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CHAPTER SIXTEEN
NOTHING WAS LEFT FOR the ever decreasing group. They had no place to go, no place to lay their head at night and no safe haven to protect them from the danger on the outside. The group were still recovering from the trauma they had encountered merely a day ago, and for some it left a very heavy weight on their shoulders.
Athena was sat in the back of the RV, secluded from the others in the vehicle with her thumb nail wedged between her teeth as she gazed out the window in thought. A little while back they had to ditch most of their vehicles and squeeze in as much as they could due to the lack of fuel, leaving them with even less than they had before. Hence why Athena was now in Dale's RV and not in Shane's jeep. After what had happened at the CDC, Athena wasn't really in the mood to socialise — instead she preferred to sit alone.
They had been driving for hours, continuously searching for something that would be worth their while, but nothing came to their avail. The CDC was a sham and Fort Benning was a pipe dream based on their current situation. They were well and truly a lost cause. Athena found herself re-living what happened at the CDC over and over again, it was nothing like she'd seen before and Athena had seen many dark things in her life — especially in her drink and drug days.
Seeing so much pain in one room really stuck with the brunette, watching as everyone's lives flashed before their eyes, preparing themselves for inescapable death. It was engrained in her brain like a bad memory. But that's all it was now, a memory. Athena had to keep reminding herself it was in the past and the most thing she had to focus on now, was the future. But between Shane, the wellbeing of her group, the loss and the unknown future, her mind was a bundle of chaos.
With her head rested against the window, Athena begins to notice the RV slowing down and glances further out the window to further investigate. Her green eyes narrowed as she inspected the on-coming traffic build up, abandoned cars filling up the highway. And their only way through.
Athena could hear commotion from the front of the RV, so with much reluctancy the brunette made her way to the front to see what was going on.
"Uh, maybe we should just go back." She heard Glenn suggest as she neared the front seats "There's an interstate bypass—"
"We can't spare the fuel."
"What's going on?" Athena asked, causing everyone to turn and look at the woman they hadn't seen in hours. She looked exhausted, almost like she was decaying from the inside out. But Athena didn't seem to notice the stares and worried looks as she gazed at the road ahead, seeing many more cars and vans. She had worse things on her mind.
"Roads blocked. Daryl's trying to find a way through but I—"
Just before Dale could finish his sentence, a large puff of white smoke followed by a popping sound appeared from the bonnet, causing Athena to jump at the suddenness. As Dale pulled the vehicle to a stop, Athena sighed and shook her head. They were stuck.
