The Collapse of Mankind

Chapter One, TCOM Part III

ONE YEAR AND NINE MONTHS LATER.

January fourteenth, two thousand and twenty two.

Seven hundred and thirteen days since the start of the apocalypse.

11:42am.

Cisco, Ellie, Alexis, Sophia, Joshua, Madison and Violet stood in the heavy rain, circling the fifth grave in the past year and eleven months. Nicholas. Only Lilly was in one of the graves, because the other bodies were MIA. The other graves were memorial type things. Lilly, Leonardo, Jessica, Emmyn and Nicholas. Ellie gently threw an almost-dead flower onto Nick's grave.

Ellie: I can't believe he's gone.
Cisco: It was so fucking stupid.

The seven of them stood there, soaked in the rain for another minute or so, staring down at Nick's grave. The now-twelve-year-old Sophia walked inside the building to where it was dry and sat down on the sofa. She was sad. Part of the reason Nick died was because of her. She could still hear his faint screams in her head. All she could think about was him.

After the death of Carter, Sophia and Nick began to get really close. He took care of her and taught her in depth how to look after herself in situations where nobody else could. They went out hunting together, catching fish together, stayed on watch together... everything. It was almost like he was the big brother she never had. But he was gone. And she couldn't help but blame herself. Which is something a twelve year old should never feel.

The moment of his death replayed in Sophia's head over and over again.

Two weeks ago.

The group were aiming to get to Jackson's. A large store filled with tubs of food, weapons, water, clothes, anything you can imagine. It was the perfect store. And they wanted nothing but to get there. It was about four miles from where their base was, in a city called Columbus, west of Atlanta.

The group took their RV they stole when their small-ish campervan broke down and set on fire mid-august and began heading towards the store.

Sophia: Holy shit it's so cold.
Nick: Do you want my hoodie? It'll be a little big on you. But It'll keep you warm.

Sophia smiled at Nick but shook her head. Secretly, she wanted the hoodie. She was freezing cold. Her body was shivering.

Sophia: No, no. It's okay.

Nick rolled his eyes, removing his jacket in order to take his hoodie off. He handed it over to Sophia, knowing full well she wanted it.

Sophia gratefully took the hoodie, putting it over her head and pushing her arms through the sleeves. It was incredibly oversized, but it kept her warm. It felt like it had been on a radiator for the past hour. Nick and Sophia smiled at one another.

Cisco: Ah, shit!

Everyone's attention was drawn towards Cisco as the RV came to a slow stop.

Ellie: What? What's wrong?
Cisco: Fuckin' water.

Ellie looked through the windscreen at the frozen lake in front of them.

Ellie: Do you think the ice is thick enough for the van to cross?
Cisco: Don't be fuckin' stupid. Even it was thick, it wouldn't be thick enough. Especially with everyone's fat asses inside the RV.
Alexis: Fat asses? Feels like we're living off sticks and rocks.
Josh: We may as well be.

Cisco turned the engine of the RV off and put the handbrake on. He turned around to look at everybody in the RV.

Cisco: Right. Come on.