May 2023
Leaves crinkled beneath my feet as I walked along the barren sidewalk in this abandoned town. There was a sign about a mile back, but I didn't bother to read it. If I had to guess, I'm sure it would give me a relative location of where I am. I learned a long time ago that my location didn't matter. I was just surviving. Moving from place to place with no destination in sight.
After the entire country was pretty much bombed to high heaven and back, the Leftens rounded up almost all the survivors. The day after I watched my family die, I came across a Leften ship. I stayed out of sight, but I saw several humans being herded on the ship. Most of them were females. I don't know where they took them, but my guess is they are probably scattered at the Leften settlements that are stationed around the world or taken to the Leften's home planet. Maybe the Leftens just killed them. I didn't stay long enough to watch and find out.
I was lucky enough to come across a group of people a few months ago. I was scavenging an abandoned gas station when I heard broken glass being crushed by footsteps at the front door. My eyes collided with a middle-aged woman.
She was the first to speak. I was ready to scramble out the back door, but she stopped me when she spoke.
"Who are you?"
I chose not to answer her and instead opted with slowly stepping towards the back. She looked at my legs and noticed I was trying to subtly leave.
"I can help you. I'm with a group of people. We have food. It's not the best, but you look like you could use it," she rushed.
She was right. My stomach growled and I glanced at the back door again. I didn't know if I could trust this person, but I hadn't eaten since I finished off the can of green beans I found yesterday.
"I'm Violet, but you can call me Vee. That's what everybody else calls me."
I turned my attention back towards Vee again. "How many people are you with?"
"There's 7 of us. We even have a little camp set up about a mile down the road."
I decided it couldn't hurt to put a little trust in this woman. She looked semi-healthy. I guess as healthy as you can look out here. She wasn't threatening me. The idea of talking to another person for the first time in months also was very tempting. "Alright, I'll follow you."
My thoughts focused back on the present when I heard John huff behind me. I turned my head towards him and raised my brows when I saw him struggling to pull a canteen out of his backpack.
John was only a few years older than me. His dark hair had large chunks missing from him chopping it off with a knife about a week ago. His shirt had multiple holes and was stained from sweat. The more I thought about it, I realized everybody needed new clothing. It was too risky to find a clothing store because most are in areas that used to be populated. I didn't want to run into a Leften squad.
My thoughts halted when I slammed into Amber's back. "Why did you stop?"
"Shut up for a second, Scar." I sighed. Amber always had an attitude with me.
I looked around and saw that the whole group stopped and everybody was looking straight ahead. I peered around Amber to see what she was stopping for but only saw some old abandoned sheds and a few rundown homes. I couldn't see anything that would arouse suspicion. Besides, the only thing we would have to worry about in a town like this would be another group. Leftens seemed to stay away from neighborhoods.
Suddenly, I heard a slam and the sound of glass breaking from one of the rundown homes directly in front of us. I tensed and I noticed Amber stiffened in front of me.
My hand automatically grabbed the handle of the machete that's sheathed on my belt. More rustling came from one of the buildings and I pinpointed it to the one on the left out of the three. The home was small, but the windows were all busted out. The front door was also wide open.
I jumped back and let out a shriek when a squirrel came barreling out of the front door of the abandoned home. A moment later, I let out a chuckle along with a few others in our group when I realized what it was.
"That was freaking scary," Nate remarked.
I turned my attention towards Nate and hastily agreed. "We're always jumpy about everything though."
"That's because we have every right to be Scar," Nate mumbled. He's right about that. I chose not to reply to Nate and followed behind Amber as she turned right onto another street.
A quick glance showed a large house with a fence surrounding it. Some of the windows on the first floor were still intact. The home actually looked decent and comfortable. My opinion seemed to be shared when Tim spoke.
"I say we camp at that house tonight."
Francine replied, "I think so too. My feet are killing me right now. Maybe there's some food we can find."
My stomach instantly growled at the thought of food and my mouth watered. I ate the last bit of a protein bar this morning. That small bite was definitely not enough for the long day we had.
I turned towards Vee and raised my eyebrows in a silent gesture. "Fine. Me and Josh are searching the house first though," Vee sniped.
"Why can't Tim do it with you? I don't want to go in first."
"Because I said so Josh, now let's go so I can lay down for the first time in hours."
I silently laughed at Josh's antics. He likes to complain about everything.
I picked up my pace along with everyone else as we got closer to the house. The weeds were definitely overgrown but the house itself looked relatively clean. I watched as Vee and Josh disappeared into the house.
A few minutes later, Josh stood at the front door and gave us the clear. We all piled into the house and the first door on the left showed a spacious kitchen. Vee was rummaging through the cupboards.
"I already found some cans of food. They're laying on the table in the dining room."
I smiled and rushed to the dining room that was adjacent to the kitchen. Sure enough there were about seven cans of peas on the table. I grabbed my switchblade from my pocket and speared it through the top of the can closest to me. I moaned as I swallowed the peas along with the liquid in the can. I didn't even taste it.
As I finished the can I flinched when I saw Vee standing right next to me. I didn't hear her come up to me. She grabbed my hand and slipped something cool to the touch into it. I didn't look down to see what it was until after she turned and went back to rummaging in the kitchen.
My lips spread into a goofy grin as I saw the ravioli label on the can. I turned towards the kitchen and walked through the door. I glanced down the hallway to see a living room on the right. I adjusted my bag on my shoulder and sidestepped Josh into the room.
Amber and Tim were already sprawled out on the floor. I chose a corner and laid my bag on the ground. I pulled off my boots and noticed the couch had a few decorative pillows on it. They looked like they could use cleaning, but that didn't bother me. I grabbed one and put it against the wall behind me and leaned against it.
I grabbed my ravioli and used my switchblade as a fork. I ate slower this time. After I finished I set the can to the side and washed the food down with some water from my canteen.
I suddenly felt the exhaustion weighing on me. I grabbed an old scratchy blanket from my bag and unstrapped my machete from my belt. I grabbed the pillow and laid down. Within seconds my eyes closed and I slipped into a deep sleep.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I awoke to the dark surrounding me. The moon was streaming a small bit of light onto Amber's face. I could see a few lumps surrounding the room. Tim was probably one of them, but I couldn't see well enough to know for sure. I sat up and stretched. My muscles protested, but I pushed through and yawned as I stretched my arms out in front of me.
My bladder reminded me that I had to pee. I sat up and stepped around a few people sleeping on the floor close to my corner. I stepped out of the room and trudged down the hallway in search of a bathroom.
I came across it after trying a couple doors and only finding small bedrooms. The bathroom was small and dirty. I couldn't see much, but I found the toilet and squatted over it without touching the seat. I didn't know how dirty it was but I wasn't taking any chances. After I finished I let myself drip dry. My longing for toilet paper grew. Unfortunately, I couldn't see well enough to know if the bathroom had any.
I pulled my pants back up and tiptoed out of the bathroom. My breath caught when I heard a creak behind me as I passed the first bedroom.
I stopped and listened for any more sounds. I'm just being paranoid. It's nothing. I kept telling myself it was nothing but couldn't shake the feeling of eyes on me. A glance behind me showed darkness. I stepped back and looked into the small bedroom. I could barely make out the shape of the furniture. I squinted as I tried to focus on what I was seeing but shook myself when I realized I was just staring at furniture. It's fine. You just gotta keep walking.
I continued down the hallway and let out a sigh of relief as I finally reached the living room. I maneuvered around my friends and laid back down in my corner. Even as I slipped back into unconsciousness, I still couldn't shake the feeling of eyes on me
A/N- Sorry for the late update. I've been super busy lately and was too tired to write after work everyday. I will be posting the next update next Sunday, august 22.
Also, if you're enjoying the story please VOTE! It means so much to me! Thank you!
-T.N. Jewell