The truck had broken down and we were now stuck in some small abandoned town called Normanville in Rural West Virginia. I was looking under the hood trying to find out what the heck was wrong. But since I wasn’t very handy with cars. I didn’t know what was wrong.
I let out a heavy sigh and shut the hood in defeat. “ Well what are we gonna do now? We are in the middle of nowhere with a broken down truck.” I leaned against the truck.
Anais responded back. “ How about we search the town? Maybe there will be a vehicle of some sort we can use.”
I nodded and looked at Kolson. He had a blank expression on his face and he looked tired. I turned back to Anais. “ Well then. Let’s start looking for a car.”
We started walking away from the truck. It still had the supplies in it. But I figured we could just go get it later. I had my knife out as we got closer to town. Well it wasn’t much of a town. Just a few houses, a school, a post office, and an old auto repair shop.
“ This place is a dump.” Anais mumbled under her breath as we got closer to the Auto repair shop.
“ Yep. Everything is run down.” The town was not in good shape and it looked like it was a very poor area before the world ended.
“ Ugh it stinks!” Kolson covered his nose with his fingers as we entered the garage.
“ It’s just Motor oil. It doesn’t smell that bad Kolson.” I replied as I opened the door to the truck parked inside.
I got inside and looked down and saw some wires. I peered my head out and looked at Anais. “ You know how to hotwire a car?”
She looked at me and then walked over to the driver's seat. “ Yeah. I did it in the past. When I stole cars.” She laughed slightly.
“ You stole cars?” I raised my eyebrow and gave her a puzzled look.
She sighs and then speaks. “ Only a few times. I wasn’t proud of myself then.”
“ Well it’s in the past and you're better now.” I got out and let her have a look at the wires.
I stood over next to Kolson and smiled down at him. He smiled back. A few minutes passed by and We heard Anais groan loudly and she got out of the truck. “ I tried it several times. Looks like we have to keep searching.”
I sighed and leaned against the workbench that was covered with old tools and small tins of oil. “ Alright then.”
I walked out first and walked a few feet. I scanned around the area looking for any other vehicles. There was nothing. No abandoned cars on the road or in the driveway of any houses I could see from where I was standing.
“ Ugh! Nothing.” I sat on the road burying my head in my knees. I heard Kolson and Anais walk up behind me.
“ Claire, it'll be alright. We will find a vehicle soon. Just have hope.” Anais reassures me.
I looked up at her. I knew she was right. I needed to have some hope. But as we got closer to Washington and us seeing how the rest of the country looked. I was slowly starting to lose hope.
“ Yeah. I know.” I sighed and sat up and looked at both of them.
“ That’s better. Now let's get back to searching.” Anais starts walking with Kolson following her like a puppy. I soon followed after.
We approached a small blue house with a garage. “ Maybe there is a car in there.” Anais says as we get closer.
I replied back. “ Yeah maybe…”
Soon we heard the sound of screaming and gunshots coming from the woods. “ What the?!” Anais looked around confused and concerned.
“ Sounds like somebody's in trouble.” I looked concerned as well. I took the gun out of the holster and clutched it near.
“ Should we help them?” Kolson asks as he looks around.
I looked down at him. “ Maybe we should help. But if it seems bad. We get out of there as quickly as we can. You understand guys?”
“ Yeah we got it. Come on.” Anais replied as she clutched her gun as well.
The three of us ran quickly in the direction of where the screams and gunshots were coming from. We got further and further away from town and we were now on a road surrounded on all sides by thick woods.
“ I don’t like the look of this Claire.” Anais said as we ran.
“ Me neither.” I replied as we continued to run.
We soon came upon a dirt driveway with a mailbox. “ This must be where whatever hell we heard is coming from.” Anais takes a deep breath and makes sure Kolson is alright.
I didn’t reply to her question and walked down the driveway cautiously. After walking for around 40 feet I saw a clearing coming up. I hid behind a big tree and motioned for Anais and Kolson to stay put. They replied back and stood still.
I peered my head around the tree. I saw a group of 9 people. There were 4 women and 5 men. They were backed up against a barn and more than a dozen Rotters had surrounded them. The men fired their guns and tried to fight the Rotters off.
I turned my head over to look at Anais. I mouthed to her that it was people. She seemed to understand me and she held her pistol tightly and Kolson held the knife we had given to him for his protection.
I saw that the Rotters were getting closer and closer towards the group of people. If we didn’t do anything they would be devoured. I looked at Anais and Kolson before I ran out from behind the tree. I aimed my pistol up as accurately as I could and I began to shoot some of the Rotters.
The Rotters were attracted by the gunfire and started stumbling over towards me. The people had looks of shock and confusion plastered on their faces. They must be thinking, where did this mad woman come from?
Soon Anais and Kolson came out of where they were and started helping me kill the Rotters. Anais fired her pistol and took down a few. Kolson, who was initially scared at first, started to kill a few Rotters. Soon he had gotten the hang of it.
Meanwhile the group of people who just stood there watching eventually came back to their senses and ran forward and started helping us kill the Rotters. I had soon run out of bullets. So I resorted to stabbing and killing the remainder of the Rotters with my knife.
A Rotter managed to catch me from behind and it was now on top of me. It growled loudly trying to bite me. I held it off with my hands. I tried moving my other hand to get my knife that was on the ground. But I couldn’t reach it. The Rotter’s teeth were now so close to biting me.
But thankfully Anais shot it dead and its body fell onto me. I pushed it off. “ Thanks Anais.” I gagged and vomited all over the Rotters body. I wiped my face with my hand.
“ Happy to help.” She put her gun back in her holster and stepped beside me and Kolson.
I saw the people staring at us and they had their weapons drawn. “ Who…Who are you three?” One of the men stepped forward and asked. He had curly chestnut brown hair, blue eyes, he was around 6 foot 3 and he was very pale, and looked very built.
I stepped back. I was intimidated by him a little due to his size. “ Oh um… I’m Claire Anderson and these are my Companions Anais Durand and Kolson Lowes.” I held my knife in my hand just in case these people did anything they would regret.
He then spoke again. “ Well Claire, Anais, and Kolson. Thank you for saving us. I’m James. The people I'm with are Doug, Kala, Gemma, Elijah, Sheila, Violet, Garrett, and Thomas.”
He pointed them all out. Doug was maybe 5 foot 11, he had light wavy brown hair and Hazel eyes. He was lanky. Kala had straight black hair, light blue eyes, and she was around 5 foot 8. Gemma was around 5 foot 7, she had curly, dirty blonde hair, hazel eyes, and she was a little more tanner than everyone else. Elijah had curly black hair and emerald eyes, he was around 5 foot 10. Sheila had straight blonde hair, hazel eyes, and she was around 5 foot 6. Violet had curly brown hair, blue eyes, and she was around 5 foot 7. Garrett had straight brown hair, dark hazel eyes, and he was around 5 foot 10, he was more tan like Gemma. Thomas had curly darker brown hair, blue eyes like Violet’s and he was 5 foot 9.
“ Well it's nice to meet you all.” I laughed a bit, trying to make the atmosphere a lot less awkward.
“ Yeah you too. Thanks for saving us.” James spoke and he gave me a small smile.
My heart beat a little faster. I guess I was attracted to him. “ So uh what happened to cause you guys to get attacked by that many Rotters?” Anais asks. She looked puzzled and suspicious of them.
“ Oh we had been staying in this barn for the night and when we were preparing to leave the Rotters just showed up.” The woman named Kala speaks.
“ Yeah they almost got us. But luckily you three showed up at the right time.” The woman named Gemma spoke.
“ Yes thank you 3 so much.” Violet spoke. I saw she had a smile on her face and a look of gratitude.
“ Well you're welcome!” Kolson eagerly said and stepped forward a bit closer.
Anais held him back. “ Yeah. Look, we are trying to get to Washington D.C. We are trying to see if the refugee center is still up and running.” Anais says and they all look at her.
I nodded at what she had said. “ Yeah that’s our plan. If we can get there.”
All of them exchange looks at each other. Kala then spoke up. “ Look, we just came from Dc a few days ago. It's gone. It fell. No refugee center. Not anything.”
Gemma also then added. “ Yeah I hate to say this but the world belongs to the dead now.”
I looked down after hearing this news. So there was nothing anywhere. The world was dead. No more government, no more army to protect us. The world had truly ended and there was nothing we could do about it.
I let out a heavy sigh and picked my head back up and glanced at them. I turned to Anais and Kolson. “ Well what now?” I spoke.
Anais answered. “ I don’t know.”
“ Maybe you could uh come with us.” I heard Doug speak up,
“ Doug, you can’t just propose that!” Thomas interrupted. “ We don’t know these people.”
“ Thomas, they saved our lives. If they wanted to do something they would’ve.” Violet answered him.
He didn’t say anything more and just leaned against the barn door looking annoyed. “ Don’t worry about him. Look, we were headed down south towards Raleigh North Carolina. Maybe you 3 should come with us.” James suggests.
Anais replied back. “ Raleigh? Why there?”
“ We heard of a community near there. That’s where we are headed.” James responds back to her.
“ But what if it isn't there? What if it is like Dc?” I butted into the conversation.
He crossed his arms and gave me a look. “ Then we keep on going.”
“ Where exactly?” Anais asks and she glances at me.
“ I don’t know.” James replied and he sighed rubbing his head with his hand.
“ Look, we will come with you guys to Raleigh. It’s only because we have no choice.” I spoke and they all looked at each other.
“ Alright Claire…We will go get our stuff.” James said hesitantly as he walked into the barn with the rest of them.
I watched them close the barn door and now just me, Kolson, and Anais stood there. I quickly motioned for them to follow me a few feet away from the barn behind a large tree.
I looked back at the barn just in case any of them had come back out. “ I don’t trust these people. But I don’t think we have a choice other than going with them to Raleigh. So we have to keep our guard up. We have no idea what they are capable of.”
“ Yeah…If they do anything. We’ll be ready.” Anais responded and she holds her hunting knife.
“ Good.” I looked at Kolson. He nodded his head slightly showing me that he understood.
“ We’re ready to go!” I turned and saw Sheila was shouting over to us. She was standing by with Garrett who had a blank expression plastered on his face.
The three of us walked back towards the barn. “ Alright. Look, we have a truck on the outskirts of town. It has a lot of supplies. But our truck broke down. Maybe you can help us find a few vehicles that could help us on our journey.”
Sheila replied. “ I’ll go tell James. See if he wants to.” She heads back inside the barn.
Half an hour later. We had found around a few vehicles at a house. Now the 12 of us walked towards the truck. It was still there. I opened the tailgate and with Anais’s help I started lifting some of the crates of supplies into the other trucks.
Doug and Kala helped us, while James and the others kept watch, just in case of anything. “ Well that’s the last of it.” Kala spoke as she closed the tailgate of one of the trucks.
“ Yep.” Anais replied back as she looks over at Kolson. He was sitting on a rock staring off into the distance down towards the river.
“ Hey Kolson, You okay buddy?” Anais put her hand on his shoulder which spooked him.
“ Yeah… I was just uh daydreaming.” He answered and he turned back to staring at the river.
“ Alright…” Anais walked back towards me.
“ He must be thinking of his dad. Maybe that’s why he looks depressed.” I look at her. She looked back at me.
She crossed her arms and responded . “ Yeah…most likely.”
A few minutes after that we got into the truck that Violet was driving. I sat in the passenger seat and Anais and Kolson sat in the back with Thomas. He didn’t look annoyed anymore. He looked more kind of sad.
I kind of gave him a look of pity and turned my head back and stared out my window. “ So if you three don’t mind me asking. You didn’t happen to see a little girl out there.” Violet asks as she pays attention to the road.
I looked at her with a confused expression. “ A little girl?”
“ Yeah…She is me and Thomas’s niece. Her name is Marci. She is only 4 years old.” She sighed as she said this.
“ No. We didn’t. I’m sorry. But how did you lose her?” I hesitantly asked.
“ Me and Thomas and the rest of the group were camping out in the woods 2 days ago and in the middle of the night I’m guessing Marci wandered off and we haven’t seen her since.” She answered.
“ Oh my god. I’m sorry. I hope we find her somehow.” I covered my mouth and turned my head to look at Anais. She had an anxious look on her face.
“ I doubt we will find her. We already searched around the area for 2 days. I hate to say it but she’s gone Violet.” Thomas added and shakes his head.
“ You can’t just say that Thomas! We have to find her! We promised Evenlyn before she died that we would take care of her!” Violet raises her voice at him.
“ Do you think I don’t know that?! But I’m not gonna risk my life scouring the woods of West Virginia looking for her.” He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
Violet was about to say something but then she stopped and just focused on driving. I just kept silent and stared out the window looking at the trees that went past.
Later that night we were in a clearing and we had parked all the cars in a circle so No Rotters could get us. James and Elijah had gathered some firewood and Sheila started a fire. We all sat around the fire not saying anything. We just silently ate.
Me, Kolson, and Anais sat close to each other. Kolson silently ate a can of canned fruit and he stared at the flames of the fire, looking mesmerized. Anais had to stop her head from drooping because she looked so tired.
“ So where are you three from?” Elijah asked as he threw another stick on the fire.
“ Oh, we're from Chicago.” I replied and quietly drank a sip of water.
“ Chicago? Oh that’s pretty far from here.” Sheila added.
“ Yeah…It is…isn’t it?” I put my head down, not making eye contact with her.
“ So uh I’m gonna guess none of you three are related.” Thomas asked and he gave us a curious look.
Anais responded to him. “ No, none of us are related. We are just 3 people riding out the apocalypse together.”
“ Hmm. So how did you all meet?” Thomas asked again, sounding Cocky.
“ Well uh… Me and Anais were coworkers and we knew each other for a little while before and we met Kolson when his father saved us from a Rotter.” I thought back to that moment. I didn’t want to.
“ What happened to Kolson’s father?” Thomas asked.
Kolson looked down and he looked sad after Thomas had asked this. I put my hand on his shoulder and looked at him. I felt so bad for him. I looked at Thomas. “ None of your damn business.”
“Jeez. I’m sorry for just wanting to know.” He responded and laid down on the grass.
“ Well Thomas it’s none of your business.” Violet replied as she looked at me and Anais with a small frown on her face.
“ Yeah you don’t need to know it. If they wanna tell us they will." James butts in and he gives me a small smile.
I gave him a small smile back. “ Thanks James.”
“ Well maybe we should get to sleep. It is getting late.” Kala quickly said as she gots up and stretched.
“ I’ll take first watch.” I volunteered.
“ Alright.” Kala replied and she went over to one of the trucks.
“ I’ll take watch with you.” James spoke as he came towards me carrying a rifle.
“ Oh no. I’ll be alright. You need the rest.” I replied back.
“ No, No, I insist.” He sat down next to me.
“ Um alright?” I clutched my pistol with both my hands.
A few hours passed by and the fire had now been put out. Everyone was asleep except me and James who just sat in the dark grasping our guns. I was tired. I just wanted to rest. But I had to just wait another hour until it was Sheila and Elijah’s turn.
“ So Claire. I’m guessing you don’t really trust us?” James announced and it startled me a little.
I looked at him. I couldn’t really see his face in the dark, just the outline of his face and his eyes occasionally. “ No I really don’t.” I turned my head to face away from him.
He let out a little laugh and then responded. “ Yeah, nowadays it’s hard to trust people. But maybe you could learn to trust us maybe?”
I turned my head again to glance at him. “ Maybe…it will take some time.”
I hear him laugh again. “ Alright, I'm willing to wait. I don’t like rushing things.”
I didn’t say anything more and just turned away from him and stared out at the woods. The woods were dark and there was only the sound of crickets, or animals looking for food there. I heard some leaves crunching and I just assumed it was a deer or something. I rested my chin on my hands and I slowly started to doze off.