Beside the Dying Fire

Antonio's POV

I held my katana at both of them. I was so pissed that they had been trespassing in my home, but they were scared, I couldn't kill them. I've been in the same situation before. I slid it back into my sheathe and stared at the 2. They were holding each other in fear. The one who called herself Sarah handed me my M9, but I refused.

"You keep it," I told her. "Ammo is expensive these days, so I never used those bullets for any target practice."

She pocketed it as Kai stood up.

"Y-you're not gonna kill us?" he asked.

"No," I said. "You seem like reasonable people."

"How long have you stayed in this plane?" Sarah interrogated me.

"It's been a few years, but recently I've been thinking of moving on. However, there isn't a safe enough place, so I haven't left."

"We have a sanctuary, surrounded by walls," Kai described. "We just need a car and we will take you there?"

"How can I trust you?"

"You trusted us enough that you didn't kill us," Sarah pointed out. I nodded my head.

"So how did you end up here with a community out there?"

"We were on our way back," Kai explained, "but the bridge we were passing collapsed and the river beneath it carried us here."

"Where is this base?"

"Area 51."

This caught me off guard, "That place is real?!"

They nodded simultaneously. Sarah wore a sweatshirt and a pair of leggings to keep her warm, Kai only had a torn, bloodied, white dress shirt and some khakis. He began shivering. I took off my hoodie, revealing my white T-shirt and handed the sweatshirt to him.

"Thanks, but what'll keep you warm?" he asked.

"I have another outfit in mind when we go out tomorrow," I told him.

Based on how drowsy they both looked, I let them sleep on my mattress. I didn't mind, being that they would be taking me to their home.

I awoke the next morning as the sun was rising. Kai and Sarah were still sound asleep, so I figured that I shouldn't wake the 2 until I was ready. I walked down the airliner to the cockpit, where I hid my favorite clothing that I picked out of suitcases and from cities nearby. After about 30 seconds of letting my eyes meander my options, I went with the obvious choice. After I sold on my protective black shirt and black khakis, I strapped my bulletproof vest on and slid my katana sheathe onto my back. I looked into the mirror and smiled at how badass I looked.

I walked back over to the mattress and shook Kai awake. Once he sat up, he gentle tapped Sarah on the shoulder, and she responded by smacking him in the chest with the back of her hand. I chuckled at this. The both got up and got ready. Sarah had the pistol and both of them had the wooden spears that they had brought with them.

We walked out of the plane and hopped onto my vehicle, a topless golf cart. As I drove, Kai sat next to me and Sarah sat in the seats that faced the other directions, however she turned her torso towards us so that she could still talk to us.

"So where are we going?" she asked.

"The nearest town, Flagstaff. There, we will find a car and you can take me to your home," I answered.

"Flagstaff?!" Kai exclaimed. "As in Arizona? When the bridge fell apart, we were in Nevada!"

I looked at him in confusion, "You really traveled that far through a river?"

"We were both unconscious," Sarah informed me.

After an hour of a conversation about a very similar topic, we could see Flagstaff. It was not the biggest town, but it had plenty of vehicles to choose from. After half an hour of looking down the streets, a Nissan Murano had the most fuel in its tank, plus we didn't have the supplies to siphon fuel. As Kai hot-wired it, Sarah and I had to take out the incoming walkers that had been triggered by the car alarm. Sarah pointed her gun at one, by I gently pushed it down, telling her not to use it. I yanked out my sword. Once the first walker was near enough, I sliced it's torso off. The corpse began to crawl towards me with it's one remained arm an it's jaw trying to chomp. I brought the blade behind my head and swung forward at the lurker's skull. The biter stopped moving as another came along. I stabbed this one straight through the mouth, instantly killing it. The last one shambled on it's way. Just to show off what had taken me many years to master, I held the sword in my hand like a spear and launched it. The blade penetrated the walker's head, ending it.

We drove until I could assume it was 5 in the afternoon before Kai even knew where he was going. They were in some sort of deserted town. We drove passed plenty of army looking Jeeps on the side of the road and he said we were just 3 hours away. Sure enough, we got there by sunset. Sarah got out and opened the gate, then she got back in for Kai to pull in. Cameron sprinted up to us.

"Sarah, Kai, you're okay!" he yelled.

"Thanks to Antonio," Kai said.

"Is Savannah with you? She went out after you."

"No," Sarah responded, "After Kai and I get our strength back, we will go after her."

"I'll go, too," I volunteered.

"I'll go as well," Cam spoke up.

Kai and Sarah showed me to the armory, where they picked out their weapons for the next day where we would leave again for their friend. While Sarah continued to hold her M9, but took a long knife, too. Kai took a 1911 pistol and a machete. Afterwards, I was led to a hangar where I would sleep. I took the sleeping bag next to Kai. Sarah introduced me to the others: Gavin, Swetha, Leo, and Cameron, who I had already met. Once each of them was in their sleeping bags, I couldn't fall asleep. I was scared, scared of this new life, of these new people. I had spent so long all on my lonesome. Yesterday was the first time that I had spoken to someone in months. It drew me insane. All I want to do is gain their trust. Once I help find their friend, Savannah, I will finally have someone to watch my back, even if I never needed that in the past. It was still nice to have people around.