Alone *UNDER CONSTRUCTION*

Chapter Twelve: A Perilous Journey

THE NEXT MORNING

I didn't really sleep that great in the SUV last night.

Mainly because I'm a little nervous about walkers finding where we sleep. I know that we might be safe in a car and since we'll be sleeping we'll be quiet, but I always overthink and ask myself: What if?

But another thing that I noticed is that the number of walkers in the area has grown...

That's another thing that makes me nervous, I don't know if I'm just paranoid or if something bad might happen and Anthony and I will get separated again. What scares me the most is that I I know my luck is running out.

Anthony is still asleep on the driver's side with the seat down when I wake up. That's no surprise at all. Back in Diamond Creek before the Turn, Anthony always slept in until like 11:00 am on weekends. He sleeps like a damn log. Trying to not wake Anthony up, I slowly pull the passenger door handle to exit the vehicle. Outside, the sky is yet again cloudy and the once blazing fire is now nothing more than a pile of smoldering ashes. We are so lucky that the fire didn't attract any attention last night. But yet, it would have been a pain in the butt to try and kill walkers in the dark.

Out in the distance near some taller pine trees than the rest of an ocean of trees, I spot two walkers shambling slowly towards where we are. One of them appears to be wearing an Army uniform. Maybe he'll have some good stuff on him.

I don't want to wake up Anthony just yet, so I grab my hammer from the car and make my way towards the two walking corpses. They both pick up their pace just a tad when they see me coming toward them, their arms reaching for me. Once I'm close, I strike the knee of the Army one, breaking it and causing the walker to stumble to the ground. Then I duck out of the other walker's reach, then I come around to it's backside and dig the sharp end of the hammer into its cranium. The walker goes silent and collapses to the concrete surface of the road. With a good tug, I yank the hammer out of its skull.

I pant a little but I quickly get over it. I go over to the Army walker, laying on its stomach with its right arm reaching for me while the other arm is supporting its body. I raise my arm, and I strike the side of its head with the hammer. The walker's head swings back but its not dead quite yet. I pull my arm back again and strike. This time, the side of the walker's head caves in, spilling out dark, thick blood.

There's pockets all over his uniform. I turn his body over and check the ones on his chest armor first. Just bullets, look like they could be from an assault rifle or something. Next I check the pockets on his belt. I find an ammo clip in one of them that eerily looks like it could fit my new pistol.

It'll sure come in handy if it does fit. I then hear the door of the SUV open. I turn around to see Anthony yawning and stretching his arms, standing near the side of the vehicle wearing his light gray jacket and blue jeans. He sees me next to the dead walkers and curiously asks, "What happened?"

"Just killed a couple of walkers, that's all", I reply.

He nods his head slowly like this is a very unusual routine, then walks over to me. "So what's the plan for today?", he asks.

"Well", I say, "Woodford is about an hour's journey down this highway."

It actually isn't, I don't think. I have no idea what I'm talking about when I tell Anthony this.

"We have a lot of daylight so let's put it to some good use", I add, "Let's pack it in."

After that, we eat some snacks (breakfast is the most important meal of the day after all) and pack up our stuff and head down the highway. A few hours pass, and I notice that Anthony has this bored-as-hell look on his face. I can tell something's bothering him. "Hey Anthony...", I say to him as he walks beside me. Anthony turns to face me.

"Maybe tomorrow, I'll teach you how to shoot a gun. How's that sound?"

Anthony smiles and answers, "Sure."

I know he's only twelve but he needs to know how to defend himself, especially in times such as these.

Above our heads, a storm seems to be brewing within the darkened clouds.

Up ahead, there's a large hill near the entrance of an overpass. Anthony thinks that it's a race, so he just starts running. I just pick up my pace a little while chuckling, pretending not to care. When I'm almost at the top, I notice that Anthony is just standing there at the top of the hill, something catching his attention.

"What is it Anthony?", I ask him. Once I'm at the very top, I tremble in shock.

At the bottom of the hill in front of us, walking eastward down the highway, is an enormous herd of walkers.