Dead Advent: New World Order (Book 1)

Chapter 21 - Luck runs out (Part 1)

I closed my eyes as a slight breeze snaked around my legs and tousled my hair. Along with the breeze came the fresh, raw scent of dew and a mix of flowers, blooming at the peak of spring. I inhaled deeply, filling up my lungs with the rich aroma and tasting it lightly on my tongue.

This was one of the rare perks of living in a wasted world. Where a quiet moment by yourself wouldn't be interrupted by a distant car horn, or a buzz from a text message. Where you can truly immerse yourself in nature, despite how corrupted it had become.

I opened my eyes again. To the hay dummy who's been watching me watch him for about an hour now. My duty was long over but I was still lingering about the fields, stealing glances at the lifeless straw doll, as if there was a need for subtlety in the first place.

"Yeah, I'm weird. What about it?" I crossed my arms and stuck my chin out at it. The sleeves of the shirt it wore fluttered in the wind, and then the doll was still again.

Dull. Harmless. Far from the real thing.

Flux was right. There was nothing funny about a zombie scarecrow at all.

Tucking my hands into my jeans pockets, I quickly turned and stalked away from the puppet before I gave in to the urge to kick it down. Shooting training wasn't until another half an hour, so I could afford to stroll around the place for a while. Wandering around aimlessly, my footsteps brought me to the bottom of a guard tower. There was someone up there as usual, and upon straining my eyes, I realized that that someone was Ronney. He was laying back into a bench, his feet propped up on the railings, and taking some huge puffs from a cigarette.

What a slacker. I rolled my eyes.

I still remember the touching reunion we had. I had bumped into him and Smash during dinnertime the day I was released from trial. To be frank, I had almost forgotten about the existence of those two before that. After all, the chaos of the night we first met, the running through darkened corridors, the buildings ablaze... and my first zombie kill were already disappearing from my mind, leaving only the feeling of fear behind.

"Hey Ronney!" I shouted, smirking when he jumped up at the sound of my voice, "How's the view today?""

Ronney chuckled and waved me up.

"Why don't you come on up and check it out for yourself?"

"Don't mind if I do!" I snickered and scurried up the ladder.

The guard tower stood at a good 100 metres tall, and looking out from the top, you could see the forest surrounding us and a small part of the town, Picketford, further out. Picketford was where we scavenged for supplies, medicine, batteries, seeds, whatever that could be important to bring back to camp, but we had milked it dry a couple of days ago, and now the scavenger team was on the hunt for other places they can loot. I admired the bird's eye view for a while before joining Ronney on the bench.

"Y'know, I'm getting just a little bit worried for my life seeing how our first line of defense is so relaxed on the job..."

"Good for you, then." Ronney smirked, "It's for the best that you don't get too comfortable around here."

"You're one to talk," I sighed, "But seriously though, how are things out there?"

Ronney leaned his head back and slowly let out a huge cloud of smoke through his nostrils. Then he spat his cigarette out and stomped it into the ground until the flames diminished.

"Quiet," He muttered as he drew out another cigarette and lit it, "Creepy quiet. For the whole of this morning I've only had to kill a couple of shitheads. It seems like the rest are wandering away from us. Like they're being drawn into the forest."