Cruel World (Discontinued)

Chapter 3 (Edited)

               We drove for about three hours, at least that's what he claims. I hopped out of the truck and waited for him. His group was speechless. Adults and children swarmed him. 

Everyone was excited that he made it back. Thinking about it I could have been the reason he didn't come back, but here he was standing here with his group, alive.

 "Who's that, Matteo?" An older gentleman pointed at me. 

Everybody took a step away from him and then all eyes were on me. His arm came around my shoulder and pulled me closer.

 "This is my friend, Florence, I saved her from walkers."  Horror wiped across their faces.

"Did you do body checks?" One person shouted.

An embarrassed laugh came from him. "No but here me out, if she was bitten, she would have already turned. I've been with her for about four and a half hours." 

"Here, we'll check her out and the rest of you get dinner ready." A tall slim woman ordered them.

The woman and three other girls, around my age led me to a RV. The handed me a change of clothes and started to check me for walker bites.

"You're clear. Go get dressed and meet us back here." I nodded and found the bathroom. 

I looked up at the mirror that hung in front of me, it was the first time I had seen my reflection in months. My blonde hair was gross. It had Leafs and tiny branches in it. My pale skin had dirt and mud all over. 

I reached for a washcloth an washed all the dirt and mud off it and put on a clean pair of clothes before making my way back to the three women from earlier.

"Florence, come sit with us." The woman smiled. I sat across from the woman.

"I'm Nancy and these are my daughters, Chrissy, Beth, and Tiffany."  

We talked for a while before they went off to do their own things and I went to find Matteo. Their safe place was pretty big, you could get lost pretty easy. I found myself wandering farther and farther away from the RV and the others. 

I noticed a man sitting on the water bank. I stepped on a branch and the man's head snapped back at me. He grabbed his things and stomped towards me. I started to sprint off back into camp.

Every so often I would look back to see if he was there and no surprise he was. I felt my body slam into someone else's.

"Hey Florence, I was looking for you." Matteo smile beamed down like a ray of sun.

Heavey footsteps stopped behind me. "Who the hell is she?" 

"Oh! Florence, Kenji. Kenji, Florence." He clapped his hands together with a smile.

"Don't sneak up on people, Florence," His words were cold "especially in this day in age, you might get a knife to the head." 

He walked away leaving Matteo speechless.  I tuned on my heels to face him again. Gee that was awkward. 

"Don't mind him. He's just like that." Matteo gave one of his signature reassuring smiles.