Anubis

Chapter three - The Woods

We slide into our boots and sling our backpacks on before pulling the front door open, soft wind greeting us eagerly. I take in a deep breath of fresh air before leaping down the stairs. 

"What would we even do if we found survivors?" I ask randomly, squeezing my hands as I balance along the edge of the driveway. He smiles at me and puts his hands in his pockets. 

"I'd tell them I can barely deal with you let alone more people," he laughs at himself, cowering away from me as I raise my hand. 

"Excuse you, I'm not even a handful," I pout after throwing a soft punch into his shoulder. He pokes his tongue out before his face turns serious. 

"Their state and how much baggage they have is what would determine what I'd want to do with them. Like, if they were badly injured or had a baby, I don't know if I'd help them honestly," he admits and I nod. We move so we are walking in the middle of the road, the sun reflecting off of the white lines. 

"That's the same for me, I'd rather not have a baby crying in my ear the whole time or have to help carry someone because they were injured." 

"Exactly, this is the apocalypse, runts and the weak die off in shit like this." 

Our walk through the rest of Las Vegas is in comfortable silence. I look up at the towers, once bright and strong, now covered in vines and grime. A few deer run away as we approach them, the clicking of their hooves on the road dying off the further the get. I watch as the last one stops before turning a corner, looking back at us. I smile at her. She stands proudly, her ears twitching in the direction of any sound amongst the abandoned city. Without warning, she dashes out of sight. 

As we continue to walk through the rubble, I feel the skin of my blister peeling more and more. I also stink, we both do. It's been a week since I've had a proper shower. 

After an hour of walking through the dead city, we see an old, run down store in the direction of Utah. We follow the road to it, kicking a can and watching it rebound off of the gravel like a ball in a pin ball machine. 

It's not very big, the same size as a large caravan from the looks of it. The faded red front is boarded with wooden slats while the metal roller door is locked. We circle the store and find a large window. Whoever was trying to survive here forgot to do something about that. 

Kit grabs a nearby stone and propels it towards the window, shattering it effectively. He walks over with a rag wrapped around his knuckles, punching in the left over sharp pieces of glass as I look into the darkness of the shop. 

Cans and plastic cover majority of the dirty concrete floor, the smell of rotting meats and cheeses filing from the deli section. I bring my shirt over my nose before climbing through the window, cussing when my tights rip from the splintering pane. 

Kit follows swiftly, turning his flash light on before scouting the area. It's quiet, the only sound being the crunch of our boots twisting the glass into the floor as we walk. I click on my torch and check the few cans left on the metal shelves, my frown growing when I notice everything is either already out of date or empty. I head over to what used to be the first aid section, grabbing some bandages and tape before leaving the store.

I sit down under a nearby tree and take my boot off, pulling my sock away from my throbbing blister. I fetch the hand sanitiser from my bag and lather it on my blister, hissing as a violent sting erupts from my heel. I peel the plastic off of the bandage and quickly wrap my heel and ankle, pulling my sock and boot back on. Kit jumps through the window just as I finish, landing on his feet elegantly. I struggle to stand up, the stuff in my backpack clinking together quietly. He comes over to me, a dust cloud trailing from behind him as he drags his feet along the dirt road. 

"Nothing," he says defeatedly, my bandage catching his view. 

"I found some bandages and tape inside, that was it," I say, rubbing the left over hand sanitiser into my hands. He tightens his lips as he takes in the environment. 

"Let's cut through that forest right there," Kit suggests, pointing towards the pine trees. My brows crease in the middle. 

"Why?" I ask worriedly, my eyes flickering towards the dark woods where the trees sway to a soft wind. "We are going to get lost," I mumble. He pulls out the map and squints at it in thought, muttering something under his breath. 

"It isn't a very big forest, if we cut across through there, we will save three hours of walking," he gestures to my left ankle. 

I roll my eyes and tighten my backpack, taking a sip of water from my almost empty flask. He smiles and folds the map into a small square, sliding it into the pocket of his jeans. "Great, now let's go, we should get to Utah before nightfall."

We carefully descend down the steep hill before the forest, eyeing the trees nervously. It's really dark beyond the first few trees, the tranquil air sending shivers down my spine. Kit takes the lead, pushing the branch of a large fern out of his path. I follow after him, my boots snapping the small twigs that decorate the forest floor. 

The sun's rays barely peep through the thickness of the thousands of trees around us, slim streams of light falling from the sky. I jolt as two brown rabbits dart out in front of us, their small paws crunching against the dead leaves. Within a few seconds they're out of sight, leaving Kit and I alone again in this intimidating biome. 

After twenty minutes of steady walking, Kit stops in his path. 

"What?" I ask, stopping behind him. He scratches the back of his neck as he leans closer towards a tree with a strange engraving. 

"What is that?" I ask again, furrowing my brows at it. It looks like an 'S' with a line going through it horizontally. He raises a hand up to touch it, tracing his finger over it in thought. 

"I don't know but it's not that old, so it mustn't have been engraved before, you know," he trails off, drawing his hand back while I look at him in confusion. 

"What do you mean? Someone's done it within the last week?" He shrugs, taking a few steps away and focusing on me. 

"Well I mean, maybe it was put here in case someone got lost? Maybe they wanted to find their way out of the woods, god I don't know," he finishes, looking around at the trees. I do the same, bringing my bottom lip into my mouth worriedly. Thinking back to a radio report we both heard a few days ago in a shop, my heart sinks. 

"Kit, what if they're Landmen? You know, the animal-like survivors?" I squeak, looking around the woods hastily. He waves his hand and tries to appear nonchalant, but I see through it. 

"Oh well, let's just go," he says, causing me to hesitantly I nod and continue walking, closer to him this time. 

We don't know what could be in the woods with us.