He's Our Future

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕊𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕟 - 𝕥𝕠𝕠 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕖

Not EditedWord Count: 1,375

Charlotte, North Carolina - Population 857,425

"We can stop and scavenge for a bit." Abraham suggested.

"Goin' huntin'. Don't want no more beans." Daryl grumbled, grabbing his crossbow. He tapped my leg, "Let's go."

"Can I go?" Jacob asked.

"Not this time, bud."

Jacob nodded. He had a frown on his face but understood why he couldn't go. "Be safe."

"Always am." I kissed the top of his head. Then got out of the bus behind Daryl.

We were in the suburbs of Charlotte, everything went fine getting here, but this town was creepy. There was nothing around, no walkers and no people. I caught up to Daryl and stayed quiet. It wasn't the first time he took me hunting.

We walked into the woods he began tracking. I followed behind, taking in my surroundings. This place was beautiful. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move up the tree, a squirrel. My hands reached down to my thigh, pulling out a throwing knife. I got it as a weapon from Alexandria when we were leaving. I took a deep breath, aiming. I let out my breath as I threw the knife. It landed in the head, pinning the animal to the tree.

It went on like this for a while. I managed to get four squirrels, Daryl got two, but he was tracking what seemed like a deer. We walked a few miles into the woods, finally finding the beauty. The deer stood in a small clearing, eating something from the ground. I crouched, and Daryl got his bolt ready. He waited for a moment as the deer looked at us. He lifted his crossbow and shot. The deer didn't move for a moment as it looked stunned. It took off moments later. Daryl got another shot in its leg. We ran after it knowing it wouldn't get far. We caught up to the deer. It was on the ground, its breath was shallow. Daryl shot it in the head with his bow. Hauling the animal back took more time than we thought it would. It was just breaking mid-day as we came through the clearing.

"Woah." Sasha said.

I smiled at her, then looked at Jacob. "Ask your dad if you can learn how to skin. Tell him I'll teach you."

"Could I learn too?" Beth walked over. "I only know how to clean chickens."

"I don't see why not. You got your knife?"

The boy nodded and ran to his father. He came back a few minutes later with Daryls hunting knife and the two squirrels he killed. Beth simply nodded at her question.

"Daryl skinnin' the deer, pumpkin?" I sat on a rock. The boy across from me, Beth sat to my right.

"Mhm, Abe is helping em'" Jacob replied. It seemed like every day that boy was turning out to be more like his father.

"That's good. We'll have more than enough to eat to get to the CDC and then some. Alright, you both have a squirrel. I have mine. I'll do it, then you'll try."

It didn't take long for the kids to get the hang of skinning the animals, and by the time they were on the second one they didn't need my help.

==

"I'll take watch." I called out as everyone made their way onto the bus to sleep for the night.

I sat there silently looking at all the houses on the street, such a large town for no one to be in it. Abraham decided that we would look through the houses that morning when everyone was rested.

After a few hours of silent watch, Rosita came and got me. I went into the bus, sitting in one of the open seats, falling into a dreamless sleep.

==

"Everyone up! Time to get looking." Abraham shouted.

I picked a house down the street from where the bus was. It was a white two-story home. There was a white fence around the front along with a swing in the corner. This place looked untouched.

I walked up the stairs and to the front door, knocking to see if anyone or anything would come to the door after a minute or so, I reached for the handle and to my surprise, the door opened.

I walked in, and again the house looked untouched. It looked like a house I would have wanted if the world didn't turn out like this.I walked through the living room to the open kitchen, a few of the cupboards were open and the back door was ajar.

I went over and closed it. I didn't need anything sneaking up on me while I was gathering supplies. I had to be quick. I set my bag on the counter and opened the rest of the cupboards. There wasn't much, a few packs of the orange crackers but at least it was something.

I checked around the rest of the first floor, there was nothing else to take, so I made my way upstairs. Three bedrooms first was a teenager's room. I grabbed some of the clothes that were left. The next room was a kids room toys littered the floor. A smile was brought to my face as I thought about Jacob. I picked a few up that he would like and made my way to the third bedroom. The parent's bedroom.

I set my bag on the bed and went to the closet, looking through to find my size. Jackpot! I found enough clothes for the rest of the group. I went over to my bag, stuffing it full. Something under the bed caught my attention. I kneeled down and pulled the box out.

It was full of pictures. It was the family that lived here. I smiled, taking my time to look. As I was looking, I heard the door open downstairs.

"I'm upstairs, in the third bedroom." I called out.

I got no reply, but heard the footsteps coming up the stairs. I continued looking at the pictures smiling at all the memories this family created.

I heard someone enter the room, but I didn't turn around because I thought it was Daryl. "There wasn't much here. I haven't checked the basement yet."

I went to turn but felt the cold metal of a gun touch the back of my head.

"Push your weapon over to me and turn around slowly." The voice announced.

I looked down at my knife and fought silently in my head, thinking about what I should do. There was no way from this position I could do anything to the man without him getting a shot out. I dropped my knife and pushed it away from me. I turned slowly, putting my hands up.

"Why are you here?" The gun was now pressed against my forehead.

I took in the mans appearance. He had an athletic build, blue eyes, and brown hair, he was tall. I looked up at him. "We were just passing through." I closed my eyes as the gun was pressed harder against my forehead.

"How many of your people are there?" He questioned.

"There are enough people to take you down." I whispered.

"What was that?" He glared.

"Nothing." I opened my eyes.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to do this." He said, pulling the gun back. The last thing I remember was the metal hitting me before everything went black.

--Third Person--

Everyone stood around the bus waiting for the last member of their group. They were all supposed to meet back here in one hour, Daryl came through the tree line after checking some houses off a path. He looked around for Rose then went to the group.

"Where is she?"

"We aren't sure." Rosita answered.

"The hell you mean?" He glared at Rosita. "Why didn't you go lookin' for her?"

Everyone stood there silently. Eventually, Abraham broke the silence.

"We'll go look for her. A few of us need to stay with the bus in case she comes back."

Soon the group would go looking for the woman, not finding her in the process.

"I told you this place, it was too good to be true." Rosita said.