Either the lake was huge, or they were indeed swimming in circles. It felt like they’d been paddling for hours and not getting anywhere. They’d all seen the opposite shoreline earlier, so they were aware it was a big lake. It wasn’t like it was the ocean though. They’d been able to clearly see the opposite shoreline. Drew figured he’d probably picked the wrong direction and they were busy swimming towards the furthest possible point of the shoreline. He’d have expected nothing less from their luck.
The rain stopped and the clouds eventually dispersed. They kept mechanically kicking and stroking their way forward. Completely exhausted it never even occurred to LeBron to look up at the stars when the rain finally stopped. He was too busy keeping his head from slipping underwater and demanding his legs keep pumping up and down. It was Drew that first noticed they were approaching a shoreline. With the moon no longer hidden behind the clouds their visibility had gone from zero to not so great. Not so great was good enough to see an amorphous black blob that was hopefully an uninhabited shoreline.
They swam their way up to a muddy tree lined beach and pulled their weary bodies ashore. They had no idea where they were but for the moment all that mattered was that they were no longer in the water. None of them said a word. For all they knew a group of crawlerz could be hanging out nearby. They were at a loss as to what do next. They were low on everything now. They’d used up most of their available ammunition getting themselves into the lake in the first place.
Soaking wet and miserable they snuggled together as close as they could trying to get some sleep in the leaf covered mud. It was suicide to wander around at night with their reduced capabilities. Once the sun came up, they could better figure out what to do. Drew indicated silently that he’d take the first watch. He sat Indian style while LeBron and Yue shivered themselves into a restless slumber. He’d almost rather have been back in the water than sitting on the shore alone with his thoughts.
It physically hurt to remember the way his dad looked lying cold and still in that bed. Abandoning his body there still felt like a betrayal. Drew spent the watch silently counting the ammunition he had left. He shivered in the chill night air. He periodically checked on Yue and LeBron to make sure they were still alive. He also needed to occasionally poke them awake to get them to try and stop letting their teeth chatter quite so much. Nothing quite as frustrating as trying to get a couple of freezing people to stop letting their teeth chatter while asleep in a pile of cold mud.
Those chattering teeth could lead to their deaths if the sound drifted into the wrong set of ears. Drew gave up after half a dozen attempts at winning the teeth chattering battle. There was only so much they could do to try and survive. He sat there with his rifle in his lap waiting for death to come for them until the sun surprised him by making an appearance.
He let LeBron and Yue sleep in while he stood up to take a look around the lake in the early dawn hours. It appeared they’d swum to an unpopulated section of the shore which may explain why the chattering teeth hadn’t brought on an army of the damned. The far shore wasn’t particularly far away. They must’ve swum at the exact wrong angle to have spent so much time in the water the previous night. Seeing a gap in the trees it looked like they were next to a road.
Tired of his damp clothes he nudged the two sleeping beauties with the toe of his soggy Nikes to wake them up. He was proud of how both LeBron and Yue instantly came awake and moved to their feet with their weapons strapped on within easy reach. Both of his siblings were carefully looking around and noting the same details Drew had already taken into account. They may have lost pretty much everything, but they still had one another. They were alive and the sun was up.
It was a brand-new day.
Chapter 28: A New Day
Drew walked up the bank to the road and saw there was water on the other side of it as well. They were on some kind of land bridge that cut the lake in half. Considering one direction to be as good as the other Drew started walking up the road with Yue and LeBron in tow. He was walking point keeping a lookout for any threats. He was fantasizing about finding dry underwear when he noticed a huge house through the trees up ahead.
He pointed it out to LeBron and Yue. They all started walking with a bit more pep in their step. A house that size was sure to be full of useful items like dry underwear and shoes. If they got really lucky, they may even be able to procure some new weapons. They might not be able to find anything to replace their AR-15s, but the possibility of a couple of shotguns and a bunch of shells was very real. This was Georgia so finding a bunch of hunting rifles wasn’t too crazy to consider either. They’d probably have to figure out a way to break into a gun
