'Kay, so here's the plan: Every chapter will have a story about one or two of the groups lost in the woods. Good? Good.
Enjoy!
Also, f*** my memory, I forgot about Zoey. Let's just say she's in the tree with Chris and Joakim, 'Kay? Kay.
~E
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Chris, Zoey and Joakim woke the next day, still up in the tree. The rain had stopped, leaving behind a humid morning. The zombies had stopped trying to get them, and just wandered around, but one glances at them every once in a while.
Chris stretched and yawned. Then almost fell. He grabbed onto the rough bark of the tree, and wondered how he's still alive. He slept in a tree, for God's sake!
The shaven-haired man looked over to at the others. Joakim had also woke up, and clung to the tree, while staring fearfully at the zombies below. Zoey was a bit higher up, and looked down at the zombies with fear and interest.
"How are we still alive?!" Joakim whispered to Chris.
"That's what I was thinking." Chris whispered back. "Well, I guess if Katniss can do it, so can we!" Joakim and Zoey chuckled.
"How do we get down from here?" Zoey asked.
"I have no idea. One step off this tree, we're screwed." Chris replied.
"We need something. Like a sort of-" Joakim was cut off by a big cracking sound. All eyes, including the zombies', shot up to the branch Joakim was on. Another crack, and Joakim began to panic.
"Get me off! Get me off!" Joakim said, not bothering on lowering his voice.
"Calm down! We'll get you off, just be quiet!" Zoey said. Another crack. The branch was almost broken in two.
"Hurry u-AH!" Joakim was again cut off when the branch broke. Chris had his hands held out, and he grabbed onto them, almost pulling Chris off too. Zoey held onto Chris' sweatshirt, while the zombies all began to surround the tree again. Joakim felt the monsters below tug on his pant legs, so he kicked at the rotting hands.
"I told you to calm down!" Zoey hissed from her branch.
"Well, I felt like I was going to die! How would you react?!" Joakim argued.
"Girls, girls, your both pretty! Now can we focus on saving Joakim's life?!" Chris intervened.
"Thanks, Chris." Joakim said.
"Now's not the time. I'm going to pull, and your going to swing your legs onto the branch below the one that broke, okay?" Chris said. Joakim nodded. "Zoey, you keep me steady as I pull Joakim up."
"'Kay." Zoey replied. Her grip tightened on Chris' sweatshirt.
Chris pulled Joakim up, momentarily losing his balance on the branch. Zoey caught him, and he continued to pull up Joakim onto the branch.
Joakim managed to plant his feet on the branch, and then let go of Chris' arms to hold onto the tree. Zoey let go of Chris' sweatshirt, and Chris sat back on his branch. The zombies still clawed at the tree, which peeled the skin off of their fingers and made them bleed, but it didn't startle the undead. Probably since they're undead.
"What do we do now?" Zoey asked.
"Joakim," Chris began. "You started to tell us something before the branch snapped. What was it?"
"Before the branch broke," Joakim said. "I was going to say, 'Why don't we do a distraction'?"
Chris and Zoey looked at eachother, then smiled and looked back to Joakim.
"Brilliant idea."
***
Chapin and Lewis woke up the next day, their muscles sore from the hard ground. The air was freezing, and a layer of frost covered branches and leaves.
"Where do you think everyone else is?" Chapin asked, shivering. Her leg was still and cold, temporarily numbing the pain.
"I have no bloody idea." Lewis mutters. "But we have to find them."
"Without attracting the dead." Chapin adds. She could see her breath when she talked.
"Without attracting the dead." Lewis repeated, nodding. He reached for one of the bags he grabbed from the house. "We should get something to eat, though." He tossed a can to Chapin.
They ate in silence, as the sun rose above them. The rising sun warmed everything just slightly, but not enough.
Once the cans were empty, Lewis stood up.
"Let's get going. Better to start now and find them." He said. He grabbed Chapin's arm and helped her up.
"How far away do you think they are?" Chapin asked.
"I hope not too far. And I hope that wherever the zombies went, it went away from them." Lewis said.
They walked for a good two or three hours with many breaks. At one break, Chapin was shivering so badly, that Lewis had to pull out the blanket for her.
"Not used to the cold?" Lewis asked.
"My work was inside, not outside." Chapin said. Her teeth chattered.
"My work was inside, too, and I'm not shivering that badly." Lewis smirked.
Chapin was about to retort, but shut it when she realized she didn't have a comeback. Then she stood up, with the help of Lewis.
"Let's just go." Chapin said in defeat. Lewis chuckled.
The sun was setting when they decided to settle down. They chatted for a while, the dark quickly consuming everything. When the last rays of sun left, it seemed like the whole world had frozen. Now both were shivering, even with the blanket draped over them.
"I wish we had a fire or something." Lewis said, teeth chattering.
"Y-y-yeah." Chapin said. Then her eyes widened. She reached into her pocket. "I have these!" Without thinking, Chapin pulled out a match from the box and lit it. She smiled as the match lit everything up.
"Where'd you get those?" Lewis asked.
"From the house we....stayed at..... before....." Chapin voice and smile dropped lower and lower as she realized her mistake. Lewis put the pieces together, and stared at Chapin with a horrified expression.
"You," Lewis said. "Your the one who caused the fire at the house!"
The match went out.
