End of Death (manxman)

Survival: Part 3 - Burning Bridges

It happened almost every time he opened his eyes, this yearning for it all to be a dream. The moaning woke Graham. He touched his head. Standing up, he knew he couldn't stay here anymore.

Graham was at the entrance to the campgrounds in a small ranger outpost where three different zombies banged on the tinted glass. The three zombies banged through night.

There were these guys in a military grade hummer on the road just firing and taking. "They didn't even know who I was," Graham kept thinking, society had become something so different than he was used to. Fire first and ask questions later.

The SUV drove off the road and hit a tree. Graham had to run into the woods to get away and that was when he stumbled on the campground. A group of cars and trailers were parked as a refugee encampment trying to escape the horde from the city but they had all turned, even the little ones.

Graham stood up to get a better view, the small outpost served as the entrance to the campground. There was a map of the mountain that Graham pulled off the wall and folded into his pocket. The windows shook and grime from the three zombies' hands dirties the glass. These things were dumb.

Graham tapped a portion of the glass and the three reached for him trying to bite into him seemingly unaware of the barrier. Graham moved quickly out the door while the zombies caught onto his plan and marched around the outpost. Graham hurried and grabbed one stabbing it in the head. The other two were on him, one a much bigger guy than him and the third a woman with what looked to be a blue dress on. Graham circled the outpost until he got enough space between them. He stabbed the woman in the head and then focused on the big guy. He'd need to kick him to the ground first. Running around the outpost he snuck up behind the zombie kicking behind his knee and dropping the big lug to the ground. Going down the zombie smacked his head on the cement but still wasn't gone. A quick knife to the skull got him though.

Panting, Graham looked back at the camping area, there was a gift shop, a nature store, a bunch of orange and green tents and two RVs set up in the parking lot. He needed to get back to the diner, ASAP. Walking up to the RV he could hear moans out in the woods. There were more zombies all around. The door to the RV was left open, whoever was here left in a hurry.

Stepping inside the RV it was like Graham stepped into the lap of luxury. This was new, almost untouched, probably stolen. Graham could imagine someone grabbing this early and getting out of the city. He remembered those early days, where people weren't totally sure what was going on. Maybe this group went and bought it, or stole it when the mandatory curfews were put into effect. Either way, they were more prepared than he was and either way it didn't help them.

Spinning around Graham spotted a figure approaching the open door. He pulled it shut, locking it. He hoped more of the zombies wouldn't come crawling. Graham walked through the RV, it was large with a decent sized kitchen area, polished wood, solar panel electric power, a washer-dryer and 3 beds. But where were the keys?

Graham checked all the cabinets, under the tables, then sat in the drivers seat a bit defeated. Maybe the keys were on one of the zombies outside, but which one? He closed his eyes for a moment his mind drifting into his misfortune. He couldn't help but feel bad for himself. He never felt so far away before, so lonely, so defeated; throughout high school he was always the hero, a guy's guy that had people around him.

Milo flashed in his head, the petulant argumentative teen. The boy remind him of himself in a way. Graham smiled at the thought picturing Milo and feeling comforted thinking about the boy. The two had been through so much together and he missed him. Graham pictured himself hugging Milo, but the hug went on forever. He thought of them cuddling – then sneaking up on the man were memories of a dream. Graham wanted to kiss the boy and he jolted forward, blinking and shaking his head, he wasn't gay. But the thought of kissing Milo still lingered, this was new, maybe the trauma had awakened something different in him. I'm just missing him. Graham told himself.