The sun was beginning to set on the entrance to the barn; it had gone from a hell storm of groaning death to absolute silence only twenty minutes ago. There appeared to be no movement, no life left in that desolate place. Suddenly, a lone figure could be seen lurching away from the entrance, a 20 gauge shot gun strapped to its back, dragging a machete, its entire front soaked in congealed blood. On first glance, most would assume the figure a biter, seeing that the right side of its face looked ragged and bloody. Yet, the dark brown eyes it bore betrayed the life it still possessed.
Alice left the barn as quickly as her sore and slightly injured legs could carry her. The right side of her face had been grazed by the clawed fingers one of the biters. Thankfully the bitch had done little damage, she wouldn't bleed out but if she did not clean the wound fast enough, an infection could set it. That in mind, Alice was forced to stop and take out the last of her water ration from the canteen clipped to her jeans and was left of the gauze from her pockets. Coming to a tree, she sat down, careful to avoid the patches of splintered wood that had wedged its way into the back part of her legs. After thoroughly washing her hands, and wrapping the cut she made on her hand, she tipped her head back and went out feeling for any particles, only to find a single chipped and dirty French tipped fingernail. With a muffled shriek she pulled it out quickly and cleaned out of the wound with some of the water.
Glancing at the nail, Alice chuckled in a hollow manner. In any other given situation this stupid fingernail would have been hilarious, or at least worthy of a more hearty laugh. For a moment, she found herself recalling an incident in high school that had resulted in a cleaner fake French tip breaking off in her arm. The fight was a vague memory… It might have had something to do with boy….? Christ, life had been so simple back then, never in a million years did Alice think she'd be surviving at the end of the world. Even now, it came off as unreal. With a roll of her eyes, Al dropped the biter nail, and went about her business.
After letting her skin dry for a second, she began the process of wrapping her face, leaving an opening for her mouth, being sure to cover the entirety of her cheek where the claw marks had been made. Her face stung like hell, but thankfully she had managed to stop the bleeding. Once that was over, she turned her attention to her legs.
One agonizing hour later, Alice had managed to pluck out most of the wood; crunch time dictated that the smaller pieces would have to wait till she found Gabriel. She had just finished cleaning and wrapping her legs when she felt a gust of night air brush across her skin, signaling the lateness of the evening. If she was to reach Gabe by nightfall she'd have to get moving. Second later saw her on her feet, the reassuring weight of the machete in her right hand, while the shot gun slapped against her back as she made her way out of the forested acreage, and back onto the roads, following the spray paint trail, as it put her on the path that lead straight to her nephew.
It was nightfall by the time Alice came upon the small town. The temperature had dropped slightly, and it had started to rain over an hour ago. Despite the air itself being warm, the rain was starting to become too much. Alice had given all her supplies to Gabriel, including her jacket. Right now, she only had her boots, torn up jeans, and a raggedy t-shirt. Obviously that didn't provide much in the way of keeping her warm. For the last 20 minutes a single word kept dancing through her mind 'hypothermia.'
Glancing up at the welcome sign, she smiled at the tag Gabriel had left behind, angel wings…"Smart ass."
With a shiver, Al moved in, going quickly and quietly, the rain posed a problem for her. It covered the sound of the biters while also obscuring her vision. However, there were some advantages to this weather; it provided her with some cover. It took some time to find the place, at last she came upon the convenience store with the mark, though the mark itself had been mostly washed away, but there was enough left for Alice to make out her name, and the last portion of the message. Running towards the market, she knocked on the window, within minutes a small light came on, and it moved towards her. Gabe opened the door and asked a single question. "You bit?"
For a second, Alice blanked and then she chuckled. "Lil brat."
Without any hesitation he let her in. Over the past year, the pair had developed a great deal of trust. Neither of them would even think of putting the other at risk by coming back after being bit. Al closed and locked the door behind them, and Gabe ran to the back of the store, towards the storage area. Not long after, the two were sitting down to a meal of power bars and the canned fruit that Gabe had found in the store.
Alice had put on some dry clothes and rolled up the pants legs, allowing her to pick out what remained of the splinters in her skin. She was still shivering from the rain, she actually felt cold despite wearing dry clothes…. It was probably nothing. After dinner, Gabe fell asleep, curled in the blanket, while Alice sat up to keep watch.
The rain storm had passed over in the middle of the night, or at least by the time Gabe had woken up; this was without the rousing shake curtesy of his aunt. She would have woken him up during the night to take his turn on watch. This wasn't usual for him. Normally Alice never missed a chance to get in her share of sleep. Sitting up, he looked glanced around the room, his eyes falling on his aunt. She could be found curled up on the floor; perhaps she fell asleep while on watch and didn't think to wake him up. Pushing away the blanket he stood and made his way over to her, going on edge when he noticed that she was shivering. "Alice?"
He got one look at her face and grabbed the blanket and threw it over her. Her eyes were slow to movement, and she was shaking like crazy. She was hypothermic; it must have set in during the night. Al's skin was freezing to the touch, and glazed over in a cold sweat. Gabe didn't know what to do, his aunt had been injured in the past, but it was sprain, nothing that made her unconscious. He could feel the tears welling up at the panic set it; he couldn't lose her, not after he had just got her back. Without much thought, he tried to drag her into the streak of sunlight that poured into the room, and then he curled up under the blanket, pressing his body to hers in an attempt to give her warmth. Alice was conscious, but confused, her eyes looking out at nothing, while Gabe stared up at her. "You can't die." His whispered plea went unanswered, and he hugged her closer.
