Consequence

Chapter Twenty Three

Joel didn't know what he was thinking. It would take days to get to where he wanted to go. Weeks, if he persisted on foot. Not to mention it would be more of a risk. From being ambushed by hunters; infected, stragglers or anyone else in this godforsaken wasteland of a world that wished him harm. In fact sometimes the bastards didn't mean to cause harm; they'd just wanted to steal supplies or weapons to take for themselves. Joel knew that well enough; having been on both sides of it.

He needed a plan. And wondering out in the open on foot was not going to end well for him, if his dwindling supplies were anything to go by.

He'd already searched every gas station, garage and pit stop stores he'd passed so far and every one he'd left with nothing. It had taken a while to get back towards anything vaguely close to civilisation. But after a few hours he saw it. The tall rusted and dented walls that engulfed the town. The old faded signs that gave instructions to scared residents looking for safety from the outbreak when it had started. The old security watchtowers that were abandoned; littered with bullet holes and long dried blood. Corpses of old Fedra soldiers hung by the lampposts and buildings; beside them were words of hate and anger spray painted onto the walls. It brought Joel back to the quarantine zone in Pittsburgh. It was like an echo of time and rebellions replayed over and over again. It seemed every QZ had ended the same way and Joel couldn't help but idly wonder if the same fate had met the QZ in Boston. Pushing on he tried to find a way in, eventually coming across the main road that gave way to an underground tunnel. There seemed to be a way through; it'd be a tight squeeze but he just about make it.

He paid no mind to the scuffs on the palms of his hands or the loose debris dust fluttering into his already greying hair. Coating him from head to shoulders like a ghost of dusty white as he climbed through towards the other side. When he finally emerged he stopped.

The smell of fresh blood assaulted his senses; a scent the man had an unsettling familiarity with. He took a few steps forward along the old road, bodies littered the floor. But they were not of people. They were infected. An array of both runners and clickers alike. It didn't take long to deduce that this was not from a fight among the horde. The aggression overtaking them as they fought over a dead deer carcass, no this was done intentionally. One runner in particular had several bullets holes shot into its temple. The puddle pooling around its broken skull was still wet. This had happened recently. He followed the trail of deduction as it led him to the still smouldering half burnt bodies of yet more infected by an old check-in point. What the hell had happened here? There had obviously been some kind of ambush, though what had brought out so many infected in such a force eluded him. In that moment Joel felt a shiver creep up his spine and a strange tugging sensation in his mind. His instincts on full alert as he drew his pistol from the holster by his hip and swiftly turned to check behind him.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

And yet he still couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling that he was being watched. The shadows clambered across boarded up buildings; the broken streets and sidewalks. Painting the sky with a deep orange hue; dusk was fast approaching and night would be falling soon. Joel knew there'd be no point in trying to move on just yet. Might as well find somewhere secure and get a decent night sleep if possible. Shaking away his unwarranted suspicions he turned away from the old rusted gate; already deciding that he'd have no chance of finding a way over and made his way further into the downtown area of the QZ.

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By the time Joel found somewhere half decent; night had already fallen. An old apartment building seemed secure enough. It had been further split into living quarters much like the one he'd lived in, in Boston. He'd been lucky in getting such a space to himself, as other residents had been expected to live all in one apartment. Whole families having no choice but to share the small living quarters. Most of the other buildings had been sectioned off by Fedra; having been deemed either, not liveable or some had simply collapsed in on themselves during the chaos of the outbreak. That in the end, the government had been extremely limited to what was left available to them when the time came to quarantining certain cities or towns. Leaving most large areas to the elements and bombing the bigger cities in an feeble attempt to wipe out infected. It had worked for a little while but it seemed all places were the same no matter where you went. Boston; Lincoln, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake, Colorado...it had all ended the same way. People had risen against Fedra's rule and in an attempt to take back their town or city; had simply watched it burn and whither away.