I can still see the flash. I thought I was a goner but Owen had yelled from behind fast enough to realize what Caroline was doing. I jumped out of the way and heard Owen running towards her shooting his gun towards her. She was able to escape and that was the last time we'd seen her. She was gone.
It's been 5 months since that day and the group has gotten significantly smaller. We ended up at American University where we found it barricaded but eventually it was taken over. In our attempt to flee, our group had once again been separated. The group I'm with managed to escape into the woods of Maryland and are trying to make our way up to Boston. When we were on campus, someone had a crank radio. An SOS message was playing over and over again:
If there is anyone alive, there is safety in Boston. Please make it to Boston, we will protect you.
This message repeated constantly and all of us agreed that we would all make it up there no matter what happened.
So you're probably wondering who I'm with. We may have the same names but we're completely different people. The last 5 months have hardened us and I try to avoid reliving those last months although I'm sure it'll be inevitable sooner or later.
Let me first introduce myself, but you probably already know who I am. I'm JC. I'm a sophomore in college but came back to Bethesda to work for the summer and that's when it all started. I know I'll probably never go back to school but I'm kind of excited that we're all headed up to Boston. Over the last 5 months I've been the leader of our group, although several others have stepped up whenever we got separated. I met a man at American University who taught me to master the shotgun. Killing a zombie is now second nature.
Then there's Jiko. A long haired, mustached, Filipino marijuana aficionado, to put it lightly. Jiko has always been an integral part of the group. He's a sneaky little fucker and has always been able to pick locks, forage for food and help surveillance. His arsenal of knives, which he had way before the zombie outbreak, and his quick speed has made him a lethal weapon when it comes to melee weapons.
Sarah, a small Korean girl known for her high sense of fashion and cut throat attitude was the manager of our store before the zombie outbreak happened. After that, she revealed her amazing prowess with hand guns and assault rifles. She went to the range with her parents when she was younger and loved every minute. Sarah's quick wit and sharp tongue keeps the group grounded for sure.
Our oldest yet most centered and rational member of the group has always been Mel. Her ability with throwing knives and her speed has helped us out in many situations that looked impossible to escape. For example, last month we were running from a group of at least twenty of them and we dropped our ammo. Mel risked her life to retrieve the ammo while taking out at least half of the zombies by herself. But when we're not running away from those things, she's always the most diplomatic one especially when I'm arguing with our final group member.
He has always been quite irritating and he's not very good at any particular weapon. I swear if it wasn't for the rest of us, I'm sure he wouldn't have survived. Fine...maybe I'm being mean. Just a little. He's fine with melee weapons and does offer some good ideas but he's mostly irritating. David is the youngest in the group and his immaturity is evident.
You're probably wondering how he ended up with us aren't you? He wasn't with us months ago, where our story last left off but he did end up at American. Don't worry, there's plenty of time to explain that but when American University became zombie infested, he somehow managed to attach himself with us. I know Mel is very patient with him and trying to teach him knives while Sarah has him constantly on extra shifts of recon and guard duty. "I'm teaching him how to shoot." Would always be her excuse.
We're in the woods probably somewhere past Frederick, maybe even in Pennsylvania. I'm not sure any more but none of us have ever been that good at navigation. At this point we're just trying to go east by following the direction the sun rises.
"We hit New Jersey and we'll go up from there." Sarah said to Mel as they poured over a map. Jiko was busy sharpening his knives while I had David go get water for the camp. I was on guard duty but couldn't help wonder what may have happened to the rest of the group.
"We have to find them." I turned around and said. Sarah looked up at me with a blank stare.
"Seriously?" She said. "How do you propose we do that?"
"I don't know...but we've been together for so long, we can't just give up."
"All we know, everyone else is dead." She said.
"For all we know, they could be out there looking for us! And we're not doing anything about it." I said, growing irritated.
"Don't raise your voice at me." She got up.
"HEY! YOU TWO CALM DOWN." Mel said putting the map away and getting in between us. "There will be no fighting. We need to secure ourselves here tonight until the morning. We'll start moving again at first light."
"We don't even know where we are..." David said coming back with a pail of water, spilling a good amount on the way.
"Did you cover your tracks?" Mel asked him. His eyes grew wide as he cursed under his breath and ran back. She shook her head and came back to the group. "But for now, the sun is going down. We should get rest. JC, you got first watch. Jiko is next." Jiko looked up from checking the point of his knives. He just nodded to confirm and went back to sharpening his tools.
I couldn't help but think that we should be looking for our friends. I know it would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
"I'm sure we'll run into them. They heard the same message too." Mel said. I guess she noticed my worry. "Don't think about it too much. Only three hours and you'll get some sleep too." She went to help Sarah extinguish the fire, lest not to attract any zombies.
Later that night, towards the end of my shift, I couldn't help but start feeling a bit weary. My eyelids grew heavy as I tried to stay awake by looking out at one spot in the distance. I began to think that the spot in the distance was moving. And moving closer...
Suddenly I jolted when I realized that something was in fact moving our direction. I pumped my shotgun once and tried to squint my eyes to focus harder on the moving object. Waking up my group was supposed to be my next step but I didn't want to overreact before I knew what the object was.
It drew closer. The sweat from my hands forming a dew on my gun. My heart was beating so loud at this point I could hear it in my ears. It continued to move toward me...moving faster.
Only a moment later, I realized what it was. I tried to feel for someone's leg to wake them up but couldn't find them in my fright. "Crap..." I muttered under my breath as I pulled on the trigger, illuminating the night.
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