Chapter Seven

Nora looked out the window of the car and bit her lip. The fog hadn't thinned at all over the past few hours. If anything, it had actually gotten worse. Visibility was down to only a few dozen yards, so she couldn't drive at anything faster than a crawl. It might have been better to stop, but until she found somewhere more sheltered than the road, she had no choice but to keep driving. Being caught out in the open could get both her and Hope killed.

"Do you think we'll find anything soon?" Hope asked. He was sitting in the passenger seat of the car with a map of the area on his lap. Like her, however, there was a worried frown on his face. The map was pretty much useless when they couldn't see anything, and they both knew from past experience that although the fog might make things hard for them, the Infected could still find them.

"I think so," Nora replied, doing her best to sound surer than she felt. "There should be a gas station soon according to the map, and there's usually one every few miles anyway." Of course, they were in a fairly remote area, and if they'd wandered off their intended route it could easily be a few more hours before they came across anything. They were also running low on fuel, which meant that if they didn't run into a town or a gas station soon, they would definitely be in trouble.

"Maybe we can find some food too," Hope said. "The last town didn't really have much."

Nora nodded grimly. The last few weeks had been tough, and not just when it came to finding fuel. The last town they'd stopped in had been stripped almost completely bare of anything that could be used. Fuel, food, even clothes – all of it had either been taken or destroyed by the fires that had still been smouldering when she and Hope got there. They had enough for a few more days if they rationed it properly, but after that, things would get much harder. At least they'd managed to put together a decent store of water.

"Hey, mom, stop!" Hope shouted suddenly, pointing to something ahead of them in the fog. "What's that?"

Nora frowned and let the car roll to a stop. There was definitely something in the fog ahead of them. She squinted and eased the car a bit closer. It was a building of some kind – a gas station, actually. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Good work," she said, giving Hope a smile. "We could use some more fuel."

Slowly, she eased the car closer before pulling to a stop in front of the gas station. The fog was thicker here, a cloud of white mist that made it impossible to see more than a dozen or so feet in front of her. Over the last few months, she'd learned the hard way that any building was a potential death trap. The Infected seemed to gravitate toward buildings, and more than once she and Hope had nearly lost their lives looking for shelter or supplies. There was also no telling if there was even any gasoline left. They'd already come across several gas stations that had been bled completely dry.

"Stay here, Hope," Nora murmured as she got out of the car with her shotgun. The weapon itself had been a lucky find, taken from the body of a policeman who no longer had any need for it. Normally, she'd have balked at even the thought of taking something from a dead body, but she'd changed a lot since the Infected had first appeared. She'd had to. Hope was still a boy, although he'd done a lot of growing up over the past few months. After everything they'd been through, she wasn't about let a little squeamishness get them both killed.

"But, mom –" Hope tried to get out of the car, but she put one hand on his chest and pushed him back in. "What are you doing?"

"Stay here, Hope. I mean it." Nora turned to look at the fog around them. This felt very wrong. They'd survived so far by never doing anything risky, but if she was reading the map right, they might not even make it to the next gas station before they ran out of fuel. If they got stuck out here, they wouldn't last long, maybe a few days at the most. "I'll be fine. Just stay here and watch the car."

Hope looked like he wanted to argue, but she gave him her sternest look. "Fine," he muttered as he sank back into his seat. "Just… just be careful, okay?"

"I will be." Nora tried to smile. "Remember, you need to keep the engine running and if things go bad…"

Hope shook his head violently. "I am not going to drive off without you mom, no matter how bad things get."

"You can and you will, Hope Estheim," Nora said. "You're my son, which means that to me, you will always come first." She turned away from the fog to look back at him. "Make sure you check your gun too, Hope. I know you don't like using it, but it's better safe than sorry."

Hope grumbled but did as he was told. Nora watched him carefully as he checked his pistol over. Not too long ago, neither of them had known all that much about how to use a gun. However, they'd learned quickly – it was either that or end up dead. Hope still wasn't particularly good or comfortable with anything bigger than a pistol, but it was better than nothing. A pistol might not kill the Infected easily outside of a shot directly to the head, but it could slow them down enough to give him a chance to get away. The pistol was also good for buying her time when she was reloading her shotgun, something she practiced whenever she had the time because she still felt like she was still too slow. Against the Infected, even a split-second could mean the difference between life and death.

Nora nodded in approval as Hope finished checking his pistol. "Good, now stay alert. I'll be back as soon as I can." With that, she walked into the fog.

Watching her leave, Hope was seized by the urge to jump out of the car and follow her. Since the whole Infected thing had started, the two of them had rarely been out of each other's sight. Two pairs of eyes were better than one, and it just wasn't safe for them to separate. Besides, he'd seen so many people die that he couldn't shake the horrible feeling that his mother might be next. If something did happen to her, he wasn't sure he'd be able to go on. What would be the point? He'd be alone in a world full of monsters.

Nora felt Hope's gaze on her well after she'd lost sight of the car in the fog. She didn't want to leave him for even a moment, but it was safer this way. As carefully as she could, she picked her way through the fog toward the gas pumps. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see clearly for more than a few yards, but the hulking shadow of the gas station was unmistakable.

Through the fog, she spotted a body, and she wrinkled her nose as the stench hit. Whoever they'd been, they'd been dead for a while, but not too long if the smell was still this strong. Just to be sure, she picked a small rock up off the ground and tossed it at the body. A few of the Infected that she'd come across had been lying down, almost like corpses, so she needed to be sure. The rock thumped into the body, but it didn't move. Good, it was just a corpse then.

As she continued her slow creep toward the gas pumps, she came across a few more bodies, but each of them was just that – a body. Most of them appeared to have been killed by the Infected, so she needed to stay alert. The Infected could easily have moved on after killing everyone here, but they could just as easily have stayed. With the fog as thick as it was, she'd never see them until they were right on top of her.

Finally, she reached the gas pumps and she took careful stock of the layout. There were six of them, in two rows of three. That was quite a lot for a place this isolated, which that this probably was the only gas station for some distance. That also meant that the gas station probably had a fairly large fuel supply. Hopefully, there was still some of it left for her and Hope.

She tried the first pump and then tossed it away in disgust. Whoever had used it last had broken it. A few squeezes were all she could manage before it practically fell apart in her hands. The second and third pumps were much the same, and she felt a stab of panic. She'd seen this kind of thing before. The rise of the Infected had driven people so crazy that they'd destroyed everything around them, even things they needed. Fists clenched tightly, she tried the fourth pump, and she nearly fell to her knees in relief when gasoline splashed onto the ground.

"Hope!" she shouted. "There's gas!"

"Really?" Hope shouted back. "That's good because we're running low."

Nora wiped the smile from her face and tried to keep her wits about her as she made her way back to the car. She drove it over to the fourth pump and left Hope in charge of filling the tank while she took a look inside the convenience store attached to the gas station. The odds of there actually being anything left were quite small since places this were usually the first to be picked clean by scavengers, both human and animal, but she couldn't leave without at least checking for anything they could use.

"I'm just taking a quick look inside," she told Hope. "I'll be right back. Stay alert."

Hope nodded and took a look around. "Okay. Be careful, mom."

Nora inched toward the convenience store and then stopped at the doors. The window next to them was broken, but the doors themselves were jammed shut. With a growl, she drew one foot back and kicked them, but it took a few tries before they finally jolted open. Inside, the convenience store was a mess. Something had clearly taken up residence, and she whirled around as something skittered along the floor at the edges of her vision. She saw it again, and she was about to shoot when she realised what she was looking at. It was a pair of cats, young ones by the looks of them. They glared at her from their little hideaway beneath one of the shelves.

A wry smile crossed her lips. "Don't worry," she murmured. "I've got bigger things to worry about than you two."

The cats were a good sign. Animals hated the Infected, so if the cats were there, then it was extremely unlikely that there were any Infected nearby. Unfortunately, that's where her luck ended. Almost everything edible in the store had either been taken by people or by the cats. The only thing left that even vaguely resembled food was, ironically enough, canned cat food. It was almost enough to make her laugh, although it also made her want to cry. Still, cat food was better than nothing. If it really came down it, she and Hope could probably eat it and be okay. Of course, it would be quite interesting trying to convince Hope of that.

However, the pained smile on her face vanished the instant she heard another car pull into the gas station. Mind filled with countless horrible possibilities, she dropped the cat food where it was and sprinted out of the convenience store. Outside, she heard Hope cry out followed by the thump of a body against the car. She pushed her way out of the doors and cursed as the fog swept over her. Not far away, she heard the unmistakable sound of a shotgun being pumped.

She stumbled through the fog to find a tall dark haired woman pointing a shotgun at Hope. For his part, Hope was slumped against the car, his pistol several yards away.

"You! Leave him alone!" Nora roared. She brought her own shotgun up and levelled it at the other woman's chest. At this range, she'd probably blow the other woman in half. "Hope, come over here!"

Hope, however, did not move an inch. His eyes were locked onto the barrel of the shotgun that was aimed right at his chest. The dark haired woman's eyes narrowed and she flicked a quick glance at Nora before she looked back at Hope. "How about you lower your gun first."

Nora shook her head. They hadn't seen anyone in weeks and now Hope had a gun on him. Every instinct she had screamed that this woman was dangerous. If she lowered her gun now, there was no telling what would happen. "Not going to happen," Nora ground out. "That's my son. You take your gun off him, or I'll shoot."

"Fine." In a split-second the shotgun was trained on Nora. The two women locked eyes and Nora felt a bead of sweat roll down her temple. The other woman's green eyes were hard, very, very hard. "So, what now?"

"Hope," Nora said. "Move."

Slowly, Hope inched away from the other woman and over to his gun.

"No," the other woman said. "Do not reach for that gun."

Hope froze. Carefully, he backed away from the gun and circled around to stand behind his mother.

"So, he's your son?" the dark haired woman asked.

Nora nodded. "He's all that I've got left and if you think you're going to take him from me, you'd better think again." She swallowed thickly. "You're not going to lay one hand on him."

The other woman's green eyes softened and she sighed. "Back when I still had a job, there was a saying: never get between a mother bear and her cub." She lowered her shotgun. "I think it applies to people as well."

Nora allowed herself to relax just a little bit as she lowered her own weapon. Even so, she was careful to keep herself between the other woman and Hope. "Who are you, and what are you doing out here?"

The dark haired woman leaned back against their car and ran one hand through her hair. "Look, I don't want any trouble. I'm just heading toward Eden City. All I want is some gas and then I'll be on my way." Her lips firmed into a thin line. "Keep out of my way and we won't have any problems."

Nora nodded. That seemed reasonable enough. "We're just here for some gas too, but we're headed the other way."

The other woman grinned and scratched the back of her head. Nora still couldn't bring herself to relax though. Whoever this woman was, she had a lean, toned body. There was also no missing the fact that the whole time they'd been talking, her body had been like a coiled spring, ready to burst into motion. "It's funny how things work out, isn't it? The last people I met pulled a gun on me and here I am doing the same." She chuckled. "As if the Infected weren't enough to worry about."

Despite how tense the situation still was Nora felt a smile tickle her lips. Those were her thoughts exactly. "I suppose it does seem kind of funny. We haven't seen anyone in almost a month, and I certainly never thought I'd pull a gun on the next person we did see."

The other woman looked at her for a few moments, and Nora got the feeling that she was sizing her up. Finally, she smirked – it was an expression that seemed very natural – and switched her hold on her shotgun so that she held it by the barrel, well away from the trigger. Smirk still firmly in place she extended one hand. "Fang."

Tentatively, Nora eased her grip on her own weapon and extended her hand. "Nora." She glanced back at Hope. "He's my son, Hope."

They shook hands and Nora's eyes widened slightly at the strength she felt in Fang's grip, not to mention the calluses. Her own hands were still quite soft despite the past few months. Fang must have done something quite physically demanding for a living. It also made Nora more confident in her assessment of Fang. Fang was definitely in very good shape, and she moved with the easy, confident stride of someone used to being the hunter rather than the hunted.

Fang must have seen some of her uneasiness because she grinned again and eased her grip a little. "Relax, if I was going to do something, the two of you would already be dead." Her eyes widened as she realised just what she'd said. "Uh, sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's… been a while since I've actually talked to other people."

Nora grimaced. Despite the light tone that Fang had used, she believed her. "Don't worry about it." She bit her lip. "So, what now?"

Fang looked past Nora toward the convenience store. The fog had begun to ease a little, but it was still quite thick. "Is this place clear?"

Nora didn't need to ask what Fang meant by clear. "I haven't come across any Infected so far, and I found two cats inside the convenience store."

"Good." Fang scowled and tossed a glare at the fog around them. "I was hoping to just get some fuel and move on, but I'm probably going to stay here for the night. This fog is too thick to drive in safely, and I'm not about to let some fog kill me after everything I've been through."

Nora sighed and looked around as well. "I think we might have to do the same." They could keep driving, but according to their map the road ahead was supposed to be quite dangerous. In the fog, it could easily prove fatal. Besides, if Fang had wanted to do something to them, she could easily have done it by now. "Yes, I think we'll spend the night here too."

Out of the corner of her eye, Nora saw Hope scowl. She couldn't blame him. Fang had disarmed him and thrown him up against the car. Of course, she could have just shot him when she had the chance. In fact, a lot of people probably would have. As much as it pained her to see Hope tossed around like that, it was infinitely preferable to seeing him dead.

Fang followed Nora's gaze over to Hope and winced. "Oh, sorry about earlier." She scooped Hope's pistol off the ground and handed it to him. "I wasn't really expecting anyone else to be here. You startled me, especially when you pointed that gun my way."

Hope took the pistol back. "Thanks, I guess." He bit his lip. Fang didn't seem like she wanted to cause any more trouble. "And… sorry about pulling the gun on you. I wasn't sure what else to do. I thought you might be one of the Infected or something."

Fang shrugged. "No, you did the right thing." Her eyes hardened again. "And you should be careful if you run into other people as well. Like I said, the last group of people I met pulled a gun on me." She pointed to a cut that was still healing on her arm. "They decided that they wanted my car and they wouldn't take no for an answer." She laughed bitterly. "I don't know if they're dead, but they definitely came off second best." She gave both Nora and Hope a serious look. "If you run into someone else, make sure they're friendly first – there's no telling what they'll do otherwise." She let her gaze rest a moment longer on Nora. There were dangers for women travelling around, dangers that a boy like Hope wouldn't face. More than one man Fang had run into had tried to force things, and she'd shot every single one of them.

Nora nodded slowly. She knew what Fang was talking about, but so far the only trouble she and Hope had encountered had come from the Infected. However, they'd seen quite a few bodies riddled with bullets. There were definitely people out there who were willing to do almost anything to survive, even prey on the few people still around. "Thanks for the warning."

"It doesn't cost me anything," Fang said. She gestured at her car, which was parked a short distance away. "Well, you two keep to your side and I'll keep to mine. That way, there shouldn't be any trouble." Her eyes narrowed. "And please, don't try anything. You two seem like decent people, so I'd really hate to have to kill you."

"Don't worry, we're not looking for trouble either," Nora said. She patted Hope on the shoulder. "Come on, let's finish fuelling up."

X X X

That night was quite awkward. Nora and Hope stayed next to their car. They'd found an old fuel drum and after a few attempts, they'd managed to light a fire to keep warm. They could have stayed in the car the whole time, but it was a little cramped, and they both wanted the chance to stretch their legs a bit. Dinner was a little depressing though. They didn't have a lot of supplies left, so they were forced to ration what little they had quite strictly. As a result, dinner was a few long-life muesli bars. They were nutritious, but they tasted like shredded newspaper.

That was when Fang padded over. There was a big smile on her face and two cups on instant noodles in one of her hands to go with the one she was already eating from. "It's not exactly the healthiest thing in the world, but those muesli bars looked pretty horrible." Up close, Nora could see just how brittle Fang's smile was. "I also thought you might want a little company."

Nora nodded. "Some company sounds nice." In all honesty, she was looking forward to talking to someone else. She did have Hope, so she wasn't totally alone, but after a lifetime of friends, family, and acquaintances, the difference was pretty jarring. Fang seemed like the kind of person who'd have a lot of friends, so to be stuck on her own had to be quite hard. Nora probably would have gone insane if she'd been on her own all this time, and from the look on Fang's face, it was clear the strain was beginning to tell on her a little. "The noodles are also much appreciated."

Taking the noodles from Fang, Nora was careful to look over them for any signs of tampering. There were none – the cups were still wrapped in the original plastic packaging. "Thanks again for the noodles," Nora said as got some water boiled and ripped open the packaging. Despite how safe it seemed, Nora still hesitated until Fang leaned forward and took a fork-full of noodles from each cup and ate it.

"I didn't poison them, if that's what you're worried about," Fang said. She sighed. "I can't really blame you for checking though."

Nora handed Hope one of the cups of instant noodles. "I have to say, it's been a while since we've had instant noodles. The last few towns we passed through were pretty much empty." She looked at Fang. "But why are you doing this?"

Fang shrugged. "What can I say? You two looked pretty miserable eating those muesli bars. I know for a fact that they taste about the same as cardboard. Besides, those instant noodles I gave you were about a week or two from spoiling anyway. It's not like I could've eaten them all in time."

"Really?" Nora took a surreptitious look at her cup of noodles. The expiry date wasn't for months. "That's quite generous." She glanced at Hope who was staring at the noodles like they were ten birthday presents rolled into one. "What do you say, Hope?"

Hope flushed. "Oh… uh… thanks a lot, Fang. It's really nice of you to give us these."

Fang laughed and reached over to ruffle Hope's hair. He scowled, but made no move to shrug her off. After all, she had just given them noodles. "Don't mention it, kid."

Fang ate dinner with them, even going so far as to share some chocolate that she had for dessert. It was the best that Nora and Hope had eaten for weeks, and as grateful as she was, Nora was very curious as to why Fang was being so nice. She didn't think that Fang had an ulterior motive. Fang looked like she could take care of herself, and they didn't have anything she needed unless she was looking for a new car.

Nora couldn't be sure what it was, but after noticing how Fang's gaze kept going back and forth between her and Hope she had a few ideas. She waited until Hope went off to their car to sleep before she decided to ask Fang about it. The two of them were sitting on the hood of the car, each with their shotgun within easy reach in case the Infected came.

"Why did you share your food with us, Fang?" Nora asked softly, turning to watch Fang's face. "And don't say it's because the food was about to expire. It wasn't."

Fang's eyes widened for a moment and then she laughed softly. "I must really be losing it." She glanced over to where Hope was sleeping. "The truth is… I have a sister. That's why I'm going to Eden City. She attends the university there." Nora noticed that Fang used the present tense for everything, but she didn't quite have the heart to correct her. Eden City was dead, along with everyone in it. "I'm a little worried about her. She's tough, but she can be a little silly sometimes, you know, play around a bit too much. If someone ran into her the way I ran into you two, I'd like to think they'd help her, not just leave her behind." She dragged in a deep, deep breath and ran one hand over her face. "You two remind me a little of the way we used to be. Hope looks at you like you can make everything okay, and she always used to look at me like that." She shook her head slowly and scratched at the cut on her arm. "I don't know if I can make this okay."

Nora put one arm around Fang. They were strangers, yet at the same time, she felt like they were very close. "It's hard sometimes. Hope thinks we'll be okay because we've got each other, but I just don't know. There's so little left in the world, and I'm not cut out for this kind of thing."

Fang patted Nora's back. "You're his mother. You're cut for anything if it means keeping him safe." She stared out into the darkness beyond the firelight. "I used to be a park ranger, so I'm pretty good at all of this survival stuff. The thing is, I don't really think I'm much of a sister."

Nora shook her head. "That's not true. You've gotten this far, haven't you?"

"I suppose I have." Fang looked at Nora. "Say, where were you when all this started?"

Nora bit her lip. Part of her wanted to lie, but looking into Fang's eyes, she just couldn't. "We were in Eden City when it all started."

Fang's eyes lit up. "How as it? They had to have a lot of Sanctum Security there, right?"

Nora closed her eyes. Hands clenched into fists, she told Fang everything that had happened in those last few horrible hours before they'd gotten out of Eden City. She told her about all the smoke she'd seen as Eden City had burned. When she was done, Fang was still smiling, but it was the most fragile smile that Nora had ever seen.

"What are you going to do now?" Nora asked softly.

Fang looked up at the sky, but Nora could see faint traces of moisture gather at the corners of her eyes. "What else? I'm going to go anyway. I… I need to know for sure. Maybe… maybe it's a waste of time, and maybe I'll get killed, but if Vanille isn't around then… then I'm not sure there's a point in me being around either." She ran one hand through her hair. "You think she's dead, don't you? But if it were Hope… if it were Hope, you'd try wouldn't you, no matter how crazy it seemed?"

Nora looked away, giving Fang the time she needed to wipe away any trace of tears. "I would, even if every person I ran into told me I was crazy." She thought of Bart and her heart clenched. The only reason she hadn't gone back to look for him was Hope. She wouldn't risk dragging her son into what had to be a city absolutely crawling with Infected. If it had been just herself that she was risking, she wouldn't even have thought twice before trying.

Fang got to her feet. "I think I might turn in for the night." She walked back to her car and then stopped to look over her shoulder. "You know, Nora. If things had been different, I think we might have been pretty good friends."

"I think so too," Nora said, unable to shake the feeling that Fang was saying goodbye, and not just because she was headed in the opposite direction.

X X X

The next morning, when Nora woke up, Fang was already gone. However, right next to their car was a cardboard box full of food. On the top was a small note: it was going to expire anyway. Laughing softly, Nora lifted up a can of soup. The expiry date wasn't for at least another year.

"Good luck, Fang," Nora murmured. "Whether your sister is alive or not – and I hope with everything I have that she is – she's damn lucky to have a sister like you."

The world might have gone to pieces, but there were still good people in it.

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off of this.

When I first started thinking about this chapter, I really didn't plan on having Nora and Fang interact all that much. My original aim was to focus much more on the standoff situation that occurred to try and get into the characters' heads a bit more. Months on the road alone are bound to produce some degree of paranoia, which would make any meeting between survivors quite volatile. However, as I was writing things, it occurred to me that in this case, Nora and Fang actually have quite a lot in common, so I decided to go for a slightly different angle. I can only hope it worked.

Both Fang and Nora are working to protect something. The difference is that Nora already has Hope with her. Fang, however, has to push on without even knowing if the person she wants to protect is even alive. Fang and Nora also both have things they very much regret. In Fang's case, it's not being with Vanille when everything went bad, whereas for Nora, it's basically abandoning Bart so that she can keep Hope safe.

The other issues that I mention in this chapter, such as the survivors turning on one another are, I think, quite plausible. Certainly, almost every piece of fiction concerning a zombie apocalypse or disease apocalypse has at least one scene in which two groups of survivors turn on each other due to paranoia or a break down of morality even though any objective outsider could see that working together would be better. The end of the world has a tendency to bring out both the very best and the very worst in people.

On an unrelated note, this chapter has to hold the record for shortest first draft ever, relative to final chapter size. The original first draft was only nineteen hundred or so words long, making this final draft more than two and a half times longer. Funnily enough, almost all of the major points were present in that first draft, albeit in a very rough, skeletal form.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.