Surviving

Chapter 1

"Does it look like I care that you're bored? If we don't keep working we won't have enough food, and then boredom will be the least of your worries. Anyways, your shift will be over in an hour." I rolled my eyes at Hayden, and incredibly lazy fifteen year old. The only reason I tolerated her was because she was usually useful and had a fighting spirit. Not to mention she was one of my first "friends" and supported me.

"But Adira, looking after the little ones is hard. They don't want to listen to me." She pouted and crossed her arms.

"Well, did you try talking to them nicely?" Her arms automatically dropped, her face showing signs of defeat. "Yeah, that's what I thought. We wouldn't have survived this long if we hadn't all done our jobs. Just trust me, things will get easier."

"Yeah, that's what you always say. I don't even know why you're the leader, you're only seventeen and Travis is older than you."

Of course now that I wouldn't give her what she wanted she wasn't on my side.

"Travis is only three months older than me, and if he were in charge we would all be dead by now. You know that. Considering maturity, I'm the best leader," I pointed out. "You need to go back and watch the kids. I'm sure Lyra needs some help."

She stomped off towards one of the huts, slamming the makeshift wooden door. The action caused the whole structure to shake, and for a moment I thought it might collapse.

I walked out of the small group of huts that housed our pack of survivors. Other than Travis and I, our group was under the age of seventeen, although a few were just barely. I went to a small creek not far from the huts, cupping my hands to drink from it. It was our main source of water, and was pretty clean since nobody had gotten sick yet. Our "village" was in the Appalachian Mountains, close to a small town called Boone.

A low growling sound came from a bit farther into the woods. I pulled my dagger out of its sheath at my waist and walked towards the sound. I could smell the corpse before I could see it, and it caught sight of me. It lumbered in my direction. I quickly disposed of it, stabbing it in the head and wiping the dagger on the tattered remains of its clothes. It looked like this one was younger when he changed, maybe in his twenties. The thought of it made me sick. I heard more growling, and spun around to see an arrow pierce a corpse's head right before it got close enough to me to attack.

"You ought to be more careful," a rough voice said, and I looked to my left to see Roland holding up a crossbow in one hand and two deer hooves in the other. Travis was holding the other two hooves and sniggering behind his free hand.

"I would've had that in a second," I said, rolling my eyes. They started walking back towards camp, the deer's tongue lolling out of its mouth. I gagged, knowing I wouldn't be eating any meat tonight. The sight of dead animals made me feel sick.

"Wouldn't want our precious leader to get hurt," Travis sneered, and then spat at my feet. I scoffed and followed them to the village.

When we arrived, a small child came running up to me and grabbed my legs.

"Sissy!" he exclaimed, and then looked up at me. "I missed you. Why do I have to go to the nursery with all of the other kids?"

"Well Billy, all the other kids under the age of seven have to go to the nursery. And I'm pretty sure you're still only five. C'mon, let's go get some supper." I hugged him and then took his hand, leading him to the food hut.