13 Years of Struggle

Chapter 7

              “ Ugh! Nothing.” I sat on the road burying my head in my knees. I heard Kolson and Anais walk up behind me. 

              “ Claire, it'll be alright. We will find a vehicle soon. Just have hope.” Anais reassures me.

           I looked up at her. I knew she was right. I needed to have some hope. But as we got closer to Washington and us seeing how the rest of the country looked. I was slowly starting to lose hope. 

        “ Yeah. I know.” I sighed and sat up and looked at both of them. 

   “ That’s better. Now let's get back to searching.” Anais starts walking with Kolson following her like a puppy. I soon followed after. 

              We approached a small blue house with a garage. “ Maybe there is a car in there.” Anais says as we get closer. 

                  I replied back. “ Yeah maybe…” 

        Soon we heard the sound of screaming and gunshots coming from the woods. “ What the?!” Anais looked around confused and concerned. 

            “ Sounds like somebody's in trouble.” I looked concerned as well. I took the gun out of the holster and clutched it near. 

           “ Should we help them?” Kolson asks as he looks around. 

   I looked down at him. “ Maybe we should help. But if it seems bad. We get out of there as quickly as we can. You understand guys?” 

           “ Yeah we got it. Come on.” Anais replied as she clutched her gun as well.  

      The three of us ran quickly in the direction of where the screams and gunshots were coming from. We got further and further away from town and we were now on a road surrounded on all sides by thick woods. 

            “ I don’t like the look of this Claire.” Anais said as we ran. 

   “ Me neither.” I replied as we continued to run. 

        We soon came upon a dirt driveway with a mailbox. “ This must be where whatever hell we heard is coming from.”  Anais takes a deep breath and makes sure Kolson is alright. 

                 I didn’t reply to her question and walked down the driveway cautiously. After walking for around 40 feet I saw a clearing coming up. I hid behind a big tree and motioned for Anais and Kolson to stay put. They replied back and stood still. 

              I peered my head around the tree. I saw a group of 9 people. There were 4 women and 5 men. They were backed up against a barn and more than a dozen Rotters had surrounded them. The men fired their guns and tried to fight the Rotters off. 

               I turned my head over to look at Anais. I mouthed to her that it was people. She seemed to understand me and she held her pistol tightly and Kolson held the knife we had given to him for his protection. 

               I saw that the Rotters were getting closer and closer towards the group of people. If we didn’t do anything they would be devoured. I looked at Anais and Kolson before I ran out from behind the tree. I aimed my pistol up as accurately as I could and I began to shoot some of the Rotters. 

                 The Rotters were attracted by the gunfire and started stumbling over towards me. The people had looks of shock and confusion plastered on their faces. They must be thinking, where did this mad woman come from?