He looked over at Tom and began to sob. Tom’s face had blood trails coming down from a wound on his head. They thought the campsite was safe; they were wrong and it cost more lives.
Tom was having trouble focusing, he felt dizzy and his knees felt weak as he fell to the ground holding his weight up with his hands. Cal and Maxwell rushed to his side and reached out to help him up.
“I’m okay.” he said as the two pulled him back to his feet.
“We’re all exhausted.”
James handed Tom a bottle of water.
“Thanks.” he said.
He opened the bottle and quickly drank half; he had become dehydrated after losing blood from the injury on his head.
Behind them, Matt was pacing back and forth, his hands held behind his head. He couldn’t believe what had happened and how fast it happened. He tried to peer down the path to see the campsite. Landen handed him his binoculars. Matt looked through; a magnified scene of smoke and carnage, the infected screaming from within the burning lot. He handed the binoculars back to Landen and shook his head.
“There’s nothing left.” he said.
James tossed the duffle bag of supplies on the ground in front of the group. To them, this bag meant hope. It wasn’t much but it was enough to keep a small group like theirs going until they could find more supplies; they still had people and they still had weapons. Landen knew they still had a chance; James wouldn’t let them give up. Landen knelt down and unzipped the bag; he couldn’t believe how much stuff was inside. It was heavy; James strength was heightened from adrenaline when he knew what he had to do for his people.
“What’s all this?” Landen asked.
“I grabbed what I could. Food, water, flares, ammo, gas...we’ll need it.” James explained.
Landen half smiled and patted James on the shoulder, he was proud of his group; they had all been fighting so hard and had lost so much. What mattered most at that moment was finding the strength to move on and start new somewhere else.
“You had a life here.” said Emmi.
Even though she didn’t know anybody, she felt sorrow for the lives lost that night. Maybe if Landen and his group hadn’t stopped for her they would have made it back on time to help. She knew it wasn’t her fault but she couldn’t help but wonder what if.
“Thank you for saving me back there, I’ll just go on my way from here.” Emmi said.
She turned to walk back down the path to the highway; she could probably find somewhere to hide until morning. It was getting dark and being alone at night was dangerous. Emmi felt no fear; she held her knife in her hand with a tight grip. Sydney grabbed her arm to stop her.
“Please stay with us?” she said.
“I can’t. You guys have enough problems, you don’t need one more.” she said as she pulled away from Sydney.
“You’re one of us now, Emmi. You’re staying.” said Landen.
Emmi looked around; it seemed the entire group was looking at her in agreement. She felt a sigh of relief flow through her; as brave as she was, staying in good company was always the safer choice. She would stay but she would not stay for free; anything this group needed of her, she vowed to do. She felt she now owed them her life.
“We lost four of our people, five with Emmi’s recent loss; with eight of us, we can start over. We can rebuild and find others to make us strong once again. There are still places to hunt and scavenge along the way; there are still survivors out there.”
Landen looked at each and every one standing side by side on the path; he didn’t see the defeat everybody felt that night, he saw an army of survivors with fight still in their hearts. He wasn’t going to let them give up that easily. One mistake was one lesson learned. It was time to start over.
***
The new group stood in a line side by side holding hands with bowed heads; a sign of respect for those lost and a final goodbye to their home. Landen had lead a group to safety once before, in his mind his he would lead these people to safety; he would lead Maxwell to the cure.
To be continued.
About the Author
Canadian grown and raised in a small country town as a child, my imagination has always been a strong tool of mine. I loved reading, and still do, but I really loved writing; as far as I can remember when I learned how to write a sentence, I wrote things.
Creative writing has always been an interest of mine; I decided to create a new hobby of it – ebook style. My mind can sometimes bring me into worlds I never knew and I am happy to be able to share those worlds with all of you.
What made me decide to start writing short story books now, you ask? I got over a fear.
All my life I was told I couldn’t do this and I wasn’t good at that. I let myself believe it was true, I let the negativity become my reality. I couldn’t do it or I wasn’t good enough because somebody else said it. I finally called BULLY on it.
I proved people wrong time and time again. I had the support system of close family and friends I have met over the years as a blogger. I just did not see it. I did not see what others saw and it took a long time for me to find myself and find that true calling that was naturally already there all along. I decided to go for it, share my creativity with people who might actually appreciate it instead of rip it down.
I know, there will be critics but that’s fine. I can take it, I am a strong woman. Besides, having someone critique your work can truly open your eyes and make you see your work through someone else’s point of view.
Writing my stories is not a “get rich quick” scheme by any means, as long as somebody enjoys them that’s all that matters to me. My books are geared toward fantasy, supernatural and horror story fans. They are geared toward teenagers to adults, anyone who loves reading.
They say “every good idea has already been taken” but that is not true. I am not them and them me, my ideas are mine alone. My inspiration comes of supernatural, fantasy and horror movies, shows and books.
My first publishing comes in the form of a new zombie apocalyptic horror 2 book series called End of the World: Infected Part 1 (available for preorder now!) and End of the World: Infected Part 2 (coming soon).
Thank you to my early supporters, I hope you enjoy my books!
A.E.R. Kingsbury
Read more at A.E.R. Kingsbury’s site.
End of the World (Book 1): Infected Page 7