VIRUS - Redemption

FOURTEEN

12.15.2038

I stand at the gate, tucking the handgun Iris gave me into the back on my pants. Around me stood 9 people, bringing the group to 10 altogether. Patrick, Anarchy, Yassim, Judas, Killian, Drago, Wyatt, East and Ezekiel. Iris stood beside me, holding my back pack.

It was Robert retrieval day.

Or at least the first of many in order to get him back. We didn't know how long this would take, so each of us are carrying enough supplies for a week in our back packs. As you can imagine, that would mean they were heavy packs. Food, clothes, ammo, knives and basic supplies like rope and chimes. Everyone was in charge of their own pack, no sharing or lending. If you run out, you look for the item yourself; we needed this stuff to survive, every one of us.

Iris handed my pack over, I pulled it over my arms and onto my back. It was heavy; heavier than I remembered.

The gates began to open, and I looked over at my Mom, who looked distressed. Her brows were furrowed, her hands were rolled into fists and her eyes were searching all of us frantically like something was missing. I knew what was missing; Robert. We were down a person, and it showed. You can't play a game of follow the leader, when the leader isn't there.

"Let's roll out." Ezekiel called out. I nodded, looking back at Iris. She held out her arm, pulling me into her chest before wrapping her arms around me.

"I want both of my children in London for Christmas." She whispered in my ear, "You hear me?"

"I do." I pulled away, nodding. That was in 10 days. We'd be home by then; surely. She nodded towards Ezekiel, telling me to go. I bit my lip, hesitating before walking over to the rest of the group. I didn't look back at Iris, I didn't see a point; I would be returning in less than a week to see her again, with Robert beside me.

Walking out of that gate felt different this time. It wasn't a quick mission to Mama's house. This time we had a map, we had a location and we had a city. Two days of walking. Two overnights we will need to set up. We get Robert; two more days walking and two more overnights. The longest we should be gone is 5 days; we have enough to last us a week.

We'll be home by Christmas. There's no reason we shouldn't be.

The second we crossed the tree-line, we were no longer safe. The Watchers on the towers could no longer see us or protect us. The forest had been quiet since Wyatt's outburst; Iris believes she drew out any lingering Dead near London. I hoped it would stay like this for a little longer.

2 hours since leaving.

None of us had said a single word to each other this whole time. We walked in silence, Patrick beside me and Ezekiel out the front with the map. Within 2 hours, we had only spotted 3 Dead; all of which were easily taken out with a knife, no bullets wasted. I got the third, a bit of black blood splattered onto my grey sleeve, staining it.

I tried not to look at it, but I could feel it sitting on my clothes. Patrick could see me rolling my eyes at the stain, chuckling softly to himself every time I showed the slightest annoyance.

"Just use my water to get it off." He suggested. I shook my head, shoving my hands in my pocket to stop myself from looking at it.

"Save your water for when you actually need it." I sighed, silently hoping to find some sort of ravine to wash my sleeve in. It wasn't the stain, it was what the stain was. Rotten, human remains. It was basically the same as sewerage to me, so I didn't want that on my sleeve, at all.

"If you say so." He shrugged his shoulders. We continued in silence, I brought my hood up and over my beanie. I heard him laugh, so I stopped in my tracks and looked at him.