The Battle of Rabid Earth

8

Nope,

no,

Eh,

no.

My hands reach for the next hanger as I toss the last onto the bed.

What does one wear to train for the end of the world- with a bunch of men?

I cringe at the thought of being the only female there.

"Ruby come on! It's almost 11 and we have to be there by 12!" I roll my eyes, listening to my brother call from the hallway.

Luckily Dad was at work and Rosie was meeting up with some old friends so we didn't have to grant them any excuses.

I finally settle on a black long sleeve shirt, remembering what the others had been wearing yesterday.

I throw on some black leggings, with pockets, and a dark green bandana.

I hope this is fine.

As I make my way to the kitchen, I see Dylan sitting on the counter, wearing his normal black t-shirt and a pair of denim jeans.

He looks up. "Finally." His words are laced with annoyance. "Come on it's like a 45 minute walk, and it's the afternoon so there will probably be cars on the road." He jumps down, heading for the front door.

I raise my eyebrow at him. "Why don't we just take my car?" He turns to look at me, a terrified look on his face.

"No, let's please, not do that."

"Why?"

He groans, flailing his arms to the air. "Your car is literally running on hope at this point and it scares me."

I pout, crossing my arms.

Truth is, I haven't driven since that night. There were probably bugs eating at the sides of the seats anyway.

"Fine let's just walk." He smiles as I give into his plea, skipping out the front door.

We finally reach the forest, this time it's lighter outside, colder too.

I should've worn a jacket or something.

I look over to Dylan, who is wearing a simple t-shirt and is obviously too proud to shiver.

As we get to the entrance of the camp, we are met with a familiar smiling face. "Hey guys. You're right on time." Syrus looks to his watch, reading the small clock engineered into it.

He leads us to the furthest set of mats on the ground, waving another man over to us. I believe his name was Erik. "Can you go grab Echo for me?" Erik nods and goes to fetch his head trainer.

"I want to learn how to shoot." I declare, pointing towards the bows hanging on a nearby tree.

Syrus hesitates for a moment. "Well. Yeah sure. That's fine. I'm sure Echo won't mind teaching you, but it's not a beginner lesson." His eyes focus on Dylan once again, almost forgetting about my presence.

I have to show him I can survive without anyone protecting me.

He doesn't even respect me.

"Alright." A voice is heard behind us. I turn to look at those blue eyes. Echo claps his hands rubbing them together. "Are you guys ready?"

Dylan looks down at me, smiling before answering for us. "We're ready."

It was fun at first.

Now I want to crawl into a hole and die.

"5 more laps!" I groan, hearing Echo's voice bounce through the trees.

Dylan isn't nearly as out of shape as I am.