Together We Survive

The Journey

Elyza?'

'What?'

'Could you please slow down?'

My hand gripped the door handle for dear life as the landscape flew by in a blur. This was the third time I had asked, Elyza insisting each time that her driving was perfectly safe and that I was worrying about nothing. We had pulled away from the smaller residential roads and were on the highway in a matter of minutes after leaving the house, giving her greater freedom to increase our speed even with the collection of abandoned cars that stretched on for miles. I had only just about managed to get the seat belt over my sling and each time the car hit a bump in the road we were both jolted from the impact.

'I wasn't even going that fast,' she grumbled quietly, thankfully easing off the accelerator and we slowed to a more acceptable speed. How the old car survived this brutal treatment I would never know.

'I thought you were desperate to get back to your family?' she commented, as if that was her reasoning behind the insane speed we had just been going at.

'It's rather pointless if I die in a car crash before even getting back in the same state as them,' I pointed out, already having had a minor attack of nerves when a walker staggered into the road and the only thing that prevented a collision was a sharp tug on the steering wheel that I could've sworn almost had us up on two wheels to narrowly avoid the mess on the windscreen.

'You need to work on something called positivity,' Elyza said dryly, keeping her eyes on the road ahead as I ignored her and lent forwards to delve through the glove box.

Under a pile of carrier bags and old manuals I pulled free a map, coughing slightly at the cloud of dust that came along with it. I unfolded the paper and wasn't surprised to find that it was now illegible, the marks having faded so badly that you could hardly recognise the location.

I shoved it back into the glove box and sat back in my seat with a sigh, realising that this was going to be a long journey and this time I wasn't unconscious for it.

'Seriously, you should at least try a smile. Free ride, great company, what's not to love?' Eliza spoke up, not that her advice was at all wanted. I remained silent and stared out of the window, after being out at sea for so long it was easy to forget how devastated the land was and that it wasn't getting any better.

The landscape around us was dry and arid, nothing even remotely interesting to look at other than the occasional walker that could be seen ambling amongst the sparse covering of green plants. The boat had been an escape from the terrible reality but it couldn't be avoided forever, it was something I would have to start getting used to.

I glanced back over at my companion, still finding it strange to think that I had only known her for a few days and not under the best circumstances. 

'I can be fun you know,' I said abruptly, not sure why I felt it necessary to make such a statement.

'I'm sure you can, it's not like it's the end of the world or anything,' she said lightly, smiling to herself as I shook my head at her rather unique sense of humour.

'You said the other day that you were on your way to Santa Fe before you came across me, why there?' I inquired, hoping that some conversation would help to pass the time.

I almost regretted asking the question when the smile fell from her face in an instant, silence falling for a few long moments until I gave up expecting a reply.

'I didn't always survive alone, there were a few others that I had contact with but we had to go our separate ways,' she finally explained, her expression unreadable underneath the sunglasses. 'Sante Fe was our rendezvous point, I was going to see if anyone had made it.'