Mankind

Chapter Six

Joan whispers into the crackling radio, "Melody?" Her voice is barely audible amidst the static. For hours, she's been trying to reach her long-lost friend, but each attempt has ended in frustration. She can't bear the thought of waiting for Melody's response. With a heavy sigh, Joan sets the radio down on the counter and collapses onto her pull-out bed, exhaustion weighing heavily on her eyelids.

Just as she begins to drift into sleep, a sudden burst of crackling over the radio jolts Joan awake. Disoriented and groggy, she fumbles for the radio and hastily presses the button.

"Hello? Hello?" she calls out desperately, her heart racing with anticipation.

Amidst the static, a familiar voice breaks through the chaos. "Joan," Melody's voice echoes through the radio. "There are things you must know. Let's meet up soon."

Cassie rides her horse along the perimeter of O'Connor's 80-acre expanse, her eyes scanning the sturdy walls that encircle the settlement. Others already handle this, but for Cassie, it provides a sense of purpose. Ever since the incident, she's been barred from patrol duty by Ryan's strict orders. Yet, the yearning to return to the field gnaws at her, aching for the distraction it offers.

Cassie sighs, standing outside her mother's house. Her hand trembles at the doorknob before turning it and entering slowly. It's quiet and difficult for her to step foot inside but she does it anyway.

"Cassie?" Ryan calls from the kitchen. "Is that you?"

"Yes!" She slowly makes her way inside.

"Everything okay?" He asks.

"Yeah, I just wanted to ask you something. Or, maybe tell you?"

"Okay?" He looks at her puzzled.

"I want to go back out on patrol. I think it's time and I'm ready."

"Okay, if that's what you want."

"Oh. That was easy enough." She takes a sigh of relief. She thought there was going to be a battle and to her surprise, there wasn't.

"Any patrols you go on, you take Jesse. Oh, and maybe take Sam too."

Cassie nods with a smile. Finally released from the confines of O'Connor, she can venture out once more.

The roads are empty, like always. Only the sounds of birds and hooves against the asphalt. The grass is starting to grow in the cracks and overtake the embankments. They pass by the High School, its decrepitness looks worse in the rainy months with water surrounding it like a moat protecting a castle.

There's silence between the three of them. Not because they don't want to talk to each other, but because the trip is calming and a gentle warm breeze blows around them.
"Have there been signs of Poxen?" Sam asks, shifting his weight on his horse.

"No," Jesse replies quickly.

"I just wanted to get out for a while," Cassie looks back at Sam. "I've been cooped up for too long."

Once they pass the gas station, they're onto the bridge. An uneasiness fills Cassie's stomach. It's where she blacked out, where she fell unconscious. Her road to recovery wasn't easy. She had four broken ribs, a fractured wrist, and a broken ankle. She was beaten to hell and back, and she still carries a small amount of pain in her foot, but nothing she can't shrug off.

"Cass, do you remember the times we had at the fair?" Sam smiles at the memory.

"I do. I think about it a lot. Do you remember that Ferris wheel falling apart that one year?"

Sam bursts into laughter but it quickly fades to the thought of the mass grave it became shortly after the outbreak. Once they ran out of spots to bury the dead, they started stuffing the bodies in the buildings and setting them ablaze to stop the spread, but it didn't work.