Where We Go | Book Three

32. Calm Your Nerves

We were living in the seemingly mundane. 

Carrying on as best we could in the days that followed and trying to ignore the looming sense of anxiety that came with it. I kept my head down, helping with tasks around the base where I could, and flinching at every gunshot that came from the gate. 

We'd had no luck finding out any more information about GUN, or their intentions. Every group that went out came back a few hours later with the same response; there was no getting past their defences. With no word from Dr Lawson at the lab either, it felt like we were in limbo simply buying our time until someone caught wind of what I truly was.

The early air was crisp, and a white layer of frost sat across the whole camp. The cold tingled against my skin and even the layers I wore couldn't fight it off. Dropping another basket of logs into the wood cabin, I lifted my arms above my head and stretched out my back.

"That's a nasty scar you've got there," Simon spoke from across the room. I turned, pulling down my jumper where it had lifted to expose my skin. "Sorry," he said, raising a hand as he noticed my alarm. "I didn't mean to startle you. I was just leaving."

"That's alright," I coughed. "I was just dropping off another basket."

He raised his brows. "Your third this morning, if I'm not mistaken... You're putting us all to shame."

"I don't mind manual work," I said with a shrug. "It helps me take my mind off everything."

"How did you get it?" He asked, gesturing a finger to my back. "If you don't mind me asking."

I attempted a smile as I rubbed at my eye. "The Infected aren't the only thing to worry about out there... I'm very lucky."

"Indeed, we all are-"

"There you are," Ben interrupted as the door swung open, letting in a fresh breeze of cold air. "Oh hey, Simon."

"Ben," Simon acknowledged, crossing his arms in front of his body.

Ben hung in the doorway. "Rose needs a few things picking up from the supermarket, do you want to come along?"

I furrowed my brows. "There's a supermarket here?"

He nodded. "At this point, I'm going to pretend that nothing surprises me anymore."

"Be careful," Simon spoke as I followed Ben.

"Thanks, Simon," I waved a hand. "I'll catch you later."

Ben handed me a matte black helmet as we stepped outside the cabin and pointed to a quad bike that was parked a few steps away.

"You really are trying to get us both killed," I laughed.

"Honestly," he scoffed, hopping on the bike. "It's like you don't trust me at all."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course I trust you."

He tapped on the seat behind him. "Come on then."

I paused before giving in, swinging my leg over. I slid my hands around his waist and gripped tightly, pressing my body against his.

"Hold on tight," he said, his voice mumbled by the helmet that covered his face.

He twisted his wrist and the bike lurched forward, making me grip my hands tighter around his body. The icy wind swept through my layers, chilling my skin to the bone. The sun hadn't yet broken through the white wall of clouds above and by the look of the frozen ground beneath us, it couldn't come soon enough.

We sped across the open field, following the path that had already been driven on by the other trucks. The supermarket seemed to be the furthest building from anything in Land's End and was only surrounded by open fields and abandoned cars.