Chapter 6 (If Only You Could Have Had This)

Chapter 6: If Only You Could Have Had This

Arwen Swanter

July 2023

About 14 months after outbreak

Florida

Season 2

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It took us weeks, but we did it. Along the coast, past Miami, we knew we had found it when we saw it, but it wasn't everything we dreamed of. The city stood tall, thousands of feet from the ground. The lights inside the buildings flickered, and the dead filled the courtyard. The gate stood wide open, and a now-broken truck had forced its way inside. The bodies of the civilians were being consumed by the monsters. I didn't know what to do to make this all better; this place was all I had. The others had counted on me, and I could see the disappointment in their faces as they turned around, leaving me to stare at the devastation before me.

We camped out in an abandoned parking garage for the night. A car with its engine still running and its headlights dim had one of the dead caught in its wheel. Valentine grabbed a metal shovel from in front of one of the parked SUVs and smashed the monster's head in while we watched, emotionless. The sound of the skull cracking echoed through the empty garage, breaking the eerie silence that had settled over us. As Valentine wiped the blood off his hands, I couldn't help but wonder if there was any hope left for us in this desolate world.

We didn't eat much that night, and the longer we stayed there, for the next week at least, the faster we ran out of food. Before long, there was nothing left, and none of us had the motivation anymore to change that.