The Wilderness Within: A Fanfiction (Draft)

Chapter 7

That morning we ate the last of the graham crackers and juice boxes and eagerly jumped into the truck.

"Wow this is really tall," Kami grumbled once she was finally able to tumble inside after struggling to get a foot up.

I looked down from the passenger seat. "Yep."

We fastened our seatbelts and Alex hit a button on a tiny remote. The garage door began to roll open, warm sunlight stretching across the truck.

"Um," Alex regarded the closed gate at the end of the short driveway. On the other side were a few red eyed monsters that were wandering closer, attracted by the sound of the grinding garage door.

I bit my lip anxiously.

Kami leaned forward. "Ten points for every zombie!"

Barely a second later Alex turned on the truck and set the gear to drive, ripping out of the garage and down the driveway. The truck toppled the flimsy gate, squashing some zombies while the plow on the bumper swept away the rest.

"Eighty, ninety, hundred twenty points!" Kami shrieked as Alex turned sharply down the street. He pressed the button on the garage door remote as we easily passed his old car, a broken down monument on the side of the road.

We were driving all day and hadn't seen another living soul, but we'd seen plenty of zombies. At first we thought it would be a good idea to try to follow main roads since we were looking for other survivors, but all we found were more broken down cars, some empty, some occupied by corpses, all surrounded by snarling zombies. They growled and swiped at us as we drove by, but we were fast enough that they didn't do us any real harm besides shaking us up.

Around noon we tried going down some back roads, hoping for better luck as we distanced ourselves from town, but we stopped coming across anything altogether. A few more hours later, we decided to pull over and make an early camp.

Kami was in charge of setting up the tent, Alex helped unload supplies, and I started the fire after watching Alex struggle for near ten minutes. I finished first, so I helped Kami make sure there were plenty of warm blankets inside to keep out the cold.

We sat around the fire, nibbling on MREs while knives, bats, and other odd makeshift weapons sat at our feet. I was nervous about a zombie coming across us in the night, but already being outside under the stars was making me feel better than being cooped up in Jon's house or the truck.

Kami gingerly held her pouch of chicken pesto. "Do you think we'll ever find anything this way?"

Alex gazed thoughtfully into the little fire, letting it illuminate his face, "When nothing is sure, everything is possible."

Kami stared at him. "Where'd you get that from?"

He smiled. "Heard it somewhere. Why? You think I'd come up with something smart like that on my own?" He chuckled as Kami playfully shoved his arm, but her smile quickly slipped from her face.

"What if we never find anyone?" She wrapped herself tighter in her blanket. "It's like the whole world is dead."

We were quiet for a while after that.

"I can take the first watch," I said, settling in my seat. "I can get you in a few hours."

Alex frowned. "Are you sure?"

I shrugged. "Yeah. Just pass me a blanket and I'll be fine."

It didn't take much for convincing. Kami and Alex went to go sleep off the tiring day, leaving me outside, silent except for the occasional popping of the dying fire.