Chapter 2: Day 1
The town closest to them was roughly five miles away. The sun was beginning to set by the time they reached the town's outskirts.
"I think we can go out on the road now," Ben suggested.
"I agree with you on that," Kayla adjusted her backpack, "It looks okay, but stay alert. We don't know what to expect." The three of them slid down the semi muddy hill to the road and continued their trek. A few minutes later, a truck sped past them almost knocking Kayla off her feet.
"Whoa!" Ben rushed up and caught her.
"Asshole! He could've at least honked." Another car sped by a moment later, followed by several more cars.
"Oh no," Kayla muttered, and began to run in the same direction the cars were going.
"Kayla?" Cameron called out as the two boys followed suit. The trio soon found out why the few vehicles on the road were speeding: the town looked like it had just been through several riots. People were running back and forth across the street into stores, grabbing as much supplies as they could carry. Many were raiding the gun shop, taking anything from rifles to handguns to crossbows.
"Shit, this is worse than I thought," Kayla remarked, "Okay….we need to stay together. Food and water first."
"What about weapons?" Ben asked.
"You can make a weapon out of anything," Cameron remarked, "Yeah, it's nice to have a gun or something, but what happens if you run out of ammo? More importantly, do you even know how to fire a gun?"
"You have a point…and no, I don't know how to fire a gun."
"Then why bother? Come on, let's go." They stayed as close to the buildings as they could, avoiding the streets. Two men were fighting over meat; one was gunned down. The gunshots sent more people into panic and added extra adrenaline to the young adults crouching on the sidewalk.
"Come on!" Kayla finally led them into the only major grocery store the town had, knowing the general store would probably be empty at this point. They made a grab for almost anything they could: granola bars, trail mix, canned goods. Ben at one point grabbed a pot and pan and shoved them into Cameron's backpack. Kayla found reusable water bottles and stowed them away for future use.
"I think that's all we can carry right now," Ben stated, "We've got enough food to last us a while."
"We'll have to find water at some point, too," Kayla mentioned, "I grabbed what I could as well as reusable water bottles, but that's one of our biggest necessities."
"We need one more thing: medicine. Wait here," Cameron turned and sprinted down toward the pharmacy. He found the door unlocked to his surprise, but as he was grabbing various antibiotics off the shelf he heard an unnerving click and felt something press against the back of his head.
"Leave, now," a voice growled.
"Hey, man," Cameron prayed that his voice wasn't shaking, "I just want some antibiotics."
"What the hell for? You bit?"
"No, I'm clean."
"Hands up." Cameron did what he was told, the medicine clattering on the linoleum. A hand grabbed his jacket and forced him to turn around. Cameron was shocked; the person holding him hostage was about his age.
"Listen," Cameron tried to persuade him as he searched his pockets, "I just need antibiotics. It's only a few boxes; there are several hundred more in here and of multiple kinds."
"Don't fuck with me," the gun was now pressed against Cameron's forehead, "I need stuff too."
"What is it that you need? You can't possibly need all of this; your body can't handle that many meds. Whatever it is that you need, I won't even put a finger on it. You have my word." The other boy eyed him for a moment, not moving.
"Clozaril, Thorazine, or Prolixin."
"Just those three?"
"Yeah."
"Okay," Cameron nodded, "I won't take those. I just want what I dropped. Can you handle that?"
"What are they for?" Cameron saw Kayla slowly poke her head around the corner, holding a knife as if she were ready to strike. He tried to shoot her a look to tell her to back off.
"I have a friend…she's like my little sister. They're for her in case she gets sick. I have another friend too, he might need them." The boy finally lowered his gun and rubbed a hand down his face.
"Go ahead, take 'em."
"I'm Cameron, by the way," he said as he picked up the scattered boxes.
"Alex."
"Well, Alex, thank you for letting me have these."
"Don't mention it."
"Take care, Alex." Cameron shot Kayla a glare as he rounded the corner and they made their way out of the small pharmacy.
"Are you insane? You could've been killed!"
"You could've been shot. I wasn't going to let that happen."
"Whatever," he put the antibiotics in his backpack, "Where's Ben?"
"He was right here," she began to scan their immediate surroundings. As she continued to search, panic began to well up in her eyes. "I don't see him, do you?"
"No, I don't. Are you sure he was here when you came in?"
"Yes! He was standing right outside this door," realization suddenly spread across her face, "He went to the gun store." They sprinted outside and across the street, practically bursting through the store front.
"Ben!" Kayla called out, "Ben! Where are you?"
"Maybe he went back, Kay."
"No, he couldn't have. Not yet. Ben!" Cameron suddenly placed a hand on her shoulder; he had gone completely silent.
"Keep very quiet," he whispered, pointing to a mirror at the top of the wall, "Look." She looked up into the mirror and saw in its reflection that Ben seemed to be in a barter of some sorts; his weapons and some of the food he had picked up were spread out on the floor in front of him.
"Fuck…what do we do, Cam?"
"I wouldn't interrupt their trade, whatever it is. Out of the three of us, you and I have the more valuable items. From the looks of it, we can regain whatever it is he's trading."
"Food's an important asset, Cam."
"I know, but we can find more."
"Hands up! Both of you!"
"Shit!" Both of their hands flew up.
"Backpacks, on the ground, now!"
"Sir, we don't have anything to give you," Kayla tried to sound convincing, "We just came to look for our friend."
"Did I ask you, princess?" Kayla felt something cylindrical and metallic press up against the back of her head. Strong hands seized their collars and they were pushed into the back room where Ben was.
"Are these two your friends?" the man behind them asked. Ben didn't answer, but his facial expression was enough to clue the gun shop runners in. The one that was doing a deal with Ben looked directly at Kayla and grinned.
"She's pretty," he walked up to her and gently stroked her cheek, "How old are you, love?" Kayla scowled at him, not taking kindly to the pet names these two men were calling her. Across the room, Ben was seething and clenching his hands into tight fists. The dealer turned back toward Ben, still grinning.
"I think I found my form of payment," he said, seizing Kayla's long curly hair. Cameron inhaled sharply and took a step towards them, only to have a gun shoved into the back of his head once again. Ben was beginning to see red.
"I don't want to make a deal after all," he growled.
"But you were so eager to get a bow from me. Why the change of mind? Is it because of her?" He shook Kayla's head, making her grimace.
"That's exactly why." Ben was on the verge of snapping. The dealer chuckled.
"You already showed me what you have there," he pointed to the floor, "and I don't want any of it. I want her…her for a bow." Kayla found her opportunity as she was speaking and brought her foot up to his knee cap, kicking as hard as she could. The dealer let go of her hair, and she elbowed him in the face. Cameron grabbed the barrel of the rifle and forced it down, dragging the gunman with it. He fired, the bullet ricocheting and, almost miraculously, hitting him in the shoulder. During the scuffle, Cameron and Kayla were pushed up against Ben, and the three of them stumbled away from the two men. The one that had grabbed Kayla by her hair was aiming a 40 caliber gun at them.
"Now listen here, you sorry son of a bitch," he growled, blood dripping from his nose, "You hand her over or I'll put a bullet in you!"
"Go ahead, then. I already said I didn't want to do the trade, and I don't think she's key to your survival unlike the food I have there."
"You really want to go this way?" Ben didn't answer. The safety clicked, but the gunshot they heard didn't come from the 40 caliber. Kayla was a little disoriented and her cheek was pressed against the cold concrete; there was no telling who had gone down first, but all three of them were on the floor. She was staring wide-eyed at the two dead bodies of the men that had held them at gunpoint just moments before.
"Cameron?" she whispered.
"I'm okay, sweetie," he patted her arm, "I'm okay."
"Ben?" No answer, "Ben!" She sat up and saw he was alive, but pale and stunned.
"Ben?" She put her hands on his face and forced him to look up at her, "Hey….are you okay? Are you hurt?" He slowly shook his head.
"No….I'm fine," he sat up and slowly put his arms around Kayla, "I'm fine."
"Jesus, they're just kids!" The trio looked at the doorway and saw a small group walking towards them, a woman in the lead.
"You guys alright?" she asked, pulling out a flashlight and shining it in their eyes.
"Think so," Cameron answered.
"Oh my God, what are you doing out here?"
"Trying to do the same thing you guys are," Kayla responded, "Survive."
"How do they look, Dianne? Did I hit them?"
"No, Don. Not a scratch on them."
"Who are you guys?" Ben asked.
"We're Oath Keepers. We were supposed to train up in the mountains this weekend, but…well…we got stuck. I'm Diane, that's Don, Julius, and Sylvia."
"Thank you, for helping us," Kayla said, "how did you know we were here?"
"We saw that one lead you back here," she nodded her head toward the man with the rifle, "Figured something fishy was going on. If you guys are okay, we need to get going."
"Are you guys going up to the mountains or are you going back home?"
"Back home, we have families we need to check up on." Kayla nodded.
"I hope you find them," Ben told her.
"Thank you. You guys take care now."
Kayla led them out through the back doorway; once they were outside, she immediately turned around and pushed Ben up against the wall.
"What did I say?" she shouted, gripping his shirt, "What did I fucking say?"
"Kayla, I-"
"Tell me what I told you when we first got here!" Ben inhaled deeply.
"That we need to stay together."
"Do you understand why I said that? Maybe I made it seem like it was like some sort of video game or TV show, but it's not! Jesus, Ben! You were almost killed! And over what? A fucking bow?! You don't need that to kill zombies!"
"But I need it to hunt! I know how to hunt, and there's only so much you can do with a few knives and snares." She looked down at the bow in his hand, a deep frown forming on her face. She shook her head as tears began to form.
"Just….don't…." Ben pulled her into a hug, "don't fucking do it again."
"I won't, I promise."
"I don't mean to intrude on your special moment," Cameron interrupted, "but in case you have forgotten, we're in a fucked up town where people are killing each other over supplies. If we want to live, I suggest we book it." Kayla wiped her eyes and the three of them kept to the back of the buildings making their way out of town. When they reached the other end, Kayla noticed that the man who had forcibly won meat earlier had been shot; his prize was gone. She shook her head.
"What a waste of ammo. And over something that would last a day. Pity."
Ben was starting to feel dizzy. He did his best to ignore it, but failed as he stumbled into Kayla.
"Sorry."
"Ben, are you okay?"
"I feel dizzy," he took off his backpack and leaned against a tree trunk, "It's like my body forgot it was hungover. Shit…I think I'm going to puke." He took a few deep breaths and his statement came true. He kneeled and Kayla rubbed his back as he continued to empty what little contents he had in his stomach.
"Here," Cameron handed him a bottle of water, "You're dehydrated." Ben took a sip and continued to take deep breathes.
"We should make camp," Kayla looked up at Cameron.
"Yeah, you're right. It's going to be dark soon and we haven't eaten much of anything all day. I'll go get some mediocre firewood."
"Stay close."
"I think I'm done," Ben said, wiping his mouth, "Can you give me my toothbrush? It's in the very front pocket of my backpack." Kayla fulfilled his request and gave him a tube of toothpaste she had picked up.
"Thanks." Kayla hugged him from behind and placed her head between his shoulder blades as he brushed his teeth. When he was done, he kicked dirt over his vomit, turned around, and hugged Kayla back.
"Come on," she took his hand, "you should rest." They went a few feet deeper into the woods and placed their backpacks down; Ben pulled out a blanket, wrapped himself in it, and laid down, his head against Kayla's thigh.
"Drink some more water."
"Yes, captain," he sat back up.
"I'd appreciate if you weren't sarcastic right now. I'm really worried about you." He looked at her, taking a long gulp from his water bottle.
"I didn't mean to sound sarcastic; I was just teasing you." He grinned and bumped her shoulder; she didn't respond.
"Come on," he bumped her again, "You know you want to smile."
The corners of her mouth turned upwards slightly, but she quickly forced them back down.
"Oh! What was that? Do I see a smirk there?" Kayla finally smiled, shaking her head at him.
"You are something else, Ben. You really are." He hugged her, resting his head on her shoulder.
"Seriously, now, get some rest. I'll wake you up when we're ready to eat."
"Okay," he kissed her cheek and resumed his position on the ground. A little while later, Cameron had collected enough firewood to maintain an acceptable fire and began to warm up cans of soup.
"You knew about this, didn't you?" Kayla asked Cameron, "About what Ben was planning to do."
"What he told me was that he was going to ask you out. What happened was something totally unexpected. However, you two seem to be hitting it off quite well despite what's going on." Kayla casted her gaze down towards Ben; she had been running her fingers through his hair and it was starting to look less messy.
"Cameron…I don't think this should be happening."
"Why not?"
"Because…our main focus is surviving. Anything outside of that might be distracting."
"Are you shitting me, Kayla? You like him and he's obviously head over heels for you! You can't give him mixed signals, zombie apocalypse or not. I get that you're scared, but you can't keep everyone out, him especially. Let him in; he's a good guy."
"Your hour's up," Ben said quietly.
"It hasn't been an hour," Kayla protested.
"Yes," Ben pressed the light up button on her G-shock, "It has. You may not be hungover, but you do need rest."
"This might be the first time I've heard someone willingly turn down sleeping in," she slouched down a little more, her back against the tree truck.
"I'm sorry about earlier," she murmured, "I shouldn't have yelled at you."
"No, you had every right to. I could've made a bow, but I figured I could get a better one from the shop. I didn't think anyone would be in there. I realized something today…..when you said that animals will do anything to get to their pray, I knew you meant the zombies, but it applies to people too. That guy was so hell bent on getting me to trade you, but I'm even more hell bent on making sure nothing bad happens to you. I'd never consider trading you or Cameron for anything." Kayla pecked his cheek.
"He didn't know who he was dealing with."
"Get some sleep," he smiled, "You look like you need it."