Ashley didn't think this through. No weapons, no rations, no map. She felt betrayed and she was worried about the people responsible for her feelings. Neither Kelly nor Gallo said goodbye. How could they just leave without consulting her knowing there's a chance she'd never see them again? Jay, Kevin and Kim she understood. Voight and them had a different dynamic. Ashley retreated to the nearest safe house to recover from the swim. Meanwhile she packed some food and water into a spare backpack and unlocked the safe. Inside was a handgun, box of ammo and pocketknife. The boats were gone and knowing how thorough Voight is the bikes were more than likely gone to. Ashley traveled on foot in the direction of the hillbilly group she had the pleasure of meeting in the mall. She remembered their base location from the sketch in the journal. She roughly knew where the scholars were located from stories Jay told her. Her plan was to find the hillbillies and convince them to go after the scholars. It was a long shot but from what she heard the scholars were huge and powerful. Her friends and family needed an army. The further she got from the island and surrounding area the more infected she saw. She hotwired the first motorcycle she saw in the street and drove it till the tank was empty. By then it was night, she cleared and barricaded a house. She ate a nut bar and slept for a couple hours. When she woke up the sun was just rising. She waited another hour before leaving the confines of that house heading further North. She passed a park with rusty statue people which resembled a landmark on the map. The Landmarks were the most memorable parts of the map.
On the interstate she turned on a car with the keys in the ignition and picked up a brick from a construction site on the highway. She propped the brick between the horn and seat. The car attracted the infected on the highway. A horde crowded around the car while she slipped off and hid in an RV. The door was open, she locked it and stabbed the driver in the head. He was infected and buckled in, she cleared the space and waited there a couple hours. She safely ran down the highway and got on the interstate where she hotwired another motorcycle laying in a ditch. The leather jacket owner was crawling to her and the bike with no lower body. She drove till the tank was empty and barricaded a hotdog place for the night. She would've been embarrassed if anyone saw her sleeping on the foam wiener costume. But she was able to find a funnel and tube to siphon gas there. She woke up and drained a few cars sitting in the parking lot for a full tank. She drove till the tank was empty and barricaded another house and room and slept till the next day.
She heard rustling outside the house and woke up. She peaked out of the opening in the boarded-up windows and saw a white man in an open plaid button up. He wore a white tee shirt underneath, jeans and boots. He was standing in the front yard from what she could make out. There was something furry at his feet. "I'm Mason, Mason Clover… you're inside debating on whether or not to kill me huh? I can understand that. You don't know me, and I don't know you. I'm here to introduce myself and offer you some food, water. I know you're in there because your bikes on the porch, and I saw you go inside last night. I would have introduced myself last night, but I didn't want to startle you. I was born and raised in this city. A couple months after everything happened my parents were infected. I was a freshman in high school during the outbreak. I'm twenty now, I've been surviving with my German shepherd, Charms. I'm going back to my place for breakfast and you're welcome to join us. Your choice, you can very well leave." Ashley left the room and climbed the stairs through the window in the hallway she could see the man and a dog walking to a gated property peeking through a cluster of trees. "BRING THE FUCKING FOOD HERE! AND IT BETTER BE PACKAGED AND I DON'T WANT YOUR WATER!" Ashley yelled through the window. Charms run back to the house, his tail was wagging and tongue sticking out just waiting to lick a stranger. Mason turned and stared at the window, he went through the gate and came back to the gate with MRES. "Boy!" Charms took the MRE in his mouth then ran to the house and pawed at the door. She went downstairs, moved what's blocking the door and cracked the door. She aimed the gun at Mason and Charms bolted inside. She shut the door, barricaded it and ran back upstairs. She opened the MRE on the ground below the window and started the heating pad process. "WHY IS YOUR DOG SO SMELLY?!" She asked, Charms growled, and she shoved her gun into his neck. He whined and she put it down to shove the remaining MRE in her backpack. "HE DOESN'T PARTICULARLY LIKE WATER!" Ashley opened the front door and Mason jumped up; he was sitting in the front yard eating. "Hey." He said. "Hey." She replied.