❤ = kissing them - Maddie
Finding a little girl wandering around after the end of the world is was bit eerie. It was as if she had walked out of another time, all bright smiles and innocent questions. Of course her clothes were a little bit grubby, and she had a small amount of grime on her face but in the scheme of things she was a bit foreign. He had worked with plenty of children before, ones even younger than the girl on his back, volunteering with the organization that helped him but it was strange to see a child after all this time. She kept on blabbering on about the nice people at the high school and how much she loved drawing (‘of course I’ll draw a picture for you Mr. Zac’) and how happy her mom would be know she was safe.He nodded along and made little comments, walking carefully back to the high school.
Finally he made it, luckily they had encountered no zeeks and any near the high school had been cleared by their patrols. One such person guided them to the classroom that the little girl, Kira, and her mother lived in. Steps away from the door Kira slid off his back yelling “Mommy!” and ran inside. He followed, wondering who her mother could possibly be. He was greeted with the sight of a red-headed woman on her knees embracing the little girl. He leaned against the doorway smiling at the scene before him.
The woman soon noticed him and got up, stumbling towards him, smiling and saying, “Thank you, thank you so much.” She was inches away and he thought she was going to hug him but instead she kissed him. His body stayed frozen for a moment, then she was backing away in a rush amid giggles from Kira, and it was his turn to stumble wide eyed out into the hall. He propped himself up next to the door, running a hand over his face. That was entirely unexpected. He heard faintly coming out of the open door “Why’d you kiss Mr. Zac?” and a clueless fumble of words. Breath finally composed he stuck his head around the doorway. “Uh- I hope you two have a nice day. Don’t wander off again Kira.” He gave a little half-hearted wave to the Kira’s mom then beat a quick retreat to the exit.












