This was excruciatingly hard for her right now. To be away from everything familiar to her. To be away from her helicopter that had given her so much freedom and joy. Unfortunately, it had been the damn thing that had given her location away as well. She had only been armed with a shotgun before and had almost taken out the love of her life because of Althea's smooth breaking and entering.
But here they were now, having escaped the radiation. There had only been a tiny bit of Prussian Blue left to survive as such, and the filters in their gas masks were starting to run out. Luckily, they had traveled from that hell hole and into another state. It wasn't easy, however. Having to fight hordes of the undead and stay off of the radios and communication devices.
That seemed to be Al's group's downfall in the first place. Everyone was always jamming the pubic airwaves looking for an Alicia and Morgan, whom Belle had yet to meet and thank for her reunion and a change of heart with Al.
When the two women got to the gates of the community, Belle glanced down at the map in her hands. Studying every pencil marking. Every river and road. Every state. This was it. And hopefully, it was safe. "It's just for a little while." she reminded her. "To get supplies, some rest, maybe even some gasoline and then get out."
When Al took her hand, she folded up the map and tucked it away in her hiking pack, and then interlaced their fingers together. Belle took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it. She put her game face on once more. No non-sense. Cold. But not too cold.
A lookout was perched in a makeshift crow's nest at the top of the gate. He leveled his gaze on them and aimed an assault rifle. Okay, well, they had good weapons. It wasn't just a bunch of sticks or bows and arrows. Belle was starting to study every inch of this place. All the way from the nails in the boarded up wood, to the clothes that the soldier was wearing up top.
He couldn't be more than nineteen years old, definitely was born during the apocalypse. No formal training, but he knew how to use a weapon. "We heard your message on the radio. You're looking for survivors." Belle called out quietly. "We can handle ourselves and want to help."
After a beat, she did her best to force a smile. The boy sighed. "Hold on." he climbed down the ladder on the other side and spoke to someone. Finally, he climbed right back up again. "Open the gates!" and they did. "I hate these people already." Isabelle murmured to Al. @storiesmatter
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