𝟸𝟷:𝟺𝟾, 𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚢 𝟷𝟾𝚝𝚑
𝙷𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚊, 𝙲𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚊

     The sky is dark, the only visible area to the human eye being the road lit up by the car's headlights. The quiet hum of the engine echoed throughout the barren town. Mitchell was up in the driver's seat, knocking back his fifth energy drink of the night. Next to him, Sophia was passed out in the passenger seat, cuddled up against the window. Mayline was lightly snoring in the back, her seat leaned as far back as possible. Zeus and Lincoln made a makeshift bed by putting some of the seats down and laying a blanket on the ground.

     Mitch was slightly nodding off, ready to wake up Sophia so they can swap. All of a sudden a hunched figure appeared in front of the van. He sharply swerved out of the way, throwing everyone in the van awake. Zach was thrown on top of Lincoln, neither of them having a seatbelt on. "What's going on!?" Mayline yelped, lurching forward and getting slightly choked by her seatbelt.

     Mitch scrambled around, unbuckling, grabbing his bat and a flashlight from the passenger side floor. "There was someone in the road, I couldn't tell if it was a human or a deadbrain." He took a second to calm his breathing before opening his door and stepping out. "Wait!" Sophia quickly followed him out, grabbing her bow and a few arrows.

"I'm coming too!" Mayline unbuckles and crawls out the passenger door, leaving Lincoln and Zeus in the van.

"If you do not get of me in the next ten seconds-" Lincoln glares up at Zeus. "You'll do what?" Zeus teases him, getting closer to his face. Lincoln's face slightly flushes before he regains his composure and knees Zeus in the crotch, causing the latter boy to roll over in pain. Lincoln stands up, dusting himself off and grabbing his small hatchet, going through the trunk to join the rest of the group.

Mitch was slowly creeping towards the figure, his bat ready to be swung. The thing was twitching as if it was crying, quietly sniffling. As the light of the flashlight hits it, it shoots up flinching as its bloody finger reached for the trigger of its rifle. Aiming the gun at the group of teenagers was a young girl, no older that 15, with her black hair stuck to her forehead caked with sweat and blood.

        "Who are you!?" She shouts, her entire body shaking. Mitch slowly raises his hands, keeping a tight grip on his weapon, "We're just a group of survivors trying to get to Canada. I'm Mitch, this is Sophia, Mayline, and Lincoln." He nods towards each person as he says their name. "And there's another guy named Zeus in the van."

"Oh, thank god." She lets herself fall to her knees, dropping the rifle on the ground. Sophia rushes over to her, engulfing her in a comforting hug. "It's okay, it's okay," she soothes her as the girl starts weeping. The girl suddenly pulls away, grabbing both of Sophia's arms. "Wait! Can you guys help me?" She scrambles up and grabs Mitch's arm, trying to tug him towards the forest on the side of the road. "My sister, she's- she's still out in the woods. She might still be alive, if we can get there. The government came after us-" She was going a mile a minute, but was interrupted by Lincoln. "The government?! Absolutely not, we'll get slaughtered."

"B-But my sister-"
"Your sister is already dead, the best thing is for you, for us, to do is get the fuck out of here as fast as possible."
She stumbles back a little, the reality settling in. Mayline and Sophia lead her to the trunk of the van, letting her sit on the edge. Zeus had finally recovered, sitting next to the new girl and trying to distract her while Lincoln and Mayline work on trying to bandage her broken finger.

"My name is Gabrielle." She introduces herself while Sophia is wiping the blood off her face with a wet wipe. "It's not the best for the skin, but it's better then leaving you covered in blood."

"We'll try to find a lake or something for a quick freshening up." Mitch says, digging through a bag of stolen clothes to find something that Gabrielle could change into.

           "Perfect! Now boys, to the front so she can change." Mayline shoos them off, closing the trunk and the privacy curtain that separates the front and back.