Chapter 25
Days Since Incident: 77
Time: 9:32
Place: Campsite
Climate: 35°F
The cold winter morning brought much relief from the stuffy, hot air inside the trucks. Despite the fact that the heater didn’t work in any of the vehicles, it had been overcrowded due to the arrival of Rayn and his group. The intense body heat made it feel like it was over 100 degrees.
Andrew and Sonya were the first to run through the open lot, followed shortly by Grae. They had been driving for a few hours, looking for anything that could be a “potential” home. It was by chance the group took the wrong turn, and ended up here.
The lot was roughly five acres wide, located by a side of a small mountain. The mountain acted as a barricade from the world; hiding the small secluded houses and buildings from sight. In Grae’s eyes, this reminded her of Alpine Ridge; a small private section on the far side of Mountainside, that had roughly around 30 homes.
The first thing they should’ve done was secure the area. Unfortunately, the rest of the group continued to file into the open lot, star-gazed.
Kris walked up to Grae, stretching her limbs. “This place doesn’t look so bad…” she said, as her eyes continued to inspect the area.
Grae nodded. “This place does need a lot of work though… There are a lot of abandoned things, and forestry that we would need to go through. Not to mention, we need to build a wall to protect ourselves. We need to talk this over.”
At that moment, Rayn and a few of his people were spotted walking around. Kris eyed them angrily; the arrival of the new group proved more...annoying than anything else.
“Why did we have to take them in?” Kris asked with annoyance. “We were better off without them.”
“I agree…” Grae said. “And if it were up to me, they would’ve been dumped or killed. But unfortunately it wasn’t up to me.”
Grae stared at the rest of her group. The small group of 15 agreed that more hands meant a better chance at survival; there were people to harvest, build, and protect. It didn’t help that Grae and Rayn hated each other.
Just before arriving, Grae and Rayn were arguing over directions. Grae was driving a black pick-up truck with Rayn (passenger side), Andrew, Sonya, and two other kids from Rayn’s group. Grae’s truck was leading the rest, with Rayn reading a local map. Within minutes of driving, the two began to argue.
“Can you even read a map?!” Grae angrily asked.
“What the hell is your problem? Your driving is the issue!” Rayn yelled back.
“I’m clearly driving where you are telling me to. Clearly you don’t know how to read a map!” Grae argued back. When Rayn didn’t say anything, Grae continued. “It doesn’t take a genius to read a Goddamn map! But I’m stuck with the Lord of Dumbasses attempting to guide me!”
“You fucking b-” Rayn began, but a quick swift kick to the back of his chair, silenced him. Andrew was glaring holes at the back of Rayn’s head for the rest of the drive. Andrew HATED Rayn.
Rayn walked up to Kris and Grae. “What exactly would you like to do now?”
“With what exactly?” Kris snapped back. Rayn ignored Kris, and kept his eyes on Grae as he waited for her response.
“I don’t come up with the rules here.” Grae reminded Rayn. “Let’s meet up and discuss with the group on how we should proceed.”
“You always bark orders as if you were in charge; why the sudden change?” Rayn mumbled.
“Maybe we should’ve left you guys to starve!” Kris yelled “You don’t sound grateful for us saving you.”
‘Grae, or whatever, “Rayn yelled over Kris’ voice, “please get your guard dog to calm the fuck down!”
“What!” Kris yelled, lunging at Rayn. Grae had to hold Kris back.
“Kris! Please go and watch Andrew and Sonya.” Grae said sternly. “I’ll be ok.”
Kris was furious, but after a few seconds, she walked away. She walked towards Sonya, who had momentarily lost track of Andrew.
“You should put a leash on that sister of yours.” Rayn said, once Kris was out of earshot.
“Why don’t you shut the fuck up! Jesus, why do you make things so much harder? Why can’t you guys get along?” Grae asked angrily.
“We are trying!” Rayn yelled. “But there is a lot of hostility! Maybe it’s better that we separate?” Rayn suggested.
“I couldn’t agree more with you!” Grae said cheerfully. “You and your people should go. My group and I will stay here.”
“Wait, that isn’t fair!” Rayn yelled. “We all found this place. Hell, I have more kids in my group than you do. My group should stay here.”
“Oh hell no!” Grae argued back. “That’s definitely not going to happen.”
The argument had gained most of the attention of those around them, including Kris and Sonya. There were a few civilians and kids that were still wandering around; Andrew was still nowhere to be found.
It started off as a whisper, barely heard over Grae and Rayn's arguing. It took a few minutes before anyone heard Andrew screaming for Grae. His voice was erratic, and drenched in fear; it raised several red flags.
“GRAE!” Andrew yelled again; his scream followed afterwards.
Grae ran hysterically around the foliage and abandoned vehicles, but couldn’t find him. It took a few minutes before she saw Andrew clutching onto an open door of a vehicle. In front of him, no further than ten feet away, stood a tall, dark figure that stood over seven feet in height. It wore a heavy black cloak, covering everything save for its intense white eyes. It was looking at Andrew; its eyes were fixated on him...with hunger.
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