Maybe

Chapter 27

A week later, we officially ran out of food. I had been dreading this day, knowing that whenever we had to go on a search for food, someone got hurt. Grayson and I have gotten ourselves in more dangerous walker situations than anyone would think humanly possible. We have had to fight for our lives so many times that we even had a system. I took the front while Grayson watched my back. In the event of a surprise walker attack, I would scale the closest tree and take them out from above while Grayson handled the hand-to-hand combat. I was a better shot than Grayson and he was stronger than me, so this plan worked out nicely. Also, the fact that he was immune helped. He could afford to get a few bites without worrying about turning into one of those freaks.

"We need to leave today if we want to eat anytime soon." I said to Grayson

"Ok, which way should we head this time?" Grayson asked

"Towards the lake, I swear I saw something that looked like a camp last time I was there." I said

"Ok, let's head out then." Grayson said

We packed up our backpacks, extinguished the fire, and loaded our guns. We started the long trek to the lake, not speaking a word. I turned around often to make sure my partner was still there, but other than that there was no communication between us, not until we got to the lake.

We sat on a rock and took a break, looking out over the crystal clear water. Today felt different, it was quiet. I mean it was the end of the world so it was always quiet, but today there were no birds, no animals, no anything. For the first time in a long time, I felt as though we were the last people on earth.

"Grayson?" I asked

"Yeah?" He said

"Do you ever think about him?" I asked

"What do you mean? Of course I do, I think about him everyday." He said as he looked at me astonished

"No, I mean do you ever think about him looking down at us, watching over us." I asked

"Like from Heaven?" Grayson asked

"Yeah." I said

"Of course I do." He said, "Don't you?"

"I don't know. I used to believe in all of that stuff..." I said subconsciously rubbing my necklace between two fingers "Now I don't know what to believe."

"Well you do believe in God right?" He asked

"I want to. But, why would he let this happen to us if he was really there?" I asked

"I don't know that answer, because I'm not him. I just put my trust in him and hope that things work out." Grayson said

"I thought about this a lot right after he died. I kept thinking that if I died I would be able to be with him forever." I said

"Well, I'm glad you didn't follow through with that plan." He said

I looked up at him

"Really?" I asked

"Of course, I don't know what I would do without my teammate." Grayson said with a smile on his face as he nudged me slightly "Come on, let's keep going."

I stood up, hiked my backpack back on my shoulders, and led the way through the forest. By the time I noticed a flash of light in the distance, it was already dusk. I turned back to look at Grayson.

"Do you see that?" I whispered as I pointed towards the bright light in between the trees

"Oh yeah, it looks like a fire or something." Grayson said, "Let's go check it out."

I walked slowly towards the light holding my gun in front of me. When we got about 20 feet away from it I hid behind a tree trunk and motioned for Grayson to do the same. I peeked around the tree and saw a single fire burning in the center of what looked like a survivor's camp. An abandoned survivor's camp. I looked at Grayson.

"There's no one here." I said confused

Grayson peeked around his tree to check out the camp.

"Let's go." Grayson said as he started walking into the camp.

I followed behind him and continued to check for any signs of life. I knelt down by the fire and warmed my hands.

"This looks new." I said

"Maybe they left to look for food too. It looks like they're out." Grayson said as he opened every container to look for food

"No, it looks like they were looted." I said as I looked at the containers strewn across the ground

"By who?" Grayson asked

"I don't know, but if they have survived this long you would think they would know to put out their fire before leaving." I said as I looked inside the tents

I bent down to take a closer look at an ID card that had been left on the ground of the tent. I picked it up and left the tent.

"No food, but look at this." I said as I looked up to find Grayson

He was nowhere to be found.

"Grayson?" I asked looking around the camp

I pulled my gun out of its holster and held it up, expecting the owners of this camp to ambush me. I spun around while holding the gun up; I now had no one to watch my back. I heard the faint sound of a twig snap directly in front of me and I walked slowly towards the sound, my heart rate quickening with each passing second.

"Drop the gun." I heard a deep voice call from behind me

I stopped dead in my tracks. Dead; my footsteps, the silence, the boy who was standing about 50 feet away from me, undoubtedly pointing a gun at my head. He was dead. No, Olivia, that was Grayson, it had to be Grayson.

"I said drop the gun."

He was dead. He is dead. He was carried off in the wind along with the ashes from the fire. He wasn't here. He isn't here. He is in Heaven, watching over his brother and the girl that he loves. He is watching this now, willing me not to put the gun down because he is dead, he isn't here. Someone is playing a cruel trick on my brain, and I can't help but go along with it.

I put the gun down and slowly turned around as my stomach dropped. He is here. He is standing right in front of me. Is that him? Yes, that's him. How is he here? No, he looks different, that's not him. There is an uncanny coincidence between the boy standing in front of me and the boy that died 6 months ago, but that is not him. I am sure of it. Or is it?

My eyes trail down his body before they lock on his arm. No, it's not there. It can't be. But, it's right in front of me. It's right there. A bite.