The following morning, Ryan wakes up early and, with sleepy eyes, looks around him and sees that Ami is not in the RV. He shocks himself awake and jumps up. He quickly walks to the door and opens it. He looks around and sees Ami sitting in a folding chair reading what appears to be a comic book. Relief washes over him, and he walks over to Ami. He takes the seat next to her and says, ‘Good morning. You scared me for a moment.’
Ami looks up and says, ‘Good morning. What do you mean?’
‘You weren’t in the RV when I woke up and I thought something had happened.’
Ami smiles and tells Ryan she is sorry but she wanted to enjoy nature and she found a cool comic book.
‘What kind of comic book is it?’ he asks.
‘I only read a few pages, but it is about a guy and a little girl that live in a world where a virus killed many people, and they both try to survive.’
‘How ironic. Add some KBs and it’s just like our life!’ Ryan takes his backpack and looks inside. ‘Damn it,’ he says in a soft voice.
Ami looks up and asks what’s wrong.
‘It looks like I won’t be having any breakfast today,’ he says, disappointment on his face. ‘Oh well. I think it’d be best if we start walking again soon. It feels like it’s going to be a warm day today and it’s still a bit cool right now.’
Ami agrees, and Ryan starts to pack his bag. He walks into the RV and takes some things he can use in the future, such as cups and forks and knives. He then walks outside and sees Ami waiting for him, all ready to go.
They start to walk back in the direction of the road. ‘I’m going to miss that bed,’ Ryan muses. ‘It’s been a long time since I slept that well!’
Ami smiles and, with a funny but sarcastic voice, says, ‘Yeah, me too.’
They both start to laugh for a moment, and then all falls quiet again.
After a few minutes, they arrive at the road again and continue their walk in the direction of the city. After walking for a while, Ami hears a sound in the distance. She asks Ryan what it is, and they stop walking for a moment. Ryan listens closely; he hears what sounds like a lot of people walking. The sound comes closer and closer, and Ryan and Ami decide that hiding out behind some trees next to the road is the best choice.
Not long after they sit behind the trees, Ryan peeks over and sees a mass of KBs walking towards them from the distance. With a frightened look, he signals to Ami to be very quiet and not to show herself. Ryan stays behind the trees and does not peek around them anymore because he does not want to risk being seen.
He hears the KBs coming closer and closer; his heart starts pounding in his chest. He waits to see what happens. Luckily, he hears that the KBs did not see them and that they walk past Ryan and Ami. After a while, Ryan peeks out again and sees the KBs walking off into the distance, far away from them.
He takes a deep breath and crawls over to Ami. ‘Okay, I think it’s safe. I don’t know where they were going but I’m lucky we are not in that place!’
Both flooded with relief, they slowly stand up and come out of cover. Ryan checks both sides of the street to make sure there are no KBs nearby. When it looks like it’s safe, Ryan and Ami start to walk again.
After a few hours, the sun is high in the sky, and Ryan starts to get really warm. ‘I think it’s time for a pit stop soon,’ he says to Ami.
They reach a hill where the road continues to pave. The hill is pretty steep, and Ryan and Ami start to walk up it. They arrive at the top; from there, they can look out over the forest. They see a beautiful skyline with the city in the background; the sun shines between the buildings.
Ryan and Ami take a moment to look at the view and, while doing so, Ami says that it looks amazing.
Ryan replies, ‘Yes, it sure does,’ and he takes a deep breath of fresh air. ‘Okay, I have been in the city many times before. Do you see that big skyscraper over there? That’s where the shopping centre is. That’s where we need to go,’ says Ryan, pointing his finger to a tall building that reaches high above the other buildings.
Ami smiles and, with an excited voice, says, ‘I would love to get some new cloths when we are there.’
Ryan laughs and tells Ami that, when they are there, they will do some clothes shopping.
Ryan and Ami start to walk downhill. It is a lot easier for them, and sometimes they even walk too fast and need to slow down. It does not take long for them to get down the hill, and when there, they walk up to a big tree next to the road and sit under it, deep in the shadows, and take a break.
Ryan starts to complain that he is hungry. ‘We need to find some food and water soon. With this heat I’m starting to run out of energy. Soon I’ll be dehydrated,’ he says.
Ami tells Ryan that she is sure they will find something soon.
They both lean back against the tree, and Ryan closes his eyes for a moment and takes some rest.
Ami, on the other hand, looks up through the trees to where the sun is shining through the leaves and just enjoys the view.
Chapter 7
A Journey to the City