Permafrost [COMPLETED]

Carrie

I snap my head up at the knock on the glass, relief flooding over me when I see Griffin.

In comes Lena and he helps her down, also pulling in a smaller boy and a taller boy.

I run over to hug my brother, and he chuckles, the smile on his face more genuine than it's been, these last few weeks taking a large toll on everyone.

"Everyone this is Dylan," Griffin motions to the awkward, lanky stick standing a few feet away and I take in more of his appearance.

His eyes were a very cloudy green, reminding me of the grass in our yard when Griffin would forget to turn the hose on, and his short brown hair was about 2 inches long but very choppy as if a younger person cut it for him.

His black shirt was full of holes and his jeans had been cut into shorts, various strings hanging from the rims.

He saw me looking at him and gave me a closed-mouthed smile, gesturing his hand in some sort of a wave, me smiling back to realize that I still had my arms around my brother.

"This is my brother." I told him and he looks down, embarrassed.

"And this is Harry," Lena says gesturing to the other small boy who couldn't have been more than 7 or 8.

Harry hung into Lena's leg but soon found his way over to Riley, as she began talking to him and humming along to songs that he seemed to like.

After we told them what happened to Benny and Noah, I sat down next to Levi and he sparked up a conversation real quick.

"I still can't believe you and Griffin are siblings. You look nothing alike." He glanced at me and my strawberry blonde curls then looked back at Griffin and his straight brown shaggy mop.

"Actually Griffin was born was from another woman but we still have the same parents." I explained and Riley who was sitting next to me nodded at Levi. 

"What?" He asked confused and I laughed. Oh, how many times I've had to tell this story.

"My mom thought for the longest time that she couldn't have kids. They tried everything and nothing ever worked. So they went to the doctor's and did a few tests. A while later they found a woman who was willing to carry their baby for them. Griffin was 2 when suddenly my mom just all at once found out that I was coming."

"No warning?" Levi asks and I grin.

"Nope."

"That's crazy."

"I didn't used to believe my parents when they would tell me the story. I thought it was impossible." I tell him and he looks thoroughly baffled.

"I wouldn't either, I bet. Jeez, I can't even imagine another person having your child for you. That just seems wild."

"It happens, I guess." I laugh. "And some people are just fine with it."

Luke taps on the window and we all look at him.

"What is it?" Marcus asks, still kind of out of it since his previous supply run.

"It's the ground. It's like slowly freezing over. I noticed it a couple days ago and it's getting worse." Luke gets down off the box and looks around at everyone.

"Permafrost." Lena says suddenly and everyone looks at her.

"What?" Levi asks and she sighs.

"It's my dad. He's doing this."

"He has that much control over the town?"

He has authority over everything. He could wipe this place off the map. We're already cut off from all outsiders but most people think it's just an empty piece of land that the state owns."