The Aftermath

S1E7: The Scavenge

Chris had a long restless night as he kept thinking about Rosie, Zach and Sasha. Am I doing a good job as a leader for the group? Will this camp be safe enough? Chris thought to himself before getting up to take watch. It's a rather dark night with a full moon, and Jeannie is patrolling the perimeter with the magnum. Chris gets out of his tent irritably wishing that he at least got some rest. He walks up to Jeannie to take her watch in order to clear his head.
       "Jeannie it's my shift now. You can go to sleep", Chris says sounding exhausted. "Did you at least sleep?", Jeannie questioned Chris. There's a pause before Chris answers clearly thinking about the loud speaker he heard when he was talking to Rosie. Will she be ok over there by herself? Is she going to die because of my decision? What did they mean by Bunker 03? Are there other survivors out there? Chris thought to himself worriedly. "Hello Earth to Chris", Jeannie says clearly annoyed that Chris still hasn't answered her.
       "I talked to Rosie", Chris says still not answering Jeannie's question. "Why didn't you get me than? I wanted to talk to her too", Jeannie said angrily. "I'm sorry I didn't want to wake you, but I heard the Admiral announce information about us leaving. They're going to search Rosie and Zach to see if they knew about our disappearances. They might be in danger", Chris said. "You should've told me from the beginning! We have to help her as soon as we get settled and get enough supplies!", Jeannie shouts. "We'll arrange everyone to a task in order to actually survive here. For now get some rest, you'll need it for the morning", Chris said before heading over to start the perimeter check.
       Jeannie walks to her tent and thinks about her sister and the group. Will Rosie be ok on her own? Should I go back for her? Are there even enough resources on the surface in order to survive? Jeannie thought to herself while drifting of to sleep thinking about her family.
       Morning hits, and the group wakes up getting ready to scavenge and set up a temporary base. Chris looks around and tries to decipher which people should do what task. "Alright we have a lot to do today, and I need all your cooperation in order to build a decent camp. A simple handgun ain't gonna cut it. Jess and Sarah, I need you guys to set up a medical tent in case anyone needs treatment. Ricky and Jill, I need you guys to search for a water source while Ryan and Paige go out to scavenge food. Hayden will stay here to patrol around the perimeter. Me and Jeannie will be be cutting up wood to build defenses against the mutated.
       Everyone's agrees to their task, and they begin to head out. Paige and Ryan begin to search for fruit or any animals that haven't been mutated or affected by the blast. All they see is a forest that's half destroyed; trying to find any remnants of food. There was an awkward silence as they shared no words together with this new world that they have to adapt to.
       Suddenly, Paige and Ryan notice a crawler appear in the tree lines. "Ryan hide!", Paige whispers to Ryan. The only sound that both Paige and Ryan could hear, was the sound of their heartbeats. How are we going to get out of this situation? Can I distract the crawler somehow? Do we even have a weapon to defend ourselves with? Ryan thought to himself while trying to control his breathing. He notices Paige make his way around the tree with a knife in hand ready to strike. Ryan decides to pick up a rock as the crawler slowly approaches. Just as the crawler is about to reach Ryan, he throws the rock in the opposite direction which distracts the crawler.
       They wait patiently in order for Paige to strike down the crawler. Paige's heartbeat increases as he's about to risk his life to kill this mutant. He jumps in the air and shoved the knife deep into the crawler's skull. The crawler releases a horrid scream that would sound like something that came from a horror movie. "Ryan that was way too risky! You could've gotten yourself killed if you made too much noise", Paige shouts at Ryan. Ryan doesn't answer as he sighs at what Paige said. "That reminded me of my mother", Ryan chuckled while avoiding eye contact with Paige.
       "I always had a family that loved me very much, so I can't complain about that. However,  I always had this urge to overachieve and overwork myself just so I can prove myself to be useful to my family. My mother saw that and wanted to let me know that I don't have to try too hard and that life will provide me with everything in the world. But when the blast happened, there wasn't enough room in the bunker. So my mother sent me in to the bunker and that was the last time I ever saw her. I just wish that I can see her again", Ryan says while tears begin to fall on his face.
       Paige just stays silent and let's Ryan let out his emotions that he's been keeping ever since the blast. "But I wonder, how come the radiation depleted so quickly when we were in hyper sleep? And why did they lie about the air being breathable? How long were we really in hyper sleep for?", Ryan thought these questions out loud hoping that Paige can have a reasonable answer. "No matter what happened in the past, you have to keep on moving forward for your family", Paige said reassuringly. Ryan stayed quiet for a moment and sighed. "Yeah I guess you're right...let's head back", Ryan said.
       Suddenly, the sound of an airplane can be heard in the distance. Paige and Ryan share excited looks as they try to decipher the location. They notice an orange smoke in the distance and a parachute. They soon realize that it's a supply drop. What's in the supply drop? So does this mean that there are other people out there? Paige and Ryan thought to themselves as they run back to the camp to tell the group.
       On the other side of the forest, Ricky and and Jill continue to look for a water source. "The grass is getting greener", Jill says to Ricky breaking the silence. "There could be water close by", Ricky says. "Ricky...I'm happy that you came with me. I don't know if I would've been able to have gone alone", Jill says while blushing. Her palms becoming sweaty whenever she just looks at Ricky. "I wouldn't want it any other way Jill", Ricky says while turning away to hide his crimson colored cheeks.
       They continue to walk in silence in search for a water source when they suddenly, hear the sounds of water rippling and a waterfall in the distance. "Do you hear that?", Jill asks hopefully. "Yeah I do let's check it out", Ricky says while they run over to the direction of the waterfall. They finally arrive to the waterfall, and the scenery is beautiful. The soothing sounds of the water relax Ricky and Jill as they take a seat and admire the scenery.
       Jill looks at her reflection and then at Ricky  still blushing from the previous moment. "Ricky...", Jill begins to say. "Yeah?", Ricky says curiously. "I just want to thank you for everything you and your family did for me. After mine pushed me away, you were always there for me. And I'm just so grateful to have you in my life. That's what made your parents' death so hard for me as well. They were like the caring family I never had. It's a shame what happened to them in the car crash", Jill said. There was a long awkward pause as they continued to enjoy the view of the waterfall without speaking a word to each other.
       "Your parents would've been so proud of you Ricky", Jill said. Ricky was surprised when he heard that. It's been awhile since he's seen his parents, and he's always hoped that they would've been proud of him. Ricky brings Jill in for a hug as he starts to let out all the emotions that he's been holding in. He cries on Jill's shoulder during the embrace. He slowly backs away and says, "thank you" to Jill. He slowly leans in and kisses her passionately as he strokes her hair.
       Suddenly, the sound of multiple screeches can be heard on top of the waterfall. It reveals three crawlers and large tall unidentifiable creature. It comes into view as it's revealed to be covered in eyes and is very strong as every step rumbles the ground below. "Jill run!", Ricky shouts as they dodge the crawlers jumping down from the waterfall and the trees. All that can be heard behind them, is the loud grumble of the tank like figure that is slowly making its way back to the camp.