More Than Just Surviving

"Devy! Devy look!"

Devyn turned at the sound of her name. Hailee hurried towards her with something clasped in her hands. The little girl opened them and showed a tiny branch with plump berries growing from it. She looked up at her elder sister.

"I found them on a bush. Can we eat them?" Her voice was coated in excitement and hope.

Devyn took the branch and looked them over. They were blackberries. Harmless.

"Yeah, they're safe."

She took one of the juicy berries and put it between her lips. She chewed slowly, savoring the bitter-sweet and sour taste of the first thing she had eaten in almost a week.

She pulled a bandana from her bag and handed it to her sister. "Here. Go pick a bunch and put them in here. You can tie them up and we'll head off soon."

"Okay!" Hailee beamed and hurried off again to where she found the bush.

"Stay close!"

Hailee waved in response and Devyn returned to her work; cleaning up their campsite. They had only two backpacks to keep their things in. Devyn had found them shortly after their group fell apart. They had been on their own and on foot when they discovered one of those hunting and fishing stores. It has been raided, but Devyn had been lucky to find the backpacks and a child's sleeping bag for her sister. Aside from that they carried food, ammo, a couple of canteens, and a pot. Devyn rolled up the sleeping bag and packed it away with the leftover crackers and spam from the mornings breakfast before kicking dirt over what remained of their fire. She zipped up the bags before taking a seat in the dirt. She dragged the back of her hand across her forehead, wiping away beads of sweat. She holstered her gun from her right thigh and checked the ammo. They were going to need more soon. Her only reliable weapon was her bow and the arrows she could retrieve from any kill. Prey or walker.

After a few minutes, she craned her neck, trying to peer around the bushes for her sister. She wasn't within eyesight any longer and she had been a bit quiet for longer than Devyn liked. She felt the bottom of her stomach drop out.

"Hailee..." She stood quickly, grabbing her bow. "Hailee?!”

"I'm right here." Hailee leisurely strolled round the bushes back to where her sister was.

Devyn's heart slowed to a normal pace and she lowered her bow with a sigh. Hailee didn't notice, she was too busy tying a knot to keep the blackberries from falling all over.

"Do you have another one? I could pick more berries. There's a bunch!" Her smile wide and beaming as she showed off her prize.

Devyn grabbed the smaller backpack and helped Hailee put it on.

"I think we should leave some. Someone else might find them like we did, of maybe some animals. They eat to ya know."

"I know they do, I'm not dumb."

Despite the fifteen year difference, the two got along very well. Devyn grabbed her bag and put it on and they walked together silently, eating as they went. The woods were too dangerous to talk above a whisper.

"What's the mission today?" Hailee broke the silence.

Devyn inhaled deeply and looked down at her sister. The poor girl’s clothes were tattered and dirty. The purple tank top and tan shorts were covered in mud and grime, as well as her purple chuck Taylor's that she has gotten for her birthday. Even her hair was a mess, despite being put up in a pony tail to keep it out of the way. It definitely needed a good washing. Devyn reached over and plucked a leaf out of the child's hair. She wasn't in much better shape. Her black tank top was too loose on her frame and there was a large tear in the side, exposing some of her abdomen. Her shoes and shorts were muddy and her favorite olive green military coat was turning brown. Then there was her own hair- she didn't even want to think about it.

"I think...Our mission today is to get cleaned up and find a change of clothes. Set up camp somewhere safe for the night."

"We smell gross," was all Hailee could say as she looked down at herself, slowly picking pieces of dried dirt off of her shirt.

Devyn laughed, "Yeah, yeah we do."

-

That afternoon, Hailee insisted on taking a rest. Her feet hurt and she hadn't slept well the night before. She spent it tossing and turning, plagued by nightmares. On top of that, the Georgia heat was unforgiving, so the sisters found a shaded spot under a tree. Devyn watched her sister curl up on top of her sleeping bag and quickly doze off, snoring softly. Devyn knew exactly what kind of things haunted her sister. The loss of their group, their family, the way the undead had snaked their way into their dreams now. It’s something about their eyes and how once they have you in their sights, they don’t stop. She relived images of them chasing her, surrounding her... Devyn shook the thoughts away. She needed to focus on her task; watching over her sister. With the group gone, Devyn was the only one left to take watch and the many nights without sleep were beginning to wear on her body. The dark circles under her eyes were proof enough.

It had been three weeks since their group had fallen. Devyn counted every day. She took watch at night so little Hailee could sleep and she would occasionally nap. Never sleeping longer than an hour. So much could go wrong in an hour and she couldn't let anything happen to Hailee, she had promised. If anything happened to Devyn, Hailee would be screwed. Many times Devyn thought about finding a nice group, one that was secure, and leaving Hailee with them. But who, in these trying times, would be willing to take on the added responsibility? Who would be willing to take on another mouth to feed, especially a child so incapable of fighting? She propped her elbows on her knees and raked her fingers through her dark curls before tilting her head back into the tree. She stared up and watched the sunlight peek through the leaves and lost in her thoughts, sleep took advantage and claimed her.

Sleep always wins. Sleep is patient and slowly consumes your body likes a warm blanket, pushing the world around you away and giving you a haven of comfort.

A few hours later Devyn gently blinked the fog from her eyes and when they landed on where the child should have been, there was only a sleeping bag. Hailee was gone.

Devyn scrambled to her feet. Her head whipped around, seeing if maybe Hailee was looking for berries to pick on the nearby bushes, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Hailee!" Devyn felt the panic begin to set in. How could she be so stupid? She called her sisters name again, but was met with silence.

While scanning the ground for any kind of trail, a set of prints was found where the sleeping bag was. They went right around where she had been sleeping and into the trees.

I’m going to kill her when I find her...If she isn’t dead already.

The woods were silent as she tracked Hailee, and in the most unnatural way. Devyn watched every step she took so as to make sure she didn't step on anything that would bring about any unwanted attention. She had only walked a few minutes before she heard the screams.