Love Me (Choni)

CHAPTER TWELVE, Fire:

Cheryl's pov:

The sun had been low when we had left camp fully for the first time in a month but now it lay even deeper in the sky. A few feeble rays spreading the last light they could through the wood. The trees were thinning and I could tell we were getting close to the edge of the dark forest, what would be waiting for us out there?

Our group moved moderately slowly, mainly due to the sheer exhaustion we all carried with us but also because we had nowhere to go. The camps in the woods had been the only safe haven we had before this mess started and now we would have to find our own place. The woods were an obvious no, yes the trees protected you from the weather but you were also exposed at all angles to god knows what was out there.

No, we would have to find a place in the city a place with supplies and a good defence system... But where the hell did you find a place like that? We had lost our initial moral and now dragged our tired limbs onwards. To stop moving would be like suicide: the zombies or worse gangs would find us
In our vulnerable state.

I glanced over at Toni, her eyes were drooping and she held her head lower than usual. Concerned, I squeezed her hand still clasped in mine, she looked up at me giving me what looked like a weak smile. Even in the dim light that sight made my heart shine.

"Hey guys, I think it's time we put our torches on" ordered Jughead from the front, we had to be careful with our torch use. Batteries were the new currency in this world, they powered everything we possessed electrically and to waste them would be stupidity.

I unhinged my rucksack from my back, my shoulders taking the first breath of freedom they had been allowed for what felt like a year. I feared I would collapse mid stride If we didn't find refuge soon.

"Hey you got yours?" Asked Toni gently dumping her rucksack next to mine. The dark circles under her eyes were more prominent in this light, yet she hadn't complained once about having to rest.

"Yeah" I answered, burrowing throughout my bag for the precious item. It had been my brothers, Jason, before he had gone to join the national guard. He could be anywhere in the world right now... Hopefully far away from this mess, which I assumed was just in the US. However, when thinking about it, he faced a lot worse monsters in the army than zombies.

After a two minuet search, I found it and pressed the slightly corroded switch. It flickered to life, now joining everyone else's torches in creating a pathway of light for ourselves. To the complaint of my upperbody I re-hoisted my load onto my back. My muscles ached and my bones were lead yet I forced myself to match my pace to the rest of the group: Jughead had no intention of slowing down.

The sun had disappeared behind the horizon when we finally left the trees behind. We had emerged to find a abandoned fields creating what only could be a farm. With a helping hand from Toni, I had managed to scale the fence - a great accomplishment at this point in the day. Our sore focus now was to find shelter, staying out all night would be impossibly difficult to survive.

"Okay guys, I reckon there will be a farmhouse somewhere here. Lets find it and take shelter in there for tonight," announced Jughead, the only one of our group who still had drive.

"What if someone's already living there?" Asked Betty, she was always one to worry.

"We'll just have to negotiate and if they refuse to I guess we have numbers one our side," pointed out Jughead and returned to the front. Indeed we had numbers I thought, as our weary group of nine started in search of the building that owned the estate.

Veronica was the first to see our destination, shrieking excitedly upon viewing it. Everyone, expecting the worst from the high pitch scream, were already in battle formation by the time Veronica had explained thr reason for her sudden yelp. Following where Veronica had pointed. An estimated hundred meters off, there stood a dishevelled and what looked like an uninhabited building.