The Virus

Forty Six

We walk along more and a road comes into sight. "Quick a road. Stay in the tree line." I say quietly. She nods and we duck down slightly. We follow along the road for a while and come up to a small collection of buildings. "Come on. Let's go find somewhere to sleep." I say quickly. We could camp in there for a few nights if it was safe. We needed the rest. 

 "Go to the houses at the end." Marley murmurs.

"Let's go." I reply, with a nod.

We jog over there and pick a boarded up house. We sneak in and kill the few Roamers that inhabit it. It's practically untouched and looks as though the owners are simply at work. It's two storeys with a large attic. There's four bedrooms, a large kitchen and living room as well as an immaculate dining room. The perfect house for the perfect family.

As the dark begins to come and the sun dips in the sky, Marley and I set up in the biggest front bedroom. We close the door lock it and put a sofa in front of it. All the windows are clear of boarding on this floor because it's higher up. You can see along the whole street and further.

Later, maybe one or two in the morning, I sit still awake. Marley is fast asleep with Kay by her feet. But I still can't seem to get to sleep. I sit on the table staring at of the window. There are over a hundred Roamers lining the streets, just standing there, but by morning they'll be gone.

I hear the door creak and I snap around. "Noah." I say smiling.

He smiles back. "Ophey." He replies affectionately. He comes closer and pulls me into a hug. I nestle myself into him, taking in all of him. I pull away and look at him.

 "Why do I still dream of you. It's been so long." I say, staring into his eyes.

He shakes his head. "I love you, Ophey. And you love me. Don't try to convince yourself you don't." He says. "I think of you everyday." I freeze.

 "Wait what do you mean?" I ask.

 "Sorry Ophey I have to go. Bye." He says. He pecks me on the lips and turns to leave.

 I grab his arm. "Please! No, don't leave. Please don't leave me!" I shout.

 He smiles at me and stays grounded. "I love you. I'll be back." He whispers before leaving once more.

I wake up in tears. "I love you too." I murmur to myself. Because I did love him. I always did, I never stopped. It's September twenty third today. I stop. April twenty third. The day I lost Noah, was the twenty third. It has been five months since I last saw Noah, five months since I heard his voice and it wasn't just a fragment of my imagination. I bring my knees up to my chest while lying on the table and cry myself back to sleep. The loneliness invades my thoughts. 

When I wake I'm stiff from sleeping atop a table but I don't care. Marley and I decide to stay here for a few days. Go out hunting and collect some food before leaving once again. It'll be nice to have some permanence. And, I'll be able to set up some snares in the woods behind us. This is a good chance to stock up on some much needed food and water. As much s we hated to admit it, we were struggling. If we didn't take some time recuperate and restock, we'd die soon. 

We were alive, that was all that mattered. We couldn't take that for granted and we had to make sure we stayed alive.

Over the next few days, we go to a nearby river and collect water to filter in the evening. I also hunt what I can, i set up as many snares as possible. Within two days we have a surplus of food and we no longer have to rely on the next hunt for our dinner. Although, we're not out of danger yet. I begin to think about staying here for the Winter but I know Marley won't want to and there's no way we're splitting up. She wants to be safe, and always have access to water and food. But she also wants people, she wants to have more than me to rely on. She wants a family again.

"We need to get out of here." Marley says.

"Why? We have everything we need." I say.

She shakes her head at me. "We need a camp." She says. "People. Safety in numbers remember?" She says.

I turn to her. "Yeah, I remember that saying. Of course, that was back when there weren't Roamers every few feet trying to eat our faces off." I say calmly.

"We need somewhere to stay for the Winter. Let's face it. We're not gonna survive unless a miracle happens." 

She sighs.

 "We'll be fine." I reply. She holds her head in her hands for a second but then regains her composure.

"Okay. Fine. We need help. Look I saw a sign for a supermarket about half a mile down. Why don't we raid it, stock up and then go looking for a group?" I say.

She smiles and hugs me. "Thank you. You won't regret it. We'll be safe, we'll find people." She says relieved.

We stay there another night and begin thinking about what sort of place we should go to, to find a decent camp and group of people to join. Marley says to follow the roads but nothing ever goes to plan. We can only hope we find friendly people that take us in as their own, people to trust.

We go to sleep late that night. Well into the early hours of the morning. And even when we stop talking I lay awake for an hour at least. In the back of my mind I know it won't go to plan. Something will go wrong but we'll manage. Somehow I know everything will work out and we'll find a camp and maybe even be safe for a while.

But it won't be forever. It never is.