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It isn't long before I see someone on the road. And by "it isn't long" I mean I see them straight away when I close the house's front door behind me.

I jump into a cluster of bushes.

Which hurts by the way.

It's a girl on a mountain bike, which is pretty smart considering she doesn't have to fret about gas or fuel. But personal energy at certain times would be the factor that would decide which side of the fence I'd be on.

I watch as she stops her bike in front of the house. "Uh, I don't know how to react to this. But—" she waves in my direction. "—How's things going?"

Whoa, finally someone who doesn't want to fight. Instead of striking my face with a punch she'll strike up a friendly conversation. Maybe. Same but depends.

I emerge from the bushes, looking ragged with my hair messed up due to the branches. The girl has her dirty blonde hair back in a pony tail. She wears running shorts and a black Underarmor zip hoodie jacket over a t-shirt advertising some sports tournament. She also wears a bike helmet. Safety first. I respect that.

"Hi, I'm Ember..." I greet warily.

"Cool. I'm Joanna. Any weapons on you?" She asks her question seriously, almost catching me off guard.

"Ah yes, a knife and a gun." I hesitate and show her my weapons. I then sheath my knife and holster my gun soon after. "Um, you?"

"The usual knife and gun too." She replies nonchalantly. There's an awkward pause. The slight breeze rustles the tree leaves and the insects of the surrounding woods buzz irritatingly.

"Are you alone?" Joanna breaks the silence.

"I—I guess I am."

"You 'guess'?" She knits her eyebrows together.

"Well, I lost my group a few days ago." I confess, feeling unnerved finally saying it out loud.

Joanna looks at me for a long while. Her expression is calculating and thorough—she bites her lip in indecision.

"Well..." She starts slowly. "I do have a group. Actually it's quite large." She adds the last part as an afterthought, I notice. "You could basically call it a legion."

I nod. "Cool. I came from a big group too. There was some sort of attack—" I stop myself. What if she is part of the people who blew up the prison?

Joanna frowns and her expression softens. "Holy crap. What happened?"

"I hardly know. I was inside when it started. Then I heard explosions—"

"Explosions?!" She echoes with alarm, her grip on her bike handles falters for a second. "How do people even get that stuff?" She murmurs.

"Yeah, explosions."

Joanna's face fills with intrigue. "I came out here on a Food and Water excursion. But I hope they don't mind when I bring back a person. Would you like to come back with me?" Joanna offers. Joanna is so survival smart and instinctive (it's almost as if she's watched shows or read about apocalypses somewhere) that I can tell she is unsettled with bringing back another mouth to feed instead of actual food.

"Don't you need to get some supplies for your legion though?" I ask, smiling. "I'll come, but I'm sure they'd love it when they get double the goods they had expected."

Joanna snaps her fingers and points at me. "Smart," she grins. "Follow me, I know where to go first."

----------

Joanna has been nice to me, I can tell it was partly because she knew I was alone and I didn't want to harm her as long as she in return doesn't harm me.

We grab canned food and water bottles from all over the gas station. Noticing my shock at the abundance of goods, Joanna explains that her group has a whole map of the area and marks what has been raided and what still has some good loot. Seems like a pretty organized place to be a part of. Seem like the kind of place I want to be a part of.

"You'll like it there!" She says jubilantly as she enthusiastically reaches for a can of beans. Which reminds me of Daryl's tendency to eat them and acquire bad gas. Nostalgia and a dull feeling of loss spreads across my numb nerves.

"There's cute boys there too." Joanna informs me, smirking a little. "Well, Nat's okay, but he's s friend." She adds as if I know who that is.

"I already slightly have a boyfriend." I admit sheepishly and Joanna raises an eyebrow.

Joanna smiles as she bags the beans in her pack. "What's he like?" I notice her words are heavy, despite the attempt at lightness in her tone. She must be full of questions on the attack too—questions I won't have answers to.

"Umm...he sorta needs a haircut and wears a Sheriff's hat." Is what I can muster. Joanna scoffs. I feel sheepish talking about this.

"What? Like, that's it?" She says as she turns to walk over to check the clerk counter. She grabs a few candy bars from under it.

"Hey! Don't hog all of the candy!" I jog after her and dive behind the counter. I really want Sour Patch Kids watermelon version. Even if by some logic sugar can go "bad."

"I'll never surrender my stash of candy foods!" Joanna shrieks as she protectively shields her unfortunately slightly melted Kit Kat bars.

I laugh as I tuck away the sugary candy in my backpack. I slump against the wall next to her.

"Spill the beans, Ember." Joanna urges. "Tell me about Sheriff."

I stifle a snort at the assumed nickname. "Okay, his name is Carl."

"Okay, generic but cute. Wait, he's cute right?"

"Sure," I roll my eyes and—okay fine, maybe he is a little cute. But I'll never admit it outright out loud. "Umm..."

"Umm...?" Joanna encourages me to elaborate. "Long hair, right? Tell me a little more. Eye-color? Number of eyes?"

"I know he has two eyes, I can assure you that." I tell her. "Blue eyes, I think."

"Okay. You never know. I've dated a one-eyed guy one time."

"Really?"

"No." She replies, deadpan. "A girl can dream though, amiright?" We burst out laughing.

"Should we head to your Legion?" I ask her. She nods.

"Don't want to be tardy." She jokes, as if we're still in school and we have to worry about class attendance.

I chuckle and get to my feet. Joanna follows suit, and together we both leave the gas station with two bags full of necessities.

😂

Zaremareth