Where We Go | Book Three

16. More Than a Camp

It had been a struggle before to fit everyone in the car, now even more so. Only by focusing on the scenes outside and the weight of Sophia's body on my lap did it help to distract me from the inevitable that was coming. Ben had said it before and I'd brushed him off but, only now, when we were getting closer was the reality beginning to dawn ever closer.

I was the enemy.

Outside, the clouds had gathered in the sky, covering any inch of blue space with a sheet of white. The trees had thinned too, leaving more open spaces. They included empty fields that went on for miles, not even a stumbling Infected tainting its grass. 

It was Pilot who drove this time, and he drove like we were skimming the top of a lake, effortlessly dodging bumps and Infected, steering us through the countryside like we were on an eternal silk ribbon. I was grateful for the gentle movement as Sophia slept against me, barely moving her head against my shoulder.

"Take a left here," Lucy said.

The car turned and Land's End stretched out before us. It was secured by a 10-foot fence and closed off by large, bolted gates. The structure was dark and intimidating and I craned my neck as close to the window as my face would allow. Once we reached the gate, men and women appeared at the top and their aimed weapons covered their faces. As the truck began to slow, Sophia began to stir in my lap, blinking heavy eyes.

"What the fuck is this place?" Chris muttered from the passenger seat. 

All it took was one simple wave out the window from Lucy for the gates to open, revealing a place that exceeded anything any of us could have imagined.

What once would've been empty, cascading fields were now covered with tents, cars and caravans, makeshift houses, and structures. There was colour everywhere, reds, blues and yellows scattered through paint and wildflowers. We were driving through a community, rich with people and life. People who had managed to survive, who had found a way to pull together something new from the ruins of what everyone else had left behind. Soph turned to the window, pressing her hand against the glass.

"Look! There's a playground!" she scrambled across me to get closer to the window, twisting her body as we drove past so she didn't lose sight of it.

From the corner of my eyes, I caught Ben watching her with a smile I'd never seen on him before. Light flickered in his irises and that warm glow spread across his whole face.

"Maybe there's some kids here you can play with too, Soph," he suggested.

Soph turned, her eyes wider than I'd ever seen them. "Really?"

"Don't worry," Lucy said to her. "There will be plenty to keep you occupied."

"Did you know about this place?" I asked Ben under my breath. I couldn't put my finger on what I was feeling. Fear, less so. An overwhelming sense of anxiety, maybe.

He shook his head, seeming bemused as I was. "No idea."

"This should be interesting," Julia muttered, looking out the front.

The buildings, the layout, and the people who wandered around. Everything inside the gates spoke of a group that had their shit together. It wasn't Carnelian or even Dawn Hill. It was something new, something entirely overwhelming. 

There were only traces of the place that was once a popular tourist attraction. Car parks and map signs displayed facts about the area and local wildlife. It made me think that maybe I would've liked to visit under better circumstances.

"Just up here on the right," Lucy directed again.

Pilot followed the road along until we pulled into the car park of a hotel, set with a backdrop of the vast ocean. The engine clicked off and there was a loud silence that filled the car, none of us knowing what to do, none of us daring to move first.