FEAR

Groups

Brooke's POV

We have been traveling a while now and it's starting to get tiring. I have bad asthma and I lost my inhaler in the chaos that was happening around me.

I'm in a small group of people that I don't even know. The nice young boy name Max found me struggling with a rotter and helped me. He is nice. He has black hair and blue eyes.

Then there is a man name Toby. He is kind of the leader in the group. Everything he says we do. Except for Lillian. She doesn't like her name so we call her Blu. She wants to be in charge because she thinks she would be better and get us to safety faster, but Toby thinks that no girl could be in charge with the world like this. They are always arguing. Like can we please get some peace and quiet.

Anyway, we were all in a safe place in Tennessee, but it got too packed and we couldn't accept anyone else. So some people were like attacking the guards to try and get in and eventually the rotters got in and attacked everyone that was safe inside. So we all had to run for our lives because we didn't know how to kill them. A lot of people didn't make it but others got away including me. I tried to keep up with everyone, but my asthma got the best of me and the worst time. Just glad there was someone there to save me or I would've been dead.

Now we are just walking down a highway trying to find a nice looking car that will get us far away from here as possible. There are some cars that are messed up but others looked broken down.

We have now stopped and I leaned on the car that was behind me. It's really cold now being that it is February and I hope it doesn't start to snow, but then again I hope it does.

Pros for snowing:
- It will slow the rotters down
- It will be easier to stay low
- Easier to hunt for food

Cons for snowing:
- It could be too cold and one of us can get sick or die
- It will slow us down if it's too thick
- Black ice on the road so can't really travel

They are equal, but you get where I'm coming from. Hopefully.

"Hey, are you okay?" Max says coning over to me and standing right in front if me.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm just taking it slow." I say.

"Once we find a store, I will try to find something for you to maybe help your asthma." He said a little bit unsure if he said that right or not.

"Thanks, but the only thing I would need would be an inhaler." I say with a small smile.

He returns the smile and we stand there in an awkward silence.

There was a slight pick up on the wind and I get a little chills. I shiver and wrap my arms around me. So much for wearing leggings and a long T-shirt that was my boyfriends.

"Are you cold?" Max asked.

"No. I'm fine." I say.

"Here. Take my jacket." He says while taking his jacket off.

"No that won't be necessary." I say.

He refuses to listen and wraps it around me.

"No you take it. Besides, I have a  sweater on. See. And it's not that cold out here anyway." He says.

I just mumble a thank you and he nods his head at me and walks away.

His jacket is a little big, but it's warm so I snuggle into it.

I look over to where Lillian is and see her just looking in cars. I wish I could be like her. Tough and healthy. She takes care of herself. I always need to rely on someone to help me.

My thoughts get cut off by Toby. He is leaning on the same car as me. He is beside me and he pulls out a cigarette and lights it up. He breathes it in and blows smoke out. He turns toward me and puts the cigarette in my face.

"Want some?" He offers.

I try not to breathe in the smoke so I shake my head no.

He takes back the cigarette and does the same thing again. Breathes in. Blows out smoke.

"You don't talk much." He says while continuing to smoke the cigarette.

"I don't really have anything to say." I say truthfully.

"Makes sense. I wish someone would talk other than that bitch over there. She has a smart mouth and it's aggravating. Then there is that boy who tries to help, but he is stupid. He is too scared. You can't be afraid in this type of world. Then there is you. You are a big mystery. Tell me one thing about yourself." He says while blowing smoke in my face.

I start to cough and try to shake the smoke away.

"I have asthma." I tell him backing away from him to try and get some fresh air.

"Oh. Sorry about that. Do you have an inhaler?" He asked.

He drops the cigarette and steps on it, smashing it to the ground.

"I did. When we were all running away from the "safe" place I dropped it and never realized until I actually had to use it." I say now breathing clearly again.

"Well to be honest with you, you're weak. If you ever need to stop to take a breather, just let us know. We are here to survive. We don't need anyone else dying and turning into one of those things. Now if you excuse me, I got to go find a good car so we can get the hell out of here. We are too close to "safe" place and at some point those rotters are going to be right in our tails." He says then walks away.

I sigh and try to look around to help out. He is right though. I am weak. I'm just going to slow everyone down. That's what happened to my boyfriend. He was running and I had to stop to get my inhaler out to use it and he ran back for me and he died trying to save me.

"Hey look I found a car! The keys are still in it and the car is running! The doors were already open!" Max says while waving his hands for us to come to him.

We all go over there and see that he was indeed right. We go to put our bags in the trunk but there are other bags and weapons in there. Toby slams the trunk and we all get in the car. We pack our bags in the back seat, all on one side. Then I get in the middle beside our bags. Max slides in beside me and closes the door. Sitting in the passenger seat is Lillian and driving is Toby.

We take off for a long journey that is  ahead of us.

I start to feel a sharp pain go through my left side of my stomach. I forgot all about this. I put my hand over it and try to cover it without making it noticeable. I'm not feeling so well either.

I push the thought of me not feeling well away and try to get some sleep thinking it will help. I just hope no one finds out about this situation. If I decided to tell anyone, it would definitely be Max. I would tell Max that I was bitten by one of those rotters.