The Walking Maze

six

~

Shay

I yawn and sit up, rubbing the back of my head sleepily. Now, an ordinary person would get out of their little bed and go down the stairs of their little house and eat their little breakfast while watching Phineas and Ferb on their little TV as the little birds outside sang a little song that they found a little annoying.

Unfortunately, the first thing in my morning routine today is to check the stranger sleeping near me for any symptoms of whatever fucked up virus made the world go to shit. I don't trust anyone. I learned that lesson a long time ago. Had to leave a lot of people behind.

I crawl over to the sleeping boy and feel his forehead with the back of my hand. No fever. He also doesn't have the death chills, so I guess he's good for now. I'm not in the mood to frisk a teenage guy that I barely know.

I nudge him till he wakes up, lightly groaning. "What do you want?" he whines, rubbing his eyes. He rolls over and curls up even more.

"I want you to get the hell up, Blondie," I urge. It's already..." I pause to look down at my watch. "Shit."

It's 2pm. That's right, 2 in the fucking afternoon.

I look back at Newt, who's already falling asleep again. "Hey," I say and dump the leftover contents of my flask on his chest. "Wake up!"

He sits bolt upright and glares at me angrily, looking like a flustered mess. "Bloody he- what's wrong with you?!" he shouts and looks down at his shirt with frustration.

"I told you to get up, and you didn't," I say and stand up. "C'mon, we're burnin' daylight!"

~~~

"Do you even know where you're going?" I groan and duck under a tree branch. I look up warily at the dark sky, my eyes meeting a rising full moon.

"I'm just trying to get us out of the woods," Newt sighs and nearly trips clumsily over a log.

"It's been hours, Blondie," I say and step over the log that he tripped on. "I've spent the whole day following you around and we've gotten nowhere."

"Then why don't you give it a bloody shot, huh?" he turns around and crosses his arms.

I roll my eyes. "The trees are getting more scattered in that direction," I said, pointing to my left. "We should go there."

"Are you sure?" he asks.

"Newt, it's dark out and my eyesight's gone to shit," I complain. "There could be something there!"

"Fine, whatever," he sighs and gestures to where I pointed. "Lead the way."

I smile sarcastically and bound towards my left. Before long, we travel into a meadow, and I can see a farmhouse in the distance. I beam and walk towards it, my footsteps getting faster and faster.

"Are you insane?" Newt calls from behind me. "That place is probably infested with Cranks!"

"Relax, Blondie," I say, walking backwards and facing him. "I'm just gonna check the name on the mailbox."

The mailbox isn't close to the house at all. It's at the beginning of a long dirt road that leads to the house, so I know it'll be safe to approach.

I run up to the rusted mailbox, and on the side is a collection of a few faded letters that spell out Greene. I had to squint to see the full name, but when I made it out, I started to laugh. A real, thankful laugh.

"What is it?" Newt asks, coming up next to me.

"It's Maggie's old house," I look at him and say. "I know where we are. Passed by here on a couple runs."