Desolation ✔️

Chapter 23: Two-in-One

Several days pass with Becca and Monty at our sides. Nothing out of the ordinary happens and our journey remains mostly smooth. I wonder if it would be faster without them, but I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. If keeping Becca and Monty safe with us means delaying Ostford, then so be it. We will walk as slow as we have to.

Monty doesn't talk at all. He'll make eye contact or gesture and point to things, but he hasn't spoken a single word. Then again, maybe I'm just not good with kids. Ash gets along the best with him. He'll carry Monty when Becca gets tired and ensure the boy gets rest and food and water. He even picked up a teddy bear from a dilapidated toy store for Monty to carry since that was what he promised.

"Alright folks, I'd like y'all to take a moment and bask in the beauty here; smell the crisp air, touch the soft petals of wildflowers, and feel every ounce of depleting sunlight before dusk comes. 'Cause here, we're nearin' Ostford territory." Ellis pauses and strokes the wall of a gas station we stop at. A satisfied smile plants itself on his lips.

I'm more surprised by the emptiness leading to Ostford. Most buildings are abandoned but still intact, roads cluttered but free of the dead, air muggy but unblemished by the smell of death. We aren't at Ostford yet, but Ellis informed us we'll be there in another day or so. Excitement flourishes in my chest. We're so close. No wonder Ostford contains the new safe camp. Hardly anyone has died over here.

"Good, I'm in desperate need for a break." Becca releases Monty's small hand and plops down on a metal bench a few paces from the gas station. The road continues on for miles and orange light peeks from behind puffy white clouds. Monty climbs on the bench and sits beside her, hugging his brown teddy bear and biting his lower lip. He looks so much like Becca with his sandy-blond hair and emerald eyes.

I walk over to Ash near the front entrance of the gas station. His brown hair takes on a coppery glint from the sunlight as he scans the unbroken door and the strands stick up in random places. He looks over at me as I approach him. "Hey." His voice almost echoes through the silence.

"Hi." I stop next to him and shift my attention to the door. "What are you doing?"

"Deciding if we need anything from here. I packed everything I thought of from my house, but we're low on matches and especially food. I initially only packed for us two. We're out now."

"Let's go look. Ellis will be out here with Becca and Monty. They're fine."

Ash steps back and cranes his neck to look around the building. Ellis now has his hands on his hips as he nods approvingly at the greenery in the area, surveying the empty roads. Ash's eyes flick to me. "Okay."

The door opens easily and a little bell dings above us. But while everything looked untouched from the outside, the inside is an utter disaster. Every shelf has been stripped of food and necessities, the floor cluttered with anything not useful or discarded. My boots kick stuff away as we walk but Ash walks right over everything. We proceed slowly, shoulders tense and weapons out. The place is silent and to my surprise, there aren't any blood puddles or dead bodies anywhere.

"There's some stuff over there we can grab." Ash nods to a row of fallen cans near a burnt out freezer.

"Yeah, that works. Too bad we don't have a can opener though. I have Robert's knife, but a can opener is like a necessity in the apocalypse." I walk over to the cans and pick one up. Canned corn. All of them are. Well, it'll work. I throw my bag from one shoulder and start stuffing them in.

"Hey Scarlett," Ash calls. I turn to him. He digs through his own bag for a few seconds before pulling out—well, whaddaya know? A can opener.