Escape the Walking Dead // h.s.

1

I hadn't figured out yet why I was still with these people, but I knew if I left now, I would be killed. I'd be hunted, I'd be roped to a tree, and I'd be eaten alive by the dead. I was hopeless and it was all because of the Mad Men and my group. But somehow they — we — always managed to get lucky and survive.

"Jane," Khan called for me as I pulled my pack over my shoulder to walk with the group to find food.

The seven of us had been foraging in the woods for the last two days in search of food, shelter, and water. Clearly, we struck out but knew there was a town nearby since the dead were appearing more rapidly now as we approached it.

Khan was the leader of our group. He was a middle aged man and knew more about surviving than I ever would. His time in the military surely gave him some benefits in this new world. This dead, cruel, apocalyptic world.

The town was empty. Food supplies were scarce throughout the few places we'd scavenged these last few weeks and it seemed that this town was no different. I looked at Khan as he discovered a few cans of peas but nothing else. How was two cans supposed to feed all seven of us? My stomach was bare and I could feel my strength begin to decline.

"I'll go look in a few houses down the street," Jessica saw my frustration and nodded for me to follow along with her.

Her long, curly red hair always stood out and I admired how beautiful she looked even in times like these. She was a reporter for CNN based in Atlanta and I overheard her once talking about the viral outbreak before the shit storm we were in now. Once she found out that the CNN building was compromised by government forces, she took off. I probably would have done the same.

"I'll come with you," I said and left Khan with Stanley.

We passed a few of the dead and took care of them as they approached. We took precautions before we entered the first house. I looked through the windows and didn't see any movement. It didn't look like anyone was living there anymore which was actually a good thing for us. The more deserted this town was the easier it would be for us to find food.

Jessica opened the door and knocked on the metal frame to see if there would be any commotion, either by the dead or by any humans. It was silent.

Carefully with weapons raised, we walked into the living room. Nothing. We walked to the kitchen carefully and soon raided the cabinets finding enough food for the day for all seven of us. Although, enough food for the day wasn't good enough anymore. Soon we would really start starving. We would be forced to eat leaves and consume things we never thought would be appetizing.

Jessica called my name as I stuffed cans of beets and pickles in my pack. Walking over to where she stood in front of what I guessed was the pantry, I could see the bottles of water still brand new in plastic. I walked past her and took one straight from the container, broke the seal of the cap, and chugged it as quickly as I could. I hadn't had clean water in over a week. She did the same.

Her bag was stuffed with the waters and we stuffed my bag full of the other food items that weren't already bad. This would last us a few days, but still, that wasn't good enough.

At the next house, we found one dead walking around downstairs and Jessica put it down. The kitchen was stocked full of food items. I cried when I saw the pantry and Jessica smiled with glee. We found a few big, empty bags and filled them with dry noodles, cans of vegetable and fruit, cereal boxes, bags of chips and boxes of cookies.

I continued to cry as I saw the faces of the others at the house we assigned to meet back at. Ben, the ten year old boy who we found a month ago, hadn't ever said a full sentence around us, but now, as he saw the treats poured out in front of him he spoke while the rest of us were speechless.