Chapter Text
Ch.1
The sun was shining through the branches, waking me from my deep sleep of nightmares. My back ached; actually, my entire body seemed to be aching. I had been lucky enough to find a tree that had a branch wide enough to sleep on last night. As I climbed down from the branch that was only a few feet above the ground my arms gave way and I fell, adding to the aches I was already experiencing.
My body was weak, barely able to cling to any ounce of energy left in me, but I knew that I needed to move. I had run out of water a few days ago and I wasn’t having any luck at finding any, and the berries that I had picked weren’t enough to sustain me. I grabbed my bag and flung it across my back and began to walk. I wasn’t sure what direction I was walking, maybe this was the way I had come from yesterday, I wasn’t sure. My thoughts were interrupted by the sounds that had become so familiar; the shuffle of feat, the low moans of the hungry, the occasional snapping of a branch. I took off in a dead sprint, which was probably more of a fast jog considering the condition my body was in. I ran as fast as I could for as long as I could, making sure there was a large distance between me and the beasts that now walked this earth, then I quit, more so because I was out of the breath than I was confident of the distance between the walker and I.
I continued walking; desperately searching for any sign of water, but my luck hadn’t seemed to change. I am so hot, and my body didn’t have anything left to sweat out to cool me down, so I sat down, hoping that a break would allow my body to cool and my head to clear. I glanced up at the sky, by the position of the sun it must be around noon. I had slept later than usual.
I heard branches break and was beginning to get ready to run when I looked in the direction the sound had come from. My body froze, unable to move, in disbelief of what I saw. A few hundreds yards away were three men. Their movements were fluid and their skin was peachy, a dead giveaway that these men weren’t walkers but were humans. I stood there a few minutes unsure of what to do, almost positive that these men were just hallucinations caused from the dehydration. Except this hallucination was different than the others my reality had become accustomed to. I had never seen these men before, most of my hallucinations consisted of people I knew who were dead, either that or things I couldn’t even begin to explain.
A million thoughts were racing through my mind. Should I turn around and head the other way? My previous run-ins with humans since the world spiraled out of control hadn’t ended very well. The last time I had seen humans was a few months ago. They ransacked what little resources I had left, and I have a feeling they had other plans for me, but I ran when I got a chance and didn’t look back. Should I just stay here and see if they notice me? No, of course they won’t notice me, they are heading away from me. That’s when I decided to take a leap of faith and follow them.