Chapter 3 Chapter 3
Jess’s POV
We drove back to my house at record speed as I did not see the point in following the speed limit when there was no one around to crash into. Mum and dad where waiting at the door for us when we got back.
“The camera came back on while you were away, and the town is deserted. The spaceship has gone and so have all the people. But the smoke is still coming out of the buildings. The smoke should have stopped by now, shouldn’t it?” My mum was pacing as she talked throwing her arms around.
“Mum calm down your getting hysterical. We all need to stay calm of we are going to get through this. Now Justin and I have got supplies so you are going to talk to us about what you have discovered with the maps and on TV while I sort through everything and pack our bags. Ok?”
Everyone was staring at me “What? Why are you all looking at me like that?”
“We are just not used to seeing you take control”
“What your mum means to say love is that you usually let everyone else make the decisions. But it’s good that you are taking control because it feels like you know what you are talking about”
“Ok thanks, I guess. We really need to get inside though and get packed as I do not feel safe here anymore”
We all went inside, and dad started telling us about how the smoked-out buildings. It looked like they started at the meat processing plant and then started going north from there.
“Ok but what about the smoking building that we saw on the way here? We are not north we are west?”
“That’s the thing it looks like they are spreading out and going north at the same time”
“So, we need to do a loop then and start going south but then we have not been south, so we have no idea. The only thing that we can do is get away from towns and buildings. Whatever is in the smoke that they are using in the building is what is making the people act like zombies. If we are not in a confined space, then we might be safe, and we should be able to hide better” I handed everyone a pack. “Ok now we each have a pack each. I am going to sort out the food so that we are all carrying some to share the load” I grabbed the bags of food that Justin had got and started to put it in four piles. He had done well there were lots of tinned food, chocolate bars, Crackers, chips, Spreads and some herbal tea. “Well done Justin this is awesome” Justin smiled at me proud of himself for doing well. “Ok I grabbed some clothes for you guys as the clothes you are wearing will start to get tatty if you wear them all the time” I handed them each a bag of clothes. “I am just going to go grab some things out of my room and I will be back in a sec if you want to start putting the clothes in you pack” I walked into my room and pulled up the loose floorboard in the bottom of my cupboard and pulled a bag out. The pack had everything that Romeo and I would need in an emergency. I took it out to the lounge and tipped it out on the floor in front of me. It consisted of 2 fully equipped first aid kits for humans and a dog first aid kit. It also had cooking equipment, utensils, hydrated food and clothing for me. I spilt the hydrated food into the four piles. “Ok I have also got a gun and ammo for you. Put the ammo in a pocket of your pack that you can access easily.” I handed them the guns and ammo that I had picked out for them. “When we get out of town and are far enough away that no one or thing can hear us I will teach you how to use them”
“Ok little sis now I have a question. How do you know how to fire each of these guns?”
“I will tell you later when we have time. Right now, the only thing we should be thinking about is getting out of here” I went over to the pile of things that Justin has grabbed. I handed everyone a sleeping bag and camping roll each “If you feel that you need a pillow. I have some in the hallway cupboard” Straight away mum got up to get one for her and dad. “Ok now I have my own cooking things, so I am not sure how you guys want to sort out the rest of this stuff. I will split the gas canisters up so that’s even, but you guys can work out who carries the cooker and who gets the pots and so on” They sorted it out between them and mum got the knives and forks, Justin got the pots and dad got the cooker. Once I was happy that everything was sorted, I grabbed Romeo’s lead. “Ok now we want to head south that will take us into the mountain what will be good as we will be able to see what’s going on and then change our course or keep heading away from the smoke.” I told everyone “Now let’s get our boots on and get out of here” Once we were done, I let everyone leave the house before me and turned back to lock up. A single tear ran down my cheek as I locked my door. I hoped that I would get to return to my house as this was my home and I had worked hard to get it. I pulled out my compass “Ok we need to head in this direction” I told everyone as I pointed south towards the mountains.
