C6

I death-gripped the branch as I awoke with a start, half-twisting over as I briefly overcompensated. I rallied however, regaining my balance as I steadied my breathing. I could see one of the walkers a few hundred feet off but it hadn't heard my brief struggle.

It was lighter than last I knew, whenever that was. I'd intended to stay awake until past dawn to make sure I didn't miss them coming back but my exhausted body must have had other ideas. And even after that nap I could still feel the effect of my earlier exertions. Every part of me seemed to ache. My bones from sleeping on branches twice in a row, my muscles from all the running and biking and fighting, and stomach from extreme hunger. It had been less apparent when I was dehydrated but now I was more than ready for peanut butter even if I didn't have anything to go with it.

I pressed my limbs back into service as I went down to a lower branch to grab the jar. Not seeing much worth in climbing back up for the moment I sat down to eat, legs straddling the thicker branch with the jar opened in front of me. I pulled the brown blanket around myself a bit tighter as the misty wind licked at my skin but other than that the entirety of my focus was on my meal. After nothing to eat for who knew how long it tasted as good as fresh sauteed lobster. Bit sweeter than I preferred but I wasn't in a position to be picky.

I didn't stuff too much in my mouth before my long-empty stomach felt full. It suggested that food insecurity was more of a pattern than a single occurrence for this girl I now was. Sadly if this was anything like my own America then it was quite possible that was a pre-apocalypse condition.

I pondered the United States as I washed down the sticky salty peanut butter. I couldn't be sure this actually was another world. Perhaps I'd died and reincarnated as a girl ten to twelve years ago and memories of my past life awakened in a time of great need, say, when trapped alone in a forest full of zombies. If that were true it was a bit odd that I didn't remember her life as well but perhaps some trauma was blocking it, though perhaps not completely. I'd had a couple instances of deja vu and that man I'd sort of saved last night felt slightly more familiar to me than he should have after only knowing him for twenty minutes.

It was a theory but it didn't ring true. I wasn't sure whether Hillary or Trump won, but I couldn't imagine either one screwing up things quite this badly. Mass cancer from polluted air and frakked up water maybe with no affordable healthcare to help the victims and not to mention Florida was probably underwater but zombies… no.

Besides, unless 99.9% of the population was killed by a virus (which, alas was possible if someone defunded CDC like they tried to do a few years back) the US military would make short work of the shambling undead I'd seen thus far. A single four-man squad of Green Berets could kill thousands every month if properly supplied with ammo, a couple dozen a day if they were limited to knives and whatever spike/fire/rope traps they could put together. Many a citizen and politician said America was the greatest country on Earth. It was a statement fallacious in many ways, but it was true that our military could invade Hell and probably win.

My head jerked towards a new sound. The road was raised well above the surrounding area, I couldn't quite see what was coming. Stowing the strangely sweet peanut butter I climbed up a few branches for a better vantage point.

It was a small clunker, rolling to a stop. In the light of day it was apparent that it was no older in design than most of the other cars crashed on the highway - yet another sign that this was not in fact the future. I was tempted to run out immediately but it wasn't the man from before. He was about the same age but a bit wider, though with similar muscles. Brown hair, slight beard, and if I wasn't mistaken from the distance a touch of the crazy eyes.

"Sophia?" he called, louder than was wise. He peered into the car I was meant to hide in. "Sophia are you here?" I winced as the not-as-distant-as-preferred zombie turned his way. Screw it, even if he had crazy eyes he was friendlier than the locals.

"I'm on my way," I called back, hurrying down down the tree. Not eager to waste time I left the food and water behind. Hopefully they weren't low enough on supplies that I'd be reprimanded for the waste.

To my surprise he was holding a gun on me when I came up the road bank. I slowly lifted my hands. A few pieces of vine dropped off me and I realized I should have at least kept the blanket for modesty. I didn't have much of anything to show but the vine coverage was getting dicey nonetheless and likely made me look a bit wild. "Easy now," I said. He definitely had crazy eyes. And while the previous man had a military air, this one struck me as more a violent crooked sheriff type.

"Sophia?" I wasn't fond of speaking lies or half-truths so I just nodded. "Your voice sounded different." I sighed inwardly. My accent struck again. Thankfully he lowered his gun anyways like he should have done to begin with. Even if I sounded different, how many people could share the same face post-apocalypse anyways. Well, unless I had an evil twin or something.

"Here," he said, turning his eyes away as he handed me his jacket. The last time someone did that for me things ended quite poorly but I glanced around and the coast was still clear. I could hear the shambler from before but it was still a bit off. He didn't seem to hear it, possibly part deaf from firing guns without hearing equipment. Either that or he was inured to danger.

I'd barely put on the massive jacket when he grabbed me into a tight sweaty hug. My skin crawled and I wanted to push him away or kick him in the balls but I was very cognizant that he still had a loaded gun. I wasn't even sure why it bothered me so much considering what I'd endured on the campaign trail but I focused on his jacket instead.

It was an incredibly stupid jacket, I decided. Even ignoring the stench, I couldn't think of any reason why he'd wear it except for some foolish sense of fashion. The material was far too thin to provide serious protection against zombie bites but was stifling in the day's heat. The only thing it had been good for was covering up his sweat stains that he might not have had if he wasn't wearing a jacket.

"I'm so glad you're alive. I thought…" He choked up on emotion which freaked me out even more. "That doesn't matter now. Shane told me you helped him get back with the supplies that saved Carl. I can never thank you enough."

'You could thank me by letting me go,' I thought to myself. What I said instead was, "Can we get moving? There's a zombie coming up the bank."

"Zombie?" he asked, pulling away at last.

I was a bit dumbstruck. Was he kidding or did he really not know what a zombie was? "A…" I thought back to what the other man had called them. "A walker, it heard you shouting for me."

Rather than getting in the car and leaving he stepped to the edge of the road and fired, a small spray of blood and viscera shooting into the air from the zombie just out of sight. I rubbed my ringing ears. Thing was ungodly loud for just a handgun, or maybe my ears were just sensitive. Either way with my luck it had probably attracted one of the zombie packs roaming around. Thankfully it seemed like the man was thinking sensibly again and ushered me towards his car.

"Just a sec." I grabbed the remaining water bottle and two cans of soup from where I'd hid them under the broken car and rushed after him. When the motor started running and the A/C clicked on it felt like the worst was over.

I watched the scenery pass as he took the car at a moderate pace down the highway. It was beautiful enough now that I wasn't contending with the undead, peaceful even. It helped me keep my mind off the way having a man in close confines with me was giving me the heebee-jeebies, at least until he spoke. "Why'd you leave the hiding spot?" he asked. "I came back for you but you were just… gone."

"I don't know," I murmured. I really didn't have a clue, but I was growing worried. Why had Sophia run off? It might have been to escape zombies… or it might have been to escape him.

"You've got to listen to us adults if you want to survive, Sophia. Remember that."

We turned onto a long driveway. My tension grew as it went on and on until at last there were cows, horses, sheeps and goats in sight. Life at last, and beyond that a group of humans underneath a large maple tree. They came out to meet us as we rolled to a stop. I was barely out of the car before a middle-aged woman with a touch of gray in her hair swept me off my feet in a tight hug. I was flustered but something about her felt familiar, comfortable and safe even.

After another moment's consideration I hugged her back.