Journal of Alexander Bryce

Entrie 16

October 27, 2023

96 days into the apocalypse.

We have made significant progress on getting out of the city and to our destination. Our bags are filled with enough provisions to last us for a while. We have already hit the road, preferring to travel on foot in order to not attract too much attention, both from the Plagued and the Thessalonians. We travel through the day and most of the night, and only take breaks during late nights, excluding eating breaks, and sleep for a few hours or until dawn. During each break, one of us will stay up in order to keep an eye out for potential trouble. The routine was hard to get used to, but we managed.

It's surprising how safe the roads are. Even while inside the city and after managing to get out of it we never really encountered any trouble. The Plagued seems to leave to roads alone, instead preferring to lurk in the darker smaller spaces, like in a parking lot under a building or alley ways. The Thessalonians seemed to not venture in these areas.

Well, good for us. Though, it doesn't mean we're not careful. After all the hell we've gone through, I don't think any of us will ever let our guard down again. If we keep moving at this rate, we'd probably reach our destination in another 4 or 5 days.

Yesterday, something happened. We had taken a break after a long journey. We lit up a fireplace to keep ourselves warm, while preparing our supper. Our supper was simple. We dug through our bag, producing whatever we had that we could use to replenish our hunger. That night, it was a few protein bars and a packet of chicken jerky. After eating, James, Carl and Natalie went to sleep while I stayed up for night watch. James had given me his rifle so I can better defend myself, or at least alert them better.

I think it was a few hours after they had gone to sleep. I was sitting in front of the fireplace, with the rifle laying beside me, when Natalie suddenly came by my side and sat beside me. She couldn't sleep so she decided she'd give me some company.

We chatted, talking about our lives before the apocalypse, our interests, etc. It was…. nice. Despite being on the same team, I and Natalie hadn't really gotten to have a friendly conversation like this in a while. He laughed and talked, just enjoying the company on each other as for that moment all the other worries had disappeared from my mind. I just simply enjoyed the moment.

I don't know if it was sleep affecting me or something else, but I soon found myself even more drawn to her. As if the distance between us, shrunk and shrunk with every second that passed. And all of a sudden I found myself inches from her face. Our conversation had stopped and we were just staring into each other's eyes. Her chocolate brown eyes were so mesmerizing that I just couldn't look away. That look in her eyes,...... That soft look in her eyes was unlike anything I have ever seen. It was as if the world didn't exist anymore and the only thing I could hear was the sound of our breath.

I don't know who made the first move, but suddenly the distance between us was no more. I felt her soft lips on mine, and it was like a spark had gone through my body. Moments later, my eyes were closed as I basked into the feeling of her soft warm lips against mine. I don't properly remember all the details of everything that had happened during those moments, but I remember my right hand had moved over her legs and held her thigh while I had pressed further into the kiss.

That's when Natalie pulled away. She looked at me for a few seconds, her expression unreadable. Oh, how I hate that expression. I really wish I knew what she actually felt whenever she had those expressions on her face, so that I could help her, sooth her however I could.

Natalie then looked away from me and scooted back a bit, while removing my hand from her thigh. "You should get some sleep." She had said, without looking at me,"I'll keep watch."

I wanted to argue, but the no nonsense, ordering tone of her voice compelled me to not do it. I just sighed and nodded before getting up and moving over to where James and Carl were sleeping, leaving her there alone. I glanced back at her, seeing her seating in front of the fireplace for one last time before I laid down and closed my eyes.

We hadn't talked much after that incident, and Natalie seems to be avoiding me, preferring to speak with me only the bare minimum necessary to know what's going on with me, and she wouldn't even look at me most of the time.

It hurt me to see her avoiding me like this. I wanted to pry, to learn what I did wrong, but I couldn't bring myself to. If she wanted to distance herself from me, I wouldn't force her to do anything. I just wish I knew what I had done wrong.