Mortality

Chapter 2: Savannah

 

Leaving the school, Zack, Alex, Pierce, and I sprinted toward Main Street. Twice I had to cover my mouth to stop from shouting or laughing out loud just to hear the sound of my own voice outside of cement walls.

      We still wore casual clothes, but with a crossbow strapped to my back, my t-shirt and favorite cargo pants felt infinitely more badass. The chilly April weather would usually call for a few more layers, but the brisk pace made the cool breeze refreshing rather than uncomfortable.

      When we reached the main strip of town we stopped to make sure we hadn’t picked up any reanimated tag-a-longs before starting our slow walk toward the pharmacy. As good as it felt to stretch our legs, we knew it could be a long time before we had a chance like this again. So long as we came back with the goods and a few tales of our heroics, there was no rush.

      The four of us goofed around, cracking jokes at everyone’s expense, trying to relax and enjoy the moment. Well, Zack, Alex, and I made the jokes while Pierce tried to pretend he understood even half of them. I didn’t know if it was because he was younger, British, or just kind of a dork, which I say entirely with affection. We all knew the others too well to buy into the false sense of ease, but it was nice to joke around and pretend we weren’t just a few blocks away from a very ugly situation.

      Ravencrest had been a town of almost twenty thousand, but there may as well have been tumbleweeds rolling down the streets now. Every shattered window or bloodstain was a reminder of what we had lost.

      During the winter Zack and I helped out ridding the town of the frozen dead and bringing back supplies. But back then the infected were everywhere, and no one really knew what they were doing. Then the first of the newer, more deadly Zs had wandered into our town, and people died, including Paulson’s girlfriend, Grace. The adults had decided to replace us with “more mature” team members who had pretty much zero experience.

      After only two weeks they lost two of their numbers to zombies that were too strong and too damn smart. Somehow that didn’t matter, and everyone insisted we were too young to put ourselves at risk.

      “There’s the ‘adult entertainment store,’” I said, using air quotes, “and a deli that always smelled like cats. Seriously.” I pointed out various town highlights to Pierce and Alex. They had arrived in town after we’d already been relegated to training and doomed to the same fate as part of the under-eighteen crowd.

      It was going to take at least an hour to walk to the closest pharmacy since it sat right on the Ravencrest border. We were lucky some other group of survivors hadn’t stumbled onto it already. Every day we delayed in order to do things like plan and fortify was another day we risked valuable resources that might never be replaced.

      We had no idea how many other survivors there were in the area, but medicine was already in high demand amongst those living at the high school. There will always be people trying to stave off infection or pregnancy.

      Mrs. Park made sure gathering medical supplies was a priority after she’d arrived, and a lot of us had felt pretty daft for not thinking of it sooner. We were checking nearby towns as well, but if the need was ever great enough, we had one last place in town that was sure to have everything we could need. The only problem… it was still overrun with infected.

      Mercy Hall Medical Center had been run by a nearby university and used to be fully stocked and staffed to take care of almost any day-to-day injury or illness. It was the first place a lot of our neighbors had thought to go when the infection resurfaced in the area.