Chapter 22

. " Here is the plan. The next time the bandits come, we attack" I say. Everyone looks at me in shock. " Are you sure Andrew" asks Lily. I nod. " We need a car right. If we can kill the bandits and steal their car, we can get out of here." Spencer smiles. " Looks like we have a plan" says Spencer.

Next day

9am

" Get ready Andrew" says Lily. We are outside. Two of us are in opposite houses. Spencer and Lily one side and Tobecca and I on the other. We have been waiting for two hours. We decided to get ready early in case the bandits have a change in plan. What feels like forever, we hear a car engine. My plan is for Spencer and Lily to start shooting before Tobecca and I do. We can surprise them. Spencer and Lily start shooting. The car stops and I see people crouching. I notice again five of them. Only one of them is dead. Headshot. It is a shooting battle. Bullets are hitting the walls of the house. Someone runs to the front yard of the house but Lily shoots him. Two down, three to go. I glance at the battle. Three of the bandits are waiting for Lily and Spencer to come out. Now it is Tobecca and I turn. We shoot the last three bandits. We exit the house. One of the bandits is still alive. Spencer is about to shoot him but I stop him. " We need some information" I say. I crouch down. " How many are you?" The bandits looks at me, her face filled with sweat. " There are only five of us. We never trusted any new comers to our group. We had the fear that we would be betrayed. We have a base in a shopping centre. The one near the exit of town. You can find supplies there." I walk away and hear a gunshot. I return and the bandit is dead. " Lets go. Zombie mutants will most likely be attracted to the smell of blood and noise" I say. We hop into the car. The car keys are on the drivers seat. Spencer starts the car. We hear and see zombie mutants running down the street. Spencer starts the car. A zombie mutant grabs a hold of Tobecca but I shoot the zombie mutants hand. He let's go. The car starts moving. We all sigh in relieve. " Thanks for the save Andrew" says Tobecca. " No problem" I say. " Hey, let's hope that the bandits have petrol because we need" says Spencer. "You guys know that it might be a trap right? That bandit said that there was only five of them but they could be lying. Lets hope she was telling the truth" I say. Some of the houses here have been raided badly. Clearly the bandits had a joyful experience. The Windows are smashed, the doors are wide open. A reminder that the world has changed. Along the way to the bandits base, we see a couple of zombie mutants. We are fortunate that we don't have to fight them. We stop close to the bandits base. In case the bandit lied, we can still go back to the car. We approach slowly. So far we don't hear anything. We enter the supermarket (causally) To our surprise the place is empty. So the bandit didn't lie. We still search the entire place. " Look what I found" says Spencer. We go to Spencer. There is a whole pile of supplies ranging from ammo to food to water bottles and even toilet paper. " Lets stock ourselves" says Tobecca. We pack supplies. " Why don't you bring the car and we can pack some supplies on the floor of the car" I suggest. Spencer nods and leaves. " Do you think that the bandits stole this from other people" asks Lily. I dread the answer to that question. " Maybe" says Tobecca. Spencer arrives with the car and we pack. Once we are done we decide to leave. The mood of the day has slightly increased after finding the supplies. We have been driving for three hours now. The nearest place is MacKinnon, a small community known for its amazing natural qualities. Lily said that she wants to see this place so bad. I agree as well. To be honest I came here once when I was little but I can hardly remember the experience. All I remember is that I wanted an ice cream cone when I saw a man selling ice cream. This was when my parents was still around. Maybe the true reason that I want to see MacKinnon is to try remember that day. " One of the patrol members was born here. She always had something good to say about this place" says Tobecca. "I have nothing bad to say about MacKinnon. I rarely heard any reports about any crime" I say. We start to see houses and trees. " I guess we are nearing the centre of town." says Spencer. A couple more minutes and we will be by the nature valley. I cant wait. After a couple of minutes later we arrive. We exit the car. The sign reads " Welcome to MacKinnon Nature Trail. A place where people, nature and animals can be one." There are a list of rules on the next side of the welcome board.

Rule 1: No littering

Rule 2: Don't scare any animals you come across

Rule 3: make it back to the entrance by 16:00

I stop reading. " Worried about the rules Andrew" teases Lily. I smile. Rules don't mean anything anymore. We can stay here past 16:00 if we want. I do think that that will happen. I want to spend the night here, even if I have to sleep in the car. " I used to Lily. Rules and I used to go hand to hand. Now it dosent mean anything" I say. I see a wooden bridge that will lead us to the entrance.