Wade’s lips tip up again. I can’t get over how handsome he is when he smiles. “Deal.”
I tuck my backpack behind myself again, using it as a pillow. As I stare directly up where there’s a small part between the branches. I can see the sky. The stars are just starting to come out and they’re beautiful, brighter than ever now that there are no street lights.
Hope is a funny thing. As much as I try to keep that feeling tucked away, hope can’t help but grip my heart tonight. This feels like the start of a new chapter, the start of something new. It’ll take time to mend all the hurt that we’ve both been through, but it feels like with time, the two of us can come to some sort of understanding.
I hear something below us and I look over the edge, finding a deer instead of a zombie like I was expecting. I smile as I watch him graze. Not everything is death and despair. Not everything is bad. Even through the shitshow that is our current life, there’s still some good to be found.
“Hey, Wade,” I whisper, getting his attention. I nod down at the deer and he stares for a long time. Both of us watch this deer like it’s the most entertaining thing in the world. In a way, it is. When I look over at Wade again, he’s smiling.
Chapter Six
Wade
I pull the machetefrom my hip, adjusting my grip as I walk up to the car in front of me. The machete was a recent find. Apparently, people from Wisconsin were big hunters because we stumbled upon more than one hunting shack up here that we were able to raid before we headed West towards the Canadian border. A few of them had guns but most of them were already picked over. Thankfully, we managed to find this machete. I finally have a weapon of my own, one that feels comfortable in my hands.
The car in front of me has the window partially down, allowing the zombie trapped inside to reach out towards me as it growls and gnashes its teeth. I put the thing out of its misery, sliding my machete through the crack and straight between its eyes. As far as I know, the only way to properly put these things down is to attack the brain or sever the head completely.
“I never understood this,” Briggs murmurs as we walk through the lines of cars. This used to be the border between the United States and Canada. Now it’s nothing more than a car graveyard. “Why would they just abandon their cars like this? And whywould some of them just lock themselves in their cars? I don’t know, it just doesn’t make sense to me.”
I grunt. “Maybe Canada closed their borders and there wasn’t any space to turn their cars around?”
“I guess,” Briggs says, shaking his head. “But leaving your car here would just cause even more of a traffic jam. Once there’s no one to move the car, it kinda fucked everyone else.”
“People are selfish.”
I talked Briggs into taking one of the hunting knives we found. He’s good with those throwing knives, but I get nervous when I think about something attacking him close quarters. Those throwing knives are so short. He uses his new knife to finish off a different zombie trapped inside a car.
As we move, we keep an eye for any movement around us and glance in each car, just in case there’s loot inside we could use.
“You’re right,” Briggs says eventually. “People are selfish.” He lets out a long sigh. “I should really stop being surprised by that. Call me naive but I want to think the best about people, even despite all this bullshit around us.”
It’s hard for me to wrap my head around that. After everything I’ve been through, it’s hard not to see the worst of humanity and assume everyone is like that. Briggs is proof that’s not true, but even so, trust is something to be earned. If we ever meet another person, I’m not sure how I’ll react other than assume the worst.
Briggs is different though. He’s proof that there’s still some good in the world. Not only did he save me but he did so without expecting anything in return. If the world was made of more people like him, the world wouldn’t be such a dumpster fire.
I admire his outlook even if I can’t do the same myself.
“You can see the best in people and I’ll continue to see the worst,” I tell him after a moment. He looks over me and gives me a small smile.
“We’ll have our bases covered.”
My chest warms at his words. There’s something about hearing Briggs say ‘we’ when he talks about the future that leaves me feelingthings. Things I don’t really understand but are there nonetheless. These feelings don’t need a name, they’re just nice existing. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt anything other than rage and terror. This is a nice change that I welcome.
We move through the sea of cars. At the border, we easily hurdle over the car gates and make our way into Canada. Every day the air gets more and more cool and every night, it gets colder still. Briggs has his bomber jacket to keep him warm and I’ve been wearing layers but eventually, we’re going to need to find somewhere to make into a proper base. Sleeping in our sleeping bags isn’t going to cut it especially once the snow properly hits.
“I think it would be best if we steer clear of the cities and stay closer to the more wooded areas. If we can get a bit more north, I’m sure we could find a cabin or something like that to stay in.”
“Sounds good,” I say, following Briggs’ lead.
There’s so much to work out and plan still. Once we find a place to stay, we’ll need to explore and see if there’s any cities nearby so we can stock up for the winter. Will we be able to keep ourselves fed during the winter? Will we be able to find supplies? Will we get cabin fever or try to kill each other after being stuck together in close quarters so long?
All of those things fall away because right now, we’re in a new country. We’ve made it to Canada. There’s something about being here that feels freeing and different. Maybe this place won’t have the same horrors as where we came from. Maybe this is the fresh start we both need.
We take out half a dozen zombies as we walk, all of them roaming aimlessly and alone. They’re easy to take care of, especially because I can hear them from a distance.
As the sun starts to set, we do our best to find a place to bunker down for the night. Thankfully, we spot a treehouse. This must be another hunting spot from before. We climb up the wooden steps that are nailed into the tree and shove ourselves into the small space. The windows are open, allowing the cold breeze to travel in but at least we have a roof over our heads.
“Tomorrow we should try to find a creek or a river or a lake,” Briggs says as he pulls his sleeping bag out and unrolls it. He stretches it out onto the ground, taking up half the space in here. I follow suit. “I could really use a wash.”
