Chapter Three

505 gained a companion yesterday. morgan but i told him my name was jane. not sure if i wanna be cat anymore. new name new start. we're headed to terminus see if his friend rick is there not sure whats gonna happen if he finds him. we'll see

When they had stopped that first night she was surprised to learn that he slept on the ground. But when she saw his ingenious set-up she had to laugh at it's simplicity. Just a ring of dead leaves and twigs that would crunch underfoot when stepped on.

"Aren't you worried about the living? They would just step over it," Cat asked him.

He shook his head and replied, "They haven't bothered me yet. Once I'm in the sleeping bag it blends in pretty well. In the dark it just looks like forest floor. I'm also a naturally light sleeper. Haven't had any trouble yet."

"Well, I give you credit. Until I figured out my hammock i never slept well. Besides being worried it was always too uncomfortable. I'd usually end up finding a rock in my back," she added with a laugh.

When she climbed down the next morning, Morgan was already awake, his staff spinning in intricate patterns around his body, his movements fluid and precise, as if he was dancing. She sat down against the tree watching him, mesmerized. He handled his staff like she handled a bow, as if it was a part of him.

"What was that?" she asked him once he had finished and sat down beside her. Now she understood how he had rescued her.

"Aikido. A friend was teaching me." Morgan looked away, but not before she saw the sadness in his eyes. She nodded her head and didn't press. She could tell he wasn't ready to discuss it just yet. They ate a quick meal in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

"Think you could teach me?" she queried as they packed up to leave.

"Sure, but I won't let you sleep in anymore," he joked, and they began their trek.

They found a set of tracks two days later. Spending time with Morgan made her regret writing off people entirely. He was easy to get along with, serious but a quick wit. She found herself opening up to him, so when they came upon the tracks a sense of unease settled on her. They ran northeast to southwest, but a sign posted at the crossing let them know which way to go. She felt dread wash over her as she realized that Terminus was going to happen. She wasn't ready to face a group, still getting used to the idea of Morgan. He saw the look on her face as she stared down the tracks.

"It's late enough to stop for the night. We'll start fresh in the morning," he said, easing her fears a bit. He guessed what she was struggling with and was giving her time to adjust.

"Sounds good." There was still a bit of sun peeking over the horizon, so she decided to make use of it. There was a servicable tree only ten feet in, so she set her pack at the base and strung her bow. "I'm gonna try and catch something fresh," she stated and headed into the woods.

Only twenty minutes had gone by when she reemerged carrying a plump groundhog. Morgan already had a small fire going, so he sharpened a spit while she skinned and gutted the rodent. She placed it over the fire to cook, turning it occasionally. She became lost in thought staring at the fire, though, and burned part of the carcass.

"It's getting quite well done there," Morgan observed, breaking her reverie.

"Shit." She quickly spun it around, shaking her head at herself. Most of it was salvagable, so they ate their fill and set the rest aside to supplement their dwindling stock.

"Thank you," she said, "for this. Guess I needed some time to adjust."

"You'll get there. Everything will work out like it should."

On the fifth morning, as they were eating a breakfast of squirrel she had caught, he asked, "So what are you writing every morning?"

"Just my way of keeping track of the passage of time. I don't have dates, by the time I started over a month had already gone by. So I just started writing what number day it was and a quick blurb about what had happened. It's helped me keep sane."

"So how many days have passed?"

"By my calculations at least 510 days have passed since the dead started to rise. It seems like much longer sometimes."

"Not even two years? It does seem much longer."

They had passed two more of the signs that she had mentioned, but it was difficult to gauge how long it would be before they reached Terminus. She was at war with herself. She felt comfortable with Morgan, but the thought of even entering another camp, whether or not she was staying, filled her with dread. Morgan had picked up on it, and tried to draw her out of her thoughts.

"So what about before? Where did you live? I can hear a twinge of the south in your voice but it's very muted."

A sad smile crossed her face. "I was actually born in Georgia, grew up in Big Canoe until I was 14. Then I moved to Parish, New York. Lived there until I was 18, then I just bounced all around whenever I felt like it. This is actually the first time I've been back here since I moved away." She fell quiet, doodling in the dirt with her staff. "Didn't think I'd ever be back."

"Did you have family here?"

"No family. I did have a friend though. I wish I had come back sooner, before all this." She waved her hand in the air. "I never got to say goodbye. Guess it's too late now. I actually went back. Not sure what I thought I'd find, cause there was nothing left. After that is when I just started south. Figured eventually get to the coast, find a boat and keep on going." She shrugged her shoulders. "You're derailing my plans, Morgan," she said with a laugh. "Thanks."

He laughed at that. "Well allow me to continue derailing them. Let's get a move on. We're running late."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, but started packing up. Her steps were a little lighter now, she had forgotten what having a friend to talk to felt like. Maybe she would consider staying at Terminus for a bit. She could always leave later.

They walked in companionable silence, each understanding the need for stealth. They would swap stories whenever they stopped, Morgan telling her about Duane, and she told him tales about her first camp. In the morning they would spar to keep nimble, and he began to teach her the varied ways a staff could be used. She was sore after every session, Morgan barely withholding his blows.

"I'm not sure if you're the worst teacher ever, or the best," she remarked, rubbing the shoulder he had just whacked when she was unable to deflect his attack.

"You won't learn as quickly if I go easy on you." He swung at her again, but she caught his staff before it hit her, parrying the blows he rained upon her. She was a quick study, and pretty soon she knew she would be able to hold her own against him.

526 close to terminus should reach it before dark hope its still there been a long time since i had something to look forward to

They were both anxious this morning. They had heard what sounded like an explosion yesterday afternoon, but it had seemed to come from all around as the sound echoed off the hills.

"Are you sure we should continue?" she asked as they packed.

"I learned the hard way that all life is precious. If there's people then we should help. It's why I stopped for you," he stated softly.

She nodded her assent. "Okay then. Off we go." The morning was cold, so they covered their faces, Morgan donning a full face mask while she tied a bandana over her mouth and nose. She was quite intimidating looking, the bandana was a half skull design, dark ski goggles covered her eyes, and her dark hood was pulled tight over her hair. They walked continuously, not even stopping to eat as they normally would. She was almost feeling excited.

Dusk was approaching, and she had started looking for a place they could rest for the night. They had made less progress than expected after they had come across a small herd shuffling across the tracks. The undead had been just beyond a bend in the tracks and Morgan and Jane had let their guard drop, so they hadn't had a chance to find cover before they were spotted. Morgan stood to the right of her since she was left handed, allowing them both greater range of motion. This was the first they had run into since they had met, and she was grateful for the sparring sessions. It not only kept them proficient but allowed them to work as a team, so that neither one became overwhelmed. There were 14 of them in all, but were spaced far enough apart that after the first wave of five, they only had to face one or two at a time.

After that they had been more vigilant, pausing more often when a suspicious noise arose. She had fallen a few paces behind him, contemplating a tree she had spotted off to the right when he saw the sign. It was another of the Terminus signs, but someone had altered it. With a handful of mud they had scratched out all but the word sanctuary and scrawled "NO" above it. He turned to her and pulled off his mask.

"I guess we know what that explosion was," he said with sadness in his voice. She came up and surveyed the sign as she pulled her bandana down around her neck. She stood there, hands on hips, her head hung to hide the tears that welled in her eyes. She hadn't realized how much she was looking forward to it until that moment. He looked around, and spotted an x mark inside of a circle that had been carved into a tree. Farther into the woods another tree had been carved with the same mark. He walked over to the nearest one and ran his hands over it. The marking was recent, sap still seeping from the wound. She blinked away the tears and looked at him. "Let's see where this leads," he said, and she nodded her agreement.

They followed the markings until dark and made camp for the night. Usually Jane slept in her perch and Morgan slept on the ground, but they had stopped too late to set up a perimeter. So tonight she rigged up a hammock for each of them, one on either side of the trunk. He shook his head at her contraption but climbed in anyway.

"How on earth do you get comfortable in this thing?" he asked her incredulously. "Now I know what a fish in a net feels like."

"Get your body on the upper half with your butt in the middle. It can take a couple tries." She grinned as he grunted and groaned his way around. Suddenly he quit moving and gave a deep sigh.

"Now I see why you still sleep up here. Feels like a mini vacation. All I need now is a piña colada," he quipped.

"Are we gonna have to find you a hammock now?" she replied with a laugh.

"Definitely putting this on my Christmas list," he shot back. "Goodnight Jane."

"Goodnight Morgan."

530 so glad to get out of this tree now truly out of food except for a snack cake which morgan says was his sons i dont think he can bear to part with it

The next four days were slow going. The markings were easy to follow but the undead seemed to be everywhere. At first it would just be one or two, but the farther they went the bigger the groups got. And the forest here was thick, making it harder to spot them ahead of time. The third day after leaving the railroad tracks they never left the tree they were in. It wasn't quite a herd, just a seemingly constant stream of undead. So they took the forced respite to patch up clothes, sharpen dulling blades and polish off the last bits of food. She had been able to hunt and scavenge enough food over the past week to supplement what Morgan had on him, but with two of them the food didn't stretch as far.

On the fourth day they were able to climb down and continue their trek. The groupings of undead had dwindled in the night, and they only came across two pairs of them before the signs in the tree led to an elementary school. There were undead inside, at almost every window, but the part that was most disturbing was outside the walls. There were remnants of a fire with a chicken wire cooking grate on top. Laying on the grate was the remnants of a human leg from the knee down. The foot was untouched by the fire, and they could tell that the person who had owned it was alive when it was removed.

She turned away, her stomach roiling at the sight. She couldn't understand how people had turned to cannibalism. As she stood there contemplating how the world had gotten to that point, Morgan noticed an undead laying on the ground. It was still moving, but seemed to be incapacitated. With a quiet shushing sound, he slid his blade into it's temple, ending it's misery.

They moved on, following more markings on the trees.. They soon came upon a church, a small white clapboard building so common in the south. Morgan headed inside, while she explored the exterior. The bottoms of the windows had been boarded up, and there were organ pipes sticking out of the ground around the porch steps. Near one corner someone had carved 'YOULL BURN FOR THIS' into the wooden siding. She made a full curcuit around the building then sat on the steps and waited for Morgan. He had asked her for a few minutes alone and she had gladly obliged, since her shaky faith in God had been ground to dust since her father.

Almost 10 minutes had passed and she was contemplating going in to find Morgan when he came out smiling. "I know where he's headed," he proclaimed, holding up a poorly folded map. "Looks like he met up with a group bound for D.C."

She sat for a moment, chewing over the news. D.C. was in the opposite direction, and winter was getting closer. But Morgan had been good for her, and she wasn't quite ready to give up her newfound companionship.

"Then I guess we're goin to D.C."