Reunion

"You people recently moved here, right?" Mr. Miller was jogging with his son, Lucas.

"Yes, just last week," David put a smile on his face.

Mr. Miller advanced his hand, "We haven't officially introduced yet. I am Bill. Bill Miller."

David shook his hand, "Nice to meet you, Bill. I'm David Jones. Just call me David."

"And this is my son, Lucas," Mr. Miller looked at his son.

"Hello," Lucas greeted the newcomer.

David crouched down in front of Lucas, "Hi dear, how old are you now?"

“I am 9,” he replied.

"You know, you have a new friend now."

"W-who?" Lucas seemed a bit curious. His eyes were shining.

"Hey, Will. Come here!" David shouted while looking at their house door.

After a while, a boy aged 10 came out of the house. He was a bit shy and frightened.

"Come on here," David insisted.

He slowly moved towards his father and hid behind him.

"He's your new friend, William. Will, say hi to your new friend."

"H-hi."

"Hi, Will." Lucas smiled a bit.

Mr. Miller and David laughed.

"Kids these days..." Mr. Miller said, "Don't worry, they will get used to each other in no time."

"Yeah."

"But David..."

"Yes?"

"WhY DiD YoU KilL Me?"

"Will, wake up!"

What! What's happening?!

Will grabbed his father's hand. His breathing was unstable. He tried to open his eyes but it took a while.

"You okay, son?" David asked his son, "Easy now, easy. There you go."

"D-dad?" Will stabilized his breathing, "Where are we?"

David laughed, "How long have you been sleeping? We came to catch some fish and you said you would rest a bit. You were sleeping like a log. Did you have a bad dream?"

He looked around a bit. He was seated under a big tree. There was a river floating only a few feet away. The nature was charming. Cold breeze was blowing by.

"Come on, stand up. We gotta get back to Julia and Lucas," his father grabbed his hand and stood him up.

They started walking by the river. As they walked, Will started to recover his memories. It had been 3 years since that day. A lot happened. He lost his mother, they moved to the west which was a mistake. The area was a lot worse than their town. The city was completely destroyed. Floating with The Deads. That was what they called "them". They got stuck in that city for weeks. It was a disaster. They barely escaped the place and since then, they were trying to survive. Will shook his head. He didn't want to remember it.

"What's up, kid? You don't look so good." David asked him without even looking at his face.

"No, it's nothing."

"Come on, you can tell me. I am your father, you know? You can tell me anything."

"I ahh..." he rubbed his left arm with his right, "I've been thinking about what happened to us, now here. All those days, killing deads, mom's deat-'' he stopped.

Ah, shouldn't have said that.

He looked at his father. It seemed like he aged a lot in those 3 years. He grew a beard, his hair started to turn white, didn't used to smile like before.

"I am sorry I brought that up."

"It's fine." He exhaled deeply, "Listen, you're a full grown up man now. When I was about your age, I was more afraid than you. I was so afraid of commitments, taking responsibilities. You don't know how hard it was for me to stand up and propose to your mother." He laughed, "Maybe she felt pity for me. No wonder she married me."

Will didn't say anything. He just kept walking while looking at the ground.

"You don't need to worry. You're brave enough to stand up for yourself. You're protecting your sister, me and Lucas. You’re strong,." He smiled.

Will smiled a little but tried to hide it. Though his father didn't see it.

“Stop it, you’re making me cringe.”

He laughed.

It took them a few minutes to reach their destination. Julia and Lucas were right around the corner.

"Will, get down!" David pushed his son’s head, forcing him to lie down on the ground.

"What’s wrong?"

"Shh!"

They both lied down on the ground.

"What happened?!" Will whispered.

"Look ahead."

Then he saw it. A few meters away, It was Julia and Lucas in the tent. But they weren't alone. He tried to see clearly, two other people were present there too. One of them was pointing his gun at Julia and Lucas. The other one was looking around.

"What are we gonna-" as Will looked at his father beside him, he stopped. David wasn't there.

Dad!

He looked ahead.

"Put down the gun. Now," said David, taking out his rifle and pointing at them as he kept shortening the distance between him and the strangers.

"Don't come any closer," the person pointing the gun at Julia and Lucas now pointed the gun at David.

The other guy was with a bow and arrows. Will took out his pistol and pointed at the archer.

"I said put down the fucking gun!" Will never heard David shout like that before.

"Make me," The person pointing at David said. Now that Will noticed carefully, it wasn't a boy. It was a girl with short hair.

"We don't have to do this," The archer said to Will. His eyes were as sharp as an eagle. It made Will a bit frightened. But he noticed something.

I've seen him somewhere...

"Will! Focus!" David shouted without moving his eyes from the strangers.

"Will?" the archer slowly put his bow down, "Is that really you?"

Will still couldn't recognize him. He tried his best to remember.

"Will, it's me. You remember me, right?"

Will looked at his eyes for a few seconds. Those eyes, that nose, those ears, that whole face.

It can't be!

He put his pistol down.

"What the hell are you doing, Will!" David shouted.

He couldn’t believe his eyes. He kept trembling. His eyes got filled with nostalgia.

"Nolan?"

___