A Road Less Traveled.

8 miles

8 miles. That is how many miles we jogged until we found a place to rest. By now the sun had come up and we were all pouring sweat. I felt disgusting in the clothes I had on and wanted to change but Devon advised me that I would get ten times grosser in the next couple days and to wait.

"Did you guys bring that map", Devon asked us.

Danny nodded his head and pulled it out of his bag. "I found it in one of the boxes in the attic. Will it work"? He asked hopefully. Neither of us were very good at directions. We took some classes at westward, but they were not mandatory. Westward was still working on setting up a schedule for the kids, but everyone had their own problems and safety was always first.

Devon looked over the map and huffed. "Well, I figured this would happen, but I didn't have time to figure it out. This is a map of Idaho, so we can go from here to Wyoming, but after that, we will need to find a map of Wyoming and then on".

Everyone suddenly sighed in annoyance as we got our first setback to our destination. "How are we going to find that"? Lexus spoke since we left westward. She had stayed right by Danny side, not straying more than an inch from him.

"Well, there is a library about 9 miles from here", Devon pointed to the map. "I don't know if is overrun, but I know we can get any map we need there".

"Overrun? Like with infected"! Lexus cried out with a terrified look.

Devon nodded his head. "Yeah. Westward is protected with walls that allow to keep the infected out, but there's no telling where else they are at". I looked at Devon thinking about the infected man in the cellar. If he would have bitten me, I would of been one of those things. My journey would of been over before it started.

"It's okay. Rainy and I learned to fend off infected from our dad. Aim for the brain no matter what. They won't die unless the brain gets destroyed. We can do this", he spoke squeezing Lexus's hand hopefully.

"That is not the only threat out here. If you think that travelling to Missouri is going to be easy because you learned to take a few of the undead does not help when we are surrounded by hundreds of them with only a pistol or a knife. And how about other people out there who weren't as lucky as us to find a safe haven. My aunt says there are people out here who will rob people of all their belongings or raping and killing them just because they can. I've seen it myself on runs with her. People trying to take us out and take everything we have. This journey is going to be hell and you all need to be prepared". Devon looked at all of us and suddenly went back to going through the supplies.

Everyone was completely silent. No one looked at each other as they processed the truth that Devon had handed us. Danny was the first one to suddenly break the silence. "Then why did you decide to come"?

I looked up at Devon awaiting an answer. He sighed and his eyes met mine. "Because I knew you wouldn't make it without me. And I couldn't bear thinking about losing you.... you guys", he added, but I knew what he meant. Danny and him never had a real relationship, but we did. for some reason I felt the my stomach drop and my heart speed up.

"We should get going", Danny spoke as we all stood up.

"Yeah, we need to keep moving. They might catch up to us so we need to create more distance", Devon responded.

We all headed back on our journey to the library. Devon leaded the way as he looked at the map. Danny was behind him with his weapon up, as he kept his eyes peeled for infected. Now was the perfect time to talk to Lexus.

"So Lexus, you just decided go along with us over a guy"?" I questioned. I wanted to make sure this girl was not going to be trouble for us.

"Well, Danny is important to me. Ever since I came here, he showed me how to cope with with being in a community", She spoke in a soft voice. Her eyes stared gallantly at Danny's back.

Maybe it was true. Maybe Danny couldn't bare to leave Lexus behind, just as Devon could not bare to see me go. I had to admit that even though we stunk and looked dirty she remained beautiful. Her hair was a jet black color and her eyes were a deep green. She had delicate features that made her look so perfect. I, on the other hand had wavy brown hair. Sometimes it was untenable and looked stringy at times. I had blue eyes which I would consider my best feature, but I hated my body. While Lexus was tall and developed, I was a short girl. I always have been, and my features were quite less.... developed than her.

It did not matter though. I had no one I was trying to impress. I had one mission and looking pretty had nothing to do in order to get there. "How did your parents...."?

before I finished my sentence Lexus interrupted knowing what I was going to say. "Well, my mother died first. She was bitten and after that everything went downhill. it was just me and my dad, but we got surrounded and I had to run. We got seperated and I haven't seen him since. I tried to find him, but I couldn't. Instead, I found westward and thankfully, they took me in. But I lost my father forever". I could tell she was sad. I felt sympathy for her. She lost her father and to know that he is out there somewhere or maybe even dead, is terrifying. It is not much differently than our predicament. I have no idea if my father is still alive or not, and all I can do is wait.

"Get down", I heard from ahead. Devon and danny had both ducked down and Lexus and followed. We ducked behind a bush and Devon peeked over. I looked as well to see what we were getting down for. There were about four infected ahead of us. They were staggering in circles, moving slowly around the trees.

""I think that we should go around them", Danny suggested.

"No we can't", Devon retorted back. "There is no way around. The road to the next town is straight ahead, and it would take even longer to go around. We would have to move slow and stay stealth. We would also have to get a far distance away the walkers. And who knows how many are on either side. I think we should just take them out. If we can't take out four skinny walkers, then what makes you think we can do this journey".

"i don't know Devon. What if we get bit. I usually take out one or maybe two at a time when training", Danny answered. I once tried three. It was hard when dad only gave me a hunting knife and I needed his help, because I was not fast enough. Devon was right though. if we can't do this, then we will never make it to Missouri.

"I have to agree with Devon, big brother. We have to be able to do this", I whispered to Danny. He sighed and put his head down.

"Whatever. How are we going to do this", He asked turning toward Devon. He looked for a minute contemplating a plan while I looked at the infected as well. i analyzed them each. There sizes and muscle. Two of them were really thin, almost to the bone. The stayed in one place, only rocking back and forth one was tall and one was shorter. The other two moved a bit more fast and were a little more thicker as if they had eaten recently. The were a little taller than me, but not out of arms reach.

"I have an idea", I spoke up before Devon". They all turned to me waiting for me to speak. "Well, I think that Devon should get the two skinnier ones. Danny will get the taller one and I can get the shorter one on the left".

"Why would I get the slower ones? I'm the faster one here", Devon questioned toward me.

"Yeah, but there are two of them there. When they see a person, they will speed up and you are quick enough to kill two of them. I can take out the shorter one. Danny can get the taller one", I finished. They all nodded their heads in agreement.