What We Become | Book Two

6. Hope

"We're not in a good spot right now," Em announced to the table.

Once again, Will's home was being used as a conference room but this time, there were no happy faces. Only exhaustion and fatigue filled the room, casting a dark and uneasy atmosphere.

"How bad is it?" I asked.

She shook her head before she found her words. "We're out of bandages, antibiotics... Almost the whole stock." Her hands intertwined themselves on the table, clenching together. "If any other major injuries happen or people start to get sick, I- we won't be able to handle it."

"How are we looking with the next supply run?" Will questioned as his fingers rubbed his cheeks. It was a gesture he used when he was stressed but I was sure he hadn't realised yet.

I looked to the papers that spread the table in front of the group. "We've cleaned out all the places with medical supplies within a 20-mile radius."

"How far out would we have to go?" Chris chimed in.

I exhaled, taking a moment to consider our options. "40 miles maybe."

Chris nodded, understanding. "That's an 80-mile round trip," he mentioned. "Do we have the fuel for that sort of journey? There's no way we could do it on foot."

"That's assuming the area hasn't already been cleared out by someone else," Apollo pointed out. "More specifically, Dawn Hill."

I shook my head. "Zach wouldn't go that far out. There's no way he would take the risk."

Lo shifted her dark hair so it hung over her left shoulder. "I'm almost certain he would. He has to be more desperate than any of us now."

"Has anyone got a status update on them recently?" Will asked. "I haven't heard anything for a while."

"Tom said he hasn't noticed anything outside the gates. With the trees bare now, he can see a lot further. I don't think they can get close enough without being spotted first," Chris shrugged.

"So, do we have the fuel?" Lo asked.

"We've got the reserves we were saving," Will said. "Should be enough."

"There's a housing estate a few miles from here. They could have supplies," Em suggested.

"It's not worth it," I replied. "They wouldn't have the kind of stock we need... Supermarkets and pharmacies are what we want."

"What about the generators?" Chris looked to Will. "Do we have enough fuel for those and the journey?"

He considered the question as creases deepened on his forehead.

"We'll have to ration usage," I spoke first. "Nobody is going to like it but what other choice do we have?"

"I agree," Will nodded. "Moving a few families in together should work too."

Apollo rested her elbows on the table, looking around the group before she posed her question. "How close are we to chaos?"

"Lo..." Chris mumbled, not wanting an argument. He wasn't the only one to exude disappointment. The question had caught everyone in the room by surprise.

"I'm serious!" she began. "If people realise that we don't have many supplies left, or that we're struggling it'll be back to square one and they'll start panicking... Or they'll go to Dawn Hill." Her gaze moved around everyone, pausing on each of us for just a second. "You remember when the outbreak happened? The hoarding, the panic... I don't know about everyone else but I really don't want a repeat of that."