They Called It The Apocalpse

Chapter 12

They decided collectively that staying near the road was the safest idea and set up a small pile of twigs in the centre of their 'camp' resembling an unlit campfire. "Right then Tate." Jason said as he rolled up his sleeves, "Know how to light a fire?" Tate shook his head, scrunching up his face and refraining from making a sarcastic comment. "Nope." He replied simply, going with an easy answer.
"Can't we make a spark, so it that way?" Cassie asked, sitting down in the dirt beside the potential fire.
"Maybe." Jason thought back to his days as a Boy Scout, from foraging in the woods to cooking on camp fires he knew everything but how to make a fire from forest materials. He looked around him at the collection of leaves and twigs and dirt then scratched his head. "Perhaps we can find some flint or something?" He questioned, starting by searching around their chosen area. Cassie got back to her feet to try and help, unsure what they were supposed to be looking for exactly but search nonetheless. Eventually they moved further out, searching deeper into the woods and returning an hour later with nothing. Tate had sat down by this point and was staring aimlessly into the pile of sticks. His hand slipped down from his leg after growing heavy and something dug into his leg from his pocket. Jason and Cassie's silhouetted appeared to be coming back to their camp as Tate dug into his pocket and pulled out a neon orange lighter, there was minimal fluid inside but it seemed to be enough to light at least one thing. Jason slunk back into the clearing they'd made, Cassie following close behind. "Will this work?" Tate asked, holding it up towards them. "You had a lighter this whole time?" Jason asked flatly and Tate nodded.
"Yeah, forgot I had it." Cassie cut in before Jason could say anything.
"That's fantastic Tate." She took the lighter and held it to the bottom of the pile of twigs, watching as they went up in flames. She smiled back at the two boys then moved out of the way for Jason to stoke it with more wood. Once it was burning properly, he dug into his backpack and produced a metal water bottle. "It's all I have left but if we can heat it then I can make these." Gradually and to the excitement of both his travelling partners he removed the cupped noodles and presented one to each of them. He tucked the final one into his bag since it was a pack of four then wedged his water bottle among the flames and waited for it to heat up.

Cassie and Tate waited patiently with the lids of their cups folded halfway back. Every now and then Jason leaned over to check on the water in the bottle and soon enough found that it was boiling up inside, he used a usefully shaped stick to poke the bottle out of the fire then took off his jacket and wrapped it around the sides to protect his hand as he split the water as equally as he could into each of their meals. They re-secured the lids and placed them aside to cook, watching eagerly as Jason found a cool damp place to put his water bottle in so it could cool down. After around three minutes, counted out by Cassie in her head, they peeled back the lids of their noodle cups and peered inside. Each one had grown into a full meal, stringy noodles with bits of green and orange mixed in. Tate dug in first, lifting a handful of noodles from the broth below eagerly and cramming them into his mouth. Cassie and Jason watched as water dripped down his chin, "mmm." He hummed, licking the water from his lips and scrubbing his arm across his chin to catch the rest, "It's really good." He scooped another handful, filling his mouth and smiling through the strings of noodle. Cassie picked up her fork and dug it into the noodles, twisting it round until it was full then poking it gingerly into her mouth. She held it with her teeth then pulled the fork away and chewed slowly, her face lit up and she stared down into her cup like it was filled with magic instead of noodles. Jason smiled, thrilled by the joy of his friends then scooped up his own portion of noodles, he sipped at the broth first, the saltiness and warmth soothing his throat and warming him up. He tried the noodles next, munching through a tangle of them then cramming more into his mouth. They gorged themselves, all three of them filling their mouths over and over until they'd finished off the entire cup. After he'd drank the final dregs of broth at the bottom of his cup Jason crossed to grab Tate's bag, untying the badly done knot then fishing himself out a piece of corn. He mooched around in the dirt around him until he'd selected a decent sized stick then pulled out his pocket knife, stabbing a small hole in the bottom of his corn cob then inserting the stick as far as he could. He held it out over the fire, then scuffed up the floor with his boot then stabbed it into the ground, gently releasing it and watching as it stood on its own.

Tate and Cassie watched him curiously, waiting for the explanation that would surely follow and eventually it did. "I'm drying out the corn so we can make popcorn." He explained as he built a tiny wall around the place he'd stabbed the stick, "If I can support the base I think it'll stand easier, we need to rotate it every few hours though." He looked up at the sky, checking for rain then looked between the other two. "You should get some rest, I'll keep the fire going." He turned back to the pile of corn then started to build another. Tate waited for him to take the next corn then tipped sideway and hit the floor, he brought his hands up to form a fleshy pillow then closed his eyes and waited for sleep to take him. Cassie watched Jason set up the third piece of corn then leant back against the tree, her stomach churning and gurgling as she tried to relax. She thought she might vomit again but sleep came to her first.

Jason sat back down into the dusty dirt, he crossed his legs then watched as the corn got warmer. The fire was still bright and glowing a glorious orange colour but they didn't seem to have much fuel left: a few stray twigs and leaves. He sighed and got to his feet, trekking a little further into the woods and rummaging around in the undergrowth and mud until he found branches that were a little bigger. He tucked them under his arm then brought them back across to where the fire was starting to dwindle. He moved quick to stoke it, poking more branches into the burning pile then sitting back and waiting for the fire to spread. It flared up fast, flames licking at the sky but the corn was far enough away that it didn't get affected or burnt. Jason yawned but fought off the familiar signs of sleep, sitting and watching the others or the fire was a dull job and he feared that he would drop into a doze and that his mission to keep the fire alive would fail. He leant back against the tree, feeling the pen from the motel digging into his flesh, uncomfortable as it was he hadn't really noticed it until that moment. An idea flashed to life in his head, drawing him to fish the pen and notebook out of his pocket and lay it down in front of him on his lap. He did exactly that then twisted the pen on, ripping off the page with inventory after crossing out a few items and re-scribbling in the new count. He tucked that back into his pocket then touched pen to paper, taking his time to write so that it wouldn't descend into scribbles and would remain legible to whoever would read it. As the night went on, Jason ripped page after page of writing from the book, securely tucking them into his pocket with the inventory to keep it from falling out. Every now and then he would get up to move the rock walls under the corn, turn it a little then rebuild the wall that kept it upright.

As the morning light rose in the distance Jason allowed the fire to die down, examining the corn and discovering that the kernels on the corn were mostly dried out. He plucked the corn from the sticks then tossed it into Tate's makeshift bag, tying a better knot than it originally had in the top so that they wouldn't accidentally slip out. Cassie stirred as he recovered his water bottle, now fully empty and placed it into his bag, it was a relief to not have so much weight to carry but it weighed on Jason's mind that he had no water to drink or use for any purpose. She stretched her arms out, noting the stiffness that had settled in over night and winced as her wounded shoulder twinged. Her face contorted with the pain and she lifted the neckline of her t-shirt to look at the gauze, it was still in the same place only blood was leaking through onto her shirt sleeve. "Is it causing you trouble?" Jason asked, reappearing with two big chunks of wood. He bent down and started to spread the embers of the fire around to put it out faster. "Not really." She replied, shifting into a more upright and comfortable position, "it just pulls if I sit weird." He nodded then pointed to the scratch that was slowly healing across his cheek.
"So does this." They fell back into silence then, the only sound being the soft crunch of Jason trying to spread the ash. Tate awoke sharply, his hair had stuck to the side of his face and his eyes looked round rapidly until they laid eyes on the bag of corn. "Corn." He mumbled then flopped back down onto the floor. Jason and Cassie laughed at him, watching as he blinked slowly at them then yawned. "Looks like someone's tired." Cassie teased as Tate pushed himself up with one arm. He got to his feet and grabbed the bag of corn, slinging it over his shoulder then marching back towards the road. They watched him until he disappeared around the trees then looked at each other. "We should probably catch up with him." Cassie mumbled as she got to her feet, steadying herself against the tree as she swayed a little. Jason nodded, picking up his backpack and discarding his wood blocks. "Yeah." He stretched the word out so that it seemed to sit weird on his tongue then trudged after Tate with Cassie close behind.