Here's my first official chapter. Let me know what you think :)
CHAPTER 1.
The four of them walked for miles, only stopping when they absolutely needed to. Bella's feet were aching so much she wished she could just sit down and cry.
There were no words between them. Each of them remained quiet, silently blaming themselves for their friend's death.
I should have gone with him.
A thought that kept coming back to Bella.
The sun began to go down, and Alice voiced her fear of walking on the highway in the dark. The entire highway was rammed with cars, they could barely see ahead as it was.
Thankfully Emmett found a small campervan, which was more than enough for the four of them.
Emmett and Bella gave it a quick once over, and when it was deemed safe, Alice and Jasper clambered in, instantly looking in the cupboards and drawers. Alice let out a small cry of victory causing the others to glare at her.
"What?" She said, flippantly a she pulled out six boxes of breakfast bars. "We've hit the jackpot!"
"Yes!" Emmett laughed and scooped the small, pixie like girl, into a huge bear crushing hug.
"And we have water bottles back here." Jasper added, seemingly content.
"That will see us through the next few days." Bella murmured and then found her place on the couch, before closing her eyes.
The night was long and quiet. Nobody really had anything to say, and Bella didn't particularly want anybody to speak to her.
It took a while for her to fall asleep, and as soon as she managed, she was being shook violently. Her eyes flew open and as she went to vocalise her surprise, a big hand covered her mouth. She fought her assailant, but when he held her still and made her look at him, she saw that it was just Emmett and she calmed down, instantly.
"Biters." He mouthed and pointed at the windows.
She looked, carefully, to see how many were out there. Too many to count. She looked back at Emmett and he gestured for her to get low to the ground. Doing as he asked, she knelt down and laid on her stomach, right next to him.
"Alice?" She whispered. She was worried for her best friend, she knew that she would be terrified right now.
"Jasper is keeping her calm."
Bella nodded and closed her eyes tight, wishing that all of this would just go away.
She wanted to wake up in her bed, and this have all been a bad dream, that she could shake off with a morning coffee and a run. But she wasn't dreaming. She couldn't go for a run, and coffee was a no chance kinda thing. She could boil her water over a fire and pour one of her Latte sachets into a plastic cup, but her Lattes weren't quite as good as proper coffee.
She knew there were things her friends missed too, it was the silly little things that you wouldn't think you would miss, like singing, or talking on the phone, or even walking down the street without a CurbCrawler snapping at your heels.
It wasn't easy giving up everything, or at least it shouldn't be. Bella found it too easy to walk away from her home after her parents and her brother had succumbed to the Virus that turned people into flesh eating monsters. She didn't even look back, not once.
I don't even have a home anymore. She thought bitterly to herself. She was a nomad. Travelling from one place to another, never stopping. They hadn't even tried to fine any sanctuaries. Emmett said most of them were already overrun. Jasper said that the sanctuaries are just full of crazy people fighting for power and making bad decision that end up getting everyone killed.
Garett said Sanctuaries were a place for hope and safety.
She shut that thought out of her head and opened her eyes. She could see out of the windows of the campervan from down on the ground. Biters were just walking past, bleeding and rotting.
This is our world now.
Bella woke up to silence. No growling, no hissing and no talking. She sat up slowly, trying to ease the aches in her back and her neck, sleeping in the ground is just as uncomfortable as it sounds. She exited the campervan to see her three friends smiling at each other and talking animatedly.
"Oh you're up!" Alice cried, clapping her hands. "Emmett found a tent and some other camping supplies, so we're gonna go in the forest!"
Bella was actually surprised Alice was happy about this, she expected her to hate camping.
"Okay, but you know it's scarier in there," She pointed at the forest that was running along the side of the highway. "than it is out here, right?"
"Don't be silly, besides, why would Biters go into the forest anyway, there aren't many people out there." She said, as a matter of fact.
"Al, they just wander around, waiting for food. Something makes a noise, they follow the noise. They don't actually think for themselves, they are everywhere. Including the forest."
"Bella, c'mon! Why you gotta freak her out for, huh?" Emmett asked, shaking his head.
Bella pouted for a few seconds before she realised that she was actually in a pretty bad mood. She sat down beside Alice and muttered a quick 'sorry' before eating a breakfast bar.
They didn't stay still for long, after breakfast they grabbed their bags, and the other stuff Emmett and Jasper had looted from the abandoned cars, and made their way into the forest.
It was eerily quiet in the forest, there were no birds chirping, no wind for the trees to rustle; the only sounds were the group's feet as they walked. Bella thought idly that they should have taken a car, at least they would be able to sit down whilst travelling.
Emmett walked at her side, holding her hand and occasionally squeezing it to reassure her that he was still there. He had always done it, ever since he had found her.
She was alone back then, it was a year and a half ago, her parents and brother had died six months before, so she had travelled alone for all that time. She slept in abandoned cars, buildings, one time she'd had to sleep in the boot of someone's car, after being surrounded by Biters.
The night Emmett and the others found her, she had run out of food and had nothing to drink; she had gone into a store that had been looted and destroyed. She was too dehydrated to remember that she needed to do all the checks before finding some food or water, so she just went straight into the store.
The whole place was full of Biters and she found herself cornered, she had her knife and was stabbing and slashing, but it seemed that there was too many of them for her to fight. She was so close to dropping her machete and letting them finish the job, but then she heard someone yell.
That voice was the best sound she had heard in all of her life.
In no time, the Biters had been put down and she was given food and water. She didn't speak for days, nor did she stray from her giant stranger's side, but she did feel a lot safer than she had in a long while.
"There are fresh tracks here." Emmett observed as they stopped to hydrate.
"What kind of tracks?" Alice asked warily.
"Cars, I think." He answered, getting closer to the ground to inspect.
"There are other people? Near here?" She was beginning to get excited, and Bella didn't want her to get her hopes up. Chances are, these people are gone or insane.
Bella checked out the tracks too, but she had no idea how Emmett could tell that they were fresh.
"We should follow them." Emmett said, squinting up at Bella, trying to keep the sun out of his eyes. If she hadn't heard the hope in his voice, she would have shot him down, but it was rare that Emmett asked for something.
I can do this for him. She thought to herself as she nodded. He grinned, which made her smile, and then he called for Alice and Jasper to keep up as he began to lead the way.
It didn't take them long, maybe twenty minutes, to find the vehicles, which turned out to be three RV's, two cars and a campervan.
They were all parked around a small meadow, creating a sort of circle for their camp. And it really looked like a camp. Two tents were up, a homemade washing line had been put up, with clothes drying on it, there was even a small camp fire with pans and a bowl of water full of what seemed like washing up liquid. Bella thought she had found heaven, but she was still on edge about meeting the people who own the big vehicles and the pretty camp.
"Don't move!" A man yelled. Bella heard him cock his gun and she raised her hands, allowing them to see that she wasn't carrying a gun. The others quickly did the same, and Bella couldn't help but wonder if they were all scared to death too.
"What do you want?"
"We saw your tracks." Emmett began. "We just wanted to see if there were more survivors."
"We don't want to hurt anybody." Alice said, in her tiny voice, which earned a laugh from the blonde man with the gun.
"What's your name, Tinkerbell?" He smirked.
"Alice." She replied, trying not to glare at him.
"Well, Alice, we don't take in no strays." He shrugged his shoulders and gestured for them to 'shoo'.
"James, what on earth are you doing?" Another man said. When he came out of his RV, Bella's shoulders relaxed a little. He wasn't old, he looked to be in his forties, his hair was blonde and his facial features were soft. This was a kind man.
"We can't just take them in, we don't know if they have been bitten or not!" James huffed.
The blonde man turned his head to them and looked them over before asking them 'Have you been bitten?'
"No." Bella said boldly.
"Now we know." He said smugly to James.
Within a few seconds, the small camp was full with people. There was eighteen of them all together. Ten men, six women and two children, both girls.
"What is this?" One of the men asked, and when Bella saw him, she had to stop her jaw from dropping.
He is gorgeous.
He was tall, and built, not as big as Emmett, but he was very toned. His hair was a sort of copper toned brown. His face was perfect.
Focus. She told herself, internally rolling her eyes.
"We have guests, Edward." The blonde man said. "Be nice."
Nice name.
"I'm always nice, don't listen to him." Edward said with a friendly smile, lifting his hand to shake Emmett's. "I'm Edward. Obviously."
"Emmett." He replied bluntly. Bella rolled her eyes, trust him to want to be here, and then be moody when he gets what he wants.
"I'm Alice." Alice pulled Jaspers arm and stood before Edward. "And this is Jasper! It's so lovely to meet people who aren't trying to rip me to shreds." She engulfed Edward in a hug and he laughed nervously, awkwardly patting her on her back.
"Ali, don't freak him out." Bella said, and then bit her tongue. She hadn't wanted to draw attention to herself, having a group of people staring at her was enough attention, thank you very much.
"And you are?" Edward asked, when Alice finally let him go.
"I'm awkward. I mean Bella! My name is Bella." She said quickly.
Way to go, now he knows you're an antisocial freak.
Edward chuckled and shook her hand.
"It's nice to meet you." He smiled and she wanted to freeze that moment forever.
"You too." She replied. Just keep it at two syllables and you can't go wrong. She told herself.
"Here," A soft voice said. Bella spun around to see a beautiful woman holding a flask. "We boiled some water and made coffee. Black, obviously, but I thought you could use some."
"Thank you." Bella rushed out. She didn't want to seem too eager to accept the drink, but she took it from the woman and sipped at it instantly. The woman smiled pleasantly, and Bella sort of smiled back.
"I'm Esme Platt." She said, holding out her hand, which Bella took.
"Bella Swan."
"It's so nice to meet you. It's always lovely to know that there are other survivors out there."
"I'm not sure there are many left," Alice said, bouncing up to Esme. "I'm Alice Brandon."
It was sometimes surprising for Bella to see how Alice's confidence came and went.
Over the next ten minutes, the group had been introduced to Angela Cheney and her daughter, Olivia. They seemed nice, aside from the stony face Angela seemed to have on her face. Jessica and Mike, best friends from Ohio, introduced themselves, Jess, as she insisted, seemed rather bouncy, but Bella took an instant liking to the two of them. Jess pointed out the others, but Bella was too tired and numb to listed, but Alice, thankfully, kept them talking. Bella decided she would thank her later.
A loud bang shot out making everyone jump. Edward glared up at James, who had the nerve to look sheepish.
"I thought I saw a Roamer man!" He said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"C'mon, lets pack up, Roamers will be all over the camp any time now. Let's go!" Edward yelled and began to pick up what Bella assumed to be his belongings. "I have room for one of you with me, Alec has room for one of you with him," He pointed at a sandy blonde haired man who was almost as good looking as Edward. "And Jacob has room for two of you." A black haired and dark skinned man grinned happily and gestured for two of them to join him in his RV.
"I wanna stay with Jasper." Alice said with a pout.
"Of course you do." Emmett muttered and looked at Bella with a sorry expression.
"It's cool. I'll be fine." She told him, waving him off.
"You sure?" He pushed, and she laughed and gave him a big hug.
"I promise, im fine."
He nodded and kissed her cheek before going over to Alec. Bella almost yelled at him to switch with her, she didn't want to go with Edward, but she also didn't want to embarrass herself either; so with a heavy heart, Bella followed Edward into his RV.
"Looks like it's just you and me." He said, smiling at her. She sat in the passenger seat and looking out of the window as he began to drive.
The drive was mostly silent, Edward figured that Bella didn't like to talk much, but then realised he was wrong when she struck up a conversation.
"Why doesn't anybody else ride in here with you?" She asked. Are you a freak? She asked mentally.
"They do, sometimes, but most of the time they like to travel in the cars. Mike and Jess always sleep in here though." He told her and then bit his lip.
"What?" She asked warily, sensing something was wrong.
"Well, Jess and Mike sleep on the pull out together. I mean I'm sure Jess won't mind, but-"
"What is the problem?" She cut him off.
"I don't trust the tents. Some of the group sleep in them and we have spares, but I wouldn't want to put you in one alone. If you stay in here, you would have to share a bed." He rushed out. "Not that I want you to share a bed with me, specifically, but it is a better alternative than getting eaten in your sleep."
Bella watched the man in amusement. He continued to ramble for a while before she had the never to interrupt him again.
"I don't mind sharing a bed with you." She smiled. "I have shared a bed with a guy more times than I can count." She told him. His eyes widened and she choked out a laugh. "Not like that!"
"Right, sorry." He chuckled, shaking his head.
"How old are you?" She asked.
"Thirty two, you?" Wow, he sure doesn't look thirty two.
"Eighteen." She said almost sadly. "Do you have a life? Or a girlfriend?"
"I used to." Her face twisted into sorrow and she felt instantly bad.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't realise. I mean, you'd think I would considering these things kill everybody and there's no one left-"
"She's not dead." He interrupted, smiling at her. "Well, at least she wasn't. We got divorced just before all of this broke out."
"Oh. Good." Bella breathed out in relief.
Edward shook his head again, silently laughing. He liked the girl. She was funny.
Thanks for reading, next update will be later tonight or tomorrow :)
