Discernment

Chapter 4

I had woken up fairly early, earlier than usual. I normally woke up as the sun was rising. Not today. Today, I woke up when it was still dark out. The moon was setting, but no sight of the sun. I sit up, looking around trying to figure out where I was. Oh, right. I was at the greenhouse, with Jess. I look over to her, seeing she was still asleep. I then lay back down, looking at the dark, night sky.

Looking over at Jess, I had noticed that she was moving a lot, and that she was uncovered. I get up, and walk over to her. I study her as she tossed and turned, before covering her up. After, I walk to the edge of the greenhouse and sit at the edge. Most of the biters we gone, only about three of them still there. I wonder how these people died. Was it another biter? Infected wound? Another person? I don't know, I would like to though, I couldn't risk it. I couldn't risk going down there for useless information. Well, it'd be useless information to other people, but for me, it's important to know these things. 

"Jess, wake up. We gotta get goin' soon." I say to her, since she was still asleep. "Come on, it's getting to daylight." I say louder. She starts to stir and finally gets up. "What?!" She yells at me. I couldn't help but to laugh. "Not a mornin' person, eh? Well, whatever, we still gotta get going." I say. She gets up and starts packing her things and finally walks up to me near the ladder. "I'm ready.." She says. "Alright, there's three biters down there, so we need to improvise." I say.

"Thomas, take this bottle and throw it over at that tree. The noise will draw them away." She says to me, after handing me the bottle. "Alright, here it goes." I say. I grunt as I throw the bottle over to the tree, hitting it and the glass shattering, spreading everywhere. "There they go." She says. I jump down from the roof, landing in a bush. "That wasn't smart." Jess says laughing. "No, it wasn't." I mutter. "Look for a ladder to get down." I call out to her.

 After she found the ladder to get down, she caught up to me and we started heading out. "How good are we on food and water?" I ask her. "I stacked up on fruit, which can be good for both food and drinks." She says. I look to her after I was focused in the field ahead of us. "You know how to do that. don't you?" She asks. I had zoned out. "Thomas. Earth to Thomas." She says, now pecking at my arm. "What- What were you saying?" I ask. "I asked if you knew how to extract juice from fruit?" She asks again. "Oh- Yeah, of course I know how to do that." I say.

"Where are we headed, Thomas? You never mentioned it." She questioned. "I'm still thinkin' about it. Give me a break." I answer. She simply looked away, as if I had offended her. As we walked down the empty field, I kept on glancing at her. "We're headed for the city. I plan on making a community in the subways." I say to her. She stops and looks at me with a confused look on her face. "How the fuck are you going to do that?" She says with attitude. I then stop and look back at her. "Electricity still runs in the city. Well for the most part. Anyways, I was thinking we find more survivors on our way, look for the subway, and start setting things up in there." I say to her. "How do you know for sure that there's electricity? And what good would that do us anyways?" She questions. "They have left the electricity on in other cities before. And it will help us with transporting supplies through the trains." I say to her. "I guess that makes sense.." She mutters. "Right, now let's get going." I say to her.

After a while, we arrived a small town, not my main destination, but just a small town for a small supply run. "We're only checking five buildings, pick 'em out." I say to her. She studies the area and then points them out. "The faded blue one... That small gray one.. That one right there.. And those two next to it." She says. I nod, remembering the order. "Let's get going then." I say. We walk up to the first building, the faded blue one, and I study the outside of it. "Make sure none of them damn things follow us in here, got it?" I say to her. She simply nods and walks up with me. "Look for anything that looks useful. Whether it's a simple bandage or dried fruit, you grab it." I say to her. She looks at me and shakes her head. "I know how to do this and what to look for. I'm not stupid." She says. "Never called you that." I mutter, before banging on the door and window of the building.

Once banging I wait for the sound from the inside. "Any minute now.." I mutter, holding onto the doorknob tightly, ready to go in the building. Inside was this musty, moldy smell and the second floor had collapsed into the first. Probably due to the bathtub that's on top of those biters right there. "Looks like someone shot at the roof to take down those biters right there." Jess says, walking closer to is and examining the scene. I quickly pull her back and look at her, frowning. "Ow! That hurt my arm, Thomas! Why the fuck did you do that!?" She yells at me. "Quiet down.. I only did it because this building is unstable and we need to move on." I say, calmly and start heading for the door.

We walked up to the next building. The small grey one with double doors, seeing the doors were busted open. "Let's check it out." I say, getting close to the wall and peeking my head through the windows. I see nothing, and then we proceed into the building. "It's dark in here..So watch out for that blood puddle right there." I say, getting my eyes adjusted to the value and intensity of the room. "The bottom floor is cleared, let's move up to the second floor." I say, and turn the corner, about to head up the stairs when suddenly we were stopped by a stern male voice. "Stop right there and don't you fucking move."