How long had it been since the outbreak? She wondered. Days, Weeks, Months? Melanie’s eyes focused on the repetitive scenery that blurred past the window, and she turned around in her seat with a jumpy movement, rooting through the pile of supplies in the back seat until she found a beat up rucksack.
“What’s up?”
[/b]Sarah-Richelle asked from the driver’s seat, glancing across at her friend.
“Nothing,”[/b] Melanie shook her head in dismissal of the question and pulled the bag into her lap. She unzipped it with hurried hands and the zipper stopped, stuck on a frayed piece of material. Melanie ripped at the stray strand in frustration and tugged the zipper harshly, forcing it the rest of the way down. She pushed the contents of the bag around, pulling out a torn shirt, an empty water bottle and a jewelry box before she her fingertips brushed against the leather exterior of a dairy. She pulled it out with a breath of relief and shoved it on the dashboard. Melanie didn’t bother to stuff the other things back into the bag and she pushed them down onto the floor around her ankles and threw the unzipped rucksack into the back.
“Uh…Mel,”[/b] Sarah-Richelle said and raised her eyebrows,
“What are you doing?”[/b]
“How long has it been? We were three weeks away from the midterm break right,” [/b]Mel asked briskly, reaching for the dairy and flicking through to April.
“Huh?” [/b]
“When the outbreak happened,” [/b]Mel said with an exasperated sigh, clearly frustrated by her friend’s slow uptake,
“it was three weeks before the midterm break. Right…”[/b]
“Um, I think so. What’s your point?” [/b]Mel’s roommate asked and shook her head, turning her attention back onto the road. The highway was littered with abandoned cars, blood splatters and things neither of them cared to identify. Their progress was slow, but they needed to head into the middle of the city. The duo had holed up in an abandoned house for the past few nights and their food and water supplies were running dangerously low. The two young women had stopped off at a local service station with the hopes of cleaning it out, but, by the looks of the broken glass and shattered shelves someone else had had the same idea. The two young women had had no other choice. They needed to raid a corner grocery store that which meant travelling closer to the city, than either of them really wanted to get..
“Yeah, I want to know what the date is,”[/b] Mel snorted and continued flicking through the diary, counting to seven on her fingers each time, before she turned the page. The brunette with wooden eyes was running through her memories, trying to account for each day that had passed. It had taken the two, a week and a half to reach Sarah-Richell’s house, and another two holed up in a house at the edge of suburbia. Sarah-Richelle had wanted to stay in the abandoned house for another week or so, waiting until their supplies ran out before moving on, but in a midnight lack of judgment, Mel had lit a candle on her way to the bathroom, too tired to really think much further ahead than putting on foot in front of the other. A hoard of walkers had stormed the house almost immediately and the two had barely escaped unbitten.
“Look,” [/b]Mel smiled and held the diary open, the month July shinning in the corner of the page,
“as of two days ago, I’m twenty one.” [/b]The younger of the two women said with what she hoped was a smile. Melanie hadn’t really figured out how to smile just yet. She tried to focus on the little things in life and enjoy joys as insignificant as the warmth of the sun on her skin, or the beauty of a butterfly as it flitted through the forest. It was better to take a break from the constant fear that hung over her head and forget, for just a moment about the horror’s that she saw laid out before her.
“Well,” [/b]Sarah-Richelle said, her voice laced with the slightest hints of amusement,
“How shall we celebrate? Wine and Cheese? Oh! How about some chocolate? I could go me some chocolate.” [/b]
“Oh my god, yes!” [/b]Mel exclaimed, throwing the diary over her shoulder and into the backseat,
“I could go for Cadbury chocolate. I can’t believe that you guys don’t have that over here. Seriously,” [/b]the car swerved off of the highway and down an off-ramp,
“you are missing out.” [/b]
Sarah-Richelle laughed, searching the buildings that rose up around them with a practiced eye. The streets were deserted. Their chances of surviving grew by the moment and Sarah-Richelle let out a steady breath,
“First thing I’m going when we get inside the store, is grab a bar of choco-”[/b]
Mel’s roommate was cut off by a horrific scream and the car slammed to a stop. Mel shot forward in her seat and felt the seatbelt tighten around her, bruises springing to life around the sudden constriction.
“That’s a survivor,” [/b]Melanie said in disbelief, turning to look at Sarah-Richelle with wide eyes. Neither young woman had seen, heard or even spoken to anyone but each other since the outbreak. The prospect that they weren’t the only two left in the City left them stunned; knowing that there were others out there and actually coming across them were two
very different things.
The car lurched forwards just as suddenly as it had stopped and the two raced in the direction of the screams. Sarah-Richelle took a corner too quickly and the car swiped the side of an expensive looking Bentley. The car alarm went off almost immediately and they sped forwards with renewed vigor. At the very least, the car alarm would distract the walkers.
The car skidded into the street, smoking twisting away from the tires and the scent of burnt rubber scorching their sense of smell. A few walkers at the back of the hoard turned to look at the two girls in the car. Their skin was grayed and cracking with disease. Pieces of flesh were torn from their bodies and they shuffled in that slow walk of theirs. A moan sounded from between multiple pairs of purple lips and before either young woman could fully process what was going on, walkers started streaming towards their car. Lucky for Melanie and the other survivor, Sarah-Richelle snapped into action. The car sped forwards, clipping a walker in the side and sending two over the bonnet.
“Get in!” [/b]Melanie screamed, as the car stopped again, her voice harried as she turned around in her seat and flicked open the back door. An empty water container and a ripped dress spilled out and onto the road, and she motioned the woman over again as even more distress touched her eyes. Walkers were drifting too close for comfort and three had placed themselves between the survivor and the car.
[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]
