11. Departure

''You take the right, Gareth. '' Joe said, only a hint of authority in it. 

Somehow we made it through the forest that surrounded the camp without all that much walker activity. Gareth spotted out the single ones before they could get too close and shot them down with the bow and arrows he gained a few days before. Now we were at what appeared to be a heart of a small town. The roads were filled with some abandoned cars with shattered glass for company. Some buildings still had the luxury of having windows, while the rest stood bare. The town look just as abandoned as any other, but somehow... fresh.

After Rose told me about my apparent relationship with Alex, I still had my doubts. I tried to get alone to talk to him, but I couldn't find him anyway, which really was no surprise. 

In the end only 5 people ended up leaving to scout for food. ' It's a last minute decision. ' Gareth told us once we gathered at the gates to leave. ' Simon and Clover talked to Kalenah about it. She's fine with it. ' Joe, of course, wanted to go off and see whether or not Kalenah had actually heard about it but the tan, blond haired male dismissed it. ' Its fine Joe, have a little trust. ' And with a confident smile that Gareth used a few more times, we set off. 

Unsurprisingly, the people of the camp had better weapons for raids when compared to the lacking pile of weapons for guard duty. I still took my spade cross-over to accompany my knife and small gun. 

'' Tim, you come with me; we'll go up front. Alex, Mackenzie, you two take the left. Just look around, meet back here in 20 minutes. If something happens try to find somebody. Or you better hope that your legs don't fail you. '' The last word acted as a dismissal. 

Tim turned out to be a skinny 15 year old boy with black hair, pale skin and green eyes. He seemed really wary of everything, any little noise made him jump. 

For the first 5 minutes of walking, I didn't look at Alex -  I was just conscious of the foot steps that became quieter as all of us increased the distance between us. 

'' Hey. '' I finally managed to blurt out. 

'' Oh, hello. Did not notice you there. '' 

Boyfriend. Yea, Right.  

'' You know, that outburst at the camp meeting was not necessary. '' He casually commented, as if he wasn't the one who made me explode in the first place. 

'' Oh, it was more than necessary. '' I mumbled.

'' Suit yourself. '' 

Then he pushed open a door from a still windowed grey block of a building. As soon as Alex stepped in, his collar was grabbed by a grey-blue rotting hand.