After Death (Completed)

(Season 3)匚卄卂卩ㄒ乇尺 １(I need to find you)

Chapter 1: I Need To Find You

Ethan Warren

Estimated, January, 2024

About 20 months after outbreak

California

Season 3

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I can't explain how I felt when I saw that sign that welcomed me into California. I finally felt like there was going to be something here after all. I hoped the others had already made their way here, and as long as they were safe, I couldn't care less if they found somewhere to live without me.

My wounds were healing nicely. It was getting easier to walk as the days went by. But I still get the occasional sharp pain. Sometimes it hurt so much that I couldn't even move and had to sit on the side of the road and take a break. I knew I had to push through the pain and keep going. The thought of reuniting with my loved ones kept me motivated, even during those moments of intense discomfort. The food and water that the mysterious person gave me have lasted me until now. I owed everything to this person, and I didn't even know their name.

I was kind of surprised that I hadn't run into anyone else on the way. Maybe I wanted to; I don't really know. It was kind of lonely being alone this long. But I knew we couldn't trust everyone, not after what had happened, and I didn't want something else to go wrong.

I didn't even know if we had lost anyone else since the campsite. I didn't want to think about that, but it was always in the back of my mind. I kind of feared seeing the others again and not all of us being here.

I couldn't understand why Aaron was gone. It still felt unreal, even though I had seen it happen with my own eyes. I wondered how the others were handling it. I wondered if they were feeling the same mix of disbelief and grief that I was. I couldn't help but worry about the toll it was taking on everyone's mental state. I know being split up like this probably wasn't helping either; at least it wasn't for me. It was hard to imagine moving forward without Aaron, but I guess we'd just move on like we did when we lost Amy.

I decided I would just get to the coast because that's where the others knew where to go, and if I truly wanted to see them again, then I had to try. I needed to see them again. I don't know how much longer I can stand my own company, but if they were gone, I'd still try to survive somehow. I probably looked insane to anyone who had the opportunity to see me from afar. I talked to myself and laid in the middle of the street whenever I got too tired. I was in the market for a set of wheels, but it was kind of difficult to find any in working condition.

There was one, though, a small gray car with working air conditioning. The tank was half full, and the battery was charged. I smiled from ear to ear as I heard the sweet sound of the starting engine.

I was somewhere in Chico now, and I made a lot more progress when I wasn't walking two miles per hour. The dead were everywhere in this state, and the car only drew more attention. I hated how I forced myself to thoroughly inspect every single corpse just to make sure it wasn't someone I knew.

In all honesty, I had no idea where to even start looking. This place was huge, and I knew if I stopped looking for even a minute, I might have lost them all forever.