Out of the Wilderness

“Don’t even think about it!” Grace yelled to Chloe.

They were exploring the Strip, a grassy park area that formed the perimeter of the city. It was the only place to have fun, and it was so massive, there was always something new to find.

“Come on, Grace,” Chloe said. “There’s no way anything’s getting to us through this thick brick wall.”

Chloe slapped the façade.

“CHLOE!” Grace was fuming. It was exactly what Chloe wanted. She got a kick out of watching her sister freak out.

“Relax,” Chloe said laughing. “There’s really nothing to be afraid of.”

Grace and Chloe Thomas were the daughters of President Theodore Thomas, an important man tasked with protecting what was left of the United States. He made them promise that they would never go anywhere near the Wilderness. And here was Chloe, a stupid brat getting as close as humanly possible.

“Whatever Chloe, let’s just go home,” said Grace, defeated. “It’s almost time for dinner.”

They walked swiftly towards the Capitol, past the grassy field and onto the sidewalk. Cars zoomed by on the road just beyond that.

CRASH!

A loud sound drew their attention back towards the wall, but they could not see anything.

“What do you think it is?” asked Chloe.

“I’m not sure,” replied Grace. “But I really don’t want to know.”

____________________________

“There you are!” said President Thomas as he burst through the doors. “I was so worried you wouldn’t make it.”

Grace and Chloe got up and ran to embrace their father.

“What happened?” asked Grace.

“Some Vagrants broke into the city,” he said. “But not to worry. Our officers took care of the situation.”

They each sat down at their places in the great dining room, a large, spacious place where they hosted every party. Tonight, it was just Grace, Chloe, the president and their mom, Heidi.

“It’s a shame those Vagrants feel the need to do that,” said their mother.

“I know,” said the President. “They really just need to stay where they are. It’s the only way to keep everyone safe, including themselves.”

“Why can’t we just let them in?” asked Chloe. “Shouldn’t we protect them from...what’s out there?”

“Because the Vagrants had their choice,” he said. “Back when everything happened, we gave them the option of living in the city, but they chose to live like wild animals out in the Wilderness, surviving off the land.”

“Why would they choose that?” said Grace.

“Well from my experience,” he began. “Not everyone cares to live a safe, happy life. Some of them are just bad people, and they know they deserve it.”

____________________________

CRASH!

The sound shook the sleeping Capitol building.

Grace and Chloe jumped awake and hunkered behind their beds away from the door.

In the floors below, they could hear footsteps frantically shuffling and voices yelling unintelligibly. The noise got louder and seemingly closer until…

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Their door fell down. Standing at the entry was a dirty-looking man dressed in leather. Around his neck was a faint golden chain and a larger strap that carried what looked to be an assault rifle hanging in front of him.

He searched the room and saw Chloe’s head peering over her bed.

“You,” he said, pointing. “You’re coming with me.”

He walked over and took Chloe by the arm, dragging her out as she struggled. Then he saw Grace and dragged her out. They didn’t have the strength to fight back.

The rest of the night was a blur as he rushed them down the halls and into his solar car just outside the torn-up entrance. The next thing they knew, they were past the wall.

The sun rose as they sped over the Wilderness. The girls were now further from home than they had ever been.

____________________________

“Out you go,” the man said as he opened the car door.

Grace stepped out of the car into the hot sun. They were halfway up a mountain. She could see for miles across the sparse wilderness valley, full of brownish orange dirt, weeds, and cacti. Her beloved city was nowhere in sight.

Up the hill was a small cabin.

“You just live here out in the open?” said Grace. “This doesn’t seem very safe from...them.”

“They don’t usually climb uphill,” he said. “You’re safe.”

____________________________

Grace sat on a dusty wooden couch in the cabin next to Chloe.

The Vagrant entered, and now Grace could see what the golden chain was attached to. It was a worn-out heart-shaped locket. Judging by everything she heard about these kinds of people, she had no doubt he had stolen it. She tensed at the sight of him as he dropped into his dark wooden chair. He was holding a folded, worn-out paper that he put on the side table right by him.

“You need to relax,” he said. “I have no intention of harming you. In fact, I think you can help me.”

“And we have no intention of helping you,” said Grace, boldly.

“I don’t think you have a choice,” said the Vagrant. “Where would you go? Down the valley? If the sun don’t get you, you know exactly what will.”

“So what do we do?”

“It’s more who you are,” he said. “Everyone knows President Thomas’s most prized possessions are his two darling girls. I’m sure he’d pay premium price for them.”

“Please just let us go,” said Grace. “I just want my daddy back.”

“Your daddy is the reason for all my troubles,” he barked back.

Grace stood up.

“MY DAD IS A GOOD MAN! You just like blaming everyone else for your problems, just like every other Vagrant.”

The man paused for a moment.

“Is that how he spun it?” he said.

“Yeah,” she began. “And he’s right.”

“I’m sure he is,” said the man half sarcastically as he pushed himself up off the chair. “Now, if you excuse me, I’ve got some negotiating to do with that good man of yours.”

He went outside, and Grace immediately lunged for the folded paper.

She opened it up to see a map.

“Aha!” She exclaimed.

“What?” said Chloe.

“Look!”

She pointed to three bodies of water on the way home.

“There are several places to get fresh water.”

“Grace, I don’t think this is a good idea,” said Chloe. “You heard what he said. He’ll take us back once he gets his money.”

“And you trust him? You know what Dad said about people like him.”

“What if he’s not like that?”

“We can’t take that chance.”

“But what about the others?”

“We’ll take his gun,” Grace replied. “It’s in the trunk, and he didn’t lock the car. Plus, we’ll go up higher before nightfall.”

“Fine,” Chloe acquiesced.

“We’ll go at dawn,” said Grace.

____________________________

Dawn came, and they were ready. The sun rose over the eastern part of the valley in front of them as they stepped off the side of the mountain. Grace was holding the assault rifle and wearing the locket. She took it from the table beside the Vagrant as he somehow slept on that hard wooden chair. She was sure her dad could get it back to whomever it belonged.

They held hands and started along the hot desert.

____________________________

“I can’t believe we made it!” Chloe exclaimed as they neared the first oasis. It was a large pool of fresh water, just sitting at the eastern edge of a hill.

Grace had strategically headed to an oasis where the Vagrant wouldn’t think to look.

It was early evening. They were sweaty and exhausted. The sun beat down on them as they walked across the vast wasteland, burning their skin.

Grace plopped down on the hillside just off the pond, and Chloe jumped right in, swimming and laughing.

Grace opened up the locket, and her jaw dropped. It wasn’t someone else’s. It was his. There was a small photo of the man, much younger, holding a little girl. Both of them were smiling.

He looked so happy, she thought. Maybe he was right. Maybe there’s more to him than what Daddy said.

The sun was setting, a sign they should move upwards.

“Chloe!” She called out to her sister, and then she heard it.

“Rawr,” an ugly guttural voice called from behind Grace.

She turned around and saw one of them. What used to be a man was now a dirty walking carcass. Its eyes were bright white, and its teeth were black.

Grace quickly turned the gun, cocked it, and shot. The zombie fell back.

Chloe started out the water, when another zombie rounded the hillside near her.

“Stay in the water,” said Grace. “They can’t swim!”

Chloe did as her sister said. Grace shot the zombie, and it fell. She ran to her sister, pulled Chloe by the hand and started toward the hillside. Then came the hoard. Fifty zombies rounded the hill, running towards them.

Grace and Chloe started up the hill, the younger one slightly trailing behind. The zombies caught up to Chloe and started pulling her. Grace stopped, turned around and tugged tightly.

“Come on, Chloe!” said Grace.

Chloe let out a loud scream. Grace gave one final tug and brought her up the hillside. Chloe moaned in pain. Her ankle was bleeding.

They were high enough. The zombies stared at the girls, growling hungrily.

“Grace,” Chloe cried. “I got bit. I got bit!”

“I know,” said Grace, holding her sister’s hand. “It’s going to be okay.”

For what seemed like hours, Grace sat at Chloe’s side. The zombies downhill were still looking up at them. Then they heard the faint sound of an engine.

BEEP! BEEP!

The zombies turned around and faced a pair of bright lights. The hoard advanced towards them as the vehicle swiftly backed up. The zombies followed.

A few minutes later, the car rounded the corner on the other side of the pond and stopped just below the girls. The window rolled down, it was the Vagrant.

“Help!” yelled Grace. “She’s been bit!”

The Vagrant hopped out the car, dashed up, and looked at Chloe’s ankle.

“She’ll live,” he said. “We just need to get her to a hospital.”

“I thought those were only in cities,” said Grace. “No place for a Vagrant.”

“I know,” he said, rubbing his head. “It’s your lucky day. The deal wouldn’t work anyway if you two weren’t in one piece.”

Grace looked at the Vagrant, incredulous. At one point, she had thought he was a heartless, unfeeling monster. But he clearly cared.

“Come,” he said, hoisting Chloe up. “We have a very narrow window before the zombies come back.”

____________________________

The dark wilderness zoomed by. Grace was in the front seat next to the Vagrant. Chloe was in the back, laying down. Grace pulled the locket from under her shirt.

“I got your locket.”

“Thank you,” he said. “I nearly flipped the cabin over trying to find it. I was stupid to keep it on the table like that.”

Silence for a minute. Then Grace asked a question she needed to know from the source.

“Sir,” she began. “Back when everything happened -- when the zombies started appearing -- why did you stay out of the city?”

The man chuckled at the innocence of the question.

“It wasn’t by choice,” he said. “It’s expensive to live in the city. People like me -- who didn’t have money -- were out of luck.”

Grace fell silent. This was all completely against what she thought of the world. It used to be so simple. You lived life to the best of your ability, and you could have all the luxuries you need.

“Do me a favor, will ya?” he said.

“What do you need?”

“When you grow up, be the change people like me need. Use the resources you have to make things better for everyone else.”

She looked out as the city lights drew nearer.

“I will,” she said. “I will.”