Phil Brooks laid in his sleeping bag, looking up at the stars. He couldn't sleep, but then again, no one could these days.
It was just a flu, that's what the doctors said. Just a minor flu, that would pass. Phil scoffed. 'Look at us now.' He had always scoffed at zombie apocalypses in the past, and now he was right in the middle of one.
The worst part was that it was just him. No group, no family, no friends. Just him, a sleeping bag, and what he could carry on his back. Phil had managed to find a relatively quiet area up on a mountain, away from all those beasts. Thank god they couldn't climb, but he was most certainly not going to take any chances by going to sleep.
Phil sighed and ran a hand over his face. He didn't even know how this all got started. One minute he was helping a poor, sick man off the floor, and the next that same man was trying to eat his face off. The only thing Phil could really do now was wait it out, and hope the government finds a cure.
There was no way Phil was gonna attempt to find other people. He'd seen what people get like at desperate times, it wasn't pretty. Phil figured he was better off alone anyway. No slack to pick up, no potential traitors, just him. Just the way he likes it.
It'd only been two months since this whole fiasco, so Phil still had full hope someone would sort this out, and life would get back to normal.
Hours later, Phil groaned when the sun started to rise. Another sleepless night. He had gone so long without sleep he didn't even remember what it felt like anymore.
Phil slowly got out of his bag and walked over to his book bag. He opened the food pocket and sighed, grabbing a pack of crackers out of it. Phil's food supply was running low, he was gonna have to start hunting. Which was definitely gonna prove to be difficult, considering all he had was an axe.
Phil quickly ate his crackers and slowly scaled down the mountain. He kept his axe at the ready as he slowly stalled through the woods below the mountain, listening for any rustles. He'd only come down here once before, and was immediately chased back up the mountain by some zombies.
Phil ducked down behind a bush when he heard a twig snap. He grinned when he saw a lone deer slowly walk out into the open. Sure, it was short, skinny, and a doe, but it was food. 'Okay,' thought Phil, raising his axe. 'One, two, three-' He chucked the axe, and right before it came in contact with the deer, it got knocked off course by an arrow, and scared away the deer.
"Damn it!" Yelled someone in the distance. "Who threw that?!"
Phil stayed silent in the bushes, keeping his breathing shallow. A petite girl with black hair walked out from the forest and huffed, looking at the arrow. "Great. That was my only arrow." She picked up the axe and looked around, her eyes narrowed. "You may as well come out. I've got your weapon."
Phil slowly rose up from the bushes, sensing no real danger from her. The girl rose an eyebrow. "Who are you?"
"Phil," said Phil.
"Phil," said the girl, tossing the axe to the ground by his feet. "I'm AJ. Now, why exactly were you hunting a deer with an axe?"
"It's all I got," said Phil.
"Well, thanks for breaking my arrow," grumbled AJ, picking up arrow pieces.
"It's not my fault," said Phil. "If you woulda shot straight they wouldn't have made contact."
"Hey, I'm new at this," said AJ. "I wasn't exactly a champion archer before this shit."
Phil chuckled a little and picked up his axe. "Well, I have to say, it's nice to see a normal human for once."
"Yeah," said AJ. "Nice to talk to someone who isn't trying to eat my face. You got a group?"
"Nah, just me," said Phil. "I'm not really a group kinda guy. Just me and a mountain."
"Oh, can I come?!" Said AJ, putting her fists together.
"Uhhh," said Phil, scratching the back of his neck. "It's kind of a small mountain-"
"I promise I won't get in your way!" Said AJ. "I just need a place to stay. I don't have any friends, or family, or a group, or even supplies. All I've got is this bow and no arrows."
Phil bit his lip and looked back where the mountain was. "Look, chick-"
"If you leave me out here, you'll be killing me," said AJ.
Phil groaned and ran his hands over his face. "Alright, you can come. But we are not a group. We are just two people, who happen to be staying at the same place. Now I'm going hunting."
"With an axe?" Said AJ.
"You have to do what you have to do!" Said Phil, slowly starting to move towards the rest of the forest.
AJ smirked. "Afraid of some zombies?"
"Well we don't exactly have any weapons now do we?" Said Phil, walking into the forest very cautiously.
"We have an axe," said AJ.
"I have an axe, you have a bow and no arrows," said Phil. "So don't cause any problems, I don't have time to save your ass."
AJ just rolled her eyes and followed, crossing her arms. "Like YOU would be saving MY ass."
Phil took a deep breath and grumbled to himself, trudging through the forest. "This is why I don't do groups."
Phil and AJ's hunt was less than successful, as they only managed to catch a squirrel that AJ somehow wrangled out of a tree. This was already putting Phil in a bad mood, but it was made worse by AJ's constant talking as they trekked back up the mountain. There was a reason Phil wasn't really into women, so to speak.
"And then," said AJ. "As if it needed to be worse, my boyfriend dumped me right before this started."
"That is so interesting," said Phil.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" Asked AJ.
"Um, no," said Phil. "I'm not uh, really into girls."
"Ooohhh," said AJ. They were silent for a few moments before she looked back at Phil. "Do you bottom?"
"Dude!" Said Phil, looking at her, shocked.
"Well we might as well get to know each other," said AJ in a defensive tone, twiddling with her thumbs.
"I don't see how that's important to know," said Phil, stepping up onto a rock and helping AJ up.
"I'm just curious," said AJ, rubbing her arm.
Phil sighed. "No, I don't."
"Oh, so you like twinks?" Said AJ,walking up on the mountain Phil was staying on.
"I'm done," said Phil, tossing his bag down and grabbing some sticks to start a fire.
"Come on," said AJ, sitting down Indian style in front of where Phil was starting a fire.
"Done," said Phil, rubbing two sticks together.
"I was just asking," said AJ.
"Still done," said Phil.
"Fine," grumbled AJ, crossing her arms and pouting.
"Shit," said Phil, when one of the sticks broke.
"You're not very good at this, are you?" Asked AJ, resting her head on her hand.
"Shut up," grumbled Phil, grabbing another stick. He managed to make a tiny fire and held the squirrel over it on a stick.
"It's hard to believe just a couple months ago I was eating home cooked meals and sleeping in my own bed," said AJ, sitting with her legs pulled against her chest and resting her chin on her knees. "Now we're roasting a squirrel over a pitiful fire."
"Hey, it's not pitiful," said Phil. "It's just a baby,"
AJ chuckled and then bit her lip. "Do you think things are ever gonna be normal again?"
"Of course it will," said Phil, rotating the squirrel. "The government is gonna sort this thing out, and we'll be back in our beds before we know it."
"You really think so?" Said AJ, slightly doubtful.
"Well yeah," said Phil. "It has to work out like that."
"You trying to convince me or yourself?" Said AJ.
"It'll work out alright," said Phil.
"Well, alright," said AJ. "Do you have a plan if it doesn't?"
"No, because it will," said Phil. "I'm waiting up here until it sorts itself out."
"But what if it doesn't?" Said AJ.
"It will!" Said Phil.
AJ sighed and rested her head on her hand again. "Oooookkkkk."
"You'll see," said Phil. "It'll work out."
AN: Hey guys! Hope you like it so far! Please review! :)