Author's note: This is my first story that I've written and this is just a way for me to get better at it so I'm happy to accept any kind of feedback to help me get better at writing.
It was dark outside and the sound of leaves crunching under our feet and the rumble of 4 empty stomachs filled the atmosphere. The moon directly above our heads; full and in all its glory, shined beams of guiding light down to this hell hole. Trees around us were converting to a bright yellow and red, pulsing with autumn. I wore a red flannel, faded blue denim jeans and black sneakers. My friends wore t-shirts, khaki shorts and low-tops. We each lugged heavy backpacks with us full of nothing but personal belongings that we'd likely end up having to get rid of to leave space for necessities.
"How much longer do we have to walk?" Ashley groaned.
"The hell if I know, we've been at this shit for hours. Just deal with it." I replied. "Why did we ever think it was a good idea to leave the QZ? We've got no experience outside the walls. How're we supposed to survive out here?"
"We know the basics, kill things to eat or find cans of food. We've all used a gun before, right?"
"Thanks for the reassurance." I said coldly. I felt irritated that she can be so light-hearted about this. We left the closest thing to a home, to live outside the walls in a vast and dangerous place.
"Do you have a better idea? She snapped. "So you're saying that you're ok with what they did to your parents?"
"Don't talk about my parents…" I stopped dead in my tracks, a bitter sadness threatening to form tears in my eyes.
"I'm sorry, Michael. But we've all lost people we love too. I am done trying to survive like cattle inside those walls. I want to live my life the way I want to without some gun toting assholes getting in the way."
"You have no idea what it's like to lose your parents!" I barked. "You never met your parents; you've never had to watch your older brother wither away to a fucking infection! Don't you dare tell me that you know what it's like to lose the people you love! What did you lose, huh? Some kid you only knew for a few months?"
She and the rest stared back at me with hurt eyes. Like they were victims of this unforgiving world, I turned around and continued to walk to avoid showing them the tears that began to spill down my face.
"Michael, wait!" Ashley called. "There's a cabin over in that direction!" I looked ahead to find the abandoned cabin she had pointed out.
"Alright, I'll meet you there" I replied as I wiped the tears off my face. Once we reached the cabin, we searched it thoroughly to find anything we could use. We managed to find some ammo for my pistol, some food, sleeping bags and a survival guide. "This is just what we needed." I said holding the book to my chest. We feasted on canned food and old granola bars. It wasn't anything special, but it would do.
"We'll leave at first light tomorrow." Ashley suggested.
"Sounds good" I replied.
We each crawled into a sleeping bag and laid our heavy eyes to rest. The last thing that came to mind before I fell asleep was: Mom and Dad.
Thanks for reading the first chapter! I feel like this one is a little too short but this was just something to get me started and set up some of the atmosphere for the story. Later chapters hopefully will be much longer and more interesting. Leave any kind of feedback you can!