Don't Let Me Go

Daydreamer

"You're wasting resources," Dan glares at Entoan as he's cooking breakfast.

Entoan raises an eyebrow at him, "So, you don't want breakfast?"

"We need to be saving our food, not cooking half of it for breakfast." Dan replies.

Entoan rolls his eyes, "I'm not even making that much. Calm down."

Dan stomps off back to the living room with everyone else. Cry smiles at him and he just glances at Cry for a moment before taking his seat on the couch next to Phil. Phil sighs, "You have to quit being so negative."

Dan stares at Phil, "I'm trying to save our lives. When we run out of food, it'll be on them, not me."

Phil frowns, "Dan.."

"What?" Dan scoffs, "Do you think I'm being unreasonable, too?"

"No," Phil shakes his head, "I'm just---"

"Stop," Dan glares at him, "I don't want to hear it. I'm trying to save our lives!"

Everyone turns and looks at Dan and Phil. Dan stands and goes upstairs. Phil sighs and covers his face with his hands. Ohm comes and sits beside Phil, "Don't worry about him, he'll cool down soon enough."

"He's just.." Phil drops his hands into his lap, heaving a heavy sigh, "He's not usually like this, at least not this much.."

Ohm pats him on the shoulder, "I'm sure he'll be fine. It's been a stressful few weeks."

Phil nods, "Yeah.. You're right."

Ohm smiles, "Do you want to come on a supply run with Cry and I?"

Phil looks at him in surprise, "You're asking me to come with you?"

Ohm chuckles, "Yeah, I literally just did."

Phil looks away, embarrassed, "Right. Are you sure you want me, though?"

"Yeah, why not?" Ohm smiles, "We could use the help, and Minx, Dave, and Signe are still out."

Phil looks back at him, "Should we ask Dan to come, too?"

"Nah, let him hang out here and cool off. Besides, he'll be here to help if Entoan needs help with anything." Ohm replies.

Phil nods and stands, "I'll grab a few things and we can go."

Ohm nods, "We'll be hanging by the door when you're ready."

Phil goes upstairs and Ohm goes over to Cry. Cry smiles at him, "That was nice of you."

Ohm shrugs, "He looked like he needed a distraction. Dan's kind of having a meltdown, apparently."

Cry nods, "Maybe we should talk to him."

"Dan?" Ohm asks.

"Yeah," Cry sighs, "He's like a ticking time bomb."

"I suppose.." Ohm sighs, "Anyway, how long do you think we'll be gone?"

"A few hours at least," Cry states, "We don't have a working car, so.. It'll take a bit to get back to town."

"Is that where Minx and the others went?" Ohm asks.

"I don't think so." Cry frowns, "Minx said they'd probably be back in a few days."

"Right." Ohm nods.

Phil comes over to them, carrying his backpack. He smiles lightly, "I'm ready to go now."

Cry smiles at him, "Great, let's go."

He turns towards the kitchen, "We're leaving!"

"Good luck!" Entoan yells back, "Come back alive!"

"No promises!" Ohm calls back with a slight laugh.

"That's not very reassuring!" Entoan replies.

Ohm laughs and he, Cry, and Phil leave the house. They set out towards the woods, south of the house. Cry leads the group, Ohm beside him, and Phil just barely hanging behind. Cry brandishes his knife, Ohm carries a pistol, and Phil still has his small pocket knife. Sunlight shines through the trees around them as they walk in silence.

Phil looks up and watches the light dance through the leaves on the trees above. It's pretty to look at and helps put his mind somewhat at ease. Still, he finds his mind drifting back to his old friend, Dan. The boy has always been kind of pessimistic, but never quite as much as he is now. That worries Phil to no end.

The world has become a terrible, scary place and he doesn't know if he can handle it swallowing who Dan used to be. He's too afraid to talk to Dan about this fear, yet he hopes it's his overactive imagination running away from him. A raindrop suddenly falls off a leaf and hits him on the nose.

He blinks and turns his attention back to where he's going, only to realize Cry and Ohm are no longer with him. He quickly looks around, but he sees no sign of them nearby. He pulls his knife from his pocket, looking around again, searching the ground for any indication of where they might have gone. I wasn't spacing out that bad, so they couldn't have gotten too far..

He continues along the path, but he doesn't see anyone ahead, so it's obvious they veered off in some direction. It starts to rain lightly and soon clouds cover the sky and the rain is pouring down. The mist of the rain obscures Phil's view and he shivers, looking around again. He whimpers softly, "I lost them.."

...

Dan glares out the window at the darkness. He grips the windowsill tightly, "They should be back by now."

"Maybe they're running late," Entoan offers, sitting on the couch in the living room, "Maybe they just don't want to travel in the dark and they're waiting out somewhere for morning. That's the smart thing to do."

Dan shivers, muttering, "I should have went with him."

"Come sit down," Entoan sighs, "Staring out the window like that isn't going to help your nerves."

"Shut up, you don't have someone to worry about." Dan retorts.

Entoan frowns, then glares at Dan, "I have Signe. She's my friend, just as Phil is yours. I'm not freaking out because she isn't home on time, I trust her, and I trust the people she's with. I know they'll keep her safe to the best of their abilities. You have to trust that Cry and Ohm will do the same."

"Well, I don't." Dan snaps back at him, "I trust that they'll look out for each other and that's it. They don't know Phil, so why should I expect them to lay their lives down for him?"

"Because that's what you do for your friends," Entoan states, "And we all are friends here. We'd all lay down our lives for each other. You're being a moody, little brat, and I'd still fight to save your life if I had to. Would you do the same for me if it came down to it?"

Dan turns to him, glaring, "If it came down to saving your life or Phil's, I wouldn't hesitate to let you go."

Entoan crosses his arms, "Would Phil be able to answer that so quickly?"