THREE WEEKS LATER.

It wasn't often that Alice got nervous. Afraid, maybe. Angry, often. And yet, she found herself in anxious anticipation. After so much traveling, they were on the verge of reaching Safe Haven - and finding out if everything they'd lost and risked was worth it. They'd found obvious signs of people in the area, but that could mean anything.

They hadn't seen Holly's group since their encounter in the forest, and were constantly on-guard in case of a unexpected meeting, if they hadn't already lost them. Everyone was nervous about what they'd find. What they wouldn't. Thought swirled through her head, as she lie on her stomach atop a crimson-sheeted bed.

[Despite the fact that Safe Haven had always been a long shot, we really had no backup plan.]

"Hey," Greeted Riley, startling her, "You ready to keep moving?"

"Oh," She answered, putting her journal(one of many, following the others she'd already filled) down, "Yeah."

"The others are waiting."

Riley led her downstairs, where the rest of the group was waiting, in the living room of the house they were lodging in. They were all tired, some of them obviously didn't sleep the previous night, kept awake by the anticipation. They all had their weapons ready, marred by scars and dirt.

"Alright," Announced Dick, raising his voice above the others, "Looks like we're ready to go. Let's keep moving."

It didn't take long for the group to repeat the familiar routine of gathering their belongings, and walking out the front door. They started out on the road, heading further from the border of Colorado, which they'd passed a week back.

[After all the strange occurrences during our journey, Slade was the one who intrigued me the most. After all his talk about leaving the group, and his constant parading of his independence, he chose to stay. Maybe we rubbed off on him, maybe he just made a strange decision. Either way, I'm glad he stayed. The others quickly came to agree, as he helped us get through the journey more than anyone else.]

Alice kept her eyes on Lily, who was falling behind rapidly. She fell back with her, and did her best to keep her on track.

[And then there's Lily. She managed to keep his pregnancy a secret to everyone except me, doing her best to hide her exhaustion from the others. She wasn't ready for a journey like that, and she knew it. But, I still did what I could to cover for her. Frankly, it was all unnecessary in my opinion. But, she said she wasn't ready to tell the others, and I respected that.]

"You doing okay?" Asked Dick, falling back from the front to talk to Lily.

Lily nodded, panting heavily. The other began to notice, slowing their pace.

"Need a break?" He continued.

"No," Replied Lily brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face, "I'm good."

Dick opened his mouth, but was quickly interrupted by commotion from the others.

A few mutants had emerged from the brush, most of which were quickly dispatched by Riley, Lana and Abby.

One particular mutant advanced towards Slade. He signaled for the others to stand back, then lunged forward at the mutant, grabbing it by the shoulder and arm. He shot his leg behind it's, and jerked it backwards roughly, sending the mutant falling backwards onto it's back, where he quickly finished it with a few blows from his brass knuckles.

[Slade enjoyed showing off, and as mature as he was, he was still thirteen. It was kind of funny, to be honest.]

"We're gonna need more water if we want to keep this pace," Said Riley, turning to Dick, "Dick."

"Sound good," Replied Dick, "You and Alice go west of the road, where we found the creek from yesterday. With a little luck, it should still be here this far up the road."

Riley nodded, quickly venturing into the forest with Alice.

[Dick had quickly fit into a leadership position in the group, no longer afraid to give commands. I liked it that way, and the others did too.]


It took a bit less than expected to find the creek, and Alice and Riley had their bottles re-filled before the end of the hour. The creek was deeper than she'd expected, with small fish occasionally swimming into view. Rocks were half-submerged in the water, some bigger than others. The peaceful scene was accented by the autumn-leaved trees surrounding the creek, and the dim sight of mountains in the distance. It was serene, but she was anxious to leave and get on their way.

"Let's get going," Suggested Alice, grabbing Riley by the arm, stopping him from walking away, "We can't spend too much time here."

"Lighten up, will ya?" Replied Riley playfully, "Let's explore a little, we've got plenty of time."

Dropping his backpack, he grabbed her by the hand, and tugged her forward, to explore further down the creek. She pulled away, but reluctantly followed him nonetheless, leaving her backpack with his.

"C'mon," He encouraged, jumping from half-submerged rock to another gleefully, "It'll be fun."

[I hadn't done anything like that since the cabins, and it was refreshing to have some fun for once. It distracted us from the hunger. From the exhaustion. From everything.]

Alice had to work hard to keep up with Riley, as he nonchalantly jumped from rock to rock, exploring the creek thoroughly. Just as he began to outrun her further, he stopped dead in his tracks.

He was standing on the edge of a small ledge, a miniature waterfall flowing beneath his feet, above a particularly large pool of water.

"Alice," Said Riley excitedly, turning around, "You've got to see this!"

She quickly caught up with him, and saw what he was admiring.

The ledge was about five feet tall, overlooking a pool of water. The pool was far deeper than any other areas of the creek, being at least ten feet deep in some parts, from what she could see.

"You wanna jump?" Asked Riley.

"Are you serious?" She replied nervously.

"It's perfect for swimming, we might as well." His voice became more immature and excited.

"Hell no. No way."

"Why not?" He gave her a quizzical look.

"I dunno," She replied, blushing nervously, "I guess I just don't like deep water."

"You mean you're afraid of it?"

"Well, n-...Yeah, I guess."

[Not really sure what it was about deep water that freaked me out. My biggest fear had always been crocodiles, and any deep water outside of a pool terrified me. I knew it wasn't logical, but it freaked me out nonetheless.]

"It's just water," Said Riley, "You'll be fine. Just jump in. I'll do it with you."

Looking down at the clear yet dark water, Alice quickly made up her mind.

"Let's just go back to the others, they're waiting for us."

"C'mon, how often do you get opportunities like this? The others'll be fine."

"I'm not jumping." Alice's voice was stern.

"Is that so?" Questioned Riley, a devious grin spreading across his face.

He reached out, lightning fast, grabbed her by the hand, and prepared to jump in with her.

"Don't you fucking dare Riley, I swear to g-" Alice tried to protest, but he had already jumped over the ledge, taking her with him.

She screamed, Riley clearly enjoying her fright. Then, she hit the water. The water was refreshing, but cold. As soon as she hit the water, she scrambled to stand, only to find that the water was too deep. Riley was laughing, wiping the water off his face, and swimming around playfully.

"See?" He teased, "It's not that bad!"

As much as she longed to drown Riley in the moment, her priority was to get out of the water. Fast. She quickly swam to the shore, the wilderness breeze causing her to shiver as soon as she exited. Riley followed, laughing uncontrollably the entire time, and joined her on the shore.

"You gotta admit, that was at least a little fun, right?" He joked, his eyes bright.

He could tell by the look on her face that she wasn't amused.

"I...am going to murder you."


Dick sat with the others by the side of the road, waiting for Riley and Alice to get back. It was getting colder out, as they moved further into Colorado, and the middle of fall approached.

As little support as he gave it in the first place, he regretted leaving the cabins. But, there he was, on the verge of finding whether leaving was worth it. He wanted to find other survivors, and live in something more than a few log stacks in the mountains, but going to Colorado wasn't the way to do it, in his opinion.

After all, although they'd found signs of people in the area, it still didn't sit well with him. It was too risky. But, there was no going back at this point.

Lana scooted closer to him, grabbing his water bottle, and taking a swig.

"You got any ideas on how we're gonna find Safe Haven?" She asked, after placing the bottle down.

"We'll figure something out," He replied, taking a drink himself, "If they're really an open community, we shouldn't have any trouble finding them. Lily says they were supposed to be just near the border, from what she remembers hearing."

"So we just keep walking until we find something?"

"Yeah, basically."

Their conversation was abruptly interrupted by Riley and Alice emerging from the forest, having returned from the river.

"We found the river," Announced Riley, we filled up at least nineteen bottles, we shoulder be good, at least for a while."

"Why are you both wet?" Asked Abby, giving them a funny look.

Alice glared at Riley half-jokingly.

"Let's keep moving." Suggested Morales.

"Agreed." Said Dick, equipping his backpack, as Riley distributed the refilled bottles of water.


It had been hours. It felt like days. The straps on Alice's backpack felt like knives, digging into her shoulder, pulled down by the weight of her backpack. Her leg, although slightly healed(and supported by a walking stick), ached badly. It was obvious that she needed to rest it, even though her wound was only a bullet graze in the shin. However, her exhaustion quickly faded away, as she and the others gathered around the decayed corpse of a deer they'd found on the outskirts of the forest.

"Someone shot this with a rifle," Noted Slade, examining the dead body, "There must be hunters in the area...which means people."

"Hostile or friendly," He added, "That's the question."

"Only one way to find out," Said Dick, "You think you can track whoever did this?"

"Doubt it," Replied Slade, "This happened a while ago, at least a week. It's rained since then, so I doubt I'll be able to read any tracks."

"How about we search the forest a little? Chances are, whoever did this didn't go too far." Suggested Leo.

"Sounds like a plan," Agreed Dick, "Let's get going."

"Okay," Said Lana loudly, "Am I the only one who thinks this is a bad idea? We have absolutely no idea who these people are."

"I'm with her." Agreed Morales.

"We've come too far to stop now," Replied Dick, "We'll be cautious."

With that, Alice's group began to trek through the forest, keeping an eye out for anyone else in the area.


Abby did her best to concentrate on the matter at hand, to no avail. Her thoughts were preoccupied with her boyfriend. After being away from him for so long, she might finally find him again. They'd been separated long ago, and even the longshot chance of finding him at Safe Haven made her anxious.

His flirtatious hazel eyes and clean-cut face occupied her thoughts. She missed being able to fall asleep next to him, she missed the feeling of being safe, even in the ravaged world they lived in. She missed him.

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted, when she tripped over a small contraption on the ground, falling to the ground with a thud.

"You okay?" Asked Alice, approaching from behind.

"Yeah, fine."

Standing up and brushing herself off, Abby looked down at what had tripped her. It was a now-overturned cage, with several sticks and a string attached. Although it had been messed up by her foot, it was obvious that it was a hunter's trap.

"Looks like someone's been setting traps out here," Noted Slade, "This one was meant for smaller animals- squirrels, probably."

"How long you think it's been here?" Asked Lana.

"Hard to tell. Maybe hours, maybe days, maybe months."

"Guys." Said Riley, tapping on Alice's shoulder to get her attention.

"So you think someone experienced set the trap?" Asked Alice, ignoring Riley.

"Guys!" Riley persisted, trying to get their attention.

"What?" Exclaimed Abby, turning to him.

Riley was pointing at an object in the distance, vaguely outlined, but enshrouded by trees and bushes. A fence of some sort.

"Cmon!" Signaled Riley, running off towards the distant fence.


As Alice and Riley ran anxiously towards the border of the fence, she began to see things more clearly. Some sort of military-type car was inside the fence. The fence was damaged.

[As soon as I saw the fence, I knew it had to be Safe Haven. The military car confirmed things. We had reached the end of our journey to Colorado, for better or for worse.]

As she got closer, things began looking worse. Finally reaching the fence, and wrapping her fingers around the chain link, her heart dropped in her chest.

Destroyed tents. Scattered supplies. Several broken portions of the fence. Dead bodies...some walking, some completely dead. The military car was covered in blood, rusted and chipped.

Everything was gone.


Author's Note: Hey guys, thanks for reading, review if you can! A 1-10 rating is appreciated.

Reader-made OCs:

Leo - Created by Grimrephr

Abby - Created by The Internet Sass Queen

Next Chapter: Alice's group sorts through the chaos of their situation, as a massive mutant horde charges through the area, putting everyone in danger.