Ruled by the Undead

Chapter Eleven(:

*Mac's POV*

"Everyone off the road!" I whisper-yell. We all dive into the brush that's along the road as dozens and dozens of walkers walk down the road. Dad's to my left and Liz is to my right as we crouch in the bushes.

"Great," Liz says, "Now we are trapped again."

"She's right," I state, "we can't keep going the way we were headed or else we'd end up at the same place they do."

Dad pulls out his map from his bag. It looks so complicated. I couldn't even tell you where we were.

"I'd say our best bet is to head east." Dad tells us.

"You mean straight into the woods?" Mitch asks.

"Look." He says, pointing to the jumble of lines that I'm guessing is where we are, "according to this, there should be a small town right on the other side of these woods."

"Yeah, 15 miles away. We'll never make it by sundown." Liz says. She's right. It's already four in the afternoon.

"Well we should walk as far as we can and set up a camp for the night. We have a tent and some sleeping bags."

"We're sleeping out there?!" Julie asks motioning to the woods.

"Just think of it like camping," I say to comfort her, "Remember how you love camping at Poe Valley?"

Immediately her face perks up. 

"Yeah! Do you think we could make some hot chocolate like we always do?"  Julie asks with her eyes really big and hopeful.

"I'll tell you what, Pumpkin," Dad starts while crouching down to be at eye-level with her, "if you can just bear with me and walk for the rest of the day without complaining, I'll try my very best to make you some. I have a few packets in with the food and we can make a fire to boil some water."

Wow. He's good.

"Yay! Thank you Daddy!" she jumps on him and they both giggle.

"We need to keep our voices down." Liz says, making us all come to our senses.

"Well, we should get moving." Dad tells us.

And we went off into the woods.

*After about three hours of walking*

"We should stop for the day." Dad commands.

Thank the Lord, I'm dog tired.

We all put our bags down and I settle in, leaning up against a tree with Julie on my lap, letting Dad and Mitch take care of the tent while Liz keeps watch. I allow myself to drift into sleep knowing that if anything were to happen, Liz would be on it.

I'm awaken by a gentle nudge on my arm. I notice Julie isn't on me anymore. As my eyes flutter open I see they got the tent put up. I'm guessing that's where Julie went. I slightly turn my head to see Liz smiling at me.

"I thought I should wake you so you could go in the tent. It isn't good for you to be sleeping upright like this." she says.

"Thanks. Are you on watch?" I ask.

"Yup. I was the least tired of us all and, it's actually kind of peaceful out here." she says while looking up at the stars.

"I'll help you keep watch." I say, getting up.

"No, you need your sleep." she insists.

"What do you think I was just doing?" I say with an attitude.

We both smile and chuckle.

"Alright, if you must." she says trying to sound annoyed.

I plop down beside her on a log and rest my head on her shoulder. We gaze up at the stars in silence, taking in every peaceful moment. I have a feeling there aren't going to be many more of these.

"So did Julie ever get her hot chocolate?" I ask, breaking the silence.

"Dad promised her it with breakfast tomorrow morning." she answered.

We were both quiet for a moment.

"While you were asleep Julie asked me where Mom went." she tells me.

"So she really doesn't know?" I ask, shocked.

"Maybe she is just trying to convince herself nothing is wrong, to help herself cope with all this. Or maybe she is just truly clueless." she says.

"Well what did you tell her?" I asked curiously.

"I told her the truth. Though I doubt she fully comprehended it." Liz says, letting a single tear slide down her cheek.

"I love you, Lizzie." I tell her.

"I love you too Mac."

So I decided to post another chapter tonight because the other one was really short. Not a lot really happened in this one but I like how Liz and Mac had a sister moment. (that was for you Meg!) Don't forget to vote and comment!(: