The Wilderness Within: A Fanfiction (Draft)

Chapter 25

"What are we going to do when we find a Stronghold?" I asked, keeping my eyes on the road ahead. "I don't know about you, but after our last experience I don't really want to live in trapped in a human chicken coop."

Alex responded first. "I want to find my Gran. She sounded fine when I last called her from Jon's, but I have to know she's okay."

"So just keep going east?" Kami asked. "I'll stay with you. I'll help you find her."

I nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

We kept riding.

We were all very impressed with the camping hammocks I'd picked up earlier and used them to help set up for the night, attaching them between sturdy trees. With a blanket tucked inside, they were quite warm.

Alex sat by the fire, electing to take the first night watch. Kami and I didn't protest, diving straight into our hammocks after a long day of riding. I fell asleep as soon as I let my head fall.

"Who are you?" a disembodied voice echoed.

I looked around for its source, seeing only empty white fog.

"Who are you?" the voice insisted.

I began to walk through the fog. "Who is that?" I called.

"Who are you?"

I thought I saw a figure standing in the mist from the corner of my eye. I stopped, and the figure was gone. I kept walking, the voice repeating itself over and over again like a broken record. "Who are you? Who are you?"

Suddenly I heard loud footsteps behind me. I spun around but nobody was there.

"Who are you?"

I turned back around and came face to face with myself. Except instead of dark brown eyes I had bright red.

"It's in your blood," the voice said.

My doppelganger smirked, an eerie, unnatural expression. Then it lashed out at me.

I jerked awake, scrambling out of my hammock.

The horses were sleeping not far away, and Kami's hammock was still. Alex was sitting in front of the fire, looking at me.

"You okay?" He asked, concerned.

I nodded, reaching for my bag. "Just needed some water." I pulled out my bottle and quickly drained it. "I can take over the watch," I said.

"You sure?"

I nodded again. "Yeah. Go sleep."

Alex shrugged and got to his feet. He climbed into his hammock while I settled in front of the fireplace, staring out into the dark woods and absently rubbing my dove pendant.

A little before lunchtime the next day, we saw some people in the distance trudging along on the road. We tugged the reins to stop our horses, and observed from a distance.

"Are those zombies?" Kami asked, hushed.

I studied their movements, and one turned and looked straight at us. "No," I said, "But they've noticed us."

Alex started moving forward. "Come on, we're heading this way anyway. Maybe they need help." He trotted towards them, and we followed.

Before long we were right beside the ragged-looking group of people, nine in total. They stared at us in wonder as we stopped and dismounted.

I stayed close to Barley and gave him a gentle pat on the neck.

Half of the group seemed to be teenagers, and all of them had dirty clothes and only a few had packs.

Most of them were around the same height as Kami, so Alex easily dwarfed them all as he stepped up to them. I noticed one flinch, but he quickly straightened up to face him.

"Do you need any help? We're heading in this same direction," Alex said cautiously.

An older one spoke up. "We're just looking for another Stronghold. The one we stayed at was overrun a few nights ago."

I suddenly felt like rain and mud was pelting my body like it did on that night. I shook the sick feeling away and reached into my saddlebag, pulling out an some extra jackets and some water bottles. "Here," I said, pressing them into their arms.

They were extremely grateful, passing the water around and giving the jackets to a pair of young girls they decided needed them most.

"We can accompany you there," Alex continued. "There should be one coming up soon."

An older boy looked relieved. "Thank you so much. We don't have much, but we can pay you with some food," he trailed off, looking back at the others.

Kami shook her head. "Keep it."

Holding our horses close, we walked down the road with our newfound companions. I watched them closely, but several of the younger ones had no fear of the horses and patted them kindly. I eventually let the smallest one climb into Barley's saddle and ride while we walked down the road. I found one boy very suspicious as he continued to eye my saddlebags. I tried to keep him ahead of me, but when he fell behind, I had to trust that Kami would notice and stop him if he dipped his hands in my belongings.

That evening we set up camp a little ways from the road, as always, and pulled out a few more cans for dinner. At first the oldest boy resisted and tried to add some of their own food to the pot, but Alex forcefully declined, preferring not to make these children use all they had left when he treated them like guests.

We let a few of them share our hammocks, and organized a night watch, just like Marc would have done. My heart twisted.

I set my saddlebags on a thick branch and leaned against a tree opposite with my bat in my hand. I closed my eyes and tried to rest.

Hours later I heard a branch snap and the rustling of leaves. I gripped my bat as my eyes shot open. I saw the boy from before going through my bag and I relaxed slightly. "You should probably put that down," I said flatly.

Surprised, the boy jumped up and dropped my bag. He stared at me with wide eyes as I stood up. I left my bat on the ground but he was still frozen in place as I approached him.

"Here's a tip: don't take advantage of anyone's kindness." The boy nodded wildly. "Go get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow."

The boy ducked his head down. "Yes, I'm sorry." He ran off to where the others were sleeping.

I rolled my eyes and bent down to pick up my things, putting them back on the branch from before. I walked over to the other branch where Barley and the others were tied up for the night.

"Hi Barley," I whispered, gently stroking his nose. I stood there for a few minutes, standing silently in the dark, before going back to my spot against the tree for another hour or two of rest.