The Fog (HIATUS)

Chapter 24

The sound of shattered glass echoed through the empty streets as John broke another window.
Now that I wasn't alone it was much harder to get supplies.
Cody and John needed better bags since theirs are too small. They also needed more bottles for water and knives as well as hammocks and a change of clothes.

I climb through the broken window and search the house as he went with Cody to another building.
Searching for anything useful I come across some boxes of tea and some grounded coffee.
John joked that I was a chicken, since I don't want to get near a fort, but after I explained that they might not want to even talk to infected people, he suggested that he will trade.

I go from room to room and grab anything that was left behind. From cables to anything edible.
This house didn't have much in the first place, unless I count in the amounts of pots and wilted plants.

With a sigh I exit the house and wave to John and Cody as they wait for me.

,,Anything of use?" John asks as he gives Cody a bottle of water.

,,Unless you want to start gardening." I shrug and look around the street. ,,Nothing. There has to be a fort nearby or the people who lived here took everything with them."

Cody takes a sip and makes a face and examines the bottle in his hands.
,,It's bad." He glares at the transparent liquid.

,,Water?" John grabs the bottle and is about to take a sip when I grab his arm.

,,Wait. We don't know if it's contagious." I take my second bottle and hand it to Cody. ,,Here, I haven't drank from this one yet."

Cody takes it and gives it a sniff before taking a small sip. He spit it right out.
,,It's bad."

John gave a worried look and I nodded.
,,It's okay Cody. The water isn't bad, it will just taste funny for some time."

Cody glances at his brother and grabs his hand.
,,For how long?"

John's eyes meet mine and I show him two and then three fingers.
,,Probably two to three d-"

quickly mouthing 'weeks' to him he notices and stops and corrects himself.
,,Two or three weeks."

Cody looks down and then turns to me. ,,Can I drink something else?"

I doubt that drinking something else will change the chemical aftertaste, and the worst part is that it will only get stronger until subtly disappearing after three weeks.
,,I don't know if it will change anything, but if we find something else, we can try."

John bit the inside of his cheek and claps his hands together. ,,Okay, enough of the sad faces! Let's go and find that fort, trade and then figure out what we can do next."

Surprised at his sudden change in character I nod and pack the bottle before looking around the abandoned town.
,,If we find the post office lets search it for the map."

,,Or trade for it." John smiled before taking the lead, leaving me and Cody staring at his back.
He turns around and gives us a small smile. ,,You two coming or do I have to leave you behind?"

-----------------

I watch the people from the fort with narrow eyes as they tend to their animals outside the fence. Some are entering and some are exiting the big gate. Luckily, we are hidden by the dense shrubs on the hill, and the new clothes I found for the two brothers gave them better camouflage. Unfortunately, I couldn't find better pants for Cody, so he still has his blue jeans.

,,I still think this is a bad idea." I mutter my thought out loud.

John sighs and grabs the bag full of items he could trade. Mostly tomato seeds as I found quite the stash in one home and some cables as well as some batteries.
,,Like I told you before, if something happens or if I won't be back before fog rolls in then take Cody and leave." He glances at his brother and smiles slightly. ,,Cody, listen to her, okay? She will take care of you."

Cody grips his brother's sleeve and shakes his head. ,,I'll go with you."

John smiles and pats his head.
,,Not today. Stay here and take care of Sio."

Cody pouts and John removes his sleeve from the tight grip of his brother's hands. He hands me the rifle which I reluctantly take. We agreed that it was safer if he went without a firearm as the fort might want to take it by force. He got up and starts walking towards the fort as we watch from the shrubs.

,,We will be waiting in the camp." I say and see him nod his head.

We watch as he slowly approaches the fort and the people notice him, they wave towards the fort and some people head in his direction. It seems like they are talking until two heavily armored people from the fort reach them.

I hold my breath as they lead him towards the fort, but my attention is redirected behind us as even Cody tenses at the rustling. He hugs my arm and hides behind me. I almost forgot that forts have an unpleasant number of dangerous animals roaming around.

The white coat glistens in the sunlight as the hare jumps out from the shadows and charges straight at us. The tension disappears from my muscles at the small critter.

Here I thought that we will go hungry.

As the hare gets close enough to start whacking my leg and biting at my pants, I grab it and hold it on the ground.
Cody watches from behind me and I realize that this is his first time seeing an infected animal.

,,This is what happens when something gets sick. Their blood and eyes turn milky white and in some cases be aggressive, like this hare." I explain as the hare struggles in my grasp.

I turn towards him, and he is staring at my hair. When he notices me, he quickly looks back at the critter and asks.

,,Will I have white hair too?"

Im taken aback with this question. John didn't say if Cody knows that he is infected. But we did talk about this infection being contagious, so maybe he is smart enough to put two and two together.

,,Most likely." I nod and stand up looking back at the fort. John must be already inside, and it made me only more nervous now that I couldn't see him. The hare in my grasp reminded me of its existence as it fought against my grip. ,,Let's go make a camp nearby."

Cody nods slowly and grabs my hand, surprising me as he watched the critter struggle.
,,Is it really dangerous?"

I glance at the fighting animal. ,,Not really. It will just attack you, but bigger animals may be dangerous."

,,The birds John found yesterday tried to run away. Were those okay?"

He is smart. He notices the differences and connects the dots faster than I thought he would or maybe I just don't understand children at all. Not spending a lot of time with them might be the reason why I thought that Cody wouldn't understand a lot of things.

,,They were okay because birds and fish don't get sick." I lead him deeper in the forest and try to keep the hare from biting me. I didn't want to kill it in front of Cody, but that fur ball was starting to get on my nerves.

,,You are also sick." He commented and went to grab a pinecone. ,,But you're not angry."

I smile and nod my head before remembering something.
,,I forgot the rifle." Facepalming myself I turn around and go back for the firearm.

And John wants me to take care of his little brother? One day I will forget to breathe.

---------------

Cody hungrily chews the meat. It is his first warm meal in a while and even if it must taste horrible, he doesn't care.
I managed to butcher the hare and catch one more squirrel. The meat that wasn't cooked is currently smoked for later.

We made camp here before so John knows where to look for us and if he won't show up before the sun gets low, I will go for him.
The though of what Cody might do when John doesn't come back plagues my mind for some time now.

There was an hour or two before the sunset and I was getting more and more impatient with every minute. Cody stayed quiet most of the time, occasionally asking some random questions.
He would also look around for rocks or other things he found interest in, like a grasshopper he managed to catch.

,,What is your job?" He asked as he put away an only half eaten piece of meat.

,,I didn't have a stable job." I grimaced at the memories. ,,I had many jobs you could say."

,,Like?"

,,Well?" I scratch my neck as I try to choose between various jobs. ,,I used to work at a bar, or in fast food. I worked in a gas station as a cashier once and as a dog walker."

,,Why so many?" He asks as he picks up one of his rocks he collected earlier.


,,I travelled a lot." Chuckling to myself I remember how some of those jobs drained me mentally. ,,I wanted to see the world, but to do that I had to have money."

It was true that I visited many places, but I never left the continent. I also never found a place where I was willing to stay forever but perhaps this is my lifestyle, always on the move.

,,What about you?" I ask. ,,What do you want to do when you grow up?"

This seems to catch him off guard as his wide eyes meet mine. He stays quiet for a moment before clutching the rock in his hands.

,,Astronaut." He mumbles. ,,I want to go to space and bring a rock from the moon."

I smile at the kid and look up, but unfortunately there are clouds today.
,,You know what? When the sky is clear I will show you something."

He nods his head and looks back at the piece of meat with distaste in his eyes.
,,I know it tastes bad." I sigh. ,,But you should eat more."

He nods and takes a small bite before swallowing it instantly. I didn't know if it was safe or healthy to do so but if it meant that he would eat more-

Cody suddenly jumps up and with a happy smile, shouting as he runs towards the trees.
,,Brother!"

My head whips towards the trees as John waves at us with a smile. With a smile of my own I get up and walk towards him.
As Cody runs up to him, John lifts him up.

,,See, buddy? I told you that I will come back!" He spins Cody around and puts him on his shoulders.

,,Good to see you back, we saved you some meat." I cross my hands and watch the two brothers.

,,Oh, thanks! I'm starving." With a jump to his steps, he walks with me towards the fire where I give him some roasted meat.
He shrugs his bag off and takes the meat before shoving it in his mouth.

,,The people were nice. Wanted me to get you so you could sleep inside, but I told them that if we won't show up before the night falls-" He trails off as he shrugs. ,,Anyway, how about you? Anything interesting happen?"

,,Not really."

,,She forgot your rifle." Cody smiles at me mischievously.
My jaw drops as that little kid rats me out and John snorts with a teasing glint in his eye.

,,Anyway." John snickers. ,,They were very interested in the electrical stuff, as well as the batteries. The seeds were traded for some flour. Oh! And I got a map! It's from an atlas but it's better than nothing. We also got some energy bars."

I watch as John proudly and happily says what he got. Just from trading we had more supplies than what we got during our looting in the town. If not for him I would avoid this fort like any other and look for the way myself.

,,Thanks John."