Mankind

Chapter Two

Cassie awakens face down in the snow, her cheeks bright red and the tip of her nose freezing. She rolls over and looks up at the sky, cloudless, sunny. Quickly, she checks herself for bites and surprisingly, there are none. The infected must've chased after Jesse and left her for dead.

Cassie pushes herself to her feet. Her head pounds, after all, she did smack it against a tree on the tumble down. She's just lucky she didn't slide into the river. She climbs back to the bridge and Callum is gone, escaping with Jesse. She expected him to be lying in the snow dead. There's also a couple infected dead as well but not the whole group. She takes a deep breath, does she dare to trek back right now? Should she wait it out in town at one of the outposts?

She slides down the cement railing until she hits the road. Her energy is absolutely drained and the journey back is too much for her to handle right now. She can only hope that Jesse made it back and he alerted the others. Someone will come looking for her, she knows it, or...she hopes. Cassie's head drops, her eyes blinking but slowly starting to go black. Her concentration slips away and every bit of fight left in her drifts off into the thin cold air.

"Cassie!" Her mother's voice calls out. She can hear the world around her, but her eyes are still closed. Or maybe they're just too blurred to see out of.

"Jesse, Cassie's here!"

Cassie can feel herself being picked up and gently laid down in what seems to be the back of a truck. There's a roar of an engine and that confirms it. Her eyes open a bit but the sun is too bright so she closes them tight but knows she's on her way home, back to safety.

SPRING

Cassie kneels beside the flowing river that winds through O'Connor. She scoops up a handful of water, splashing it against her face and feeling the cool droplets cascade down her cheeks. They're amid The Long Soak, a season that typically stretches from the end of March to the second week of June. While beneficial for crops and enjoyable for children, it takes a toll on the rivers, often resulting in flooding. Yet, today, the sun shines brightly, with only a few wisps of gray clouds scattered about, nothing too ominous in sight.

She looks back at the kids playing in the pond. The water is a light blue color, something Ryan put in it so it wouldn't look murky and unappealing. But Cassie could never bring herself to step foot in it. Still water is gross water to her, and who wants to swim in water you can't see through?

Cassie rises from her kneeling position, brushing her damp hands against her pants. A long, loose braid cascades down her back—a new hairstyle she's been experimenting with, a small attempt at reinventing herself.

She makes her way back to the main hub of the town. It's bustling with people and there's Ryan, putting up a flyer for a town celebration at the barn.

"You're coming right?" He asks as she passes by.

"Wouldn't miss it!" But, maybe she would. Maybe she'd oversleep on purpose. No, she can't do that to Ryan. He loves putting on these events. He always says there's nothing better than a community coming together to celebrate.

"Mom!" Cassie calls out as she enters the house. She moves farther inside but stops when she hears voices. One her mom's, and another sounds like it's full of static, it must be coming from a radio. She mentions Steelton, but that's all she can understand before her mom says, "Thanks, bye."

Joan walks into the kitchen, startled by Cassie's presence. "Cassie, I didn't know you were here!"

"I yelled for you."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was dealing with a contact. They're heading to Steelton. I was trying to steer them away. Nothing good comes from there."

"That's a Quarantine Zone isn't it?" Cassie asks.