Keep Moving Forward
Chapter One
As she pushed herself up off the ground she realized she still hadn't opened her eyes. It had been another long cold night in the woods and her down coat wouldn't hold up much longer. Her clothes were almost shredded and her head was pounding. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and reached up to feel the goose egg on the back of her head, rubbing it tenderly she thought back to how she'd gained the injury. The night before she had been running through the pitch black wilderness just praying to the gods that nothing would mess up her footing, usually her intuition was perfect, but just when she thought she was home free her foot got caught in a root and sent her flying. She hit her head on what she thought was a rock, pushed herself back onto her feet, and kept moving forward. That's what her adoptive mother always said, "keep moving forward," and she did. She had to.
She never actually saw what she'd been running from the night before but clearly it had never quite caught up to her. It was daylight now and that meant that fewer monsters would be out and about in the open. She had to make more progress on her journey or she would have another restless night. She stood up and worked her way out of her down coat, trying to lace it through her pack as best as possible. With the sun up it would be much too warm for most of her outfit, but the nights were still freezing. She quickly dug out a protein bar, shouldered her Northface backpack and started to move. She did everything while moving lately. No time for sleep more than hour naps. She had to find the camp.
As she walked through the woods moving slowly not trying to rush herself she thought back to her what happened two nights ago. She'd been asleep in her bed, her warm soft bed she now realized she'd taken for granted. She slept like a rock, so when she woke up at first she'd thought it was just a nightmare. Once she realized it wasn't a dream she ran into her mom's room to find the most horrific sight imaginable. She couldn't even think about it. She wanted nothing more than revenge on that monster for taking the only person she ever had.
A branch cracked behind her, pulling her out of her memories. She whipped her head around to scan the area behind her. She didn't see anything but that didn't mean she was safe. She wished she had a weapon, she found herself thinking that a lot lately. Even if she had a weapon she wouldn't know how to use it. She did have good instinct and a trusty down coat. She told herself the noise was nothing and kept moving forward. Always moving forward.
After another twenty minutes or so of walking she heard cars. She started to move towards the noise hoping it would take her to a town; she was running low on protein bars. When she got to the edge of the trees she saw a highway at the bottom of a steep hill. She was going to have to be careful working her way down. She was ready to be out of the woods though, and monsters rarely left the tree line they wouldn't risk being spotted by mortals. She'd gotten much better at all of this outdoorsy activity since everything happened. I guess that's what you do, she thought, you get used to it or you don't survive. She managed to make it down the hill with only adding one more rip to her already destroyed clothing and she dug her wallet out of her pack. Three hundred left in cash, she'd been lucky to be adopted by such a wealthy family. She had plenty of money to get by. She should be staying in hotels and eating more than protein bars, but she had no idea how long the money needed to last and was trying to spread it out.
She walked a couple miles along the highway before she reached what seemed to be a smaller town. Not too shabby of a town though they had a few nicer stores and dining establishments. Her first stop was a gas station, she was rather sick of the stares she'd been getting as she walked into town, like she was a cockroach or a rodent. She went into the bathroom and washed her dirt covered face and applied what little of the makeup she had brought. Looking down at her outfit she realized she had never wanted a change of clothes so bad in her life. Sighing, she left the bathroom and moved slowly through the isles looking for her favorite chocolate-chip cookie dough protein bars. When she came upon them she grabbed a handful and carried them to the counter. The store clerk eyed her warily. She knew she was a sight but ignored his looks, paid, and left as quickly and quietly as possible. When she stepped out into the parking lot the sun seemed brighter than before. She looked around at her nearby options and chose a Marshalls across the shopping center. When she stepped inside the air conditioner hit her like a tidal wave and she almost began to shiver. "Uhm, ma'am," she turned around to see a man in a blue vest looking down at her, his name tag read Hi, my name is Greg, "would you mind leaving your bag at the front of the store?" She knew he was nervous. He was wringing his hands and not making direct eye contact. She flashed him the biggest smile she could muster and replied with a quick "sure." He continued to stand over as she dropped her bag off of her shoulders and dug out her wallet, she ignored him and moved forward into the store.
She found the women's athletic section and was thrilled by the prices. Grabbing a couple pairs of dry fit leggings as well as three long sleeve, and two short sleeve shirts she moved toward the register. Everything totaled out to less than one hundred dollars. She was doing her best to do the math in her head, not having easy access to checking her bank account. She went into the bathrooms and changed pulling on a pair of leggings and one of the t-shirts. She grabbed her bag after stuffing the rest of the purchased clothes and her wallet inside and moved towards the door. "Have a nice day," the same man, Greg, said in a not so nice tone.
She walked outside, she was sick of walking and it was a rather hot day, hotter than it had been for a while. She decided to walk back to the gas station and find a phone. She came upon a dirty old pay phone outside. She called for a cab.
Thirty minutes later a dusty, yellow car pulled up outside the gas station. She stood, her back hurting from sitting on the curb, or from sleeping on the ground, she wasn't entirely sure. Crawling onto the cracked leather seats she directed the driver towards Manhattan. "Manhattan?!" he seemed shocked, of course he did, she had no idea where she even was, "That is at least two hour drive," he exclaimed with a thick accent she didn't recognize. "I can pay don't worry, just drive," she was trying to sound firm but she was so tired that it almost came out as a question rather than a demand. The driver didn't respond and just did as he was told. She settled in watching the meter tick on the front dash until her eyes were no longer open.
The dreams were the worst. There was always screaming, she hated the screaming. Her ears felt like they would bleed. She watched as blood soaked the white sheets and the woman on the bed's screams became muffled and eventually stopped. The monster was so gruesome and grotesque, her mind almost made him worse every night. She stood in the doorway silent, unable to move a muscle until his head slowly turned and he made perfect eye contact "I'm coming for you Zoe. I'm coming." She woke up with a startled gasp. She'd never seen his face before and didn't know what to make of it.
"We in Manhattan, where I take you now?" the driver asked in his strange accent, obviously annoyed at her for falling asleep in his cab. Had she really slept for two hours? She needed the sleep, but she couldn't get the monster's horrifying image out of her mind, his blood red eyes…. "Where I go?" he was practically shouting at her. She noticed a gas station and a petsmart through the window, across the street were some woods. "Here is fine," she replied pulling her wallet out again. She paid the driver and climbed out walking towards the stores ahead of her. Keep moving forward, she thought, you're in Manhattan all you have to do is find the camp.
Chapter Two