Surviving The End (book 1)

Chapter 7

DANNY'S POV

it took me weeks to find where i needed to go. I found an Island a ways out. too far to swim to. i looked around for a boat when i saw something move by the corner of my eye. i looked around now careful of my surroundings. 

"Who's there?" I choked out. i prayed it was just another person. someone walked out of the building with a shotgun aimed at me. I put my hands up slowly so he could see my hands.

"who are you and why are you here?" I swallowed a lump before speaking.

"my name is Danny. I'm looking for a safe haven." the man put his gun down and smiled.

"welcome Danny. are you alone?" i frowned and put my hands down. i was, Lucas was somewhere or dead. i nodded my head as I thought about him. "alright. Let's get you over there." He led me to a boat on the other side of the building and we climbed in. he started the engine and we started to cross the water. the man looked to be in his middle 20's maybe 24 or 25. he had short black hair and dark eyes. he was skinny but i could see muscles under his shirt. 

"I'm Kyle by the way." I crossed the water once a day for a few hours to see if anyone else was still alive and showed up. you were lucky to show up when you did though. i was getting ready to head back." i gave him a small smile and nodded. he took a deep breath and looked out at the water. I couldn't stop thinking about Lucas. was he still alive? would i ever see him again? 

"here we are." he spoke up and killed the engine. Kyle helped me out of the boat and walked me to the small village. we walked into one of the buildings. it looked like a small office building. Kyle walked to a desk that had a name. 'MORGAN WHITE' there was an older man, maybe in his late 30's. we had some grey hair and he was a bit chubby looking. 

"hey Morgan. I found someone on the other side." Kyle spoke with excitement. Morgan looked up at me. he had dark green eyes. he smiled and leaned forward in his chair. 

"what's your name sweetie?" i looked at Kyle and he shrugged. I looked back at Morgan with a straight face.

"I'm Danny." i felt like i was trying to go back to school. 

"how old are you?" i shook my head. this was stupid.

"I'm 17, almost 18. i know how to hunt, collect wood and grow my own food. I can build almost anything. i'm here because i want to be safe and stop running from things that want to kill me. any more questions?" Morgan looked at me for a moment before he started smiling. 

"i ask so i can write you down. i like to know about everyone who comes in." I take a deep breath and nod. "we don't have an empty place for newcomers. it's been a while since anyone new has shown up. Kyle, can she stay with you till we can build a place for her?" Kyle gave Morgan a nod and i followed him out the door. we headed to the right as we walked out the door. there were people everywhere watching me. there were small buildings everywhere. 

"everything you see here is all hand made by us. everyone has a place, a job they do. all these buildings you see are homes. mine is a few houses down." the houses were side by side in rows on both sides of me. "the houses stretch about 10 houses out. then behind these houses a few yards out are more houses. there are about 40 houses total. you will make 41." Kyle smiled. the houses were far enough apart that you could walk in between them to get to the houses in the back. they were to my right. 

"the houses on the left were built by the people who were the first ones to get here. we follow their rules. Morgan was one of them. There are about 4 of them. all the houses on the right are people they saved." Kyle stopped and walked up to a door. the house looked small. it had a small porch and was made of wood. Kyle walked inside and held the door open for me. i hesitated but walked inside after him. he shut the door as i looked around. the living room right as you walk through the door, the kitchen just on the other side. to my right there was a door. i walked in a little bit to look around. beside the door there was a short hall to another door. 

"this is my bedroom and that one down the hall is the bathroom. everything works. the fridge has food, the stove and oven work. The toilet and shower work great. we have lights that work but we try not to use them. they use too much of the generators. we also try not to cook too much, at dinner we all eat at the fireplace in the middle of town. the rest of the day we do our own meals." I nod as i keep looking around. 

"where did you find all this stuff?" i asked, i noticed the couch and all the nice stuff. 

"we go out every couple of times to find stuff for the generators. we go looking for stuff like fresh water and other things needed. some of the kids around here need medicines so we go looking for those once a month. when i first got here there wasn't much. i decided to get a bunch of stuff to make the place feel more like home. everyone did." Kyle sat on the couch and made himself at home. I stood there feeling anxious. I haven't been around people in a long time. 

"i'm gonna walk around." I said and left the house. i walked around the area watching everything around me. i heard children laughing and playing. i could hear music playing in some of the houses. i walked past a huge place where a fire would be set up. before i knew it i was walking back down where the boat was. I sat in the sand and curled my legs up to my chest. this was strange to me. i wasn't used to seeing people nor seeing them happy and at rest. all i needed now was Lucas. i let my tears fall as i thought about him. 

as the sun started to go down i could hear something behind me. i ignored it and sat still. Kyle came to my view and smiled. 

"someone told me i'd find you here. they saw you walking in this direction." He sat beside me and wrapped his arms around his legs. 

"someone out there that you're waiting for?"  i whipped my tears and shook my head.

"he's probably dead. he wasn't very good at surviving." I didn't want to talk about Lucas. i didn't want them knowing anything about him. I could see Kyle nodding. 

"why don't we go out tomorrow and look for some stuff. maybe we will find this person along the way." I doubted that. i nodded anyway. i needed a few things anyway. 

a few weeks went by and the house was finished. i had everything i needed and more. i went out with Kyle every day for a few hours waiting to see if Lucas was going to show up. nothing so far. after a few months I started to give up on Lucas. he was either dead or at the lab being tortured. i had made myself a promise to not go looking for him. he wanted me to be safe, and wanted to protect me. i respected that. i had a job with almost everything that needed to be done. when spring came around i helped with the garden behind the office building. it was huge and had everything you could think of. there were apple trees just behind the garden. i helped Kyle go out to the darker side of the world and get supplies. whatever is needed that day. me and Kyle started to get closer as friends. i could tell he liked me though. he seemed to be waiting for me to give him the word that i was done waiting for Lucas to come find me. Kyle was sweet to me and knew where to find me if i disappeared. i had an idea that i had brought up to Morgan and within a few days he told me to go do it. i built fences for animals. cows for milk, sheep for wool and chickens for eggs. i found a couple pigs to breed so we could have more. we would kill one when it got to the right age and make all kinds out of it. once in a while we would kill a chicken or a cow. we found a wild rooster and brought it to harvest the eggs and make more chickens. everything was going well so far. i wasn't scared of the dark anymore. i didn't have to run or hide. i sat beside the boat and looked out to the water. it was time to let go of the past. maybe i could start something with Kyle.