VIRUS - Redemption

FIFTEEN

12.16.2038

Patrick checked his pocket watch, giving me a nod from across the campsite. Our watch was over, which meant it was dawn and time to leave. I picked up the bucket of water Judas had collected from the river, dumping it on the fire. It sizzled out, a huge pillow of grey smoke rising into the air.

I walked around the camp, slowly touching people's shoulders to wake them up. First was East, who opened her eyes instantly; she seemed to have already been awake. Yassim jumped awake, startled when I touched her slightly; like she had forgotten where she was. I had to shake Drago from his sleep, to which he groaned and rolled over.

I got to Killian, who was fast asleep next to Wyatt. I gulped, jabbing him in the collarbone; he jumped up quicker than Yassim. It took him a second to realise where I was, his breathing heavy and his eyes darting around the dark campsite. I kept moving, trying not to dawdle around him.

Patrick passed me, waking up all the other people sleeping. Everyone started to sit up, rubbing their eyes or yawning. There had been no Dead killed since we slept, none trying to creep up on the camp; everyone got at least 6 hours, which was a lot better than I thought. But it was time to go. It was time to find a car, fix it and go get my Brother.

Ezekiel went straight to his map the second his eyes opened. I watched him take out a pen, marking where we were and where we needed to go. On a map, it didn't look far, but in real life I knew we wouldn't get there until afternoon. We would need to find a car or two, working batteries and fuel. It was going to be difficult, but it was possible.

Cars that were made after 2010 would still work, anything before then had no chance. A battery could work after this long, but it would be hard to find; and fuel is easy. Most cars still had petrol in them.

Within 10 minutes, everyone was up and dressed, undoing the rope and chimes we placed around the camp. I stood in between Drago and East, who were eating a granola bar. I wasn't hungry, I was excited; I felt the closer I got to Robert, the more hope I had. Leaving London, I felt we wouldn't find him alive; now, I couldn't see us going home without him.

Patrick helped with my positivity.

It took us 3 hours and 15 Dead ones to get to what Ezekiel called the 'car yard'. It was a suburban street with houses, a lot of them. When we stepped out of the clearing, everyone continued; except Anarchy and I. We both stopped, staring.

This was the first time either of us had been on a street, in a suburb, outside of London. This is what London was built on, what it was made out of, but we improved it; we had everything this street had, but it didn't look like this.

A lot of the houses were caved in, the trees in the yards were so tall it blocked the view, the road was cracked, some street lamps had fallen, windows smashed. These houses had sat here for over 26 years with no love, no warmth. This was the loneliest street I had ever seen. It seemed so broken.

"Split up, we only need one car big enough, or two small cars. If the car is shit, test the battery. We need anything we can get." Ezekiel said. We all broke off into groups naturally, without much discussion or thought. Patrick and I picked the first house closest to us, making a hard right off the street.

"Can I join?" I looked behind me to see Ana standing there, her brows raised at me. I pressed my lips together, giving a hesitant nod before following Patrick towards the garage. As a group, we all bent down and grabbed the bottom of the door with one hand, our hands on our guns.

"3, 2, 1." Patrick whispered, and at once we all pulled the garage door up. It made a loud creaking sound, the sound of the rusted metal moving for the first time in decades. We pulled our guns and waited, the door to the house connecting the garage sat wide open. 30 seconds went by and nothing came from the house, so we collectively walked in.