"Another day, another journey", Catherine said to herself as she stares at the bloodstained asphalt below her. The surroundings doesn't match what she's seeing above, birds are chirping all around, insects and their sounds travel through the woods and the roads. Jonathan is still inside the RV, grabbing up a few things that they can use as they traverse the road once again. She doesn't know what suddenly came to her, just last night she was afraid of how the world works now, but right now she is more than comfortable standing outside alone, with the scattered remains of the men that attempted to rob and rape her. She found herself staring at the asphalt covered in thick blood, flesh and other remains she can't even identify. The crickets near her began to sound louder as she began to be more immersed in the carnage she is staring at, hypnotizing her as she stares into this crimson void.
"I got everything, we can go now" Jonathan told her as he appeared behind her while she stares below.
"We should have gone earlier, we have enough there's no need to scavenge" she replied while crossing her arms staring down in the asphalt seemingly unbothered by what she just heard.
"Are you okay Cath? You know I was surprised you wanted to get out the RV, after what happened yesterday, I thought you'd like being inside more" He responded
"It was getting claustrophobic outside, I just wanted to stretch my legs" she responded with her arms still crossed staring off in the distance.
"It's getting colder isn't it?.....I can see the fog rolling, it might give us an advantage as we go through town" Jonathan responded while carrying a concerned face on him that Catherine can't see.
It's not easy to just move on or to shrug off all that has happened but they both know how different things will be from then on, they don't even know what lie awaits. Perhaps a swift and easy gallop through town, but they both know that's highly unlikely. The cold started to come through for the both of them, it was cold in the past few days but it is even colder now. Catherine was holding her pistol on her hand just to make sure that she's ready for anything. She swayed her arms in the back, lifting her jacket up and trying fit her pistol in the back. After she was done with it, she crossed her arms to have a sense of warmth in her as the cold settles in around them. Jonathan looked at her, and told her if she's comfortable not holding her gun. She replied yes and she just really needs to warm herself up because she can't stand it getting colder by the minute. Jonathan simply went closer just so he can watch his friend better while outside.
The fog is almost there, but there is still enough visibility outside to see far enough. As they traverse through the road, their surrounding becomes more and more familiar and they know that they are getting nearer to town. It wasn't clear where they are but now that they're closer and as the fogs grasp in front of them fades, it revealed to them a sea of cars, motionless and abandoned, blocking the entrance into town.
"Shit, I guess people still tried to leave. I bet they came from Phyton creek. There's no way they were from Rocheport, It was way too quiet there" Jonathan said as he came close and observed the cars.
"There's no blood around, do you think they made it?" Catherine asked.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, best case scenario is they snatched them" Jonathan said as he continued to rummage through the cars
"What are you even looking for? We have enough already" Catherine said, seemingly bothered by what Jonathan is doing.
"I'm looking for a coat, it's not good that you're not holding your gun, especially out in the open". Jonathan replied as he continued to search around.
Catherine wanted to be grateful, but she knows by now how much of a risk it is to be outside in the open for long. She just tolerates it for now as she can see that they are at least protected by the fog. Jonathan signaled her to move along across the sea of cars infront of them. Jonathan peeks around every car he sees as if he's the one who needs the coat. Catherine wants to tell him to stop, but the surrounding around them is getting colder and she doesn't want to regret not finding one. They are about half way through the sea of cars now and there wasn't any luck with the coat yet. It was the only thing they could've thought of for now, until a rustling sound was heard near them.
They were now both in high alert, not wanting to fall victim to who it is that could be stalking them. Catherine quickly took her gun, not minding the cold just so she can shoot whoever or whatever is there. It made it's sound again, but this wasn't leaves rustling but a soft and low voice that appears to have cursed. By this time they were both positive that it was a person and they could hear the sound coming from the red sedan almost poking out the of the asphalt and hitting the grass and dirt on the side. Jonathan signaled Catherine to go to the side, as he moves forward ready to tell and shoot the person if they were ever hostile.
Catherine is as nervous as she is, if they were hostile this would be the first time she would use her gun against someone. Jonathan knows this that's why he went ahead despite the dangers it might pose. He did it before so he is sure that he can take them out before they can. They both quietly headed towards the the side of the red car with the wind whispering and blowing towards them. The closer they get the louder the wind whispered to them. Jonathan reached the tail of the car while Catherine is one the other side, Jonathan signaled her to stop.
There is a moment of silence before Jonathan gave the go signal, both nervous as they have no idea what to expect, but they have no choice in the matter and they have to deal with threat at hand, so with that Jonathan signaled go.
It was a man sporting a coat, wool gloves and a blonde hair. He had his hands up obviously scared by the two strangers pointing a gun at him. He begged the two of them not to shoot him as he put his hands with a shake in his voice and hands. Jonathan asked him to stand up, the man having no choice obliged to his request. He asked him to open his coat and turn around just so he can see if he has anything on him. Jonathan asked the man what he was doing hiding. He explained that he was scared since the other people he met threatened him and stole most of his stuff.
A form of sympathy arose within Jonathan since they were close to being robbed as well but he can't really trust the man yet, he asked him where he is headed. "Tulipdune", he responded the same place they are trying to go to. The stranger asked if they are going there to, but the two if them didn't respond, but the man still took it as a confirmation and he tried to approach Jonathan until he told him to stop with his gun raised. The man pleaded, asking them if they can come with them but Jonathan is adamant that they went their separate ways. But he pleaded once more, telling them that he has no one and that it can be on their terms until they reach tulipdune. Jonathan went to Catherine with his gun still aimed at the blonde haired man. They went over as to if they should let the man tag along, Catherine doesn't want to, he thinks the man is lying and that they should just let him go his own way. Jonathan while agreeing to some degree thinks that they could use a helping hand for a while atleast as they go through town. Catherine doesn't like the idea but Jonathan told him that they can't be like everyone they have to atleast help him. Despite her hesitation she agreed but there is no way he is coming with them.
Jonathan wanted to bargain with her, but he remembered what almost happened a while back and he knows that she has to respect what Catherine felt about it. He told Catherine to grab some food and water from her bag as he still aimed at the blonde man in front of them. Since he can't come with them they might at least give him something for the road. Catherine dug through her bag searching for what she can give the man once she had, she tossed it to the man with Jonathan telling him to grab it and be on his way.
There was a slight hesitation from the man, looking down and below at the items in front of him, but eventually he did grab it and ran away disappearing into the fog. It's just the two of them again, traversing the town stuck in this sea of fog. They continued their travels again passing through the cars whose passengers attempted to get into town but seemingly failed. Along their journey a car stood out to them, it was spotless in the outside almost no dirt or stain touching its pristine red paint, but the inside tells a whole another story, the inside is stained with blood with even a torso left behind inside there were bloodmarks left behind on its left side indicating where those creatures came out, the other cars also had the same story, but it seems to only be in this specific section. It confirmed to them what happened to those people there and they are glad they didn't came as early as them
Eventually they reached town and they have to stay close with each other since the fog isn't surrounding the town yet. It is an eerie feeling being there in town which has now became a ghost town, not single person or sound can be heard, it's only them walking through a decaying town. They reached several parts of town until they covered almost half of it, seeing nothing and no one insight. It could've been just a breeze until Catherine remembered where she is. The open-air mall, that was once the center of town and where she would've bought the wedding dress are all here. She wished that there was another route but this place is the best way to get to the other side of town. The beige walls and columns, the restaurants and the plastic pine trees does indeed set up an atmosphere even before it all went to shit, but now it's just eerie, what's worse about it is how clean it was. They both expected for it atleast have something but is now simply a dead quiet mall. Catherine knows what lies ahead as they walk through this mall, it was the shop where she was supposed to buy her dress, she has no plans on stopping and reminiscing about it but...she couldn't help herself.
As she slowly came to close, she stopped. Looking inside it, she can see the dress she was supposed to wear inside it, what's funny about it is that the dress is still in the mannequin they left it at, it was suppose to be beautiful, but fate just had to ruin it. Jonathan who is still walking, didn't notice she got left behind, until he leaned his head towards her and noticed she was gone. He freaked out a little but she saw she was their staring at the window shop. He walk towards her, wanting to remind her that they should keep going. Catherine saw him coming and walked towards him leaving the shop and what could've been. Jonathan wanted to say something to her but she passed him and he just remained silent.
Finally they reached the end of the Mall, and by this point the fog was everywhere, they could barely see anything. Jonathan told her to stay close and to ready her gun. It was gamble at this point but there was no where they could stay in that mall. Traversing the fog is like walking through a minefield, you can never really know what will happen next. They walked as quietly and as carefully as they can not wanting their next step to be a mistake. They walked for a while until Catherine spotted a faint image of structure near by, she whispered to Jonathan telling him that they cannot walk blind like this. She pointed out the structure and she urged her to let the fog pass. He agreed, he also didn't like that they were walking blind, he has a bad feeling about it, he knows anything and anyone can jump them from the fog. They started making their way towards the structure, or what atleast is there.
There were only a few feet away from it until they heard a flapping sound, they know what it was and they immediately ran, but this only alerted what were there, swarmers and as they are named, they swarmed the both of them trying to halt and distract them, while screaming a high pitched cry to disorient them. Catherine shouted at Jonathan that they are not there to harm them and they are just distracting them until the real threat arrives. She urged the both of them to push through and to get inside, so with all their might they pushed through swiping and shoving hard on the swarmers intending to feed them to their masters. Ofcourse they didn't make it easy, the few small steps felt like eternity, with scratches and bites as an extra to stop them, but nonetheless they pushed through and through until they reached the door. Jonathan smacked away the swarmers with his rifle as they tried to go with them inside and stop them from entering, but it was in vain as they got in anyways, but before they can close the door, Catherine saw a glimpse a of pale tall monster heading their way. Once they got in, they locked the door, Catherine didn't mind the monster, they're safe now, but then the flapping sound stopped and they can hear something walking infront of the door, there was a few seconds of silence and they know something was up so they pointed their guns at the door waiting for whatever may happen. And as they suspected , the door teared open revealing 4 pale tall monsters eager to end the two . They fired their shot but it was no use, there were was a lot more wanting to get in, so they had no choice but to run. They ran inside the warehouse they now find themselves lost in wanting to escape the monsters chasing them. Jonathan told her to drop the bags so they ran faster way from the swarm. The reached a narrow corridor but the three remaining pale tall monsters where still on hot pursuit not wanting to give up their prey.
Once they gained distance they both stopped facing the monsters and shooting those that they can. They took down one of the tall creatures and some of the swarmers but the two still remained although one of them is now injured. They tried shooting them while there was still distance but the swarmers are eating up all the bullets, barely hitting their masters. They can't keep shooting, they'll eventually catch up to them so they ran once again. They ran and they ran until they reached a wide open area with seemingly no exit insight, they desperately scanned the room for anything that can help and thank fully there was a door, they don't where it leads but is better than being there. They could hear the monsters catching up to them, so they pointed their guns at corridor waiting for them to show up, one of the tall pale monster arrived, sprinting fast towards them but they were now able to land a clean shot in its head, killing it immediately but the swarmers caught up and now they have to make a run for it. They ran for the door while those creatures are behind them, Catherine wanting to weaken the remaining tall pale creature, shot from behind hoping to atleast hit him somewhere important and she did, hitting it in its legs and wings slowing it down but not enough. They reached the door and they wasted no time lifting the latch, effectively opening in and getting inside but just when they were about to fully close the door the tall pale creature caught up to them and tried to push the door open. They both pushed with all their might, making sure that the creature doesn't win, but in their haze, the creature managed to get its head inside, and it bit Jonathan's arm. He screamed loud as it sinks it sharp teeth deep into his flesh not wanting to let go, but he is still stubborn holding, he still held on to the door making sure he closes it. Catherine seeing all of this didn't waste anytime, she took a risk letting go of the door, reloading and shooting the creature. She missed the first shot hitting its shoulder, but it helped since it let Jonathan go, she fired another shot again and this time she hit it right in the head. They both closed the door, and put down the latch finally ensuring that they're safe. Jonathan sat down on the floor, exhausted and bleeding, Catherine came up to him to look closely at his wound. It was bad and all the supplies that could help them were left behind. She panicked not knowing what to do, she's afraid that her friend will bleed out in that room, but she remembered the videos she watched back then, she remembered how to make the bleeding stop, she tore off a piece from her coat tying it up and hoping that the bleeding will stop. After a lot of trial and error she succeeded and he calmed down.
A few hours passed and she had just woken up from her sleep, Jonathan is awake staring at the ceiling pondering about what just happened,
"I'm glad you're awake, how's the wound?", Catherine asked.
"Oh...I'm sorry... I didn't see you were awake but yeah it's oks you did a good job with the wound", Jonathan replied.
"Well, you can thank youtube for that" Catherine replied.
"Youtube huh? Is that how you found out they were just swarming us?", Jonathan asked.
"No it's from the PSA. That tall bastard that bit you, they're called the superiors, they supposed to be strongest but we killed three of them", Catherine said with a proud smirk on her face.
"Well, I guess they have to fear us now", Jonathan responded with a short laugh, "Hey I know I'm the one who's wounded but are you okay?"
"Why'd you ask?", Catherine said with a confused look in her face.
"I know you're disappointed, world's really fucked up right, but I'm here, we're here, Hell it might be our last few days, it's okay to open up a little.", Jonathan said.
"Thank you, you'll be the first to know what I think about these stinking monsters", Catherine jokingly responded.
"That's the spirit! I'm gonna catch some sleep again cath, I'll see you later" Jonathan said as she lied down on the floor ready for a night's sleep.
Catherine replied with a nod and smile, and then Jonathan closed his eyes, resting one's more for the night. She wants to sleep but she couldn't, she almost lost her bestfriend. Deep down she knows that she is gonna lose a lot in this world now. Her fiance, still hasn't said a word to her and he's been silent for a while. Her family never reached out to her again. She just hopes her thoughts don't become real and they remain that way nothing but thoughts, but at the end of the day I guess they'll have to see.