Fission

Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen
   
The sounds of stampedes behind them pushed the two to run harder. Camila did her best to push past the pain in her legs. Both of them were slowing down, but not by choice. They were getting tired but dared not to stop. The two reached a road and began to zigzag around the vacant cars. A few of the cannibals were still chasing them, not as many as in the beginning, but still more than enough to overrun the two. Camila turned to glance behind her. Without paying attention she tripped and fell hard. Jonah heard the thud and noticed she was no longer beside him. He quickly stopped and ran back to help her up. As he reached her, one of the cannibals attacked him. The two scuffled for a few seconds before Jonah upper-cutted the guy. The man fell over giving Jonah time to help Camila up. Camila hobbled alongside Jonah as he continued forward.
"We can't outrun them." She sobbed as she pushed forward in pain. Jonah scooped her up in his arms bridal style running off the road and down the embankment.
"Can you swim?" He asked.
"Yes..why?" She asked, but before she could get her answer the two careened down an embankment and splashed into the water below. The cannibal slid to a stop and peered over the drop. It was very high and there were jagged rocks below. Not wanting to risk their lives, the group gave up the chase.  

The current of the river pulled the two under and swiftly upstream. Camila was the first to break the surface gasping for air. In a panic, she searched for Jonah.
"Jonah!" She called out over and over. Camila had lost so many people so far, she could not bear to lose anyone else. Even though they had only traveled together for a short time, Jonah was considered a friend. Something rare now. She called out his name again frantically looking under the water and on the bank of the river. A head rushed out of the water beside her causing Camlia to let out a scream. When she noticed it was Joanh she soon calmed down and swam towards him.
"I lost my glasses." He huffed. The two swam to the banks and collapsed on the shore.
"We still have our bags." Camila tried to make light of the situation.
"Yes, but they are soaking wet, like us." Jonah removed the bag and plopped it on the side of him.
"Did we lose them?" Camila asked.
"I do not know, but I don't want to stay around to find out. Let's get some miles in before we attempt to make a fire and dry off." Jonah announced.
"Good Idea,"  Camila replied

Our belief in the Good News of God's grace serves as the cornerstone of the Christian life. Justice and mercy are attributes of the Living and True God. Every individual has at some point been guilty of sinful disobedience against God and has been cut off from a connection with Him as a result. In accordance with His holy justice, God must punish sin committed by people, yet out of kindness and love, He offered His Son, Jesus Christ, to us as our Savior. God took on human form as Jesus in order to satisfy the moral requirements of his Law on our behalf and to take the punishment for our crimes by dying on the cross at Calvary. This has allowed us to receive forgiveness and adoption into God's eternal family. Contrary to what a lot of people think, we cannot merit these rewards by being good enough to merit God's forgiveness. According to what the Bible says, we can never be good enough on our own since we are sinners. But as a free gift from God, these advantages were paid for by the holy life and self-sacrificing death of Jesus Christ. By putting our trust in Christ, confessing our sins, and relying on His death to secure our forgiveness and acceptance by God, we accept this gift and acknowledge Him as our Savior and Lord.
Acts 2:36-39 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men, and brethren, what shall we do? 38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Camila read the wet pages of scribble Joah had written. It looked like he was trying to make a sermon out of these verses and topics. They were sticking together, so peeling them apart was almost impossible. Jonah glanced behind him to notice what she was doing.
"Yeah, I never finished that one. It was going to be my first sermon. Surprised it made it this long."
"Just barely. The pages are sticking and the ink is running." Camila closed the bible and papers and sped up to walk beside him.
"I suppose I would like to get baptized." Camila chuckled a bit at her own words. Jonah joined in on the laughter.
"Should have asked me back there when we were in the river."
The two rested a bit longer before rising to gather firewood. They needed to not only dry off but set up camp for the night. Their bodies were spent from the recent escape and the two could go no further. Jonah walked a few yards away and began to pick up large sticks while Camila cleared an area to start a fire. She was surprised by how much she had learned and how far she had come along since the bomb went off. The ups and downs of the past few months evolved her into a survivor. She knew she and Jonah needed to discuss further details about the future. Where they were going, what they would do, and how to continue on in this world. Camila heard Jonah approaching and she glanced up from where she was kneeling. Her smile soon faded when she noticed Jonah walking slowly back towards her with his hands up. A woman holding him at gunpoint followed right behind him. She was wearing a bloody police uniform and looked injured.
"Like I told you, it is just me and Camila." Jonah spoke as he stood a few feet from her.
"We are not going to hurt you and have no intentions to take anything of yours. We are just out here surviving. We got chased by a bunch of Cannibals, that is why we are out here and soaking wet. I was gathering firewood for us to make a fire. You can join us if you wish." Jonah finished speaking and waited for a response.
The woman looked down at Camila and then at Jonah. She lowered her gun a bit and stepped to the side.
"Just no funny business." The woman said before backing up a bit more.
"We still need firewood to make camp." Jonah explains slowly lowering his hands.
"Very well. We go together. She stays here."
"Camila. My name is Camila." Camila gave the woman her name. She thought if she knew it, she would calm down a bit.
"And I'm Jonah." Jonah turned slightly to face the woman.
"You were a police officer?" Camila asked. The woman nodded as she glanced between the two.
"Yes. I was not too far from the blast. My partner didn't make it." She started to cough and wiped the blood from her mouth. Camila slowly stood up and motioned for her to sit.
"You need to sit, you don't look well. Here, have some water." The officer was jumpy but soon calmed down a bit when Camila held out a bottle.
"I'm gonna get some firewood, so we can try and cook something." Jonah turned to walk back into the woods.
"I know most people out here are crazy and want to take and kill you, but I'm not...we aren't. I had a run-in with both bad and decent people along the way and I just want to let you know I am not gonna hurt you."
"How do I know that?" The woman said. Camila bent down and emptied her bag.
"See, all I Have is a knife and a few personal items...and this." She held up Jonah's bible.
"That could be dangerous." The woman spoke up.
"How so?" Camila asked
"So many men have used it to destroy lives and control people. It was used to spread hate."
"How? From what I have read so far, it is about God loving us so much he is always trying to save us." Camila's hands ran over the faded leather.
"Saying we can't be what we want. Do what we want, sleep with who we want." The woman rolled her eyes.
"Well, God did make the world, so it is kinda his rules. You should know about the rules....you are a police officer. You enforce them."
"Not anymore." She scoffed and began to cough. Camila set the bible down and handed her the water. The woman took the bottle and drank greedily.
"It's ok if you don't want to hear about it. I won't bring it up again. Just gonna say Jesus loves you." Camila smiles. The woman rolled her eyes as she drank. Camila could see sores and bloody scabs on the woman's arms and through the holes in her uniform.
   Jonah came back with wood and started to build a fire. Camila left the policewoman and helped Jonah make a fire. Silently the two sets ablaze the wood and remove a few cans from Jonah's backpack.
"Need to look for some food in the morning." Jonah glanced up at Camila and then at the woman sitting across from them.
"Tara. My name is Tara. And there is a warehouse a few miles from here. Not many people know about it, so there should be food there. I will show you in the morning." Camila turned and gave Tara a genuine smile.
"Thank you."

    The next day Tara showed the two the warehouse. The three of them loaded up as much food as they could in a truck. Tara also informed them that she had family north in Kentucky and offered to show them the way. Camila and Jonah continued to share the gospel with Tara, but the officer didn't want to hear about it. They respected her wishes and stopped talking about it. Tara, the Lady police officer, continues to lead them to Kentucky but dies at the state line due to radiation poisoning. She was so close to the blast that there was no way she would have survived much longer.