Dirk POV:
We had been travelling for days on end. Camping here and there, it took me back to the time we were fighting Evie, which itself was not far off. She thought, was tied up. The whole trip so far had consisted of Quint babbling and geeking about science to me, Skealka talking about her many fights, Chef challenging me to small contests and Jack and June flirting with each other. They just got together and we have to endure the consequences.
We were following Evie's exact directions to get to New York. Of course, we encountered many monsters, but with Biggun and Bardle with us, it was no sweat. New York was still a week away and we still had the determination to free everyone. Maybe our families would be there! Maybe Jack would find his long lost parents! We did not give up hope.
"Into the Hooligan Plain.", instructed Evie. We hesitated. "What?! Why aren't you moving?", she demanded.
"The Hooligan Plain is like a dessert and we might not have enough water. Do we actually want to go there?", asked Jack. Evie groaned in annoyance.
"We must go through with it. If it means finding the rest of the humans.", said Bardle. So we sucked it up and went forward. And it did not disappoint. The Plain was hot, humid, making all of us sweat like a river. We saved the water we had left and rationed it equally when we did rest. However strong and withholding Evie claimed to be, she was noticeably getting tired.
"Now I get why they call it 'Hooligan Plain'", Dirk said after an hour of walking. All our clothes were almost wet due to the sweat. However, it was getting dark, so it would be fine in thirty minutes.
"I don't think I can walk anymore.", whined Jack.
"HA, sensitive little Sullivan.", teased June.
"Shut up, Del Toro."
"We should make camp now, It is getting late. It's not advisable to journey at night.", suggested Bardle and we collapsed on the ground almost immediately.
* * *
Tents up and a fire started, dinner was getting cooked. Meanwhile, We were interrogating Evie about the battles before us. She clearly didn't like when people got in her way, so she must've attacked other cities on her way to New York and Wakefield.
"So Evie, what other mayhem did you cause other than us?", asked June. Evie rolled her eyes, still tied to a chair.
She answered, "Right, 'Mayhem'. I attacked quite a few towns actually. Trapped the citizens who were not turned to zombies and made my way here.", she said heartlessly.
"So there are many others left on this Earth?", asked Jack.
"Eh. wouldn't say 'many'. Probably enough to fill a city or two. Y'all will have to repopulate. Pretty sure you and Snarky over there won't have any problems doing that.", she smirked. Jack and June went red as a beet, while Dirk and I stifled our laughter.
"So, after New York, we must free the other towns?", asked Bardle over dinner. We filled the others on what Evie said.
"Yes, but we should focus on one task at a time. First New York, then the rest of the world.", I said.
The gravity of the situation was now felt by everyone. We would have to travel the whole world to free survivors. It was a big feat, but not an entirely impossible one. We would need to build new homes, fix the damaged ones, and rebuild the whole town. It was a lot of work. But as I said, we should focus on one thing at a time. Quietly, inside our thoughts, we went to rest for the night.
* * *
Jack POV:
'Another day, another dollar, they said. But this kind of day only gives you one cent.
We walked for another day in the Hooligan Plain and passed on to normal terrain with much relief. We stopped by a river and filled our tanks, filled our food containers with berries and fruits we found along the way, and faced monsters big and small. All was going to be worth it though.
June and I were getting closer every day. It was so nice to see her laugh at my terrible jokes. Quint was picking up samples of various plants, fungus, goop that he saw and put them in bags for 'research purposes. Whatever those would be, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near. Dirk was still trying to beat Chef in the little games they challenged each other with, but Chef was mostly winning. The next few days were the same. Travelling, complaining, teasing, and babbling.
After a week of travelling and following Evie's directions, we came to a clearing. The forests seemed to be much thinner, and the road was more smooth, and there were far fewer trees than Wakefield. We stopped and saw the famous NYC skyline.
We were here.
We were going to meet other survivors.
:)