Quiet Survival

One

The soft crunching of the autumn leaves on the gravel path filled the silence along with the soft rustling of the leaves, despite being deaf Ivy took the lead and led them through the forest, her hawkeye inspired hearing aids safely tucked away in a pocket in her bag for the next time they find a safe enough place to charge them up, Hanna was blind, not completely she could see shapes and blobs of color but no detail she was Ivy's ears while Ivy was her eyes.

The sun rose over the city of new york, it was dangerous here more so at night but the sisters needed supplies and no one in their right mind would raid the city, the sun cast long rays of light between the overgrown buildings, its funny how quickly nature takes over once people stop cutting it back- the once groomed trees are larger than they once were, the stubborn dandelions gre4w everywhere and tufts of grass littered every available crack, the soft moans and groans told Hanna that the things were coming out to look for food, she tapped on her sister's shoulder in moros code 'there coming, your 9 o'clock' their father was in the military and taught them moros code along with everything he knew about survival, he always told stories of growing up in a survivalist camp but he never imagined his daughters would use the information he told them to survive long after him and their mother left the earth in a gory, scream filled blood bath.

Ivy carefully led them through the park, it was easier to hide there if they came across the dead or worse, the living- early on in the outbreak they learned it was the ones still alive that couldn't be trusted. The funny thing about humans is, you could trust someone completely but once they're in a "you or me" situation they'll be the first to shoot you in the leg and run off with the supplies while the biters rip you apart, the sisters were always weary of people even before the world went to hell, not many took to kindly to those with disabilities and now? They're a weakness that some think is better off dead. There were days that Ivy thought that too, that her little sister was better off dead than starving and scavenging for their next meal but she could never do it, Ivy watched her sister sleep some nights thinking she could do it then that was it was painless, but that wasn't her choice to make, it was Hanna's and if Hanna decided she wanted to go and not suffer anymore sure Ivy would be upset but she wouldn't blame her sister.

They had made it to the truck Ivy hot-wired a while ago and they were on their way back to a farmhouse on the outskirts of the city, Hanna sat in the passager seat rummaging through her bag looking for something small to eat, she was starving she hasn't eaten in a day, Ivy already snuck a granola bar when she was in a room by herself sure she felt bad but she promised herself she'd make sure to give Hanna a larger portion than usual to make up for it

They never turned on the radio, not when Hanna was their only set of ears at the moment, besides all it ever played was the emergency broadcast from 3 years ago talking about a safe place in Atlanta, that place only lasted a day, their father brought them there right away but the thing collapsed the second they refused to take in any more people.

Ivy took after her father and joined the military, on her first tour her team drove over a land mine on the road and the Humvee rolled, the explosion was amplified in the cab and it caused Ivy to lose her hearing and she was discharged from service, Hanna, on the other hand, was born blind, she had thick glasses so she could see but they got lost in Atlanta, Hanna never like them so she rarely used them but now she wished she had them to make it easier on her older sister.

Hanna tapped on her sister's leg to talk to her "How's it lookin'?" Ivy was used to talking and she used her muscle memory to talk, she always talked just above a whisper when her hearing aids were dead so she wasn't yelling "Good, clear 'sides the stray here and there" Hanna nodded and Ivy caught it out of the corner of her eye.

Ivy took a moment to watch how her sister's darker skin caught the light, Ivy's always been a little jealous at how nice Hanna's skin was, Ivy's more on the lighter side thanks to their dad and Hanna took after their mother, Hanna even had their mother's gray eyes and tight curly hair, ivy, on the other hand, was like a messy lions main, she could never get it under control unless it was in braids like it was now, the gold hair ornaments she had in the braids reflected the sun, she never knew what it was but having those tiny gold ornaments in her hair made her feel more confident in herself, she choked it up to see all those dark-skinned characters in video games and comics that had them and were badass wielding swords and other cool weapons.

Ivy stopped the truck and climbed out first, Hanna always stayed in the truck with the doors locked until Ivy knocked on the window to tell her the coast was clear. Hanna stepped out of the truck and slung her bag over her shoulder, she hooked her finger in one of the belt loops on the back of her sister's pants so Ivy still had the full motion of her arms if she needed but Hanna could still tell what was happening.

Ivy led them into the house and like they did every time after they came back they checked the place for any other people that might have seen it while they were out and thought it was vacant, once the house was clear Ivy got to work sorting the supplies they got, she set aside a few cans of spaghetti-os for their supper that night. Ivy always made sure they had a full meal at least once a week to keep them going and split up the rest into smaller portions.

Hanna set up the small gas burner they found in the house while Ivy boarded up the front door, Hanna got everything ready and waited for Ivy to come back and turn the burner on, Hanna was capable of taking care of herself and using knives, being blind for twenty-three years of her life made her accustomed to it but now there weren't hospitals around to rush her to if Hanna cut herself Ivy did anything involving fire and most of the cutting, she let Hanna do it but only when they had an abundance of medical supplies from the vet clinics they raided to any injury could be taken care of.