Hopeless| A Zombie Novel

Chapter 9- No Bloodshed

Haley~

We woke up right before the sun was up, Jerry says its only a few hours walk till we reach rosewood, the sooner the better, my feet hurt. Travis, Amber and I usually stayed in a place for at least a week if it showed no signs of danger that is, which was rare.

The soles on my shoes are so thin I can feel the crunching gravel under my feet, I have never been one for exercise, sure I took walks just to pass time but never did I walk as much as I do now. I was the type of person that believed you only get one time around on the earth and I don't want my last meal being kale, I'd much rather it be a doughnut.

The sky is clear, not a cloud to be seen, but the wind chill keeps me shivering, I can't wait till we get there, if it's a community like Jerry believes then that means some type of normality should exist. I Imagine a place with tall, protective walls. Growing fruits and vegetables and laughing children. Could that be a possibility? Or are my dreams to high?

"What do you know about Rosewood?" I ask a nearby, Marley. She has Cleo wrapped tightly in a soft pink blanket, and close to her chest.

"Well, when everything fell and people were fleein' the cities some army fellows set up a base camp, there were many, but all the others we found were gone." She gulps. I can't imagine a situation the Army can't handle, guess the apocalypse is a bigger foe. "We settled in Fort Better at first, Jerry had an opinion different than the leader so, they kicked us out." Who would kick out a pregnant woman? Especially with rotters out here.

"Opinions?" Alright so I've always been a nosey person, I try to hold my tongue from asking too many questions, but it always ends up with me asking.

"The leader would turn away the elders, anybody over fifty-five was told to hit the road." Marley replies looking down to her blue-eyed baby. "If they refused, they were killed on sight, in front of everyone. Jerry tried, to change his mind, but it didn't work."

"What if Rosewood is like that?" I ask watching little Cleo wiggle her nose as she sleeps, babies are my weakness.

"From what the radio brodcast says, they accept anyone as long as you're willin' to work, supposed to have houses that wasn't destroyed, high walls, and plenty of army men to protect the ones who can't protect themselves, it's what I want." Marley now has that far away look in her eyes as she stares at her baby, walking slowly. "I want safety, I want happiness, I want a normal life for my baby girl."

Hell for all of our sakes, please let Rosewood be home.

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"God, you are super heavy" I nearly punch Travis, but I'm too tired I had to beg for this piggyback ride and I'm for sure going to enjoy it.

It seems like ever since we have joined up with this group, Travis and I aren't speaking much. I don't know if he's mad at me, stressed or maybe he just wants to reach Rosewood. I just know something is up, him and Amber always whispering to one another, I've never been out of the loop. I won't ask, or bring it up I've had enough drama and people yelling at me so for now I'll keep it to myself.

The smell of rotting flesh hits my nose and I nearly puke, quickly sliding off Travis. I pinch my nose, the rest of the group mimicking me, this can not be good.

Straight ahead of us I see at least four school buses one even flipped over and smeared with god knows what. The air is eerily quiet, the only sound heard is our footsteps on the pavement.