The Virus

Thirty Six

I dream of Noah, waking next to him and leaning over and peck him on the lips and him smiling at me lazily. It all feels so real. I get out of bed and start getting dressed like I used to every day. I pull on some leggings and turn to Noah. But he's not there anymore. I look around completely terrified. Desperately trying to find him. When he's suddenly in front of me, but it's not him, not really. He's a Roamer. I back away from him but he approaches, he walks just like them. Eventually, my back presses against a wall and I wait there for my death. I jump awake just as Noah jumps at me.

My dream leaves me unnerved and without an appetite. Although Kay seems as enthusiastic as ever. With the car broken down, I begin to seriously think about our options. We were in the middle of nowhere. I had no idea where I was. If we ever got into trouble there wouldn't be a building I knew of that was safe. For all I know, there's isn't a building for another twenty miles. When we stopped, I hadn't seen civilisation in nearly an hour.

I reluctantly pull out the vehicle manual, apparently everybody keeps theirs when they buy a car. I flip through the pages and find a few things I might be able to do. So, for several hours, Kay waited patiently in the car as I knocked around in the engine trying desperately to follow the vague and confusing instructions in the booklet. I try everything. Every vehicle check and I look through the M.O.T. guidelines. Nothing works. It's incredibly disheartening.

I lower the bumper of the car and wash my hands of the oil and dirt that clogged the engine before stepping back into the car for snack and a very desperate think. After eating a meagre lunch, I begin to mull over my options. With the car well and truly dead, our options seem incredibly narrow.

There seems to be only two options. Stay here and venture out only to collect food. But eventually stores will dry up and we'd have to go farther and farther just to feed ourselves. And a herd would eventually come through, sense us and effectively devour us.

Or, we could leave. Go into the woods and find shelter. Hunt for food, find a vehicle. It seems safer in the long term and more plausible. But, I find myself unable to leave the car. It's the only tie I have left to the school. To Noah. It would be like cutting a rope that was attached to that part of my past. I was incredibly reluctant to let go of it permanently.

It's too late to leave now. Kay and I settle down early and I want to get as much sleep as possible. I haven't done a long walk since last winter.

I wake up at the crack of dawn and get my stuff ready. We've gone through most of the stuff Noah and I picked up on the day we were split up so there isn't loads to carry. Luckily, the last owner of the van was a hiker or something because there were three large rucksacks made for long journeys. I stuff the blankets into the bag and as much water, food and medicine as possible. I haven't washed my clothes in ages, but it's not really an option anymore. I take an empty water bottle and some cloth to make a filter for dirty water and a coat before leaving.

Kay walks along beside. I need to find somewhere to stay. Somewhere safe. It's barely eight in the morning so I'm not very worried, but not having the safety of a permanent camp is getting to me. The constant struggle of having to find shelter must be hard. I have no idea how Claire did it for so long.

Thinking about Claire makes me upset again. Kay seems to sense my mood, she rubs her head on my leg and I lean down to comfort her. We both lost someone that day. It feels like it was so long ago. Yet seeing Claire's lifeless body with a hole in her head will never fade from my mind.

After an hour or more of walking, we come to a stream and I try out making a filter. I use the bottles and the cloth to continuously get rid of stuff in the water. It takes a while but it's the safest way. It takes several tries and nearly an hour but I'm left with half a litre of clean, drinkable water. I'm glad I've learnt to do stuff like this, or I would never survive in this world.

I hear movement behind me and I throw a knife straight at its origin. I hit it right in the forehead. A middle aged man, he drops like a stone. I retrieve my knife and start collecting everything up. We still needed to find somewhere to sleep for the night. I allow Kay to take a drink of water before leaving and carrying on the never-ending walk.

Kay's sharp senses always alert me several seconds before a Roamer shows itself. Her fur will stand up or she will give a low whine in warning. Sometimes even growls. It gives me enough time to spear them in the head before they can even get close. We made quite the team. 

As it edges towards afternoon, I start to see something in the distance. I'm unsure what it is at first. But with the time progressing and no sign of civilisation shows itself, I head that way in blind hope.

About twenty minutes later, and a half a mile closer than before, I realise it's a giant chimney. The kind used in factories. I walk even further. It takes an age to get there, but we make it there eventually. We enter a large clearing and, as expected, we're faced with a huge grey building that towers over us. A factory. And our home for the night.