#9

Evelyn opened her mouth to respond with brutal honesty but closed it after the quick realisation that lowering morale at this point would likely get them all killed. She had grown fond of Levi, in a way, but people came and people went. She was never going to see him again; the possibility of their paths crossing was almost nil. While the idea of losing him forever caused her some degree of sadness, she was certain that Scarlett would not be able to deal with her loss in the same manner. The twins had likely grown up together and evidently had a very close bond which had now been cruelly severed by a most unfortunate set of circumstances.

"I..." she started uncertainly, focusing to the left of Scarlett's face as she was unable to look her in the eye. "I think our best chance will be to head to Chicago. I'm sure they managed to escape and the best bet on reuniting would be to look for them at the Black Mountain."

#9

Marcus perks up at the sound of Black Mountain and turns his direction to the person that said.

"Umm, excuse me I didn't catch your name but you're heading to Black Mountain as well?"

Lance takes a sip of his water, and clears his throat before he speaks.

"Well I figured that you all were heading that direction. There is nothing but doom if you kept heading south, unless those goons had another fortress nearby that I'm not aware of. Also I think proper introductions are needed here. I'm Craig Johnson."

Marcus snorts at the name Lance gave them, as if he didn' realize it was the man who has been talking to everyone on his own emergency broadcast.

"I'm Marcus."

#9

Scarlett nodded and turned away, looking at everyone else but not listening to what they said, thinking about what would happen when they make it to Black Mountain.

#9

Evelyn felt slightly relieved by Scarlett's reaction, noting that it was possible her lie had not been too transparent. She had to work on her social skills, however; being able to keep a poker face and smoothly tell a lie would probably help her get out of many sticky situations to come.

"I'm Evelyn." she said in response to Marcus whose excitement at the prospect of reaching the Black Mountain was palpable. "I heard the announcement a while back and, to be honest, I'm not even sure the place is still running. It's just that it's the only chance we have of living relatively normal lives again."

"Well if you want, I can check to see if they are still alive over there." Lance chimes in.

"With what Craig? You have an emergency broadcast yourself?" asks Marcus as he finishes up his squirrel.

"Indeed I do Marcus."

#9

"You can contact other people?" Scarlett turned to look at the man, suddenly interested. "Maybe we can see if Sam is there." She nearly grinned at the idea as she looked at Evelyn and back at him, "Can we try right now?"

With what seemed to be a long mental delay, Joe introduced himself.

"I'm Joe, and the little lady is Haleigh", he said enthusiastically, pointing at the sleeping girl (who woke up, ate, and then fell asleep again).

He looked at Craig Johnson. "I thought your name would be Lance, because.. You know. You have a lance. That'd be neat."

#9

"Yes I can Scarlett, I have been doing it for quite sometime now. I heard about Black Mountain and have been letting people know all over about the location. We can contact them at the crack of dawn, for now let's get some rest. I can supply you guys with food, weapon, fuel, you name it once we get to my station."

"Wait a minute, it's not here?" Asks Marcus

"Nope, even though we had a radio station out here for the fairgrounds it got destroyed during the attack. It's not too far from here, I'll show you where everything is tomorrow like I said. That is, if you trust me."

#9

Evelyn nodded wordlessly at Craig, seemingly affirming her trust in him before standing up and making her way back to the truck they had arrived in. She opened the door and slumped into the driver's chair, reaching down and pulling the lever to the side of the seat so that it reclined back. As she stared at the musty, grey roof of the truck, she pondered over the possibility of Black Mountain's sanctity already being compromised. The idea of shelter, safety, food and comfort had kept her going over the past few months. She had lost a companion whom she had developed camaraderie with and was much further out of Chicago than she had been a day ago. Through setback after setback, she had remained stony-faced and silent but now that she was alone, she couldn't help but feel that Levi had not just been means to an end. He was the first friend she had had in a long time.

The idea of not seeing him again hurt much more than she let on but showing weakness, especially in front of these strangers, was not a good idea. Scarlett was the only one she truly trusted. Joe seemed harmless but stupid, Haleigh gave off a calculating and conniving air, Marcus was a loner at heart and Craig's magnanimity was suspicious. He had been extremely charitable thus far but his history had deeply concerned Evelyn on the matter of his sanity. He had seen and done terrible things; surely it had scarred him? His status as the last survivor of such a large group did nothing to ameliorate her unease.

Despite wanting to stay awake for as long as possible to keep an eye on the others, her desire for vigilance eventually capitulated to her need for sleep. Her eyelids grew impossibly heavy and her head rolled against the cold, leather headrest.

---

Evelyn slowly opened her eyes, awoken by the usually pleasant sound of birds singing among the treetops. She blearily glanced to the right to see Scarlett peacefully slumbering in the passenger seat. Judging by the pink tinge of the sky and the absence of the sun, dawn had begun in the last few minutes. Taking care not to wake Scarlett up, she gently opened the door and stepped outside.

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