We didn't stick around much longer after that, Adam had left a few sticks in the formation of a W, and I was hoping that if Cody saw it, he'd be able to find us. With each step we took away from the safe house it was like another mile between Cody and the rest of us.
I had to stop thinking about it though, as we soon lost sight of the safe house, and there was no sign of smoke from the direction I was pretty sure the compound was still in. Trish and I walked side by side in relative silence, both of us intent on making sure we weren't jumped by anything harmful.
The days that followed were much the same as the first, give or take a zombie here and there. On the fourth night there was a big rain storm, and Abby got sick. Sam took care of her the best he could, but it was clear that she'd need antibiotics, if she was going to be able to fight it off.
This, combined with the fact that we hadn't seen a town in a few days, had us hurrying, and getting a little sloppy. By the start into the second week Abby was looking worse than any of us were comfortable with, and was too tired to walk on her own anymore. We had to risk going on the main road and following it into a town in the hopes that it would have a pharmacy that hadn't completely been ransacked.
Trish looked at me for a moment before deciding to speak. Her black eye had faded and she looked significantly less menacing without it, "Do you think we'll be able to find something for the little one in this next town?"
I knew what she meant. It was clear as I looked ahead and saw Abby's pale face leaning against her brother's shoulder. She was only going to get worse, and the longer it took to get medicine, the less likely it was that we'd be in time. I thought about my answer as I looked at the road, admitting that I had traveled more with this group of people in the last week or so than I had in my whole life didn't seem like the best reply, so I opted to fib it a little bit.
"There should be a town coming up here soonish," I hope.
It was another two days before we came upon a town, if you could even call it that. It looked as if it had gone to shambles before the apocalypse had even begun. The stores had boarded up signs of closure, and what few houses we saw looked as if they had been looted many, many times. It was getting close to night fall though, so Adam suggested we take a turn down one of the few streets and see if we couldn't find anything that looked hopeful.
I walked a little faster so that I could walk beside Beck up front, and I watched as Courtney fell behind to take my spot next to Trish. It would have been a nice gesture, if Trish would talk to her at all. So far Trish hadn't said a word to the girl, and while I was curious as to why, I figured she had her own reasons.
Houses seemed to just get worse and worse as we walked deeper into the small neighborhood. It wasn't until we began walking up hill did we finally see a half way decent looking house on the corner. I was the last to go inside the grey two story, and I couldn't help but feel like we were being watched.
Inside the house the guys were setting up camp in the living room, while Trish looked through the rooms for any medicines that might have been left behind. I walked quietly through the house, looking at everything that had once made up the home for this family. They had some thirty or so cookbooks that looked as if they'd never been opened, and in the hall I found a family portrait.
I had just lifted my hand up to brush away a bit of dirt from the picture, wanting to see the whole family and not just the daughter who was the only one not covered in dirt and dust beyond recognition, when someone stepped into the hallway.
"Kodi?" Ben asked, leaning against the wall.
With a jump, I turned to look at him, feeling as if I had been caught doing something I wasn't allowed, "Yeah?" I crossed my arms like that's what I had been planning to do in the first place.
He smiled and jerked his head back towards the kitchen, "Adam found some stuff in there and wants to know if you'd like to help cook," he said, and then grinned, "Well he wanted me to help but I said that you had wanted to help," he smirked, "so there's that."
I rolled my eyes and headed towards the kitchen, making sure to knock my shoulder into his as I passed, to which he groaned and mumbled about abuse. Inside the kitchen Adam had several cans out, and two of them were some sort of soup.
"Ben volunteered me," I said, as a greeting.
Adam smiled and passed me the can opener, "You're prettier to look at anyways," he shrugged in a happy fashion.
"Off limits!" Beck's voice came from somewhere in the house, causing us to both laugh.
*
*
*
The next day we were back on the road, better fed than we had been in a few days. We had eaten the rest of the deer meat during breakfast, and had paired it with the pancakes Trish and I had cooked up using the gas stove and the mix that Beck found while looking for medicine.
We stayed on the main road, hoping to find another town before nightfall, and near noon, we did. The town was in much better shape than the one before it, but it still had probably seen far better days. Courtney was up ahead of any of us, and when he shouted, none of us could hear just what she had said. But we didn't need to, because she was gesturing to a building that clearly said pharmacy on the sign.
Adam, Beck, and Trish all rushed forward to help her break into it. The front doors were chained up and the windows were all boarded. Something about the building didn't sit right with me, but I couldn't discern why that was. Ben and Michael walked towards the building at a much slower pace, and I stopped walking altogether.
I watched on as Courtney and Beck talked, but my eyes strayed away, focusing instead on the window. As I studied it, I found my own reflection, and the figure that had some how creeped up behind me. Through the dark glass I could tell that the figure was human by the way it had stopped moving. I turned slowly, keeping an eye on the glass to watch the figures movements.
When I was half way turned around, the figure darted behind a building, out of sight.
Courtney's strangled scream brought my attention back to the group. Michael had stopped in his tracks and was now hugging his sister to him, while Ben ran forward. Beyond them I saw Adam and Trish fighting the zombies that had started to practically pour out of the pharmacy. Courtney was on the ground, and Beck had managed to climb up onto the low hanging roof, shooting the zombies from his position.
My feet ran forward, towards the chaos and towards the danger, on their own accord. The figure went to the back of my mind, nearly forgotten as I skidded to a halt next to Michael and pulled out my bow, unleashing arrow after arrow into whatever victim was closest to the people I was traveling with. I shot three that were going to go and feast on Courtney, who I knew was beyond saving but that didn't mean she needed to be treated as if I'd never known her.
"Kodi?" Michael said, "will you watch Abby for me?" I turned to him to see him trying to put her down, so he could go and help fight.
There was a pause while I tried to catch up with what he was saying and then I lowered my bow so I could yell at him properly, "Oh hell no. You weren't there to see Abby's face every second we got closer to leaving that safe house, she's a strong little girl but I'm not about to let her watch her big brother run into the thick of things just because," Michael looked ready to argue, but I pointed towards the others, "They might not be doing it very fastly, but can't you see they're making their way back to us?"
The wind picked up, moving my hair into Abby's face, bringing his attention to her. I turned away when I was sure he wasn't about to start argueing, and noticed that the other's weren't actually making any progress. It was like whoever had been here before hadn't bothered killing any zombies, and instead they had simply shoved all of the ones they could find into the pharmacy and then locked up the doors.
I took a step forward and caught Beck's eye, my heart hammered in my chest, and he shook his head, telling me not to come any closer. I saw his mouth move as he shouted something at Sam, who nodded without looking up from the zombie he was currently stabbing.
I looked at Michael, "They're going to make a run for it, we need to double back and head towards the house, the one we just left," I said, hoping that that's what Beck had been telling the others.
Michael nodded and started running with his sister, I could tell that he'd rather stay but something I had said must have hit home because he didn't even argue with my words. I turned and waited for Beck to jump down from the roof of the pharmacy, and start heading my way.
Sam, Adam, Trish, and Ben all grouped together and started clearing a path. Beck jumped down, and as a unit they managed to break free from the mob. I watched, my feet stuck to the pavement, while they all ran towards me. Most of the zombies followed, growling and limping in the hopes of catching fresh meat. But a few of them stayed behind and simply feasted on the remnants of Courtney.
"Kodi! Get your ass running!" Adam shouted at me as they got closer.
I didn't wait for further instruction, turning on my heel I threw the bow onto my back and began running as fast as I could with the weighted back pack on my shoulders. As I rounded a corner I found the street empty with no sign of Michael or Abby. No one was there except for a girl with hair so brown it was almost back. I nearly tripped over my feet because I recognized her, not only as the figure, but also from the picture frame in the house we had just left.
She looked up at me as I skidded to a half, and her eyes pleaded with me to just hear her out. I knew the others were mere seconds behind me, and Beck wouldn't exactly be the happiest camper to know I had stopped.
"Who are you?" I asked, the words sounding breathy as I struggled to breathe properly.
The girl looked upset, and exasperated, "That's not important, what is important is saving you, and your friends," she said, as she spoke dimples on both cheeks seemed to appear and disappear whenever they felt like it.
Not having many options, and knowing Beck was just around the corner with a pack of dead people at his heels, I nodded, "What do you have in mind?"
She looked relieved as she nodded her head towards the door of the building right next to us, "inside," she said, "if we all get in their before the rotters see us then they won't think to stop and looked for where you or your friends went," she paused and then put out her hands, not realizing that I was silently already in on the plan, "Michael already took his sister in there."
Her eyes were full of honesty, which I knew Beck wouldn't trust no matter how nice she looked, "Right," I said and rushed forward, grabbing her arm and pulling her into the building behind me, I saw Michael holding Abby not to far from the door. The girl was quiet, which was good because I didn't need her to make Beck pause and be skeptical as to why she was bothering to help people she didn't know.
When I heard the footsteps getting closer I poked my head out of the door, and motioned for Adam, who was in the front of the group, to come into the building. He didn't think twice about it, and ran towards me. Beck and the others followed, and I was able to shut the door a heartbeat before the zombies came around the corner. I pressed my back against the door and pressed a hand to my heart, wondering if it was possible for it to literally beat out of my chest.
"Who is this?" Beck sounded slightly winded, but more suspicious than anything.
How he could see anything in the dark with the door shut, I had no clue, but a flashlight flickered on a moment later and the girl spoke up again, "I'm Clarke, and I'm also the reason you're not still running from those zombies," she said, her voice much stronger than it had been outside.
Now that she wasn't pleading with us to trust her, I guess she must have felt a little bit more in her element... whatever that was. I couldn't see her face, as she was hidden behind the beam of light, but suddenly the beam of light was flipped around to shine on her, and she was offering it to someone.
I held my breath in wait, and then heard Beck mutter a thank you before taking the flashlight. He moved the beam around until it settled on me, and wordlessly he walked over, "You're okay?" he asked, voice softer than it had been with Clarke.
I felt my cheeks heat up, and I nodded. Satisfied, he turned and looked at the rest of the room. It was then that the light from the flashlight fell on two cars.
"What's this?" Ben asked this time, stepping over to stand near Adam and I.
Clarke bit her lip and looked around at us, "look I get it if you guys don't want to trust me, but I figured I'd offer a hand of help. The little girl," Clarke pointed towards Abby, "Is sick, and my group, we've got medicine. There's not as many of us as you've got in your group, and most of my group is older, but we have a camp ground, and plenty of food," she said, looking around at each of us.
"What happens if we say no?" Sam asked, speaking up for the first time.
Clarke looked at the direction in which his voice had come from, and then nodded, "Fair question... and the answer is nothing. You can take the bigger of the two cars, it has a full tank of gas, and we can be on our separate ways."
Trish scoffed, "How do we know this isn't some sort of trap to get us to your little camp and then steal our stuff?"
Clarke looked Trish in the eye and gave a warm grin, seeming to have expected this question, "You don't."
The answer didn't settle anyone's nerves.
"Look," Clarke said, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, "I'll let you guys talk, and won't even stop you if you want to leave," She said, and opened the door of the smaller car.
Once it was shut, Beck looked over at Michael, "It's your call, buddy," he said, firmly.
We all looked at Michael, and his decision was clearly displayed on his face as he looked down at his sick sister, "They've got medicine, Beck," he said, sounding apologetic.
*
*
*
Twenty minutes later we were on the road. Ben, Adam, Trish, and Sam were all in the car behind the one that Clarke drove with the rest of us in. I sat in the back seat with Michael and Abby, while Beck started asking Clarke about the campsite, and she answered everything. Sam drove the car behind us, and Beck had told him if anything went wrong, not to follow.
Beck tried to get me to stick behind and ride in the car with Sam, but I had refused up front.
I watched out the window, unable to help the feeling of somehow knowing Clarke, I was pretty convinced that she was the girl from the photo, but as time drug on in the car, that feeling ebbed away. It was highly unlikely that she lived in that house, and was now taking us to her camp that she swore was only three hours away by car.
I ran my fingers through Abby's sweaty hair, trying to give her relief of the heat her body was producing.
*
*
*
The camp side came into view so suddenly that I had to blink a few times before I let my brain register it. It wasn't very big, and Clark had been telling the truth about not having as many people in her group as we had in ours. There was an older lady with hair that had been cut choppily sort, and a guy who was older than Tucker, but probably not as old as Dr. Venson had been.
"My father's not here," I heard Clarke say as she put the car in park and unbuckled, "he's probably out hunting though. We've got extra tents, enough for all of you to have your own if you wanted," she paused and smiled, "but I think you guys are the type that want to stick together," She said, not leaving it as much of a question.
It was a few minutes after Abby was rushed into the tent that had all the medical stuff, that I finally realized where I knew Clarke from. But not however, until an older man with grey hairs just starting to color his naturally brown hair. He was carrying a bucket full of what appeared to be birds, and didn't look up as he walked into the campsite.
But I recognized him even if he didn't look at me, after all he never really bothered to do so before now.
"Dad?" the words left my lips, and everyone around me seemed to freeze.
The man, my father, looked up with a smile across his face, "Yeah Clarke, sweetie?" he said, eyes landing almost instantly on the girl who had only hours before offered a helping hand to my new family.
Clarke's face was full of confusion, and as my father followed her line of sight to look over at me. His face paled, and my blood heated up with anger as I looked at him.
He swallowed, and I prepared myself for something, anything. An explanation, an apology. He opened his mouth, and I clenched my fist to keep myself from interrupting.
"Shit," he said, dropping the bucket.
I let out an angry sound, and then tunnel vision and anger took over. Chester's last words seemed to echo in my mind as if he had said them out loud.
Be brave.