Chapter 2: A Thousand Steps

Clarissa was in her room, hurriedly packing a small amount of clothes into her backpack. It was still sunny as if the weather was personally insulting her about her loss. She heard the footsteps approaching her room and stop in the doorway. She didn't need to turn round to know who it was.

"When do you leave?" He asked and she could hear him fold his arms across his chest. He knew her better than to try and talk her out of it.

"I leave for the airport in ten minutes." She replied and despite her concentration she slowed down. She wanted to enjoy these last moments with him for as long as possible.

"You think you'll find her? America is a big country." He sounds amused by it all and she can sense him raising his eyebrows.

"I made a promise." She confesses and sighs heavily. Her bag is full. She is all ready to go. There is nothing left but this goodbye.

"I know." He sighs too and she wonders if he will actually try and convince her to stay.

Silence enveloped them and she's not used to him being so quiet. So she hesitantly picks up her bag and finally faces him. Her eyes widen at the sight of him. The son of a bitch is grinning like the blooming Cheshire cat. She's confused and her brows furrow.

"I'm coming with you." He announces still grinning like an idiot. He reaches just behind the doorway and picks up his own small backpack. "We both know you're hopeless without me." He jokes and she can't help but walk up to him and slap him playfully on the arm.

"You are impossible." She laughs and is entirely grateful that he's coming with her.

"Impossibly charming, attractive, intelligent and downright perfect?" He quips and nudges her shoulder. "You're lucky that I've never been to the States."

Clarissa just looks at him and suddenly the heaviness in her heart has already lifted somewhat. That's what she loves about him. He has always been by her side, through the good, the bad and the ugly.

She honestly didn't know what she'd do without him.

It's been three days since Clarissa saved Sophia from the clutches of death. The company of another human being was not lost on her. But she had to wonder how much longer she could keep both of them alive. They were both starving for Sophia refused to let her out of her sight which made hunting impossible as the girl scared off the squirrels and rabbits.

Unable to hunt had forced them to live off the berries that grew in the woods. While still sweet and delicious there wasn't enough to properly feed a girl and woman. Plus she didn't want to risk Sophia collapsing so she ended up giving the girl half of her own portions as well.

They had already had one close call the day before and though she couldn't blame Sophia she had been less than pleased at the situation.

They had found a pool at the bottom of a very steep hill. It was fairly safe with the rocks covering one side and the hill another. But there was thick bushes around most of the area, making detecting any infected a lot more difficult.

Against her better judgement she had allowed Sophia to play in the shallow water. Clarissa could tell that she needed to let of some angst as they had not yet been successful in finding her mother. In all honesty she was anxious about meeting other people. She had spent so long on her own that even the short conversations she had with Sophia tired out her throat.

But she couldn't stop the slight grin that found its way to the corner of her mouth as she watched the girl splash around appearing to not have a care in the world.

"Come on Clarissa! It's fun!" She called to her and forgot about keeping quiet until Clarissa said it was ok to talk.

"No thank you." She answered lightly just barely above a whisper. She was starting to talk a little more when they weren't safely tucked up a tree. She was starting to come out of her shell that she wrapped herself in. The hunter was slowly ebbing away and the woman was coming back to life. She had her bow and arrow ready but just for a split second she lowered her guard and simply enjoyed the moment.

A foolish mistake.

In that instant two infected came barrelling out of the bushes and took them both by surprise. Sophia screamed and dropped her doll, splashing her way back to Clarissa. She fell over onto her knees and her leg scrapped against a small sharp rock, cutting it along her shin.

Without thinking Clarissa moved. She knocked back the dead men with her bow but didn't fire her weapon. She could hear more of them on their way and she didn't want to waste any time getting the hell out of there. She placed her arrow back in its quiver and scooped Sophia up into her arms and ran as fast as she could.

She knew they would be able to smell the blood dripping from the girl's leg but she didn't have time to patch it up. Thankfully it wasn't too deep and therefore not life threatening.

"I got you." She breathed out as she managed to get them back up and into the safety of the oak tree.

She didn't speak a word as she cleaned the wound as best she could and wrapped her pink scarf that she kept in her bag around Sophia's leg. She knew she was being unfair to the girl but she refused to hold any conversations that night. She wasn't angry at Sophia. She was angry with herself. If she'd been keeping guard then she could have taken out the infected no problem and there would have been no injuries.

She couldn't afford another slip up. Next time they might not be so lucky.

So as soon as true daylight returned to the world for their fourth day together Clarissa silently gathered her stuff and carefully got them both out of the tree. With the dead having so little attention spans the area was safe and they started off again.

After a couple of hours of traipsing through the woods Clarissa was thinking which location they could try next to see if Sophia's mother and group were holed up in. Thanks to Sophia's persistent talking at camp she had learned a fair bit about the group that had lost the little girl. They sounded like decent people and she was sure they were still searching. As soon as she returned the girl to her mother she would leave and head out on her own again.

She couldn't forget why she was in America to begin with. She had to find someone. She wasn't going to let something small like the world ending stop her from fulfilling her promise. Besides being alone meant she couldn't lose anybody else.

She was about to suggest checking out one of the houses they had yet to explore when she heard the distinct sound of hooves. She snapped her head to the left and placed her hand on Sophia's shoulder to stop her and crouch down. She readied her bow and arrow and aimed it. A chestnut brown horse came trotting past them and took no notice of them. As it passed Clarissa noticed that it had been saddled and by the looks of it fairly recently.

A strange sensation filled her chest but she realised after a moment is was hope that she was feeling. She knew enough about horses to know that they usually return to their owners if left on their own. She had no idea why its rider was no longer around and she wasn't going to stand around to find out why.

"Come on, hopefully there's someone at home waiting for it." She whispered in Sophia's ear and she saw blue eyes lighten and a smile directed at her.

The horse was trotting quickly but thankfully it wasn't galloping for they were already struggling to keep up with it. Clarissa still didn't let her grip on her bow and arrow waver as she brought up the rear with Sophia just a couple of steps in front of her. After all the horse was a walking buffet for the dead.

They followed it for what felt like an eternity until Sophia stopped and said her leg hurt too much to continue. Clarissa didn't want to stop and so she placed the backpack and quiver on Sophia's back before placing her on her own. It was awkward and took all the strength she had but she found the will to carry them onward. She still had her bow clutched in her left hand while her right one kept Sophia firmly on her back. She could still reach her arrows if she should need them.

And need them she did.

She could see the tree line in the distance and a wall of light beyond that. She believed that wherever the horse was heading it was nearly there and hopefully they'd be safe as well. But as usual things weren't quite that simple.

Four member of the dead had spotted the horse and consequently them too.

The horse charged ahead and past the tree line and into the wall of light. The dead didn't bother trying to chase it for they sensed something much closer and easier to devour instead. Clarissa knew she couldn't outrun them for very long and she just hoped she only had to get to the light.

"Hold on tight." She said, her voice carrying a strength she did not feel. She wasn't sure if they were going to make it but she was going to die trying.

Sophia tucked her head against her neck. Clarissa charged ahead with everything she had.