𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐋𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐬

CHAPTER 2: RUNNING AWAY

I was exploring once again, far away from my hideout in the woods. The supermarket was my final destination and the last place to scavenge in this old town.

It would be sad to leave this place since it's been my home for three years. I didn't usually get much sentimental with things, but it's hard not to have feelings for the thing that have been keeping you alive for years.

I entered the supermarket, filled with plants and weeds, and looked around, not expecting to find much. The markets were the first place people went when the Furfall came, so most things weren't there anymore.

I walked through the aisles, looking for anything at all. My luck must've been on my side today, because I found seven large cans of vegetables, aside from the conserved food. They were all expired, of course, but I'd rather eat a bad meal than die of hunger.

I put everything inside my bag and was about to leave when I found something that caught my eyes: three large gallons of water.

If anything was rare in this world, it was pure water. You couldn't drink from a river, because it might be infected. Rain was too scarce and unreliable when it came to survival.

I quickly put everything in the bag and ran for the gallons. I knew that the town was empty, but with something that valued its weight in gold (not that gold meant anything now) I couldn't be too careful.

I managed to put one of the gallons inside my backpack, full by now, but the others I would have to carry with my hands. I put the bow aside and picked the gallons up.

I managed to walk to the entrance of the market before getting out of breath. I might be fast and silent, but when it came to strength, that was my weak point.

"I can't believe I'm going to ask for that idiot's help," I said to myself.

Before I could do anything else, my ears twitched. I heard something, someone. Four miles away, east, there are two of them, survivors, by the frequency of their steps. I did my best to hide all three gallons and looked for a place to hide. I noticed a wall on the ceiling, so I jumped onto the empty shelves and then to the hole.

I took the bow off my back and prepared an arrow, pointing at the place where they should come. I only had to wait for a few seconds before two deers opened the market's doors.

"Pick anything at all, she'll rip our throats if we get back without loot again," said one of them. He sounded serious. "We took a week to get here to find nothin',"

"Aye-aye," the other answered, she didn't seem to be paying full attention.

They started searching the place, in the meantime, I analyzed their outfits.

Light clothes, but strong looking. They're not from a cold area, but there are a lot of infected there, by the number of mends they had. Two light pistols, meant for a short mission. They were sent here only for scavenging.

I kept an eye on them, waiting for them to find nothing and leave, but of course, when I thought my luck was getting better, it slaps me at my face later.

"Yo, Joe!" called the girl. "Look at this shit!"

She had found my bag and the gallons. I couldn't lose that, it was too precious, so instead of running away and leave that behind, I jumped down, dashed towards the girl, and pointed the bow at her neck even before the guy came near.

"If you want her to live, don't move," I calmly said.

The girl raised her arms and looked at me with fear.

"P-please, we don't want to fight,"

"These are mine," I said. "Found them first,"

"Yo, Mate, we don't want trouble, really," said the girl. "We're just passing by, we only want resources,"