Chapter 2. Binoculars

Waking up to the sound of boots scraping against the wooden floor, I sit up groggily and wipe my eyes from the crusty gunk. My back aches as I stretch my arms above my head until I hear a pop. Rays of light stream through the broken window and onto the sleeping bodies scattered across the room. I sit up, then stand and stretch my aching back until I hear a satisfying pop. I look around the room before my eyes land on Zoe. The light from the broken window falls down in streams onto the young girls' rosy face. Her curly brown hair covering most of her face and somehow escaping her pigtails shined brightly when the sun hit it just right. The young girl, aged somewhere around 12 was curled up next to her older sister. Who was also fast asleep and enduring the same appearance. I hear shuffling behind me and quietly swing around. The girls that tried to leave last night were all huddled in one corner sleeping soundly. 'it was only them' I think to myself. Making my way towards the door leading into the hallway, I step over the bodies scattered across the floor with ease. 'heel toe, heel toe, heel toe' I repeat in my head making sure to be quiet as I exit the house. Standing on the porch I look out over the horizon and pray that I remember the way. After what seemed like a couple of minutes one by one the group slowly awakened and trickled out onto the porch to bask in the warm sun light as well. Lastly Britney decided to finally join us. "good morning everyone" she said cheerfully, stretching her arms around. A chorus of 'good mornings' were said from around the porch. "oh it's you" she hissed towards me. I hum and continue to clean off the brown blood from my long kitchen knife, last night I ended up skimming one of the mutants. Although that's what I hoped I skimmed. "so where are we heading to next o' fearless leader" she mocked. "America" I grunt. Yells of outrage flutter throughout the group. Rolling my eyes, I stand. "why on earth would we go there!" "it's too dangerous we would never make it" "we can't make it there's a wall to cross!" "I don't want to walk that far". Flipping out my compass I check the direction and start walking. "Where are you going?" Zoe yells out after me. Swinging around in rage I scream back "America!" then stomp of towards the wall. After hours of angrily stomping through the desert I stop and sit down. Throwing off my backpack I lay in the hot sand trying to catch my breath. "uugghh!" I huff in annoyance not being able to find any cool patches of sand to lay in. Minutes later the shuffling of boots could be heard approaching. Pouting I sit up and grab my backpack, opening it up and tipping out its content, I scavenge through the various items until I find what I was looking for. Binoculars. Throwing the strap around my neck I look through the lens and out to the horizon. "shit a brick!" I curse to myself. In the distance a large and angry sand storm was approaching. The sky was covers by razor like golden waves, toppling over itself trying to claim its next victim to the barren wastelands. Turning around I begin to yell. "Sand Storm! Sand Storm!" I quickly snatch my belongings and shove it into my bag. Standing I then begin to run towards them. "Sand Storm!" I yell again. "there is a sand storm approaching and we need to find cover" I huff with my hands on my knees. "A Sand Storm?" they yell. Cries for help and worried mummers erupt from within the group. Looking around franticly I try to find a way out of this mess. Loud ringing blocks out the girls frightened cries, and the landscape blurs together as I search frantically for shelter. "thorn" "Thorn!" someone grabs my shoulder and swings me around to face them. Amy. "there was a broken down car a little bit back, but we have to run to make it!" she says looking into my yellow eyes. A wave of relief washes over me and I nod my head. We quickly catch up to the rest of the group making a run for it. "how much further?" I yell over the loud sound of the approaching storm. "it shouldn't be much further!" Amy yells back while struggling to hold onto her yellow beanie, her curly brown hair flying everywhere. "there!" she yells while pointing towards a piece of metal jutting out of the sand. Rushing towards it we finally make it. Hopping in we all huddle for shelter, I lift up my backpack and open it. Quickly I scavenge through it until I find my old beaten up poncho. Throwing it over our heads for protection we huddle together and wait for the storm to come. The sound of roaring winds become louder and louder by the minute. Suddenly we all get knocked back as the storm hits the car causing it to tilt. I could feel my back burning from the impact of the gushing sand even through my black tank top. Huddling together tightly with the children in the middle we patiently wait for the storm to pass. After what seemed hours my arms finally gave way to holding up the sand covered poncho. The storm was still raging on outside and it seemed that it was never ending. "rest now, we can take it from here" Turning towards Amy she smiles and nods "it's okay were a team now, we can help" looking into her brown eyes I nod slowly then lean forwards tucking my head between my knees, and my arms around my legs. Slowly dozing off into a light sleep the only thing I can think of is Amy's words.