Heading to the church

“Hehehe, it’s good to be outside again!” Margaret responded cheerfully, jumping on the ground to feel the soil.

“Yeah, I thought we would be in caves forever!” James stated, sharing the same feeling his sister has before they felt paws on their shoulders and turned to see their parents.

“Keep your voice down!” Gloria chided softly. “The outside is still dangerous!”

“Making too much noise will draw attention. That’s the last thing we want to do.” Terrence stated, looking firm but not aggressive.

The children nodded their heads as by their side, you and Rachael stepped out of the cave to see the outside.

It was still daylight outside, but you noticed a faint hue of orange at one side.

“I didn’t expect it to be so late.” Rachael said, looking towards the orange area.

“About that, they did say that if it gets dark out, they won’t let anyone in.” Terrence explained to them as you took out your map. “Now we’re here.” He pointed out towards a spot near a shallow lake that you and Rachael battled that infected Greninja. “We can get to the road by heading towards the northwest.”

“It’s not far from here, but anything can still happen. Are you sure we have to go now?” Gloria asked Terrence. You look towards the Nidoqueen in concern. You don’t want to wait any longer than you have to in order to regroup with the others and see your sister again, though you can’t blame her for expressing that concern. You were about to speak, but Terrence beat you to it.

“We’re gonna run out of food at this rate. We can’t afford not to…” Terrence explained.

“Will we be encountering those sick Pokemon again?” Margaret asked worriedly. “What about those who weren’t sick, but mean?”

“Don’t worry. If any trouble comes our way, I’ll protect you both.”

“But you got pretty hurt last time.” James pointed out, “Mommy too.”

“That is true...” he admitted as he thought about what to say before he noticed you and Rachael approaching them.

“Don’t worry, it’s not just the two of them now.” You stated confidently, with Rachael standing by you, nodding in agreement.

“We’ll both help protect you both.” The Buneary said, sporting a kind smile.

“R-Really?” Margaret asked, looking hopeful. “Why do you want to help us?”

“Your parents let us stay for a moment to rest, so we want to return the favor.” You stated as you added, “Also, these are trying times. We need to help each other get by.”

Gloria looks taken back at their words. “T-Thank you… Both of you.” she stated, looking down. “I wanted to apologize again for… wanting to leave you two outside.”

Rachael went over to the Nidoqueen and patted her arm comfortingly. “Don’t worry about it, we have met bad Pokemon before, so I understand why you two are cautious. Plus you have a family.”

Terrence stares at the two for a moment before he looked at you specifically. “So there won’t be any more issues regarding earlier.”

“That was a one time thing.” you said calmly, with a look that says. ‘Stop reminding me of that and drop it!’

“What issues?” The children asked.

“Nothing important.” Gloria spoke, giving her husband a look which she subtly nodded to her as he turned towards a direction through the forest. “Well let’s get moving. We don’t have a lot of time to waste.”

“Yes.” You nodded in agreement as you were about to move before Gloria said, “Everyone in position.” You and Rachael saw that Terrence went up front, the children lined up behind him, with Gloria taking the rear. You remember this in school where the students lined up behind the teacher when they’re about to leave.

“This helps us keep one keep an eye on the surroundings, while watching our children.” Terrence explained. you nodded your head as each of you started to walk through the forest. You hope to make it to the church and see everyone is okay without any issues, but considering what had happened in the first place, that’s very unlikely.

As you followed the nidos, you felt something rubbed against your arm and jolted a bit before noticing Rachael was there.

“We may have to spend the night at the church when we get there.” She told you. “Though with what you said, I can’t help but he worried.”

“Guess we still can’t let our guards down then…” you said, sounding disappointed. “I hope whatever it is, we can handle it.”

She nodded as she whispered, “So… what exactly happened in your sleep? What exactly caused… that?”

You groaned from the question as it brought back what you were trying to forget, but you know that she knows that wasn’t normal of you, and you trust her with anything. So you reluctantly whispered everything that happened, from you falling asleep to when you woke up.

She barely covered her mouth to muffled the gasp, sporting a revolted expression before looking away to get her emotions together. “Goodness… I thought I’ve seen everything with the epidemic, but this is…” she couldn’t finish her sentence, being flabbergasted at the information, not that you blame her. “How would we tell this to the others?”

You blink a bit when you hear that, sweating a little. “I rather not tell them about that!”

“I-I didn’t mean the full story, but we need to inform them about you getting a nightmare from them.” She clarifies, with you letting out a sigh of relief.

“I guess.” You stated as you saw the trees thinning as well as seeing the dirt road ahead. “Let’s focus on reaching the church.”

You stepped out of the forest to greet the pathway and see more of the bluish-orange sky. You hear a gasp and look to see that Margaret was staring at the sky in awe.

“It felt like forever since we’ve seen this much of the sky!” James cried out as the Nidorans admired the sight before Gloria shushed them.

“Keep your voices down!…” she told them in a low, but firm tone. You smile as just seeing it gives you a bit of comfort from all the green and being surrounded by trees.

“Being in a cave and surrounded by trees for a while, it is quite refreshing to see the sky with no trees again.” Terrence stated, noticing your expression.

“It is.” Gloria agreed, “Though we don’t have time to soak it up, time is of the essence.” She reminded them as she checks up on the kids.

You and Terrence nodded to her as they started to move on once more.