The Virus

Thirty

It's the nineteenth of April today, I'm nineteen. I feel as though I'm out of my phase. My life seems to be back on track. I still work, a lot. But I also spend time with Noah and everybody else. I help out and I get lots of sleep. I returned to the old schedule for watches. And, I usually stay with Noah anyway. I've achieved a balance in my life that I couldn't maintain before. But now I was, and I was happy. 

I feel renewed. I have more energy. There's just a happiness that I didn't have before. I don't know what changed but whatever happened has made me feel less on edge, less tired and less hopeless. And Noah constantly reminds me that he is there to talk if I ever need it.

Water supplies are dwindling. We have barely ten bottles of water left. I set up several water catchers. It's Spring now, it should rain more. I've set up four rain catchers, but they're only collecting about a litre each when it rains. It only rains a few times a week and with eight people to provide for, it falls short.

Two weeks ago, Noah declared that we would start to drink the rain water that we were collecting, and we were going to become even stricter on the amount of showers everyone could have. Noah and I had begun to shower together now... to save water. 

We still had to boil it to ensure it is sanitary. We didn't have enough influx of rainwater and bottled water to keep up with all eight of us, it was difficult.

Both Noah and I agree that the water problem is an emergency and we need to act fast. We'll go on a run soon to get some more, but I don't know what we'll do when there's nothing left.

I wake to an empty bed, when I roll over and check the time I realise it's barely five in the morning. Noah isn't here. I get up and go downstairs to the kitchen and sure enough, he's hunched over blueprints on the counter. "Noah!" I exclaim. He jumps up and his eyes meet mine.

He's tired, but worry also lines his expression. "I need to get water. I need to find a w-"

"No, you need to sleep. Come on." I motion him over and wrap my hand around his.

We get upstairs and i wrap myself on his arms. "Don't you dare leave as soon as I fall asleep. I'll be awake soon and I'll know if you did." I warn. He chuckles and nuzzles his head into my neck. I fall asleep quickly.

When I wake up just over an hour later, he's in the same position, nuzzled against me, I peck him on the lips and leave to have brush my teeth and eat. Later that day Noah and I begin planning our run. We decide it will be an overnight haul. We'll take two cars to carry as mush as possible. We need to collect everything we find. We were running out of options.

We're going tomorrow, Noah has pointed out the route we'll take. We will be in in separate vehicles but we won't be far apart. We stop at several shops along the way and then we're pulling up to sleep. The next morning, we'll loot several other shops and then make a full circle back and make our way home. It was a simple plan, hopefully it didn't go wrong, we needed that water.

Overall, we're going pretty far out. Nearly ten miles but Noah is adamant that it needs to be done and he is in charge. I fill up both trucks with a bit of food, water and a first aid kit. Then i go to bed ready for tomorrow morning. Noah and I wake early, before everyone else so we can have a quick breakfast and leave. It's barely eight in the morning when we leave.

We both have a walkie talkie each so we can contact each other while in the separate vehicles. But the walkie talkies only work when they are within half a mile of each other. So we have to stay relatively close.

We pull up to the first shop and manage to get several crates of bottled water and fizzy drinks into both of our trucks. At this point, anything that quenched thirst and stopped you from dying, was something we needed. There weren't enough supplie around for us to be picky anymore. We also get a few pieces of food but not much as we need to save as much space as possible for the liquids, it was mainly to feed ourselves during the night and in case of emergency. We spend about an hour at the first stop and move onto the next.

By midday we have done four shops and we settle in to get something to eat. "I think we'll be okay. We just needed something to tide us over until we're collecting enough." Noah reassures me.

"Good. Now you can stop worrying all night." I reply.

He smiles at me and pulls me into a hug. "We only have one stop left for today. We could get a head start and do a few others afterwards." He suggests. I agree.

The fifth shop took slightly longer but we still have ages before dark so we make our way to the next one. It's further away, nearly eight and a half miles but we get there easy enough. It's a giant supermarket. "I know its big but I assume it'll be looted a lot so there might be literally nothing in there." He says. I nod and we enter.

We each circle around each side and scour the store for any Roamers or survivors. My side is clear and I wait at the entrance for Noah. He appears by some shelves and makes his way back. "All clear." He says. We go to the drink aisle and fill up a few stray carts with them. I wander off to and mention to Noah that I'm going to look for anything useful.

I wander up and down the aisles and find a shotgun and a pistol but nothing much else. I check through the pharmacy section that they introduced not long ago. But, the counter is ransacked and practically empty. I vault the counter and check the cabinets. I find several bottle of antibiotics, some paracetamol and some anti inflammatories just in case. Medication could never be taken for granted, a good painkiller and some antibiotics could be the difference between life and death.

Then, I go take a look on the alcohol aisle with high hopes. Our supply of that was going down too and I liked having it readily available inside the school. I take some wine that was left behind and begin debating whether or not I should take more when I hear the deafening crack of a single gun shot.