Just Survive

Chapter Five

- Ashley Gray -

A Few Months Later.

"Damn it..." Alex grumbles as his fist hits the steering wheel in frustration. He hisses at the impact, grazing his thumb on the area of his hand that slapped the leather wheel before shaking his head in despair.

I sit in the back of the car with Cody while Charlie had hogged the passenger seat for the entirety of our time road tripping. I don't mind sharing the space with Cody but it would be nice to have a little more leg-room.

We have been running lower and lower on supplies. We only came across a handful of convenience stores which were already ransacked. We got lucky if we found any crumbs on the shelves, mixed in with the dust and blood.

Our luck was running out after leaving the original camp all those weeks ago. It's dripping deafeningly from the bottle that had tipped on its side after the aftermath. We're trying to drink up the dregs but the forces against us keep pulling it back to the bottom of the bottle.

All of us sigh in accord at Alex's announcement, "We're out."

"Already? It's only been two days since we ditched the last car." I say in defeat, leaning forward, my hands laying on my knees.

I peer out the dirty and smudged window and notice a scattering of leaves across the road and then a sea of trees - nothing else. No sign of a cabin, a farm or any petrol stations as we had reached the middle of nowhere on our way to anywhere.

"I know, but we have driven a long distance in those forty-eight hours," Alex replies, turning in his seat so he can look at me.

I shake my head, thinking of what to do now as we only have two other packed cars also running on fumes.

"We'll have to start walking, go into the woods where it's more hidden," Alex informs the three of us. I'm not sure how well that plan will go down with some of the others but we all nod in compliance at the solution. It will be more dangerous on foot but we have no other choice.

We climb out of the car in unison, all the four doors slamming shut as we guide them closed. Alex explains to the rest of the group what is going to happen in the foreseeable future as Cody, Charlie and myself gather the contents of the vehicles. We rummage through a car each, swiping under the seats, digging through the compartments but only taking what we know we'll need.

We leave behind anything worthless, like random ripped clothing or used batteries that had made themselves at home in the footwells of each of the grubby cars.

We then share out the contents, packing them away in everyone's bags so everyone is contributing but not slowed down by the weight. We advise the group to leave any useless personal items behind too. Without the choice of running to the cars, we need to make sure no one will fall behind when we need to get away from threats and a light bag will help somewhat. The kids carry their small bags too, staying in the middle of our group as the adults' cluster together like penguins.

"Into the woods we go." Charlie exhales, mocking a joyful tone as he walks past me, heading to the front with a map in hand. His comedic manner never fails to keep the mood upbeat even during the hardest times.

Despite the comment, his hand, along with everyone's else's clasps around a weapon. I stay towards the back of the group, my hand always hovering over my knife in its holster, ready to act if anything attacks.

Everyone chats amongst themselves, almost as if everything was normal as my eavesdropping deciphers a variety of gossip. I suppose I'm happy that people don't feel afraid, but if we get attacked, they'd never see it coming and that's terrifying. Especially when danger is all I think about. The torrential thought of getting jumped by a horde of corpses and them ripping everyone I have ever cared about into tiny little pieces plagues my mind every minute of every day. I struggle to understand how it doesn't haunt the others too. I can even hear their muffled groans and growls in my ears as if they're shuffling closer and closer to our diminishing group, ready to wipe our existence.