Ava And Ivy

21 (Adventure)

*Ivy POV*

"What happened? Why are you injured?" I question her, concern clearly showing itself in my gentle voice.

"I'm fine, I was just tired, and maybe I forgot to drink enough water yesterday. Why are you worrying about me anyway?" Ava scoffed back at me, rolling her eyes.

I was cutting the bandaids into correct sizes while she sat on the bed, sipping on some canned soup. The drinking water had ran out and I was tasking myself with clearing up that problem later today.

"What about your bruises? And that cut on your lip?" I reached out, tilting her head for a better look at the scarlet mark. I then noticed a patch of skin with a slightly different color. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

I grabbed the bottle of disinfectant and sprayed it on my pointing finger, while Ava stared at me, slightly brighter in red than normal.

"Stay still" I asked of her, grabbing her face and wiping off the mismatched foundation.

"Ivy!" She frowned at me.

Underneath lay a set of deeper lines through her skin, which were scabbed.

"Where did you get these? Why would you hide them?" She turned away from me.

"When I was searching for you.." Ava hissed, my eyes widening in surprise. I shook my head and began to spray the cuts and where the skin had torn.
She hid it. But why? The first thought is that she wouldn't want me to feel at fault for it, but that feels absurd. Ava does not have a reason to care about what I feel.
Yeah.

She wouldn't care.

"Why did you-" Ava flinched away biting her cheek. "That stings an absurd amount, the heck?"

"That means it is cleaning your wounds, that's good, Ava." She sighed and closed her eyes, the sun shining on her face. Her sepia brown skin showed under-tones of warm golden shades. Momentarily, I was distracted by the sight and paused to glance at her complexion, before her eyes turned to me and I looked away, back at the plasters, at the equipment.

The plasters cut precisely fit perfectly on her, and I was soon done.

"Thanks, Ivy." I smiled back and tidied up.

"I think we need cleaner water for us to boil and drink. In theory it should be possible for me to drive out there and collect some. Any questions?"
Ava shook her head carefully, as if for once she was seriously considering my words.

"Be back before the sun is changing the clouds pinkish, alright?"

I nodded slightly. "I will try to do so."

I waved to her when I stepped out the door, and then tied myself to the rope in a way I could lower myself down. My joints still ached.

Soon I was gathering some buckets and two large bottles for the water. When they finally sat in a neat pile I arranged them so I could lift all at once.

Successful, I stepped over the cold grass the opened the gate, satisfaction hitting me at the sight of the car close by.

Thankfully the keys were inside, and I didn't need to return to the garden.

The containers sat beside the drivers seat, right beside me. As I closed the car door a zombie crashed into it, cracking the glass with it's rotting skull.

Whispering a curse I stepped on the gas and the car flew forward, right into another pair of the living-dead.

I drove as fast as I could out of the street, and onto the field which was parted into two, the part as wide as a tractor, which had been something commonly used by the company who occupied them for farming plants such as wheat. The tractor trail I was driving on connected directly onto the highway that divided our neighborhood in half.

The highway required a sharp turn right, and so I pulled the steering wheel that way, feeling the wheels of the car slide on the damaged concrete.

Barely making the turn I choked on my spit and pushed on forward, my chest heaving up and down. Not for the first time, I wished I had gotten a drivers license.

The bridge was right ahead. It stood over a wide river with usually clean water that stretched for many miles, and served as a beach to those close by. I swerved right and parked on the verge of the river, jumping out with the containers and falling right to the ground. My whole body pounded in pain and I had to shut my eyes to stop the world from spinning.

When I opened them again I picked myself up and walked down to the edge, sliding and slipping down to the actual water at a supposedly reasonable speed, while trying to keep my skeleton intact.

***

The buckets and bottles were full, and just in time, since there was a horde of zombies gathering in the beach houses farther to my right, where all the sand was. Also where the woods sprinkled the surroundings with trees of all sizes, giving them the perfect cover.

I lowered myself into the drivers seat and secured the water sitting beside me. The car engine turned on, and the heads of the nearby living-dead turned, their necks cracking with the effort.

I swallowed and backed back into the highway, away from the edge of the river. They stared at me, as if they could see my soul and wished to take it for their own.

The car spun around and the first zombie clicked it's jaw shut, then open, then shut it once more, and opened it for the final time.

Then it raised it's hands, as if reaching for me, a weak whisper of a deadly growl coming from it's rotting throat, aimed towards me.

It ran.

It ran faster than I had thought zombies could, but the ones I came across mostly had missing eyes or ears, and bones coming out of their arms and legs.

This one was in a healthy state. It sure did have it's throat destroyed, but the legs were fine.

I stomped on the gas, the car speeding down the highway leaving the danger behind.

That zombie was fresh.

That meant other human beings were still around.

A wild grin of shock mismatched my wide eyes. Fearful, but hopeful too. There were others. maybe.

This zombie had short white hair, and a casual outfit. It had looked male, but it was hard to tell from afar.

My grip tightened on the steering wheel.