Dead.

Chapter Twenty-One

At least there was warmth and shelter as Cass crept into the cottage. Maybe Jeff was right, and they really couldn't stay here, there wasn't much in the way of resources and people had died. It almost felt wrong to stay in a place where people had died, like somehow desecrating a grave. He didn't look up from where he was staring into space when she entered, and she held her breath for a moment. She wanted to talk, she wanted to say something that might be helpful, but her words faltered. There wasn't anything she could say. Nothing would make him feel better, they had lost people and it had been a horrific fight.

"You gonna stand there watching all night?" Jeff commented but he still didn't move, and Cass released the breath she had been holding.

"No." She said lamely and finally approached, slumping in the empty space beside him, "Why can't we stay? And where would we go?" She asked him, she didn't want to carry on the arguments but there were questions. Jeff knew the open road; he'd been travelling for so long and maybe he really couldn't plant his feet on solid and still ground. Cass just wanted safety again, some semblance of a routine so she could attempt a normal life. Maybe she ought to let go of it, nothing was ever going to be normal again. Too many people had died, there had been too much destruction.

"I don't know. But I know there must be somewhere safer than here." Jeff remarked and interrupted her thoughts, "You guys had a place, like a fancy gated community from way before." Jeff laughed, shortly at that. She supposed he was right.

"We wouldn't have anything; everyone wants to stay here." She said to him quietly.

"Yeah, I guess so. It's worth a shot though, we can't just stay in one place and wait for the world to get better. These things, they're evolving and in two weeks there could be more like them." Jeff reached over and wrapped an arm around Cass' shoulders.

"I don't want to wait for that and sit in the middle of a field, I don't want you to either, but I also can't leave you here. So, what do I do?" Jeff asked, but there was a tone of amusement to his voice as he spoke. It was serious though; they needed to figure it out.

"I looked at some maps, there's a couple small towns some miles out. There's got to be other survivors there; Cass." Jeff remarked and Cass thought for a while. If there were others out there, maybe they needed help or maybe they could offer help. There was no guarantee they wouldn't try to murder them too. There was no telling in this world, good people seemed so rare.

"Alright, we'll take a car. Hit the open road but-"She placed a finger to his lips before he could say anything, "We don't forget about them here, they can come with us if they want to. They should come with us." Cass murmured but convincing scared people was a hard ordeal.

"Fine! Fine, but we leave tomorrow, got it?" Jeff said when he moved her finger, and he leaned up to kiss her. At the very least they would find their own way and if they couldn't find their own way, then they could find somewhere to set up. There wouldn't be anyone to distrust, just those they already trusted that wasn't overrun with the dead and the odds. The two of them fell asleep in the warmth and the push of exhaustion from everything that had gone on.

When morning came around, conversations were had and three of them decided to leave. Jeff, Cass and Francis. Doc had been keen to go but realised someone needed to stay with the others through winter. Supplies were split and the vehicle was loaded up and bedded down with blankets and such for the road.

"Siphon what you can from the abandoned cars." Tristan grunted and nodded to them. They were smart enough surely to know how to do all of that. It was awkward, Cass found as she looked around. She barely knew this people and she was still left wondering what they had been before the destruction of everything they knew. Maybe she would never know, everyone seemed to want to forget.

"Load up." Jeff called and banged a couple of times on the car's hood before looking to the others, "Stay safe. If we find some place, we'll be back." Jeff remarked and got in the driving side. Cass lingered for a moment, it felt wrong. Like the closing of a chapter, she hadn't quite finished reading, there was unspoken words, and she knew no amount of thinking would ever get them to express the right way. All she could do was give a hopeful smile as Francis got in the back seat and stretched out to rest before his turn driving.

"Look after yourselves." Evelyn said, she looked teary eyed. Cass wasn't sure they would ever all see one another again. It wouldn't be the same, even if they did. Their numbers had dropped, she had gone from a full community battling the odds to a handful who were barely scraping by. Cass got into the passenger side and stared at the road as the car scraped off. It wasn't the most glamorous ride, but it was traction. Jeff reached over and squeezed her thigh, reassuringly, eyes set to the road.

It was a way forward, into whatever waited for them now.