Fighting for Home (an apocalypse story)

Chapter 2- Outbreak

Here's chapter 2 reconfigured!! Hope you like it!

Ashley's  POV

    The first thing I see when I wake up is the rain streaming down my window. The first thing I hear is the crunch of gravel under the cars tires as we pull into my aunt and uncles driveway. At first, I have no idea what's going on. Then I remember. I remember where we are and why. I remember that my full range of possessions now amounts to whatever is in the back of this truck. I remember that i might never see my best friend again.

   Then I remember that I'm here with my family, which I'm sure many aren't, and I am thankful for that and feel a little better. We aren't perfect, but we are family.

   I jolt foreword a little as the truck stops at the top of the driveway. My aunt and uncle live about 45 minutes from our house, out of the suburbs and near the edge of the county. They have a bigger lot of land than the standard quarter acre. Our families were both lucky, we were allowed woods nearby since we lived in newly developed areas. I sit up straighter as mom reaches back to shake Lyndsey awake. Dad opens his door and I follow suit, my boots splashing down in the puddles pooling in the gravel. I glance around. Their house is standard sized, a little boxy with two stories and a sizable porch in front. Rain is driven into the white siding by the wind and streams down the olive colored shutters and front door in little rivers. There is a faint light coming from a few windows on the first floor, and I can see the silhouettes of two people inside. Beyond the house, a field stretches for into the distance flanked by woods to the right and a fallow field to the left. In the light cast by the early rays of sunlight fighting to shine through the he storm, I can just make out the shed near the back of the field that houses his truck and a few tools.

   I follow my Dad to the back of the truck and begin unraveling the knots holding the tarp over our belongings. The door behind us opens, and my uncle runs out. He is a big man, and he and his wife and kids have been my favorite family members for as long as I can remember.

       "Hey Matt" my uncle says to my dad when he gets close enough to help us pull the tarp away. I let go of the tarp and hurry to grab my black duffel bag and a backpack. As I run towards the door, I have to avoid a few corpses laying across the driveway, blood pooling around their heads. I try to shield the bags from the rain as much as I can as I run through the door held open by my favorite aunt.

       "Thanks Jess" I say, giving her a weary smile.

       "No problem" she says "Glad you made it here okay. The kids haven't woken up yet, so it'll be a big surprise for them when they see you!"

   I smile at the thought of my 7 year old twin cousins and their 4 year old brother, laughing in the sun, begging me to lift them onto low hanging tree branches or gallop around the front yard while they ride piggyback, squealing and yelling for me to go faster. Thinking about that, I suddenly feel so tired. My thoughts are interrupted by a thud as my dad drops three more bags on the floor at my feet.

       "Give me a hand Ash, please" he says

       "Sure dad, sorry" I follow him back into the rain and the wind, jogging over to the truck and climbing up to pull a large duffel bag and a small backpack from the back. Uncle Marc takes the bag and I follow him back towards the door as my mom grabs the last backpack and dad carries Lyndsey inside.

       "Thank you" I say as Jessica takes the backpack from me. I sit in a chair next to the door and begin to unlace my boots.

       "What's in here?" She asks

       "Extra ammo" says my dad from behind me. "That big red duffel Marc's got has the rest of our guns and ammo, accept for Ashley's, which are right here" he hands my .22 and pistol over to her and she passes them to Marc, who slides them into the bag.