Beneath A Dying Sky

Chapter 11 - Traveling

Walking sucked, Edith had decided that after the first day, her feet hurt, her legs hurt, and even not starving, it sucked. There was so much of it, in all the movies, there was always something happening, but it looked like, in reality, it was just a shitton of walking. After a week of it, she was sick and tired of Alice leading. "Alice, I need a break."

"Too bad." Alice said, "No breaks. It's gotten colder, and we need to get south before we freeze to death."

"I'm already freezing to death." Edith grumbled, looking at Sampson, "Where are all the people?"

"Dead. Or worse." Alice shrugged, "People suck, Edith, not everyone is so against killing."

"I'm sure you'd know all about that."

"Can you just let that go already?" Alice snapped, turning around, "God, it's like every other word out of your mouth is about how I killed someone!" She took a breath, "I'm sick of hearing about it."

"Well, how can you expect me to just let it go?" Edith countered, "I'm stuck with you and you killed someone, I don't know if I can even trust you." She crossed her arms, maybe she was being unfair, but she didn't care, anything was better than mindless walking. It reminded her too much of the aftermath. "Can you please just...tell me?" She looked at Alice, almost pleading, "We've been stuck together for weeks, and I know nothing about you I'm going insane here."

Alice was quiet, but she turned and kept walking, and Edith sighed before following, "It was maybe a few weeks after everything, I can't remember." Edith paused, watching her, she was gonna tell her. That was surprising, but she stayed silent, deciding it was better to just listen. "A man...cornered me, at first, to rob me, and I let him, but then he wanted more." Edith's blood froze in her veins, matching the chilly air. "I couldn't give that to him, but there were no police, no help, nothing, no one was there to hit him with a pipe." She chuckled dryly, and Eith pursed her lips before jogging up to walk beside Alice, "I managed to get a glass shard and slice his throat, it was...horrible." Her voice became quiet at the end, and she turned her head away.

Edith hesitated but put a hand on her arm, "Alice, I'm sorry. I've been a dick." She swallowed, she didn't even know what to say to that. It was the last thing she expected to hear, but somehow not surprising. How many men out here would be like that? Was that why they never walked on the road just beside it?

"It's okay." Alice sighed, "This is a lot for everyone. I can't hold it against you. But you owe me now." She was teasing, moving on from that like it was nothing, as she looked at Edith, "I like you walking up here."

Edith chuckled, "Aw, so you do enjoy my company."

"I never said I didn't." Alice chuckled, "But Edith, you need to stop judging. I'm sorry, but it's true, you're naive and stupid sometimes. You need to just trust I wouldn't hurt you."

Edith nodded, looking at the ground, "I know, I've always been a chicken shit." She paused, "But you need to trust me too. Trust goes both ways, and I've already almost killed a man for you."

Alice chuckled, "That's fair enough." She shook her head, "You know what's funny?"

"What?"

"I told myself I wasn't going to travel with people."

"What makes me so special." Edith teased, nudging her.

"You helped." Alice hummed, "You let me stay even not knowing me and kept me fed. Maybe I want to see you live."

Edith smiled a bit. "Thanks. I guess." It was different now, but maybe she could learn to like Alice; maybe she wasn't so bad in the long run. Certainly, she had her issues. But so did Edith. It was more about learning to deal with it together. "I guess I don't mind you killed someone. I would do the same." She wasn't so sure, but a part of her wanted to make Alice feel better about it.

"Really?" Alice looked at her, raising a brow.

"Sure, I mean, I almost did." She'd never wanted to be a killer, but given the context, it would be stupid to think she'd have a choice. It might come down to her life for someone else's. What then? She guessed it depended on the person, "You're not a killer."

"Your opinions change so fast." Alice chuckled, "Why's that?"

"Context helps." Even if Alice couldn't see it, Edith grinned, "I guess I'm changing with the times. Learning to adapt, and trust and whatnot."

"You're so protagonist-coded." Alice rolled her eyes.

"You think so?"

"For sure, and so does Sampson." Alice looked at Sampson, and so did Edith, he happily wagged his tail at his name and bounded ahead. "See, he knows."

"He hasn't got a clue in the world." Edith rolled her eyes, there was a sound suddenly, a distant rumbling and they both froze; a car. "Is that?"

"Move." Alice pushed her away from the round down behind a fallen trunk, "Be quiet."

Edith shut her mouth, Alice had been out here longer, she knew better than to question her thoughts. And she watched as a truck drove forward, out of the gloom. It seemed so foreign Edith almost wanted to stand and go look at it as it rolled to a stop. Out hopped two women and a man, they had guns, "What do they want?" Eidth whispered.

"Best not to find out." Alice pulled Sampson down and pet his head, "We need to go, quietly, got it?"

The woman on the road looked around, she was young and blonde and she cupped her hands over her mouth, "Hello?" Her voice bounced off the road and echoed in the trees. Edith froze, looking at Alice whose hand gripped her wrist as they watched in fascination at the people in front of them, "We want to help!" The woman shouted, being met with her echo.

Edith gave Alice a look that roughly asked; Did she see us? Only to be met with a look that seemed to mean; I don't know. Alice shook her head and held the rifle, aiming at the woman as the trio began searching, they'd find them if they didn't move but where would they go? The forest provided hardly any cover at all. What would happen if they were caught? Edith's blood froze thinking about Alice's story. People sucked.