After Death

(Season 3) Chapter 1 (I need to find you)

Chapter 1: I need to find you

Ethan Warren

Estimated, January 2024

About 20 months after outbreak

California

Season 3

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I can't explain how I felt when I saw that sign that welcomed me into California. I finally felt like there was going to be something here after all. I hoped the other's made their way here already, and as long as they were safe, I couldn't care less if they found somewhere to live without me.

My wound was healing nicely. It was getting easier to walk as the days went by. But I still got the occasional sharp pains. Sometimes it hurt so much that I couldn't even move and had to sit on the side of the road and take a break. The food and water that the mysterious person gave me had lasted me until now. I owed everything to this person and I didn't even know their name.

I was kinda surprised that I hadn't ran into anyone else on the way. Maybe I wanted to, I don't really know. It was kinda lonely being alone this long. But I knew we couldn't trust everyone and I didn't want something else to go wrong.

I didn't even know if we had lost anyone else since the campsite. I didn't want to think about that but it was always in the back of my mind. I kinda feared seeing the others again and not all of us being here.

I couldn't understand that Ashton was gone. It still felt unreal even though I had seen it happen with my own eyes. I wondered how the other's were handling it. How was Rudolph handling it?

I decided I would just get to the coast because that's where the other's knew where to go and if I truly wanted to see them again then I had to try. I needed to see them again, I don't know how much longer I can stand my own company, but if they were gone I'd still try to survive somehow. I probably looked insane to anyone who had the opportunity to see me from afar. I talked to myself and laid in the middle of the street whenever I got too tired. I was in the market for a set of wheels but it was kinda difficult to find any in a working condition.

There was one though, a small gray car with a working air conditioning. The tank was half-way full and the battery was charged. I smiled from ear to ear as I heard the sweet sound of the starting engine.

I was somewhere in Chico now, I made a lot more progress when I wasn't walking 2.5 mph. The dead were everywhere in this state and the car only drew more attention. I hated how I forced myself to thoroughly inspect every single corpse just to make sure it wasn't of anyone I knew.

In all honesty, I had no idea where to even start looking. This place was huge and I knew if I stopped looking for even a minute I might have lost them all forever.