Free Web NovelChapter 346: Sydney in Withdrawl
Back at the Whitesun Hotel, things were moving along surprisingly well, better than anyone had really anticipated when Marlon and his people first arrived.
It was a strange thing, when you thought about it. Margaret’s community had grown used to working as its own quietness, Ryan’s group being the only real outside contact they’d had in any meaningful sense. The idea of another organized group, a real one, over two hundred people strong, living just a short distance away on the Boardwalk, was a lot to absorb all at once. The world had contracted so drastically, had become so small and fragmented, that running into a functioning community of that size felt almost surreal. Like something you’d stopped believing was still possible.
But the walls came down faster than anyone expected.
It turned out that when two groups of people, both battered by the same broken world and wanting the same basic things which was safety, stability, some version of a future, actually sat down and talked to each other, the distance between them collapsed almost on its own. There was no agenda to untangle, no hidden maneuvering to work around. Just people comparing notes on survival, sharing what they knew, finding common ground in the most human way possible.
It helped enormously that the people leading those conversations were who they were.
Margaret and Marlon were cut from different cloth in almost every way, she was gentle where he was guarded, the kind of woman who made a room feel safer just by being in it. And yet something about her disarmed him in a way that very few people managed. She wasn’t probing him for weaknesses or testing his intentions with careful questions. She was simply asking how his people were doing, whether they had enough, what they needed, and the genuine warmth behind it was so unaffected and so complete that even Marlon, who trusted slowly and gave nothing away easily, found himself responding to it. Softening, almost without noticing.
"I have never in my life seen my father talk to someone like that," Summer said standing, just several feet behind, watching the two of them with a quiet, surprised smile. Marlon was doing most of the talking while Margaret listened and added the occasional gentle word, her expression never losing its calm openness.
"It’s honestly wonderful seeing that stubborn old man get completely outmatched by someone’s aura alone," Shannon said from beside her, smirking with obvious satisfaction.
"Could you try to be at least slightly respectful about my father?" Summer said, reaching over and pinching Shannon’s cheek between two fingers.
Shannon laughed and pulled free, rubbing her face without any real complaint. Then she let her gaze wander around the room, searching.
"Have you seen Ryan anywhere? I’ve been looking for him," she said.
"You are always looking for him," Summer said, her tone shifting into something drier.
"Of course I am. I love him," Shannon said, like it was the most obvious statement in the world.
Summer turned to stare at her.
"I... what?" She blinked. "Shannon. Listen to yourself. You’re thirteen years old."
"What does my age have to do with it?" Shannon crossed her arms. "I’m thirteen, Ryan is seventeen. That’s barely any gap at all."
"In our teenage years, even a single year is a significant difference, four years is enormous. Stop entertaining these thoughts and leave him alone," Summer said, slipping naturally into older sister’s tone she would often tale when it concerned Shannon.
Shannon turned it around immediately. "Are you in love with him too? Is that why you’re so defensive about it?"
"I am not," Summer said flatly. "I am trying to protect you from building expectations around something that is never going to happen the way you’re imagining it."
Shannon sulked, pulling her arms tighter across her chest, but she didn’t argue.
Summer didn’t say the rest of what she was thinking, that she wasn’t entirely immune to understanding the appeal, in the abstract, the way any girl her age might briefly entertain the idea of someone like Ryan. But she’d gotten over that kind of thinking around age ten, and she had no interest in watching Shannon get her heart quietly broken by someone who was almost certainly already tangled up with Cindy, at minimum, and who looked at Shannon the same way he looked at a younger sibling he was responsible for keeping safe.
That last part was the part Shannon needed to hear.
"He is surrounded by quite eye-catching and capable women who are already in his life," Summer said carefully. "You understand that, right? You’ve seen it."
"I know," Shannon muttered, her expression going somewhere between sulky and deflated. "Beautiful women everywhere around him."
"Which means he is very likely already—"
"I don’t care," Shannon cut in, lifting her chin. "As long as I win eventually, the rest of it doesn’t matter."
Summer opened her mouth and then closed it again.
"In three years," Shannon added, with a certainty that was almost alarming. "In three years I’ll be old enough and then we’ll see."
Summer stared at her in complete silence for a long moment.
She really did have it bad. Summer could trace it back to the exact moment it had probably started, Ryan appearing out of nowhere, handling the Infected like it was nothing, carrying Shannon like she weighed less than a thought, calm and certain in the middle of everything terrifying. Of course it had landed on her like that. Of course it had. He’d walked into her fear and made it smaller, and his natural warmth toward her afterward hadn’t helped untangle any of it.
She wanted to be annoyed at Ryan for being so thoroughly, obliviously kind to a thirteen year old girl and instead of putting some distance knowing what she was entertaining in her mind, was still showering her with only more kindness.
But she couldn’t stay annoyed at him, and she knew it. That was the frustrating part. Ryan wasn’t doing any of it on purpose, he really had no idea how he came across half the time. When it came to understanding some, he was definitely an idiot.
"In three years, Ryan might not even be here anymore," Summer said, mostly to redirect Shannon’s daydreaming somewhere more grounded.
"What?!" Shannon spun toward her. "He is obviously staying here until the end! He would never just leave!"
"Keep dreaming," Summer said, letting the smile through.
Shannon opened her mouth to argue further, and then both of them were distracted by movement near the entrance.
Four people were coming in from outside, carrying bags and moving. Summer recognized the pale blond hair immediately, Cindy, easy to spot anywhere. Beside her walked a young man around her age, and next to him a girl with jet black hair who moved with a quiet, watchful energy. The fourth person was a woman, older than the others by a few years, maybe Maribel’s age or likely above.
The moment they stepped fully inside, the shift in the place was immediate. Gazes moved, settled, and sharpened, not on the group as a whole, but specifically on that older woman. The recognition was written plainly on enough faces to fill the silence with something uncomfortable.
Lucy read it instantly. She was clearly used to reading it.
"I’ll take the bags inside," she said, already reaching for them. Remove herself from the open space, get out of the eyeline of people who’d already decided what they thought of her, it was a clean solution and she went for it without being asked.
"You’re not carrying them alone," Sydney said. "Christopher, go with her."
Christopher turned toward her. "Seriously?"
"There are firearms in those bags," Sydney said, dropping the lightness. "We don’t leave her unsupervised with weapons. Walk her inside, make sure everything gets where it’s supposed to go." Then, because she apparently couldn’t help herself, the lightness came flooding straight back. "Besides, I’m basically handing you alone time with her. You’re welcome. Go ahead, take your shot."
Christopher glared at her.
"If I had any intentions against this group, I would have acted on them already," Lucy said, her voice dry enough to sand wood, not even looking back.
"Sure, but you’ve already switched sides twice, so forgive me if I’m not handing out trust medals just yet," Sydney replied pleasantly, earning a sharp look from Lucy over her shoulder.
"How thoughtful of you, Sydney," Cindy said.
"Right? I try," Sydney grinned, completely unbothered, turning back to Christopher. "Come on, Chris. I’m doing you a favor here—"
"I’m leaving," Lucy said, and she was already moving, bags in hand, done with the conversation.
"That’s practically a yes, Christopher, she’s leading the way, you’ve got this buddy—"
"Will you ever shut up?" Christopher asked her.
"Only when Ryan shuts me up, and preferably with his li—mmh!"
Cindy’s hand came up and covered Sydney’s mouth before she could finish the sentence, then turned to Christopher with an apologetic look.
"Sorry. Go ahead, it really is better if she’s not left alone right now with people looking at her the way they are," Cindy said.
Sydney immediately tried to resume from behind Cindy’s hand. "—but what about my prediction regarding the Christopher and Lucy romantic arc—"
"Shut up, Sydney."
"Shut up already."
Christopher and Cindy spoke over each other with identical energy, and Sydney’s eyes lit up like that was the best possible response she could have received.
Christopher grabbed the remaining bags without another word and disappeared after Lucy with a sigh.
"So cold," Sydney sighed, pressing a hand to her chest. "No appreciation for the art of matchmaking."
"Whose fault is that, do you think?" Cindy said, fixing her with a look.
"Truly a mystery." Sydney was already scanning the room, interest shifting like water finding a new direction. "Some new faces in here, Ryan must’ve made it back already, right? Where is he? I need my Ryanamine. It’s been days, I’m running low—"
"Could you rein it in for maybe five minutes—" Cindy caught her arm before she could drift off on her own.
Shannon had already moved, slipping forward toward Sydney before Summer even registered she’d gone. Summer blinked and found Shannon standing right in front of the group, looking up at Sydney with open curiosity.
Sydney tilted her head. "I feel like I’ve seen your face before."
"She’s the girl Ryan saved," Cindy offered.
"The girl Ryan saved. Going to need more to go on. There’s a substantial list."
"Don’t exaggerate," Cindy said, rolling her eyes.
Shannon giggled hearing that. "I’m Shannon. We met when you all first came to Atlantic City. That day."
"Oh, right, that one." Recognition clicked into place on Sydney’s face, and then she moved on without ceremony. "So. Ryan. Where?"
"He went out with Maribel," Summer said from behind Shannon, watching Sydney’s face carefully.
"Who’s Maribel again?" Sydney asked, her brow creasing slightly. Then, before anyone could answer, the conclusion she’d already jumped to landed on her face in full. "Another woman? Again? I leave Ryan alone for three days, three days and he’s already off somewhere with another woman. Unbelievable. Truly."
"What exactly is your relationship with Ryan?" Shannon asked, tilting her head.
Sydney looked down at her, and a slow, satisfied smirk spread across her face like she’d been waiting for someone to ask.
"My relationship with Ryan is—"
"Friendship," Cindy said immediately. "We are his friends. Very close, important friends. That’s all."
Summer frowned a bit hearing that from Cindy especially but didn’t say anything.
"Ryan went out with Maribel to check on one of the scavenging groups that hasn’t come back on schedule," she explained instead, smoothly redirecting. "They’re probably fine, just making sure, seeing if anyone needs a hand getting back."
"Oh, wait Maribel!" Sydney’s expression shifted immediately into recognition, lighting up in the way it did when something clicked into place for her. "Wait, you mean the woman with the short temper, the nice cleavage, the amazing caramel skin that even Ryan would desire to eat her up—"
"Could you describe her normally!" Cindy interrupted her.
"I’m being complimentary." Sydney said, spreading her hands.
Shannon had her hand pressed over her mouth, shoulders shaking with laughter she was only barely keeping contained. The whole back-and-forth was clearly the most entertaining thing she’d witnessed all day, and she wasn’t trying very hard to hide it.
Summer just exhaled slowly and crossed her arms. freewёbnoνel.com
She found herself wondering how Ryan, quiet, serious, and awkward with the too much enegitical and clingy people like Shannon, could handle someone like Sydney.
