Chapter 2

Where Are You

The next morning I awoke to find some of the group already awake and busy. I turned to wake up Sharon, but I knew she probably wouldn't be up until the last possible second, no matter what we did, so I went over to say good morning to the others.

Around 7 or 8, I tried to get everyone into a single group so we could figure out what we were going to do next. I also tried to figure out our inventory. "Ok, I have some extra shotguns and rifles. If anyone needs them, speak up now, but we have limited ammo and we need to use them only when we don't have much of a choice. Only take one if you're certain you're going to need it. Ok?"

Maxwell raised his hand. "Can I have one of each?"

I turned and gave him a mock-glare, then handed the guns over. "Anyone else? Bella, Kevin, you guys aren't armed, why don't you take some?" They both nodded. I gave the shotgun to Bella and the rifle to Kevin. Then I handed them all some bullets.

"Ok, who else has a gun already?" Pablo laid out his shotgun, his SMG, and dug 2 pistols out of his backpack. Maria took out her shotgun and laid it next to his. Julia held up her pistol, making sure the safety was on. "I think everyone has ammo. What about food? I have some granola bars and about… 1000 ml of water. Anyone else?"

Sharon held up her bag. "I have Mountain Dew! I love the stuff, but I'm also willing to share, if I need to…"

Pablo took out some chips and a pretty large water bottle. "I picked these up on my way out of Montgomery County. Maria got some stuff too."

Julia spoke up next. "I have… around 10 bars of chocolate. Maybe more." A lot of people smiled at that.

I looked around the group. That seemed to be it, so I made a mental note to grab more food whenever possible. "Ok, how about tools? I have a first aid kit and some flint for starting fires, but that's about it…"

Sharon held up her axe, and Maria took out her machete. Maxwell took out his 3DS and said, "Does this count?" I gave him another fake glare and kept moving my gaze around the camp. The only others with tools were Miguel and Rachel; they had both brought knives. Miguel had brought a practical hunting knife, while Rachel had a more ornate blade, almost like a dagger. Miguel had also brought a slingshot.

I took a note of all this as well, and then decided to move on. "Ok, so what should our next move be? My Uncle has a farm over in Virginia, so I was thinking we could go there. It's pretty close to the Appalachian Trail, and it would only take us about three days to get there… does anyone else have a suggestion? Or should we just go with that?" Everyone seemed to agree with going to the farm. I was a bit surprised at that, but just went along with it.

I took a bit to process everything. While I did, Miguel got up and said, "I'm going to get my stuff together. Let me know when we're gonna get going." Everyone else seemed to agree with him, so we all got up to get our stuff together.

As they got ready, I went over to the side of the camp and got out my phone. I sent a quick text to some of my friends from out of state:

Gathered group, heading for a farm on Leeds Manor Rd, Delaplane, VA 20144. Should arrive in around 3 days.

Once I had sent it, I headed back and put on my backpack. Everyone else was ready, so we headed out for the Appalachian Trail.

As we walked, the area stayed pretty much the same. The land was pretty rural, dotted with farms and one or two roads. Unfortunately, the longer we went, the more roads we had to cross. For the most part, we just stayed under cover as long as we could, and then crossed the road when we felt it was safe.

We had done this enough that it became routine before the world decided to throw us a curveball. We were about to cross a road when Rachel pointed something out.

"Guys, there's someone down there. They look pretty lost, also maybe like they're wounded. Should we check it out, or is it too risky?" We all came over to see what she was talking about.

Pablo approached me. "What do you think? I could head down there with you, just in case."

I nodded. "Yeah. That sounds like a good idea." He motioned for the others to stay back, and we made our way downhill to the side of the road.

From afar, it was hard to tell if the figure was a walker or a normal person. We didn't want to accidentally shoot someone who was still alive, so we tried to get as close in as safely possible.

Once we were about 20 feet away, we were pretty sure whoever it was wasn't alive anymore. We could smell the stench of decay coming off it in waves, and its skin was pale and torn like tissue paper. I heard Pablo turn off the safeties on both his pistols. "Hey! Anyone alive over there?"

We got a definitive answer, but it wasn't composed of words. The zombie growled and shuffled towards us. For a horrifying moment I felt the urge to run, because I knew that it was really there, it was coming for me. Then I heard a bang and a crimson dot appeared on its forehead.

I numbly nodded my thanks to Pablo, and we walked back towards the group. Once we got there, I had finally oriented myself enough to speak up. "We need to move. Gunshots can be heard from pretty far away, so it's probably not a good idea to stick around."

We kept walking for the rest of the day, and thankfully nothing else really happened. Despite the grim circumstances, it was kind of nice to explore and see new places. We made pretty good time following the maps I brought.

It was getting darker by the time we got to the trail. Maxwell pointed out that we should probably find shelter for the night. I agreed and we decided to check out one of the houses nearby. I decided to take Pablo, Julia, and Bella along with me, seeing as they all had short-range guns. I had the others stay back and cover us from the windows with rifles.

We moved into the nearest house, which looked deserted. We made sure to check our corners, coming in the front door to find two hallways and a flight of stairs. Pablo and I took the upper floor, while Julia and her sister searched the ground floor.

Once we got upstairs, we found two bedrooms and a bathroom. There were no people as far as we could see, and not many supplies to take with us. There weren't any walkers either. It seemed to be just about deserted. Then we heard Julia calling up the stairs to us.

We came down to find her and Bella standing next to a cellar door. Bella moved to open it, while Pablo, Julia and I covered her.

The door opened with a long, high-pitched creak. A small set of steps lead down into the darkness. Julia was closest, so she went in first, and I followed while Pablo stayed behind with Bella to cover the entrance.

I kept my shotgun raised as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. That was when we saw the two figures that were down there with us. I held my shotgun a bit more tightly as they came closer, and I could tell Julia was about to shoot.

That's when one of them spoke up. "Don't shoot! We're living!" The man stepped toward what little light there was and held up his hand. I slowly lowered the gun, and Julia did the same. We introduced ourselves as well, and then the man followed suit. "My name is Garth, and this is my wife, Tara. We were living here when things started to go south, so we decided it would be best to hide out in the cellar. Most of our food is down here, so…"

I nodded. "Look, I know this is asking a lot, but can we sleep here tonight? We would feel a lot better with some shelter, and we could use some food too."

Garth thought about it for a bit. We waited patiently, although it was hard not to fidget. The sun was getting closer and closer to the horizon. Finally, he nodded. "Fine. But only one night, and if anything goes wrong you keep the cellar door closed, understand? I don't want to take any risks."

It seemed pretty reasonable, so I agreed to his terms. We went back up the steps and carefully closed the door behind us, then went back outside to join the rest of the group. Julia and I quickly explained the situation to the rest of the group. We agreed to stay in the bedrooms on the upper floor, men in one and women in the other. Soon darkness came, and we set watches again, one for each room we were using. The doors were locked, and we kept the cellar door closed.

Late into the night, I felt someone shaking me awake. I was Maxwell; he put a finger to his lips, the gestured for me to follow him over to the window. Once there, he pointed outside the window, handing me his rifle and indicating the scope attached to it.

I looked out the window. There was a solitary figure roaming the field beyond. I looked through the scope, although even without it I was fairly certain what it was. I saw its face in the moonlight, half-rotten, covered in pustules and papules. I turned to Maxwell.

"I didn't want to shoot it, because it will attract others, but I'm not sure if we can just leave it. What if it comes closer?" He whispered.

I sat and thought for a second. "We can't really help it. Besides, the door is locked. I don't think one walker could break in on it's own." I whispered back. "I think I can take over now. I'll make sure it doesn't get any closer; you make sure to get some sleep." He seemed hesitant, but nodded. He went off to rest. I sat and watched the walker until it roamed out of sight. I kept watching, until eventually I found myself watching the sunrise. I couldn't bring myself to sleep. Despite how well I had slept the last night, for some reason I was scared of what I would find when I closed my eyes.

Once people started waking up, we headed downstairs to get ready to take the trail the rest of the way to the farm. Julia, Bella, Pablo and I went down into the cellar to tell Garth and Tara.

"Would you like to come with us?" Pablo offered.

They considered this, but then looked to each other and shook their heads. "It will probably be safest if we stay here. We wish you luck though. And you can take some potatoes, too. We don't have much to spare, but…" Tara paused with a sigh. "At a time like this, we all need as much help as we can get."

We all nodded and thanked them, wishing them well as we went back up to join the others. Within the hour, we had gotten our supplies together and started hiking up the trail.

The trail started out very smooth and flat, almost like a sidewalk without pavement. That changed within a few miles, though; soon we found ourselves on slightly more rough terrain, dotted with hills and sections of trail that wound up the mountains and back down again. We saw very few walkers, and when we did they were pretty far away from us, so we moved along without incident. We walked for miles, and soon we were all pretty tired. Thankfully, the trail was also connected to different campsites all over the state, so we caught a break every once and a while searching them.

Around noon, we came to one that seemed particularly interesting. The fire was still going, and there was what looked like an oddly shaped log in the pit. As we got closer, we realized it was a charred corpse, most likely a zombie that had been caught in the fire as it shambled about the camp. We heard shuffling around us and raised our weapons.

Walkers started pouring out of the tents around us. I readied my shotgun and yelled for everyone to stay together. Next to me, Sharon raised her axe, and Pablo and Maria took aim at the undead nearest to them.

Within seconds the zombies were uncomfortably close, and I pulled the trigger. A former camper with a backpack caught around its leg fell to the ground, half it's head shattered from the shot. Pablo let loose with his SMG, tearing through the five approaching him. Maria took out a sixth with a well-placed shot.

I reloaded and fired on another one as I glanced to the other side. I could see Julia in front of Kevin, shooting down any walkers that dared to get close to him with her pistol. He was taking aim behind her, but between her and Bella, who was watching their flank, he probably could have just stood there and remained safe.

Miguel and Rachel hung back and covered the rear. The zombies were almost exclusively coming from the tents directly ahead of us, but they didn't have any long-range weapons except for Miguel's slingshot, so it seemed like the best place for them to be.

I kept firing into the mass of rotting flesh ahead of us. The kickback from the shotgun was more than a little forceful, but I had built up a surprising amount of muscle working in the hospital, lifting patients and boxes of supplies. They were getting a little close to us, but thankfully that meant I rarely missed. We kept firing, and then suddenly it was over.

I stood breathless among my friends and the fallen corpses. I finally lowered the shotgun, but kept it ready in case there were any more. "We should check this camp quickly; there may be more soon. Keep an eye out for any we missed. We should meet up here in about five minutes. Also, everyone grab a sleeping bag. They should be useful." Most of them nodded and moved off towards the tents.

Julia came up to me with a worried look on her face. "We can't find Po; he must have run off during the fight. Kevin, Bella and I are going to go look for him."

I nodded. "Ok, but be back here soon, ok? I may come help you look in a bit if I can." She nodded back to me, and we went our separate ways.

The adrenaline was starting to work its way out of my system, and I was starting to shake. I went over to Sharon, and she held out her hand. I took it as we walked over to one of the tents. It felt so good to have her with me, to feel her warm skin against mine. For just a moment, things felt as they once had, like everything was going to be ok. Like I was finally warm, and safe, and loved.

We entered a medium-sized tent and started searching. I started looking through a bag in the corner, while Sharon went straight for a sleeping bag in the center. We unzipped our respective bags, and then I heard her scream.

I turned around.

There was a walker halfway out of the sleeping bag now.

It had its arms around her and its jaws latched around her neck.

I raised my shotgun and pulled the trigger. Then I reloaded and fired again. And again. I knew it was too late, though. I could already smell her sweet scent disappearing, being replaced by the stench of decay. On some level I was aware of the people coming into the tent, but I had no idea who, and I really didn't care. I ran over to her as fast as I could. Her eyes were wide and blank, and though I could see that beautiful shade of green that I loved so dearly, the light in them that I loved even more was fast receding. "NO! Sharon, get up! I need you; I need you to get up! SHARON!" I grabbed my medical kit out of my backpack and took out some gauze and antiseptic. I would have gotten gloves too, but at the moment I didn't really care about standard precautions. I poured some antiseptic on the gauze and pressed it tightly against her neck. She normally would have recoiled from the pain, but instead she just lay there, completely silent. She was bleeding out way too quickly, but I still had to try, I had to do something. She couldn't die, not like this.

"Sharon, my love, look at me. Look at me. It's going to be ok. It's going to be ok. I need it to be ok. Your freshman is here. I'm going to take care of you, like you took care of me, just hang in there for me. I need you to hang in there, because I can't make it without you, I don't ever want to live in a world without you in it!" I heard her make a slight sound, but I couldn't tell if she was acknowledging my presence or just trying to breath. Either way, she was failing. I could feel tears flowing down my cheeks. I bound the gauze in place, then took off my glasses so they wouldn't slip and started CPR, trying to get her to breath again.

Giving breaths isn't supposed to be like a kiss. Ideally, you would have a barrier device between your mouth and theirs to prevent infection. It is by no means supposed to be an intimate action. But neither is it supposed to be something you do on a loved on. This was an exception. As I tried to force air into her lungs, I sent with it all the love I had in my body. So many clichéd stories talked about the healing power of love. I prayed with all my heart that just once, the cliché would be true. Then I started a round of 30 compressions, trying to push hard and get her heart to beat, I needed to feel it beat against mine again. Once I was done the compressions, I started over again.

I was supposed to be counting how many cycles I did. But I couldn't, all I could focus on was her, the feel of her skin, the color of her eyes staring blankly out at me. I had no idea how many cycles I did. All I knew was eventually I couldn't keep going. Only when I literally couldn't move my arms anymore did I lie down next to her and break. The woman I loved was gone, and I didn't know where she was.

Eventually I realized Pablo over me, talking to me. "Dude, we need to get going. This place is going to be crawling with walkers soon. We need to get our stuff together and leave, now!" I stared as blankly at him as Sharon had stared at me. Then I got up and went outside. I silently pulled the charred corpse out of the fire pit as the others watched me. Once it was out, I went back into the tent and started dragging Sharon out of the tent.

About halfway to the pit, she moved. I almost dared to hope that it was still her, that the woman I loved was still there. But I looked into her eyes, and the light was gone entirely this time. But still her arms twitched, and her jaw tightened and relaxed rhythmically. I gently laid her down and took out my shotgun, and held it to her forehead with one hand. I knew what would happen, but I didn't care anymore. I pulled the trigger.

I knew the gun would be knocked out of my hand by the kickback. I knew the bullet would shatter through that beautiful face that I so loved to look upon. And the whole time I had known her, I had known. I had known that we could never have belonged to each other, seen that future that I longed for above all else.

I numbly dragged her the rest of the way to the fire pit. Some may have considered it disrespectful, but I considered funeral pyres to be honorable, and we had no time to bury her. The body caught fire quickly, and I found it somehow fitting that such a bright soul leave this world in flame as opposed to rotting in the dark underground.

We left the camp soon after. We had no choice; walkers were already coming in closer, and three had reached the camp by the time we left. We practically ran down the trail, trying to get away from the nightmare. I didn't think, I just kept moving. As night fell, we found another camp on the side of the trail. This one had an office, and we decided to stay there for the night. There were no walkers inside, yet I couldn't feel safe, even as I drifted off from exhaustion.