Shambles- The Walking Dead [Alden x Maggie] [1/2]

5- Saved

"Look! It's the bus!" Rose called out. She pointed out the prison bus further down the road and ran forward.

Alden tried to catch her wrist to stop her from running off, he didn't want her far away from him with all the dangers out here. Furthermore he knew the bust wouldn't have stopped in the middle of the road for no reason. Something had gone wrong.

"No, wait!" he called after her. He ran after her and managed to catch up. "Wait," he repeated.

"They might be waiting for us," she insisted. She looked so optimistic.

He took a closer look at the bus. There were bloodied handprints all over the windows. There was motion inside the bus as well, hands aimlessly clawing at the glass. Every single person inside had turned. He let his head hang in defeat.

"No, Rose, they're not waiting for us, they're gone," he said solemnly in a soft voice. "I'm sorry, but they didn't make it."

"The bus was supposed to make it!" she cried. Her hope was replaced by despair. She was trying to make sense of it. "The bus would bring us to safety. That's what you told me."

Branches in the treeline snapped, followed by low growls. They had already drawn some unwanted attention. There was no time for Alden to comfort Rose now, not with a walker coming their way.

"Things don't always go as planned." He pulled his knife. "How many bullets do we have left?"

"The magazine is still full," she sniffled. "That's 14."

"Very well. Let's get off the road, at least till we're sure nothing is after us anymore."

He placed his hand behind her shoulder and nudged her away from the approaching walker. They walked a lot faster than it. Alden still had the rifle sling over his shoulder with what he figured to be about half a magazine of bullets. Rose carried the handgun. They had bullets, but it was important to use them sparingly.

It wasn't long before they came upon a creek. The water was clear and cool. That was the only way they could determine whether it was drinkable or not. They didn't have any water, they had no choice but to take the risk. Near the creek stood a couple of bramble bushes, which they plucked. They wrapped the berries up in a piece of cloth and put the packages into the backpack. They followed the creek downstream and found a duffle bag along the way. They even found some empty plastic bottles and Alden managed to shoot a rabbit. They slept in a place they figured was safe enough to sleep and took turns guarding.

A couple of days later the creek crossed a road, which they followed from then on. They were far enough from the prison to know that no one was after them anymore. Before they continued their endless journey in the scorching summer heat they filled their bottles one last time and packed them into the backpack and duffle bag. Alden decided that he would carry both bags and gave the rifle to Rose instead.

They walked for days, then for weeks. They were hungry and tried, barely hanging on. They would run into walkers from time to time. Usually it was just one of a couple of them, which were easily picked off with their knives. Each stranded car was checked for supplies and Alden checked if he could get them to ignite. Eventually he got one to start with a half full tank.

The time they had spent on the road was longer than the first time now. Or that was what Alden figured, at least. He hadn't kept track of time. They were more adapted to surviving now.

Dusk came and their car ran out of gas. Alden decided to park it on the side of the road, that way it wouldn't block the road completely.

"I guess this is as good a place to sleep as any," he sighed. He was exhausted and could barely keep his eyes open. Walkers couldn't get to them here. Tonight was the first night in a long time where they could both sleep uninterrupted.