Never Ending Life by Rose Cooper (good book recommendations .TXT) 📕

We continued to swim for what felt like half an hour. At some point Daina grew tired and started to hold onto Tatiana and I. Although a few minutes ago Layla started to get uneasy in her sleep, so I had to let go of Daina and leave her to Tatiana. Now that I think about it, Tatiana had been holding both Daina and Samantha for a while now. Whoever this girl is, she's both physically and mentally strong, I like that. I envy her in a way, she has the strength, and skill to be confident in her choices, even when responsible for others lives. 

We're still swimming and it feels like it's been at least two hours! I don't really know how long it's been, but Daina and Samantha both fell asleep, and Layla hasn't woken up yet. So now Tatiana is holding their dead weight, without any of their help. I want to help her, and offer to take one of them. But I'm not sure how much longer we're swimming for and honestly, I don't know if I can hold them for very long. 

Just as I was about to ask Tatiana when we would stop swimming I saw light coming up ahead. I began to swim a bit faster as Tatiana swam and tried to wake up the girls. We were all awake now, even Layla, as we neared the grass. It looked like we were in a small field surrounded by forest? Where are we? 

Tatiana helps push Daina as she lifts herself out of the water. Once she was out I handed her Layla, then I took off my pack and flung it over the end onto the grass. The pack was about three times heavier in the water, at least 100lbs. I sighed lightly in the water feeling light without the extra weight. I turned to Tatiana and saw her determined look on her face. How could she still be so strong willed after all that? If it weren't for not knowing our location I would be halfway to sleep by now. 

I went to help Samantha out of Tatiana's arms and onto the grass, but Tatiana seemed to have the same idea. She picked Samantha up and lifted her with ease onto the grass, at least that's what I thought until I saw her arms shake violently and tears brim her eyes. Once Samantha was out of the water I pulled myself out. I grabbed Tatiana's pack out of the water and handed it to Daina to hold. I bent down to help Tatiana out of the water. I stuck out my arm and she grabbed my hand, she used her other hand to push up as I pulled her out. Once she was up, she put her roller blades back on and grabbed her bat. She flung her back pack back on and looked at all of us.

"Alright you guys did well. We're almost there, just a quick ten minute walk and then we're there. Ready?" We nodded and she turned back around. We followed her through the wooded area and ended up on some far outskirts of the town, turns out we were in a park that had some strange underwater system. We walked a little longer and then went down a few alley ways. Then we stopped in front of some gas station and Tatiana reached into her bra. She looked at me and blushed as she rummaged around a little until pulling out a set of keys. 

"You hid keys in there?!? Doesn't it hurt?" I tried to stifle a laugh as Tatiana blushed at Samantha's questions. Daina nudged Samantha and shushed her while I chuckled lightly. "Alright were here." "Where?" "Our ride, it's here." I looked at Tatiana as she walked behind the gas station. We followed her and watched as she pulled a couple of tarps off of a large object, revealing some sort of trailer. What in the world was that? It looked like a truck had a babe with a barn.

Once I had all of the tarps off, I folded them up and put them in a pile. "Wait there for a second." I set my pack down and left the group as I clicked on the keys. The trailer unlocked and I opened the door. I stepped up the steps and looked around the corner at Suzie. Good she was awake, much easier to do introductions that way. I sighed and stepped out of the trailer. I looked at the family in front of me and sighed inwardly. Here goes nothing.

"Alright so I basically took a trailer for horses and took everything out of it except for one horse stall, and then made some extensions to the back as well. Uhm, so I said I live alone, and technically I don't. You're all about to meet Suzie, and she's... well I think it's better if you see for yourselves." I could see the girls getting curious, and Calvin getting nervous. I walked around to the back of the trailer and unlocked the three different locks, then lifted the hatch. I opened the door and stepped in. I hope they aren't allergic to horses. I put the halter over her soft face and clipped on the reins. Once I was sure they were on right I lightly tugged on the rein to make sure Suzie was actually awake. She looked into my eyes and I gently led her out the trailer onto the gravel. 

I heard some gasps as they all saw Suzie, my black horse. To be more exact, she is an Anglo-Arab dark black horse with black eyes and a black mane. "This is Suzie, she's only 5 so she still has a lot of life left in her. She's an Anglo-Arab crossbreed. So her mom was an Arabian horse, built for intelligence and endurance, and her father was a Thoroughbred built for pure speed and power." 

"Can I pet her?" "Do you know how to ride her?" "Is she nice?" "Do you have her parents?" "Why do you have her?" "Whoa whoa, okay uhm, the answer is... yes, yes, yes, no, and because of my brother. When we were younger the only thing my brother was bad at was horseback riding, but I loved it so he introduced me to her, and when the apocalypse started we grabbed her when we ran." Once I finished their questions I took Suzie to the nearest bit of grass and tied her to a post at the gas station. While she grazed and went to the bathroom, I brought everyone inside and showed them around.

"Alright so there's not a lot here. There's the stall for Suzie and her stuff, the bits next to and behind her stall are food, supplies and storage. Everything at the front is for everyday use. So on the ground is a king size mattress, and there's also a couch so sleeping won't be a problem. There's a couple of cupboards and a sink right at the front, and then right in front of that is the driver and passenger seats. There's a lot of room up there so that's also a sleeping option, there is also a space above the front seats so if you need to change or anything like that, up there is pretty private. Any questions?" 

After I showed them around I waited for any questions, but they stayed pretty silent. Well I guess it's a pretty great place to stay for the apocalypse. But I can tell that with their background they were probably used to something more high class. While when my brother and I found and stole this, it was actually better than where we lied before. we were in a poor neighborhood in a house that was falling apart. Our dad used to be abusive, but left when he caught our mom cheating. She pays the bills by sleeping with someone new every night. One night though she found out she got pregnant. After that she got an abortian, quit her job, and went to rehab. When she came back, our dad moved back in. Everything was great, until the apocalypse, then it all fell apart. I watched my parents get killed in front of me. Then I found Joshua. We survived for a while, but he died as well. I was ready to end it all when I found out I was pregnant, I was until my miscarriage at eight months. I was going to name the baby Tammy, I thought it would be a girl, I had hoped and had dreams, of course I would have loved a boy as well. If my brother were alive at the time he would have said it was better that way. I wasn't even 20 yet and we were in the middle of an apocalypse. But that didn't matter to me, I wanted to have her. But then I lost her.

I shook myself out of my spiraling thoughts and looked back to the group. one of them had any questions so I walked to the back of the trailer to get the supplies. I looked through my clothes. I grabbed two tight long sleeve shirts that would be just right or slightly big for Daina and Samantha, along with two pairs of black leggings. I grabbed some socks and clean underwear. I took the two piles and put each in a plastic bag. Then I grabbed the comfiest crop top I own and the smallest spandex I had with two small socks and put them in a bag for Layla. Lastly Calvin. I knew the only clothes that would fit him were the ones left from Joshua, and I didn't want to go through his things yet. It was still too soon for me. 

I ignored my rising anxiety and bent down next to the box labeled "Joshua's clothes" and opened it. I grabbed a t-shirt, pants, socks, jack, and underwear that looked the closest to Calvins size. He was a little shorter but more muscular than Joshua was, so they should fit. Once I had his things in a bag I handed each of them their bag, and Calvin also got Layla's. 

"The bag I gave you has a pair of clothes you can change into, put your wet ones in there when you're done. We'll have to find a place with clothes for all of you at some point, but this'll do till then. I'll put Suzie back in here and then I can get changed outside with you guys in here." I didn't wait for a reply as I grabbed a pile of my clothes and walked outside. I went over to Suzie and checked to make sure she went to the bathroom. Then I felt her stomach to make sure she wasn't hungry anymore. Her stomach was no longer growling and felt quite a bit fuller, so I untied her and walked her to the trailer. I led her to the back door and she stepped up into her stall. Once she was in I took off her rein and halter. She laid down on her mat