When Time Runs Out

Chapter Two: Meeting and Departure

He could remember it clearly, the day he met Sasuke. He had been alone so long that he was beginning to think that there was no one else left. He was beginning to think that he should have just died with his parents.

He had long since lost track of time. It could have been two weeks. It could have been two months. He wasn't sure any more. All he knew was that he was alone, and he was running out of food.

Sure, he had guns, and a bow. He had knives. Did he know how to use them? Not really. He had only ever shot at empty beer cans in the backyard with his father. Not once had it crossed his mind that he might one day have to actually shoot something to survive.

He had rationed his food carefully. But apparently not carefully enough. He was down to a weeks worth of rations. If he was lucky.

He had been lucky enough to find a river after a few days of wandering, and he had been able to fill his water canteens then, but he had since drained them almost completely.

How much longer could he last like this, he wondered. How much longer could he evade the zombies? Probably not much longer.

Night had fallen and he had finally stopped wandering. He dropped the heavy bags he had been carrying at the foot of a tree, and slumped down beside them. Had it not been so cold, he probably would have just fallen asleep right then and there, but he couldn't help it.

The fire crackled merrily in front of him. He held out his hands in hopes of thawing them. As soon as the sun went down, all the warmth had been sucked out of the air, and this was all he had. He scowled at the fire. Why did it look so damned happy? Didn't it know what was going on? Didn't it know that the world had come to an end? Didn't it know that they were probably all that was left?

He smirked. Great. Now he was talking to a fire. That was good, Naruto. Now you're going crazy.

He wondered if it was the hunger or the exhaustion that was making him crazy. Probably the solitude.

For a while longer, he sat and stared at the fire. Remembering the day his father had taught him how to make a fire, he smiled. At least there was something he could relay in these dark times. At least there was happy memories!

He was finally drifting off into sleep in front of the fire when something rustled the bushes near by. At first he wasn't sure he heard it. And then he thought it might have been a bird. Nevertheless, he clenched the cold hilt of his knife in his fist. It sapped what little warmth he had managed to maintain out of his skin. He was just about to let down his guard when he heard it again.

He didn't even have time to react.

Something had jumped out of the bush and knocked him to the ground. His dagger went flying. His wrists we trapped under something heavy.

"Fuck!" he swore in shock. It was so dark, he couldn't see what was holding him down. He was fairly sure it wasn't one of those zombies. It had moved to fast. But it wasn't an animal either.

He felt a cold hand press up against his mouth.

"Are you stupid?" a husky voice hissed in his ear, "you're going to get us both killed if you aren't careful!"

"What do you mean?" he asked. His voice got muffled by the hand pressed to his face. "Who are you?"

"You are stupid!" the voice commented in awe. "How the fuck did you survive even this long?"

Naruto, fed up of being insulted and wanting a say, tried to push the boy off of him. He was too heavy and too strong. Naruto couldn't even budge him.

"Stop strug…ugh!" the boy cried out and jumped backwards off of Naruto. Naruto had licked the palm of the boy's hand. It had always worked before, why not now? His instincts had been right, and the boy recoiled immediately. Where he had landed, his face was cast into the light of the fire.

He looked to be in his early twenties, just like Naruto. A narrow, pale face with dark eyes. Black hair fell into his face, making his eyes look even darker. He looked hardened, and tired, but Naruto assumed he probably looked the same way. The end of the world will do that to you.

"I'm not alone…" he whispered.

"What?" the boy asked.

"Nothing."

"Okay, but seriously? Are you stupid?"

"What do you even mean?"

"Are. You. Stupid?" the boy asked again.

"No?"

"Well why have you lit such a huge fucking fire?" he asked, furious. "I could see you a mile off! And smell you even further! If you aren't careful, the walkers will notice you! It's amazing they haven't already!"

"Walkers?"

"Walkers, you dumbass! Those creatures that are killing everyone. The Walking dead!"

"I was just calling them zombies…"

"And you're an idiot!"

"Alright, I get it… I'm an idiot." Naruto had hardly known this guy for 15 minutes and he was already being insulted. Great way to start a friendship, he thought. "Let's start over. My name is Naruto."

The boy looked at him skeptically, like he couldn't believe in the middle of all the chaos that this idiot in front of him, the one who was stupid enough to lit a fire at night, was actually bothering with introductions.

"Sasuke," he grunted.

"Nice to meet you," Naruto replied with a smile, "Now tell me about yourself? Are you alone? Where did you come from?"

"Uh… yeah. I'm alone." Naruto could tell from the tone of his voice that he hadn't been alone for long. Probably since the first attacks, just like him. "For about a week and a half now. A walker got my parents and brother. I've been alone ever since. I've made my way from Chicago."

"huh…"

"What?"

"I was just thinking, it's strange how you can grow up in the same city as someone, and never cross paths with them."

"You from Chicago too?"

"Yeah, born and raised"

"You're right, that is strange," Sasuke commented.

"Where are you headed?"

"I've got some family in Seattle. I'm hoping they are still alive,"

"Seattle? That's a long way to go on foot."

"I was hoping that someone might have left a car along the way."

"Hell, you might even be able to hitchhike!"

"What makes you think that? Do you honestly think this was an isolated incident?" Sasuke asked.

"Wow… Mr. Doom and Gloom over here."

"Well, why do you have to be so damn optimistic?"

"Why not? What else have I got?"

Sasuke just stared at him. At this point there was nothing left to hope for, so might as well grasp what little he could.

"We never know," Naruto continued, "It may have just been Chicago. It may not have gone that far out west yet. We don't even know what it is!"

"Well if you can hope…"

"Can I come with you?" Naruto interrupted.

"Sorry?"

"Can I come with you? I've got no family left. My parents died the night we fled Chicago."

"I don't know, man," Sasuke faltered, "you're pretty fucking dumb. You'll probably get us killed."

"I've lasted this long,"

"It's honestly a miracle that you have," Sasuke commented.

"I can learn. I wont get in your way, and I wont get you killed."

"Fine." Naruto just beamed.

…

The camp was packed. Naruto sat in the passenger seat of the RV, with Sasuke behind the wheel. Behind them was the Jeep they had scavenged on their original trek from Chicago. A Silverado, it's box filled with jugs of water, came in third. Fourth came the van, packed full to the brim with tents and sleeping bags. Bringing up the rear was a small Honda Civic. They had collected the cars through a number of encounters. Some had been scavenged from the side of the road. Others had been brought into their possession by other members of the group. What ever the reason, they had a small convoy now. It wasn't easy fueling them up. With the amount of driving they had been doing lately, it was getting even tougher.

"We're moving out, over," Naruto said into the radio. He depressed the button and let the static fill the cab of the RV.

"Good to go in vehicle two, over," came Temari's voice.

"Same in vehicle three, over," came Kiba's.

"Yup on four," came Shino's voice.

"You're supposed to say over, over," Naruto reminded him through the radio.

"You're being stupid," Shino grumbled. The line went silent. The silence built over a few seconds then finally. "Over."

"We're good in five too! Over!" came Hinata's reply.

"Alright!" Naruto said, and the convoy rolled out.

0914 17-Oct-2015

This morning we left our camp with a little bit of tension rising. I guess that's to be expected. It's been so long in each other's company with fear running high. I have to say, I sort of agreed with Sasuke. It makes more sense to make one stop. We'd waste less fuel that way. But ultimately, a smaller town will have less walkers, theoretically. It should be safer to check the town first, then make our way into Vegas. We'll make camp tonight outside Boulder City. It's just five hours from there to Phoenix. Hopefully we can start finding answers there.

"Why do you write in that silly thing?" Sasuke asked, taking his eyes off the road to see what Naruto was doing.

"Keeping track?" Naruto answered with a question. He wasn't really sure why he did it. Did he hope that if he wrote it down, it would help make sense of his thoughts? Or maybe that one day someone would find his little notes, and understand what they went through. Maybe he hoped he would survive this ordeal. That some day he'd be telling the story of how they survived the end of the world.

"You're such an idiot," Sasuke laughed.

"You know, you keep saying that!" Naruto replied, closing his notebook and shoving it in the glove compartment. "I still don't believe it."

"I guess later I'll have to prove it to you," Sasuke answered with a wink.

"Whatever!" Naruto laughed, propping his feet up on the dash and watched the barren countryside speed passed.

A/N: alright. This is going to have short chapters. I'm not in the mood to write long ones XD anyways… hope you guys enjoy so far! Let me know what you think XD 3