PetrA

Chapter fifty-seven: Daniel

Daniel stared out over the water as Travis and Justin put up the last few defences around the rundown house. Maryanne was sitting on a rock not far from him, her long, tangled hair whipping around her in the strong winds. Her foot was in the homemade cast of duct tape and sticks. Daniel was surprised over how stubborn she was, even if she was in a lot of pain because of her broken ankle she still moved around as if it didn't bother her. She did the same as her brother and his friends. They practically had to force her into resting, so her foot could heal. "Stop eyeing my sister like she's a prey." Travis said coldly. Daniel looked at him silently, "She's twelve." Justin added crossing his arms across his chest. "I wasn't eyeing her." Daniel said just as coldly. None of them liked each other very much that much had been clear from the beginning, but Travis and Justin couldn't leave because Maryanne couldn't move very far or fast with her foot. It annoyed Daniel, but there weren't any other houses around that he could force them into so he could be alone. "Whatever, just keep away from her." Travis turned walked over to her and said something in her ear. She looked back at Daniel with a revolted look on her face. He turned around and walked into the house.

The fire in the middle of the room was still hot from last night's fire, and a metal bowl hung over it on a wire Travis had put up in order to make it easier for them to make food. Daniel ignored it completely and warmed his cans directly on the coals after he opened them. He did not need any of Travis' fancy engineering shit. His way worked fine, so why change it? He sat down in the mount of his own blankets and looked over at their half of the house. They had less items that he did, which baffled him. How have they survived with so little? Rain started to fall outside and Daniel threw some logs onto the pile of burned things and started a fire. The nights were getting cold, and the daylight shorter. He looked out at the sky that was turning a dark grey, the rain falling harder than it did seconds ago. "I can walk myself." Maryanne said as the door opened.

She ignored Daniel and limped to her own small scheduled area where she disappeared behind the curtains. Travis and Justin gave Daniel cold looks as they began preparing their own dinner with what looked like seaweed and other strange plants. "You're sure these are safe to eat?" Travis asked looking at his friend Justin. "I'm sure. I've lived on them for weeks at a time when I hiked the mountains or camped out in the woods to stay away from the house." Justin said putting them into a pot. "If we die I will blame it on you." Travis said jokingly. Justin laughed and poured fresh rainwater into the metal bowl. Watching them interact made Daniel realise something he hadn't let himself think about or dwell on. He missed the others, even if it was only a tiny bit. He somewhat missed fighting with Ellie, telling Gordon to shut up or he'd feed him to some of those things, being able to blame his problems on Joachim. Although, what he didn't miss was, seeing Ellie fawn all over Kim. He did not miss seeing Cody and Gemma grow closer even if they didn't show it quite as much as Ellie did with Kim. Why was he the one to stand on the sideline and watch everybody finds his or her special somebody?

Daniel walked over to the window on his side and looked out at the sea. The sky was almost black now and the water looked like an angry mass of moving black steel. Was he ever going to see any of them again? Daniel grunted and shook his head. "Get a fucking grip." He muttered to himself. He wrenched open a bag of dried jerky and ate it begrudgingly.