After The Fall

Got To Keep Moving

It had started snowing during the night, so now that it's past morning, the group is miserable as they follow along the path. The harsh howl of the wind, and the sounds of the dead it brings are the only sounds that can be heard. It's bright, white clouds cover the sky, but sunlight still peeks through. Snowflakes flitter down around them, the frost sticking to the grass. It's a pretty day, the first snow of the season, and no one is enjoying it.

Cry leads the group, with Minx mentally unavailable, it's finally up to him to fully take control of the group's leadership. It had always been him and Minx leading together, but in the past few days since Ohm's death, Minx has checked out. This leads Cry to stepping up to the task, forcing him not to fall victim to his own grief and emotions. While he has allowed himself to grieve, and he still is, he also decided on that day that he can't let it rule him.

He has to look ahead, keep moving, because that's what life is now. It won't slow down for him, so he can't let himself, or the others, get caught up in it. And he wants to honor Ohm's last wishes, to keep their family from giving up. To keep himself from giving up. He thinks of Ohm, and he thinks of Minx. Of everything they've all been through so far. For those they've lost, they have to keep going. We have to survive, or losing them would have meant nothing.

They stop at a crossroads and Cry turns back to the others, motioning towards Signe, "Let me see that map again."

Signe nods and jogs up to Cry, holding out the folded parchment in her hand. Cry smiles lightly at her before taking it and unfolding it to view its contents. Never having been particularly good at map-reading, Cry does his best to configure the best route to their destination. From the looks of it, it's still at least a week's worth of travel, maybe more, depending on the route chosen. He feels a little insecure about not being entirely sure he's reading everything right.

Without Ohm there to reassure him, and Minx being completely out of it, he doesn't want to bring attention to this with the others. He looks over the map again, trying memorize everything that might be useful, at least for now. Because of the snow, they obviously need more supplies, but most importantly, more clothes, so Cry decides the route leading to the closest town is for their benefit. He turns back and hands the map back to Signe.

Entoan steps up, "So, which way?"

Cry crosses his arms loosely, "The path to the right, it leads right up to a town. It also knocks off a few days from our destination, and we can get some much needed supplies there."

"Sounds good," Signe smiles.

"I agree," Dave sighs, hugging himself against the cold, "The sooner we can get out of the cold and get some fresh, warm clothes, the better."

Dan nods, "I second that notion. How far is it to that town?"

"Maybe a few hours," Cry states, "We could be there by nightfall."

Dan nods, "What are we waiting for then?"

He sighs, "Let's get to the next town and we'll see about holding up for the night."

They all agree and Cry turns and continues leading them up the beaten path. A dirt road once traveled frequently, and maybe still, but at this moment, it's empty besides the weary group of six. Cry looks back at his group, Dave's obviously cold, but they all are. He seems fine, so Cry checks the others. Entoan and Signe both seem in good health as well, as does Dan.

Minx walks at the back of the group, her eyes downcast and dark. Her hair lightly swaying in her face with ever step, and despite her obvious shutdown, she appears in good health as well. The only problem with the group seems to be the cold, and Cry's relieved by that. True to his word, it takes a great majority of the day to reach the promised town.

They could see a few Infected wandering the streets ahead, and Cry stops his group before they enter. He looks around, the nearest building to them is a small thrift store. He makes a gesture towards it, glancing back at the others. They all nod, looking around as the sounds of the Infected get louder. It won't be to much longer before one of the dead spot them standing in the middle of the pathway.

Cry leads his group swiftly to the side of the store, painfully aware that their quick movements have alerted a few of the dead. He can hear them groaning and shambling, no doubt slowly making their way towards the store the group is hiding beside. Cry pulls his knife from its place on his backpack and he comes around to the front of the store. Four Infected are making their way to him.

He quickly uses the knife to pick the lock as he had seen Ohm do many times. He gets the door open and ushers the others inside. He locks the door behind them again and squints as he tries to take a look around in the dark store. With the door having been locked, he's sure the store is either empty, or there's only a small few of Infected somewhere inside.

He turns to Dave and Entoan, "Do a quick search for Infected down the isles, I'll check the back rooms."

A quick sweep of the store reveals it's empty of Infected or other people. The group stays for the night and stocks up on anything they can find for the journey ahead. They don't find much food or water, but they get plenty of blankets and winter clothes. Once morning comes, they head out again after sharing a small breakfast of rations.

They don't know how much luck they'll have finding more before they get to their destination, so they decide to cut back on the ration sizes until then. Following the map to the best of Cry, Signe, and Entoan's best abilities, the port finally comes into sight after five more days on the road. With it still being a bit too far, and the group all being tired, Cry decides to stop for the night. With their goal really within reach, he's just glad they all made it this far in one piece.