What We Become | Book Two

7. Civilisation

The cars lay abandoned on the cracked tarmac, waiting for their owners who would never return. Nature now ruled the dishevelled landscape, even during the colder months as branches suffocated anything that could be traced back to a human.

The black truck rumbled down the country lanes and I was forced to swerve the occasional stray Infected who crossed our path. Rubbish and crumpled newspapers tumbled down the road, swirling around the rotting bodies as if caught in invisible washing machines. I concentrated on the road ahead, straddling the vehicle over the fading white line that ran through the centre.

"Look at that view!" Em exclaimed, launching herself up in her seat as we passed a gap in the thick hedgerows. I took my right foot off the gas, making the stretch of road last a little bit longer.

Large fields cascaded like waves over the landscape, broken up by ant-size houses that were grouped in their colonies. The view extended to where scattering clouds touched the earth on the horizon.

"Have you not seen much of the countryside?" I asked, my brows pressed together.

"Nope," she replied. "Not outside of my hometown anyway. After uni I was planning to explore a little bit, but-" she waved her arms, gesturing out to the landscape ahead of us, "evidently that didn't work out."

The amount of white paint and road signs seemed to increase as we entered into an area more reminiscent of civilisation. The expanse of green fields was interrupted by small shops and houses, none of them showing any more signs of life than the other. We were completely alone in the emptiness, but I didn't mind.

"I wondered if you'd thought about something?" she said.

"Thought about what?"

"The fact that we would've met each other anyway... I had my placement lined up at EDIN. You were already working there..."

I shook my head and chuckled. "I guess I never thought about that."

She smiled. "I think I'd like to know what would've happened if we hadn't met the way we did and things played out differently." She seemed lost in her thoughts as her gaze drifted to the window, watching the landscape as it passed.

"Sometimes," she began. "I find myself thinking back to the start of the outbreak, how everything seemed so important back then..."

"Oh yeah? What kind of things come to mind?"

"Do you remember when everybody was hoarding toilet paper?" she asked with a grin.

I nodded. "Yeah... I couldn't find any for weeks. Ended up having to steal it from work."

Her head nodded and the sound of her breaths filled the car before she spoke again. "How long did you stick around there before you left with Will?"

"Not long," I admitted. "I did what I had to do at the lab before Will and I took off... We both knew we couldn't stay long."

"Because of your mum?"

I nodded. "I didn't tell anybody what had happened straight away... No doubt they figured it out for themselves."

"Do you think they're still there?" she questioned. "Looking for a cure, I mean?"

I shrugged. "Can't be sure, a lot has happened since then. If they are, God knows how they've held out this long."

"Don't you think it's funny?" she said.

"What?"

"How back then everyone was just looking out for themselves and now... Now we're trying to hold on to everyone there is."

"New priorities," I replied, glancing to my right where Em's eyes were narrowed, squinting into the distance.

"What's that?" she questioned, pointing further down the road.

The closer we got, the easier the picture was to make out. Their silhouettes became more familiar shapes. An old red car that looked beaten and broken had been abandoned in the empty left-hand lane. A group of people, one woman, and three men were waving jackets and various items of clothing, trying to get the attention of anyone who passed.

"What are you doing?" Em raised her voice as my right foot remained pressed against the gas pedal.

"We're not stopping," I said, my tone unchanging. I pressed down further, swerving around the broken-down vehicle. My stare was focused on the open tarmac and Em exhaled a heavy sigh, making her displeasure known.

"We could've helped them," she muttered.

"You wouldn't have wanted to," I stated, my voice firm over the sound of the engine.

"Why?"

"They were from Dawn Hill."