Liam and Hannah woke up the next morning, freezing. It was slightly misty out, and when they breathe, you can see their breath.
Liam groaned as he sat up.
"How's your arm?" Hannah asked.
"Uh," Liam moved the little stub. "Numb. It think it's the cold."
"Well," Hannah tried to sound positive. "Atleast it doesn't hurt. I guess the only worry is hypotherm- You know, never mind."
"What do we do?" Liam said. "The zombies are somewhere out there, and we're alone."
"We find the others. They can't be far, right?" Hannah said.
"Right." Liam said, although not sure of himself.
Hannah opened the bag of supplies she brought with her.
"We should eat, though. Need to keep our strength up." Hannah said. She opened a can for Liam, then helped him eat, the missing arm and all. Once they finished their meal, they set off.
"How do you suspect we'll find them?" Liam asked.
"I don't know. Do you see where any of them went?" Hannah asked.
Liam thought for a moment. "I think I saw Chris and Joakim and someone else run to the...... right of us, I think."
"Then that would be," Hannah looked around. Then she pointed to their left. "I think we're turning around right now, so maybe there'll be over there?"
"Sure." Liam said.
They headed to their left, hoping that was the right way.
Hours later, soon before the sun set, they stopped.
"We're not going to find anyone at this rate!" Liam exclaimed. The air was getting colder as the sun set.
"It's the best chance we got! We can't find anyone else if we don't stop moving." Hannah said.
"Isn't there some easier way? Like, climbing a tree or something?" Liam said.
"That might work, if-" Hannah was cut off when the floor beneath her gave out. She screamed, before freezing water filled her mouth. The lake she'd fallen in had a thin sheet of ice over it, and broke easily under her weight. The freezing water had made her muscles freeze, and even as she tried to swim up, her arms ached. Then something grabbed her arm, and pulled her up from the freezing water.
"Hannah!" Liam exclaimed. Hannah took deep breaths, and shivered.
"Are you okay?" Liam continued.
Hannah nodded. "I-I'm f-f-fine." Her teeth chattered. Unfortunately, their plastic bag did not contain a blanket.
Liam kneeled beside her, feeling helpless. Then something caught his eye. He turned his head, and saw smoke not far off.
"Hannah, look!" Liam said. He pointed to the smoke as Hannah looked up.
"Smoke?" Hannah said. Her eyes widened. "Does that mean that someone's out here? But then again, nobody we know has any means of creating a fire...."
Liam's eyes widened, but he shook as head, as if pushing away a thought. Hannah cocked her head at him.
"What?" Hannah asked.
"Well," Liam began. "What if the fire from before, wasn't an accident, and whoever created the fire is over there?"
That was all it took to get the two moving again.
***
Caleb woke up before Ryder. The beams of sunlight shone through the branches, and the leaves were coated in a layer of frost. He noticed that the blanket was soaked with the water from their clothes. Carefully, trying not to wake Ryder, Caleb lifted the blanket up, but replaced it as soon as he realized how cold it was outside. Even though the blanket was wet, it was still warm. And the branches were doing well as camouflage.
Ryder stirred, and opened her mossy-green eyes. She looked up at him, her cheeks rosy but her mouth in a frown.
"Morning, Ryds." Caleb said. She smiled. Caleb's stomach rumbled, and he slowly got up to get food from the bag thrown in the corner.
Unfortunately, the bag only contains water bottles. No food. Caleb groaned, but got out a water bottle anyway. He opened the lid and took a quick drink, then handed the bottle to Ryder. She took a sip, then handed it back to him.
"We have to find the others." Caleb said. Ryder didn't react. He was used to it by now.
"I think we should travel around, and try to find the others." Caleb said aloud. Ryder blinked. Caleb sighed.
Caleb took the blanket and packed it away into the plastic bag. Then he took down the branch wall and then headed out.
Ryder took hold of Caleb's hand as they walked through the woods. It was cold, and soon, Ryder was shivering, her pink sweater doing little to keep the cold out.
Caleb sighed, and took his sweatshirt off. He put it over Ryder, who instantly looked guiltily at her brother. Caleb patted her head and smiled, hoping that the chattering in his teeth wasn't noticeable. Ryder eventually smiled, and held onto her brother's hand, and they continued on.
As the sun set, with Ryder ending up almost asleep on Caleb's back, a scream pierced the air. Both heads snapped up, towards the woods to their left. Ryder whimpered.
"It's okay, Ryds. It might be one of our friends. I think it sounded like Hannah. Maybe, if we get there fast, we can find her, and maybe everyone else." Caleb reassured his sister. Ryder buried her head in his shoulder, but nodded.
Caleb set off.
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God dang it, it's only a page long. -.- I'll try to make them longer, swearsies!
