Blackout • NH

Chapter 41

Day 128, Saturday, September 15th, 6:59pm

Jodie's POV

Anne and I have grown close over the past few days. We talked about anything and everything. She's became like another sister to me. But she will never replace Ellen. I miss Ellen.

I wonder if Ellen is doing okay since I've left. What if the group hates me for leaving? What if I see them again and they shun me and not say a word or acknowledge my presence? What if Niall has moved on from me?

I shake away the negative thoughts and go upstairs to the observation room and look out in the distance to distract myself.

Anne went out today to harvest some berries or anything fresh and not canned. Though we have plenty of food, I think she just wanted some fresh air.

The days have been getting shorter and shorter; autumn right around the corner. The sun has already began to set and the sky was starting to darken. Dusk setting in.

I continue looking out in the distance. It's overcast today so there's a bit of fog still lingering among the landscape. I look to my right towards the ocean about a mile and a half away. I can still see old shrimp boats along abandoned docks. Some half sunken into the harbor.

I continue to move my head. Looking at a few trees nearby that are the same height or taller than the one we are in. I see a few birds gathered on a few of the branches chirping about. Happy and not having to feel scared and threatened all the time about when their last meal will be or their last day on this earth will be.

I shake my head at the thoughts and looked to my left to see a fire tower in the distance. Still far away from the city but closer to me. There must have been a small town or a wildlife reserve there.

Suddenly, I see something from the fire tower. Smoke, coming from it. It didn't look like it was on fire though. It looked like small campfire smoke. And the tower had some light coming from the inside of the building on top. Oh no...

That means survivors are near. Who knows if they could be dangerous. What if they migrate this way and find me and Anne's secret tree. Fuck, I need to find Anne.

I decided to use an old tactic that my father taught me. It is a way you can tell time until the sun sets. You hold your arm out and have your palm facing you, fingers together. Almost, like you're taking a picture of yourself horizontally. You put your hand under the bottom of the sun, lining it up and count hands until you reach the ground.

One hand full equals one hour of sunlight. That is a way of giving you an estimate of how long you have before the sun sets

I put my arm and hand up to the sun and put the top of my hand under the edge of the it and close one eye.

I look at my hand and notice the ground goes above my pinkie.

So that means there's about thirty to forty five minutes of sunlight left today.

I get up, grab my gun and flashlight and binoculars and go downstairs and head towards the other tree house. Making my way across the bridge and into the home. I look out the windows to make sure the coast is clear before opening the hatch and climbing down.

I climb down about 4 feet and hop onto a brand and crawl on it to get a good aerial view. Once the coast is clear, I crawl down even further until I reach the ground. It's darker out since I'm surrounded by forest and thick brush.

"Anne?" I whisper shouted.

"Anne?" I said again.

I decide to make my way through the brush hoping to find her soon. I pace quickly for about a mile until I hear two male voices.

"We should get back to the city. I don't like being out here at this time hunting for wild boar." One voice said.

"Will you shut up? This is when they're the most active. We need to catch one to feed the crew tonight." The other said.

Not wanting to walk any farther, I turn off my flashlight and I climb the nearest thick leafy tree and and climb onto one of the branches, hoping to see who these trespassers are.

I climb a little more until I can see a good lighting from their torches. Their backs are turned to me so I can't make out any faces just yet. I tune in and listen to their conversation.

"I can't believe she's dead man."

"It's a shame, she would've been a good fuck don't you think?"

"Bro. Keep your dirty thoughts to yourself."

"Hey man chill. You agreed to work for me way before this blackout occurred. You were to get me the girl and I was going to make her all mine. All until this plan went to shit and that Irish fucker got in the way."

"Did you think I had a choice? You threatened to kill me if I told anyone you were the one who kidnapped all of those women and used them for your own fun and use them as spaces and then murder them when you got tired of them."

"You better watch yourself. I'm a man, I have to get my needs taken care of."

"You could have done that without killing them."

"There's no fun in that." He begins to chuckle.

"You're sick."

"You should totally try it man. It gets your blood pumping. Hearing those women scream and cry for mercy as I..."

"Enough!"

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the cot this morning."

"Let's just get this damn boar and get the fuck out of the jungle."

"Whatever you say Marc."

Marc... Oh fuck. I grab my binoculars and take a closer look. Marc and Elliot, both standing right in front of me.

My heart rate begins to increase. I stay up in the tree, making as little noise as possible. I wait for about thirty minutes until they both decide to head back to the city.

I need to find Anne as soon as possible. I climb down, scraping myself as I am in a hurry and take off running back to the treehouse.