Haven | Dreamnotfound

Damned if we don't

Chapter 3

"We need food. More first aid stuff. A map. And new gloves." Sapnap said, walking beside Dream and ticking off the items on his fingers.

"I'll keep that in mind for Christmas." Dream muttered.

"Dream, we have to get this stuff. Where's the nearest city or town?" Sapnap said.

"For the final time, no. The last time we went for a raid, you nearly died."

"I nearly die every day. It's a risk we have to take."

George was a fair bit behind, out of breath and wincing with each step. His cane helped keep a bit of the pressure off his leg, but the wound was pulsing with pain when he wasn't moving, and each step just brought more agony.

But he wasn't about to admit how much it hurt. Sapnap saved his life, he wasn't going to spend his days whining. And he certainly wasn't going to give Dream more reason to get rid of him. But God, it hurt. He thought the stitches were going to burst.

"We got lucky last time, those strangers who were raiding at the same time split the zombies and I was able to come save you. You were unconscious, a sitting duck. I thought you were dead too, with all the blood." Dream continued, eyes furrowed as he recalled.

"But I'm fine."

"Because of luck. There might not be random humans to distract the zombies. Here in the woods, there's only a few at a time. In the cities, in the towns, they are everywhere. It's not worth it."

"Dream, we need the food. And we need the resources. We have to walk all the way to North Carolina." Sapnap pleaded.

"No. We can manage. You killed that deer a few days ago."

"The only deer in like a thousand miles." Sapnap said, exasperated. "We need this."

"Everything has probably already been taken by scavengers or destroyed by zombies. There's no point, it's an unnecessary risk with little reward."

"It's a risk we have to take. George." Sapnap spun around so he was walking backwards and looking at the limping boy. "Thoughts?"

George looked between Sapnap and Dream, who had glanced over his shoulder with fury in his eyes.

"Um. I don't know... it is really risky but it's how I survived." George offered.

"By yourself? How'd you do it?" Sapnap asked.

"Well..." George swallowed. "I, er... I didn't go to big cities. Found some gas stations and small corner stores. Watched them for a day for movement. When it was clear, I was quick. I'm pretty small and quick on my feet so I'd be in and out." George said.

"That's a good idea. We can just find a gas station." Sapnap said, looking at Dream again, and nearly running into a tree if his friend didn't pull him out of the way.

"Gas stations weren't very good though. They are easy to raid, so everyone already has, there was never any food left. Only cash which is useless now, and some random things. If you want food, we need somewhere majority of people wouldn't risk raiding." George said.

"See? And there's a reason people wouldn't risk raiding those places. They are infiltrated with zombies, or in an area of high concentration. It would be stupid." Dream chimed in.

"Dream, we have no food." Sapnap pleaded. "We've been hungry for days, I'm running out of granola bars and there are barely any wild animals that we can actually cook and eat. The walk to North Carolina will take weeks. We need food for strength." He tried to reason.