Dash Dash Dot Dot

Decisions

Willow and Tiffany spent the afternoon chatting and getting to know each other. They discussed their lives from before the outbreak and what they hoped to achieve now. Neither of them had much food left to sustain them for much longer so they went through the list of pros and cons of making their way to one of the nearby factions. The radio played advertisement type segments for the factions, introducing the committee members and explaining what sorts of supplies and equipment they had as well as what they expected from those who wished to join. No faction would turn away a survivor but anywhere you went you would need to pitch in and help with various chores, from working in the gardens to going on supply runs, or helping with the perimeter patrols. One of the factions even claimed they were child friendly and had a crèche service available for parents.

They wrote a list of all the factions in Queanbeyan and what each of them offered in their ads. “I think this will be the best course for survival, I really didn’t like the sound of the community shelters the PM was talking about originally but these sound like they will help the uninfected in our fight for survival. I’m glad that I waited and didn’t rush to a shelter.” Willow said.

Tiffany nodded in agreement. “Totally. I agree 100% with that.” She looked at their lists on the floor in front of them. “Well there are a couple that sound nice enough and a couple which I would rather be out there with the zombies than go to.” Willow laughed in response. “What? Do you disagree?” Tiffany had a large smile on her face as Willow shook her head. “I mean, I like kids but I definitely don’t want to be around a crèche of them. And the faction at the church, well, let's stick with I’m not religious at all." The pair giggled. "So, which ones are you thinking?"

"I would probably say Karabar, only because I went to school there and I think I remember my way around the buildings and such. Plus the stuff they have going on there sounds like I could help do; plus I'm interested to see how they've set the place up compared to how I remember it." Willow thought for a moment. "Queanbeyan High would probably be my second choice, I only ever saw their hall once during exams, but the high schools seem to be equipped with better equipment than the primary schools do."

"Makes sense. I think I would have to agree with you. Plus Karabar has South on the same block of land. Do you think they've gone into their grounds too, or just kept at the high school?" Tiffany asked.

"Well the radio only says the high school, but who knows," Willow replied. "The only way to find out is to go there." The pair had discussed at length which faction to head towards. They had decided to stick together while they travelled, hoping that there was better safety with the two of them together rather than being by themselves. Willow having saved Tiffany had forged an instant friendship between the two and the girls were thankful to have someone in the new world that they could talk to and rely on. They settled on leaving the following day, during the morning so they would have the light of day to travel which would help in spotting the infected and being able to keep their distance from them.

Tiffany had a couple knives in her bag, but no other weapons, Willow gave her the cricket bat she had picked up from Kmart, keeping her baseball bat for herself. They gathered all the remaining supplies and split them between their bags. Willow packed her teddy bear and the photos in the bottom of her backpack and then put the rest of the supplies into it. The knives were wrapped in the towel and placed into the top of the bag. She made sure the baseball bat could be removed quickly from the side strap if she needed to do so. Without the cricket bat she was able to attach her fry pan to the other side of her bag.

They wanted to get everything ready for their journey to the faction. Willow looked through the peep hole in her door; she didn't see any zombies on the landing so she cracked open the door, going slowly so it made no sound as she did. She could see a zombie at the bottom of the stairwell; it stood motionless, staring with blind eyes at the wall of the stairwell. She carefully shut the door so she didn't attract the attention of the zombie. Then she looked out the window, she saw the same zombie, still in the same spot. If it was still there come morning the two girls probably wouldn't be able to leave. The commotion from it would attract the attention of others nearby.

Willow looked up and down the driveway and saw a couple more zombies just milling about. Most of the ones that had followed the sound of the stone on the carport roof had disappeared, or were in an area where she couldn't see. It made her a little uneasy to have the half a dozen zombies still close to her apartment.

"Tomorrow may not work if those infected are still down there. They'll swarm us before we can make it out the driveway." Willow informed Tiffany. "I'm wondering if we should try taking my car to get to the faction. Maybe not the whole way there, but enough to get away from here. I think maybe the sound of a car on the road would attract the attention of the zombies, considering we don't see them on the roads anymore. But we'll see how it goes in the morning and decide then."

"Yeah, that sounds good to me, but I think you're right about the car. The sound from a single vehicle without the sounds of other vehicles will probably attract the zombies," Tiffany paused. "But it may help to get us there faster, we may have to, once we're away from the crowd, ditch it and do the final run on foot." She shrugged.

"Yeah. Well I'm going to get the fire going, I can feel the chill setting in now, what are we having for dinner tonight?" Willow started the fire pit and sat next to it, the heat radiated from it."

"How about some chili? And we'll have some peaches for dessert." Tiffany handed Willow the can of chili and she poured it into the pot over the fire pit.

"Sounds good to me." She stirred the chili as it heated up. "We have to remember to take the radio with us just in case. I wish we could take the fire pit but it would be too cumbersome to drag around." They ate dinner, discussing what the following day would entail to make it to the faction safely.