The Wilderness Within: A Fanfiction (Draft)

Chapter 30

It was summer. Giving Barley a gentle pat, I pulled the brim of my hat down lower to shield my eyes from the searing sun and checked behind me again. Kami was near the rear, as were two of our newer companions, Mason and Emma. Closer was Alex and our other new companion Drake.

Alex pulled up beside me. "Look," he said quietly, "I need to talk to you."

I frowned. "What about?"

"About Kami."

"What about Kami?"

He sighed exasperatedly. "Let me talk, will you?"

"I am."

"I think I like Kami. Like, 'like' like her."

"Well duh."

He continued. "I don't know if I've always felt like this, but, I don't know, I think I might love her?"

"Well duh."

"But maybe she doesn't feel the same way. Wait, you knew?"

I grinned. "I picked up on a few things. I'm surprised she didn't already too."

He frowned.

"But seriously, you should go talk to her."

"But what if she doesn't feel the same way? Then I'm the one that ruined our friendship-"

"Go talk to her," I said sternly.

He laughed uneasily. "Okay, okay." He pulled back to his normal place beside Drake.

"Stronghold up ahead," I called back once I saw the fence come into view.

A half hour later we were inside, delivering letters, trading, and talking with local cartographers about making alterations to my map.

Hours later I took a moment to step aside from it all, leaning on a building away from the main street. Something caught my eye.

A small woman with dark glasses was watching the street too.

I gaped and walked over to her.

"Trinity! You're okay!" I made sure to give her space.

She studied me. "Georgia. Nice to see you."

"I never thought I'd see you in another Stronghold," I admitted.

She shrugged. "This one's a little different."

I nodded. "I've heard. You have a scientist here that's created a cure and a vaccine, right?"

"Yeah. If you're interested you can go talk to Nina. Say, what happened to that Stronghold we met at?"

I looked distant. "It was overrun the night after you escaped. Some good people died that night."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

An even smaller woman with a shock of red hair barrelled into Trinity, who barely moved at the force. She growled lightly, causing me to look a little shocked.

"Nicky, manners," she chided. "This is Georgia."

I stuck out my hand, which Nicky took. "Nice to meet you," she said, nearly pulling my arm out of my socket.

I chuckled.

"Are you staying for dinner?" she asked.

I turned around and saw my friends smiling as they worked, and with Alex putting a nervous arm around Kami's shoulder. I beamed. "Yeah, I think we are."

Nicky clapped her hands together. "Great, because I need some help getting back at Luke, and you don't seem that afraid of zombies like everyone else."

I stepped back. "Um, no. I am not up for antagonizing any zombies today."

Trinity smiled, a strange expression on her normally stoic face. "I knew I liked you," she said.

Nicky shrugged and ran off. I turned around, watching the last golden rays of day break over the horizon.

The world I knew before was once knocked to its knees, but now I could watch as it gradually pulled itself back to its feet. We only had one way to go and that's up.

The world didn't seem like such a bad place anymore.

// Author's Note:

If you stuck around this long, I'm impressed.

If you noticed anything that didn't seem right, with grammar or continuity or just where I could have missed some research, please drop a comment.

If you noticed something that you really liked about this story or the characters, please drop a comment.

If you want to know what I'm up to next, drop a comment. You get it. I want to hear from you, especially if you managed to make it this far. If I get enough votes and comments on this piece, I may go back and clean it up a little and make it even better. Until next time,

MewMadeline