my name, but I’d like you to call me Anna.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Anna,” Joel replied, smiling at her, grateful that she’d taken the clothes because she looked cold. “I’m Joel.”
“Have you lost people?”
Joel glanced over his shoulder at the house he’d left behind and didn’t really want to go back to. “Yes, I have.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Everyone who survived the injection is going to have lost people.”
“I wish I knew who I lost.” A tear trickled down Anna’s check. “There must have been people out there who were worried about me. I just have no way of finding out who they were.”
“Don’t you have anything that might tell you who you are?”
Anna shook her head. “When I realised that something was wrong I was wearing a hospital gown and all I felt comfortable doing was finding some clothes that would fit before I left.” She glanced down at her feet. “I couldn’t find any shoes, though, and I don’t think I would have been happy to wear someone’s random shoes when I had no way of knowing who they’d belonged to.”
“The slippers belonged to my mum.” Nodding, Anna slipped them onto her feet. “She only wore them a few times before…” Joel shrugged. “They’re basically new.”
“It’s nice to have something warm on my feet.” She glanced down at her feet and then their eyes locked. “It’s nice to meet someone. I didn’t really know what I was going to do or where I was going. I just wanted to get out of the hospital.”
“I can imagine.” Joel looked at her, wondering if the question he wanted to ask was one he really should but in the end decided he had to. “Did you notice anyone else during your wanderings or in the hospital?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. They just weren’t kind enough to run out of their house after me and offer me something to wear.” Anna smiled at him. “Do you know what you’re going to do next?”
Again Joel glanced over at his house before shaking his head. “I can’t stay in my house, Anna. My parents…” He swallowed, the emotions he could feel in his throat making it hard. “I want to pack up and leave, but I don’t know where I want to go, and now that I have a pretty girl to keep safe it’s important that we find somewhere safe.”
“Okay.” Anna didn’t look too sure. “How about I see what you have in the kitchen we can take with us while you pack up whatever you want to take?”
“That would be great, if you feel up to it.”
“I can tell you don’t want to spend too much time in the house, so I’ll help you all I can.”
Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.