Wildfire - A Fanfiction

Chapter Seven

When she woke up, the tent was empty. Georgia rubbed her eyes and climbed outside.

Kami was poking the fire. When she saw Georgia she tossed a bottled water her way. Alex was muttering to himself as he inspected the car engine.

Georgia opened the water bottle and took a sip. "Did you find what's wrong?"

Alex dropped the hood, and it made a sound nearly identical to the strange sound from the night before. "Yeah, someone took the car battery. We really can't drive without it." He looked at the others. "Looks like we found survivors. Or, more like they found us."

"Could we get a battery from another car? Or just get another car?" Kami asked.

Georgia sighed. "No, remember we didn't see any vehicles when we left the main roads for several hours before we set up camp last night."

Alex kicked a tire. "Now what? Without the truck, we can't cover nearly as much ground and we'll have no protection from anything or anyone we come across."

"We were fine camping in the trees last night," Georgia pointed out. "And we only had one pair of eyes at a time. During the day we have all three of us. And it's not like we know where we're going anyway, so does it really matter?"

"Yes, it matters! It's still winter, and without a vehicle, how are we going to keep warm or carry our stuff?"

"We can cut back. We can manage."

Georgia turned around and pulled her bag out of the tent, unpacking it and laying the contents on the forest floor. She went to the truck and took out some supplies, Kami moving to help while Alex ran a hand anxiously through his hair.

"It's not like we have that much food anyway," Kami pointed out. She and Georgia sorted through the supplies and fit as many essentials as possible. A few minutes later Alex joined them to shove water bottles in his pack.

"This is all my fault," Georgia admitted, "I'm sorry."

Alex grumbled as he got up to pack up their tent. "It could have happened to any of us. They probably would have waited all night before swooping in. And none of us are hurt."

"Yet," Georgia said under her breath.

After they packed all they could, they ate some breakfast. They left behind a lot of supplies like extra clothes and some of the water purifying tablets, but after an hour they were finally on the road with heavy packs. They marched alongside the road, just inside the trees, hoping to be able to sneak a glance of anyone traveling down the road before they were spotted themselves.

They weren't very far when they hear their own truck speeding down the road. They stayed still and watched helplessly as it zipped past. They could barely make out a few faces, but nothing specific enough to pick out of a lineup.

They continued forward. Georgia guessed that their packs had enough water and food to last about a week, but they would hopefully find a safe campsite long before nightfall. They didn't have much time with the truck broken down and having to shuffle supplies, so the day was already half gone.

Georgia spent most of the day staring at roadsigns from their path within the trees. Nothing sounded familiar but she tried to build a map in her mind. If they didn't know where they were going, it may still be useful to know where they've been. Her distracted attention led her to stumble on the uneven ground more than once. The first few times either Kami or Alex had been able to snag her arm, but the last time she managed to sprawl out on the cold forest floor, getting mud on her arms and knees.

"Maybe we should put up camp for the night," Kami suggested as she helped her up.

Georgia shook her head, "No, we can't have been walking for that long."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Check again. The sun is on its way down in an hour or so."

Georgia looked up. She couldn't see the horizon with all the trees in the way, but the sky did seem much less bright than the last time she checked. "Fine," she agreed.

They all dropped their packs and began to unpack food and their tent.

"I'll get the fire," Georgia grumbled, walking away into the underbrush for dry kindling.

After picking through the bushes she thought she glimpsed something beyond the trees. She sprinted back to camp and dropped her armful of dry sticks and twigs in front of the others, who were resting on a blanket on the ground.

"There's a house!" Georgia said excitedly.

Alex sat up. "A house?"

"Yeah, a house! The driveway is only about thirty meters down the road."

"Did you go inside?"

She put her hands on her hips. "Of course not. I may look like it, but I'm not actually an idiot. Usually."

His lips twitched.

Kami jumped up and hugged her. "This is great," she said. "We can go check it in the morning. There could be supplies, or we could even just stay inside for a few days."

"I didn't see a car but there could still be zombies inside," Georgia pointed out. "We should still be very careful."

"Duh."

"So we stay here tonight, and check out the house in the morning," Alex said. "Who's going to take the first watch after dinner?"

"I'll do it," said Kami. "I think George's done plenty, don't you?"

Georgia stared at their little fire while the sun was grandly leaving the sky. They pulled their blankets close as they ate, wisps of steam escaping their mouths between each bite. Before very long Georgia and Alex headed inside to get some sleep.

"Goodnight guys," Kami stayed seated on the blanket, her weapons by her knees. "I'll wake you if there's any trouble."

"Fine," Alex grumbled. He fell forward into his bedding and closed his eyes. Georgia wiggled into her sleeping bag and for the second night in a row, easily drifted from consciousness.

She woke to Alex gently shaking her. She tensed.

"Nothing is wrong," he assured her. "It's just your turn to watch."

She sat up and rubbed her sleepy eyes. Kami was asleep on the other side of the tent. Georgia got up as quietly as she could and put on her coat before going outside.

The fire was only ashes by then, but she took some dry sticks that sat on the edge of the blanket to start it up again. She knew it was early morning, but it was still nowhere near light enough for her to willingly take watch without some sort of light to illuminate her surroundings.

Once the fire got going again she settled into the blanket and took a swig of water, determined to fight against her drooping eyelids.

It didn't take long to slowly wake up, not with the way that every leaf and branch seemed to shuffle so ominously. Each time she stared expectantly in the direction of the sound with her hand on her knife, but when nothing ever happened, she put it down to the nocturnal activity of some local rodents.

She was truly alone.