The Union || zombie apocalypse AU

Chapter 1

My head flopped on my arms, my pale eyes facing towards the metal floor, distant blurs of an old quiet house filling my glassy mind. The jostle of the old van occasionally bounced my head further into my hands, pounding against my forehead.

Jade looked at me from my left, her rare sisterly face on, a caring air around her. She was our camps healer, constantly looking for signs of ailments or injuries, although I knew she didn't like me, like almost everyone else.
I lazily fiddled about with the large gun in my hands, pointed towards the floor, figuring out something repetitive to do for the remains of the long journey home.
When we finally arrived, faced with the same familiar white tents that made up the camp, a smell of cooking meat filled the air in celebration.
Arranged in neat rows, long testing tents were the closest to our group, then the armoury and weapons testing, then accommodation, all the same plain, hospital white, planted in a plain field, green and yellow up to the boundary where trees creeped in, leading to a large imposing forest, the tents crowding around a large circular social tent for food breaks and 'study rooms'.
Everyone here knew each other, except me. I had never bothered to get to know people, not since I arrived, and I don't think anyone else had. I knew it was because of my eyes and shoulder, I was used to being viewed as weird and handicapped. My only friend was my carer, Kai who was a tall and lanky boy I had known for almost a year now, having met before we found the settlement.

I had a weird distant memory of a person, blurry and unfocused, although i'm not even sure if she really existed - it felt as though she was just a figment of my imagination. It was like we had been friends, same time me and Kai met, and had since been attempted to erase from my memory, with almost success.

I hadn't noticed I was walking through the settlement until Jade suddenly hurried me towards my tent, waiting for me to unzip the door before shoving my back hard, pushing me to the ground to make sure I was inside my tent 'safely'.

"We'll collect you at dinner, but feel free to explore." She spoke harshly, then turned and left, not saying another word, though I could've sworn I saw her roll her eyes at the last part.

I sighed, my bad shoulder aching from taking all my weight plus the force of Jade's shove. I stood up and groaned loudly, stumbling towards one of the two canvas beds, the other belonging to Kai, gun still lying on the floor where I fell, and I slid my stashed notebook out from under my pillow, starting to draw, desperately attempting to pass the time till dinner.

After a while, I stood up and left the cramped tent, picking my gun up on the way, walking towards the forest at the closest end of the field.
As I heard more trucks enter the camp crunching on the gravel, I started running, wind whipping through my hair, the feeling of freedom filling my lungs. I reached the first few trees, made a mark in the same rotting tree with my small pocket knife, then walked into the dark canopy, my feet forcing me down the familiar route.
Bird song had become rare, the apocalypse wiping them all out as well as the other wildlife that used to inhabit the woods in the ephemeral days, now all becoming mythology.
The trees swayed, light dancing in the leaves, falling on my pale skin, highlighting my hollowed cheeks. Food had become rations, any crops we grew being tough and hard to swallow. Sometimes scouts are sent out to pick up rations from houses or supermarkets, plant pots being taken for the dry soil.
However, I usually went on hunting missions being the best at shooting in the camp. It usually ended in us gathering some new recruit for the settlement, although it had been weeks without seeing anyone new.

I suddenly heard the unsettling crack of a branch behind me and I turned quickly, lifting my gun and pointing it at the figures forehead.

"Chill out unless you have a death wish." Kai's familiar voice rung out, a feeling of relief spreading through my body, partnered with the usual flutter in my stomach, as if my stomach was practising acrobatics.