Chapter One

1st November 2040

All my senses are fried and I think I need sleep.

Nuewark

01.11.2040

The air was so cold, it almost cracked upon the tall redwoods that surrounded the compounds; a derelict area composed of nothing but rusted metal and abandoned buildings which had been quarantined for over a year. The once elegant and majestic scenery now aching and groaning with despair and torn asunder by the rough winter that had settled over the country. In these freezing temperatures, you had to be either stupid or holding a death wish to step foot into them. Yet still, two very important people were about to meet under such circumstances.

Barry E. Mitchell stumbled upon the dying embers of a woman’s campfire. The female was almost frozen stiff beneath her red duffle coat. Even her wild hair was stiff like icicles under the rabbit-fur trim of the hood. The two glared at one another, not exchanging a word for some time. It was the woman that spoke firstly, her voice as small and scared as the woodmouse that was dead at her feet.

“Don't tell me. You're here to kill me,” she asked. It felt more like a statement rather than a question.

“Actually, I came to loot you and leave you to the wolves,” Barry replied sarcastically which went unnoticed.

“Jeez, thanks…”

“I was kidding,” said Barry as he shifted in the log to get comfortable. “I'm Barry, and I'm definitely not here to loot you or kill you.”

“Then, why are you here?” she was a curious one.

“I'm heading west, passing here was purely coincidental.” Barry shrugged his shoulders like they weighed that of a bison. Heavy, and tense.

“And what's there?”

Of course, Barry couldn't tell her what was there. It was a safe haven, away from any virus, with clean water and food at the ready. But he didn't trust her. Nor did he trust the source of the information.

“I can't tell you.”

“Why, you don't trust me?”

“That, and I don't trust the source of the information either.”

She replied with a roll of her eyes which only suggested her boredom. The silence after that became deafening. No birds sang. No wolves howled. The only sound that split the icy air was the crackles of the dying fire, and the females laboured breathing.  It was only when she had lent forward to grab a bag that Barry noticed the open wound on her arm. It looked bad, from what he could see; even the arm of the duffle coat had been torn and was soaked with browned blood.

“How’d you?” Barry asked and leant forward to examine it. It was his second nature, due to his previous training in the special forces. Yet this female lurched back as if he was a sharp object hurtling toward her.

“I fell.” Her voice wavered. “I fell, and now I'm in agony. My whole fucking body hurts, I wouldn’t mind if you killed me right now, put me out of my misery ‘n all that.” She reached back toward the bag, this time she pulled out an outdated protein bar and handed it to Barry. Barry took it reluctantly, unsure of what to make of it.

“Uh. Thanks?”

“Just take it. I’ve had plenty.”  She wriggled a little and poked the bubbling embers with a stick. “Don’t worry, they’re not poisoned. Promise.”

“Well, that’s a relief.” Barry cracked a smile. Her humour was starting to blossom beautifully, she was starting to come out of her shell. Barry couldn’t decide if that was a good thing.

“You never told me your name?” Barry enquired as he opened the protein bar packaging and took a bite.

“Felicity. But everyone calls me Fizz.” She shrugged gently and looked back up to Barry.

“Fizz?” Barry raised his eyebrows and discarded the rest of the protein bar in the nearest bush. Tasted like shit.

“Mhhm.”

“Sounds like a prostitutes name. Anyway, what are you doing all the way out here? Alone.” Barry broke a few sticks into halves to throw onto the fire, hoping to ignite the flames again. In his fire igniting duties, he didn’t realise that Fizz had blanked out, her grey eyes gazing into the white of the snow. Her skin just as pale. Her breathing shallow as she recalled the past.

Barry got the fire burning stronger and looked back up to Fizz with a questioning expression. “Felicity?”

“Huh?” she looked back to him, her chest still heaving and her hands trembling, either from the bitter chill or the terrifying memories that ran over her fragile mind.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“What are you doing out here?” Barry asked again, his brows furrowed with concern.

“I…” Her bottom lip trembled as she shook her head. “I can’t tell you.”

“Right. Sorry.” Barry apologised calmly. “Look. Fizz. Did you want to come with me? At least come with me till I find shelter. Then you can decide what you want to do. But right now, you will freeze to death before the sun rises tomorrow.” Barry moved across the log to sit a little closer.

“What’s the point? There’s nothing left, not anymore.” Fizz looked down to her hands. She would probably be crying right now if it wasn’t so cold.

“Fizz. I’ve lost everything, just like you. But I’m still pushing forward. I need to. You can’t just give up.” Barry urges, feeling a sense of empathy toward her, even if she was still a stranger to him.

“Ok, I’ll come.” She seemed to sense that they were both victims of the accident and after some internal deliberation decided to join him on the quest to find shelter for the night. The conditions were so bad now what once was lightish had all but disappeared under the blanket of snow. Falling so heavy that you could only just about see the breath of each other in front of you.

The pair packed up the items they removed from their respective bags and attached them back to their shoulders. They were prepared to make headway to find shelter for the night. Barry took charge of the general location he seemed to think he found an abandoned cabin a few hundred yards back and was scouting the area when he happened upon Fizz. The trail was fairly treacherous, even in daylight, the path would be difficult to navigate. The path was just about one footstep wide, scattered branches and roots were protruding out the ground like wooden bear traps, waiting to ensnare helpless victims walking amongst them. Every so often, Barry looked over his shoulder to make sure Fizz was still following, but he could see no further than an arm's length behind him. So, he relied on the exchange of voices to guide her onto the right path. He wasn’t really sure in his mind what he was expecting, this was the first human interaction he has come across in a long time.

“I’m still here, don’t worry!” Her voice pierced through the thick snow and jagged branches.

“Not much further! It’s just on top of this hill, I saw it earlier on my way through. Just keep following my voice if you can!” Barry shouted.

Their muscles burned from the incline, despite it being bitterly cold. Every step was exhausting, testing their bodies under the extreme conditions, evident by their laboured, rasping breaths.

The cabin appeared suddenly from the white pages of the snow, forming solidly in front of their eyes. They didn’t care for the rusted sheet metal roofing or rotting wood. Shelter was shelter after all. Once inside, a pungent smell stang their nostrils. Knowing there was no alternative they both knew that they would have to find the source of the smell and clear it. As they walked through the wooden hallway into what seemed the living area they noticed the partly decomposed carcass. They couldn’t make out what it was, only that it was some kind of mammal from the remnants of fur and prominent canine teeth. Fizz couldn’t handle it.

Barry headed back out into the hallway and went on the search to find something to help remove the body. Outside, he found a shovel blanked with snow. A little rusty, but it would do. Once back inside he approached the deceased animal and proceeded to try and scoop it up which he found difficult as the blood had thickened and congealed like glue against the wooden flooring. Fizz stood outside retching violently. This job was a man’s job.

After a heated disagreement with the animal and some forceful persuasion, it finally became unstuck from the flooring. Even to Barry’s strong disposition, this made him gag when a juicy wriggling intestine landed on his foot. He didn’t want to notice it was crawling with maggots which were dropping onto the floor like raindrops, but it was difficult to ignore. He gingerly walked the carcass out the cabin door and threw it as far away as possible, narrowly missing Fizz.

“Eww, dude! A maggot hit me!” Fizz groaned and threw up once again. Barry couldn’t hide the small snigger of amusement.

Once back inside he proceeded to open up all possible ventilation to air out the wretched stink, and when it was safer, Fizz entered again, more cautiously this time.

“Is it gone?” Fizz asked from around the corner of the door.

“It’s gone,” Barry confirmed, biting his bottom lip to stifle a laugh.

“You think this is funny, don’t you ?” Fizz mumbled and dropped some sticks into the cobblestone fireplace.

“No, it was disgusting, even for me. But your reaction was a little funny.” Barry admitted and slung his backpack to the floor to dig in search of his matches. He had a collection of around four boxes of one-hundred matches. Matches were useful, especially in these temperatures.

“A Little funny?”

“Just a little…”