DEAD ERA- Afterworld

Chapter 5

The stranger opened his eyes to see himself laying on the bed in a hotel, with Levi and Bali sitting beside him as they talked quietly, though his hearing wasn't working as well as before.

“Hey, you're awake! How do you feel?” Bali asked, concern clear in his voice?

“I... think, I'll live,” the stranger replied with a smile, reaching for the glass of water beside him and sipping from it.

His friends smiled, relief clear in their faces as Bali spoke, “That's great”

Suddenly he gasped, his vision blurred as he tried to focus. The world spun around him before going dark again.

Once the room had regained its stillness a sudden noise interrupted the peace. Bali jumped from his seat, staring wide-eyed.

“Is the door locked?”

“I think so?” Bali replied uncertainly.

The stranger frowned deeply before getting up and heading over to the window, pressing his ear against it. Bali watched in confusion as the stranger pushed the window open. He looked outside, trying to figure out what the noises were.

“Did you hear that!?” Bali asked worry etched onto his features.

The stranger glanced back at him “No, you must have imagined it!”

After a few moments, the noise died down, though the stranger still listened intently. “Where are we?”

    “In a hotel, we found a family of survivors who took us into the hotel after you passed out” Bali explained 

 Then a man with a woman and some kids entered the room,  carrying a bag full of food. They all headed over to the kitchen area. After they sat the bag down and unpacked the contents, the stranger went out to get more supplies.

He returned with two water bottles and four packs of crackers. The kids began eating their snacks happily, unaware of the stranger’s presence. 

“Am glad you are okay, am Andrew and this is my wife and my ... my son. His name is Jonathan.” Andrew said

“Thank you for your hospitality,” the stranger said

    “How long have you and your family been here?” Bali questioned Andrew, as he continued to eat his cracker. Andrew and his wife exchanged glances before turning to look at the stranger.

“For about a week” Andrew replied, still glancing nervously at the stranger.

“We've never seen or heard anything about a survivor like yourself in our entire life,” 

Andrew continued.

“Are you alone? Are your wife and children okay?” Bali asked concernedly.

Andrew hesitated, then replied, “Yes,”

“Why aren't you in clem city?” Levi asked once more

   “Rescue team came here with a chopper, I and my family joined the other survivor to escape but, the whole chopped was overloaded allowing them to leave Jonathan behind, I wouldn't want to lose my son, so I decided I was going to stay with him no matter what” explained Andrew 

.

“Do you know where they were heading?” Levi asked

“They didn't tell us what destination they were planning to go to, only that they wanted us to hide when the rescue team arrived”

“They left you here?” Bali asked worriedly.

“Well, yes” Andrew answered, “we had hoped, we hoped that perhaps they would come back for us,” Andrew finished sadly.

“If they did, then we need to find them” Levi stated

Everyone nodded in agreement

“Maybe we can help,” Levi said.

Andrew's eyes widened as he stared at Levi, “You mean it? That would be incredible. We would be forever indebted to you,”

Levi shrugged, “We don't owe you anything. You should keep Jonathan safe,” he told them, “if anyone can do it it'll be you”

Andrew stared at Levi, taking in every word his friend was saying, he then sighed and turned his gaze to his son, “Jonathan, you must promise me not to move if the man in the room comes back. Promise me?” 

Jonathan looked up in surprise, he'd forgotten the stranger was there

“I promise Daddy!” Jonathan said.

“By tomorrow we set out to Clem city, we have only tomorrow left, so we got to beat time,” the stranger said  as he walked towards him

“What's the plan?” Levi asked

“First we all know, clem city is surrounded by millions of zombies outside the wall, so if we are getting past those we need to create equipment from now...then we will get to the city before the gate closes. First, we create a vehicle worthy to face the crowd of the dead”

 The stranger began talking to the group of three, “then we start making preparations, and after that....tomorrow is another day”

* * *

It was early morning, everyone was preparing themselves, making sure they had everything they needed: a generator, batteries, tools, weapons, ammo...the list goes on. Everyone had something to contribute.

The strangers stood in a circle talking amongst themselves, each one of them armed. “We have to hurry or else they will catch us,” the strange one said pointing over to the zombies standing guard outside the building. “Come let's make haste”

Andrew came in with a smile, “The vehicle is ready”

    “Great, now everyone buckles up we are going for a ride,” the stranger said

     Minutes later everyone walked to a vehicle covered with a rag, Bali smiled pulling the rag away as it revealed a truck with spikes at the front and sides, large wheels and the engine was already running.

 The stranger climbed inside, “This will slow them down, hopefully enough to give us a chance to slip by without being detected”

“Alright,” Bali replied “let's go”

A minute later everyone piled in. The stranger hit the button to close the doors and then pressed his foot lightly against the accelerator causing the truck to rumble forward. The first zombies they came across weren't too far, they just stood in the way. The stranger pressed on the gas pedal and the truck accelerated rapidly, hitting one of the zombie's heads. In seconds they were past it.

As they neared their goal, they encountered a second group and quickly dispatched it. 

Soon, they arrived and parked their vehicle, climbing out and walking around it. “We are nearly out of gasoline, I hope you guys brought more,” the stranger said to the rest of the group “We're going to need to buy more soon if we don't want to be discovered”

“I'm sure we have plenty,” Bali said

“Let's go”

They drove hurriedly towards Clem city which will enter into lockdown in the next 15 hours.  With a new supply of fuel, they were confident that they could make it through the blockade unscathed, they just need to avoid any unwanted attention.