GaLe: Apocalyptic Love

Chapter 2:

I can't believe it. I've lost it. The map is gone! I didn't take it with me. It's either been destroyed or it's back in that house. Now how am I supposed to find the meeting place?! Ugh this sets me back even more! What if my friends are waiting for me there! What if they think I'm dead?! This is the worst!

I guess I'm back to square one. I remembered some of what was on the map, but not much. Not much at all. All I remembered was that I had to go North. But what luck, I didn't have a compass. I did however find myself in a forest, giving me an idea. I ran to the nearest tree. No luck. I ran to the next one. This had it. Moss.

Everyone always said that moss grew on the north side. And hear it is. Finally! Some good luck! According to the moss, North should be . . . straight ahead! I've been going the right direction, that's great!

I looked up at the sky. Clocks weren't a thing anymore, since people who knew how to fix and build them were all probably dead or zombified right now. It was rare to see a person with one. Actually, that's not saying something since it was rare to see a person at all.

Judging by where the sun is in the sky, it's about 4 in the evening. I should scout out a new place to stay for the night. Maybe get some new supplies as well. Food was running low and I needed more medical supplies. Plus my knife is losing its edge. I need to find something to sharpen it with and I haven't been able to find any big rocks in this forest.

I grabbed my bag, looked around to make sure there were no zombies, and started running when the coast was clear. Running, especially with leaves on the ground, was very loud. It could attract unwanted attention, meaning it could attract zombies. I made my steps as silent as possible. They were still loud to me though, but isn't that always the case when you're trying to hide? I kept going North until I got to the edge of the forest. I saw yet another abandoned town. Hopefully this one had supplies. The last one was already pretty much raided. I was lucky to find a spare plastic water bottle in it.

I cautiously walked towards the town, but when I saw a flash of green I hid. The town was overrun with zombies. I couldn't get past here easily. I decided to camp in the woods for tonight. The forest canopy would provide good cover. I crept back towards the forest quietly and searched for a big tree. It wasn't that hard considering my size and weight. I found one that suited me and scaled it. I sat on a stable branch and put my bag down.

Staying in trees was a good idea, especially when you plan on sleeping. If you sleep on the ground, zombies can easily get to you and kill you while you're unconscious. Zombies have a hard time climbing trees since their control over their arms and legs are limited. They are basically just mindless corpses after all. They aren't brainless, but they can't think very well. Even if they do manage to climb up, I would hear it, trust me. I'm a light sleeper.

I set my bag in a position where it wouldn't fall, and got comfortable. I soon fell asleep.

How many hours passed, I do not know. All I know is that I woke up to the sound of zombies being killed. Zombies wouldn't kill each other, so it made me suspicious. There are such thing as rogue groups of humans. They not only kill zombies, but they kill people too. They kill people to steal their supplies. At first that's who I thought was here. I immediately opened my eyes at the thought, only to see dark blood red eyes staring back at me, close to my face.

I screamed and hit the big creature with my bag by reflex. It fell off the branch with a thud. I panted trying to get my breath back and normal. That thing, whatever it was, scared me half to death.

"Oi! That hurt ya know!" A voice yelled.

I looked down to see that the creature, was actually a human. A huge one in fact. He definitely towered over me if not for the fact I was sitting on a thick branch, way up high.

"I'm sorry!" I yelled back down, "But to be fair you scared me half to death!"

"Ugh now I have to climb all the way back up," he rolled his eyes.

"Wait no! Don't come up! Who are you?" I protested.

"I'm the one who saved yer ass shrimp," he said.

"W-What? Wait, Shrimp?!" I said, a bit offended by the nickname. I've heard multiple nicknames because of my height, but "Shrimp," was definitely a new one. One I didn't like.

"While you were getting some beauty sleep, zombies were crowding around the tree trying to climb up. I killed em before they got to ya, Shrimp," he said.

"Well then thank you, and stop calling me that!" I said.

"You gonna come down or do I have to climb back up?" He asked, a big hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"How do I know you're not a rogue?" I asked suspiciously.

"Oh please," he rolled his eyes, "If I were a rogue then I would've let them kill you then slay em before they touched your bag of supplies."

"Fair enough I suppose," I said.

"You gonna come down now? I'm not climbing this thing twice y'know," he said, getting a little annoyed.

"Yeah fine," I replied.

I grabbed my bag and held the ends of my tattered and mud-caked orange dress. I jumped down.

"Wait you trying to get a broken leg Shrimp?!" The man yelled.

I landed perfectly on the ground on both feet. I let go of my dress and smoothed it out.

"Of course not. I've done it before, don't worry," I said.

"You're a strong kid aren't ya?" He laughed.

"I'm not a kid!" I shot back.

"Then how old are ya?" He said with a smug look.

"I'm 18 years old you dolt!" I told him, getting annoyed.

"Ya don't look it," he scoffed.

"I'm fun sized, I know! God you're such an annoying person," I said.

"Well this annoying person happens to knows the way to the meeting place for survivors."