"Pilot" (Nature)

Elliot brought himself nearer to the campfire for warmth. The more he stared into the flames, the more he saw a reflection of the world’s state. He grabbed his rucksack, and opened it up, producing several items. The first item was a novel – much like Elliot, it had seen better days. Half of the front cover was ripped off, and the first few pages clearly had been torn out. Some of the words were scribbled over with colouring pencils too. The second item was a photograph. There were two boys in the picture, one of them was clearly a younger version of Elliot. He smiled warmly at the photo, fixating on the other person, “I wish you were here buddy,” he spiritually whispered before looking up into the night sky, gazing at the twinkling stars. He looked back down again, onto the third and final object in his hands. It was a bracelet, attached to it were two charms – one was of the moon, the other was of a star. He examined it, still smiling warmly. On the opposite side of the bracelet, the name ‘LUCY’ was engraved in it. “I wish you were here as well…” his warm smile now degraded into a look of remorse.

The touching moment was interrupted by the clicking of a gun behind Elliot. His eyes swooped up from the bracelet, but he didn’t turn around. “That’s it, keep facing that way,” a strong female Welsh-voice commanded, “If you try anything, I can promise you that I will squeeze this trigger.” But unfortunately for her, Elliot could read people – even when he was looking the other way, “But you don’t want to shoot me though, do you?” His English accent contrasted her Welsh one. “I mean, you would’ve shot me already if you wanted to, right? You could’ve killed me and taken all my things without saying a word, but you chose not to. I’m not worried,” he smiled warmly again to himself. “Let’s hope for your own sake you’re right then,” she responded while steadily approaching him. “I see a rucksack next to you. Give it to me. Don’t turn around, just toss it over here blindly.” He nodded, and reached down for his rucksack, blindly tossing it behind him. The woman continued to watch him cautiously, as he edged towards the rucksack. “I’m not going to try anything, just take it and leave me alone. There’s cans of soup in there, and a bottle of water. May God shine light on your path of safe passage.”

She rustled through the rucksack. Upon finding the bottle of water, she unscrewed the lid rapidly, guzzling what little water was left inside. When the bottle was barren, she still squeezed it to get every last drop. “Dammit!” It still wasn’t enough, as she threw it aside. The gun clicked again, as she pointed it at Elliot. “Where did you get the water from? WHERE? Tell me!” Elliot slowly swivelled around, remaining seated on the tree stump. “I’m Elliot by the way,” he offered her his hand to shake, which surprised her. “I’m holding a gun at you right now. I don’t think you understand how serious I am.” Elliot smiled even more warmly at her, “Oh, I do. You see, you had to prime your pistol a second time after I gave you the rucksack. That implies to me that you put it back into safe mode. So furthermore, that indicates to me that you’re not this selfish woman that you come across to be.” His hand still remained outwards, “I’m Elliot,” he repeated himself. The woman nodded, and holstered her pistol. The hand which had threatened to kill Elliot now warmly shook his own. “No name for you then, huh? Well, that’s fine I guess.” Elliot got up, stamping on the campfire to put it out. “No wait,” the woman stood back up as well. “I’m Gwen.” Elliot’s warm smile returned once again, “Nice to meet you, Gwen.”

The two had been walking down an empty road all night. Elliot was hoping to find a car. Gwen ceased behind Elliot, “Hold up,” she desperately caught her breath, “You alright?” Elliot approached her. “Yea I’m fine… just, keep watch over there would you?” She pointed in a random direction. “Is something wrong?” he asked. “Yea, I… I’m just short of breath… and I need to take a leak as well.” Elliot slightly cringed at the latter part of her response, but nonetheless he kept watch in the opposite direction, as she headed behind a tree just off the road.

Elliot looked at the sunrise, it was beautiful. He admired the epitome. While he glared at the sun, he was struck with an idea. “The sun rises in the East,” he whispered to himself, “Which means that.” His eyes widened with ingenuity. His train of thought was broken, by the familiar sound of a gun clicking. “Seriously? We’re doing this again? I’ve already told you, you can take my rucksack. Violence is unnecessary.” This time however, he was patted down. The red-handled knife was removed from his side, followed by the rucksack on his back. He slowly turned around, and was shocked to see this time it was not Gwen going through his bag. This time, it was a man. He appeared to be middle-aged, like Gwen. “Wow, two people in the space of six hours? This is a rare occurrence!” The man raised the gun back up at him. “Now listen… guy, I don’t want to shoot you. I’m sorry for stealing from you. You understand I have to. I have friends, they need food.” Elliot could tell the man was nervous, he was shaking, “First off, my name isn’t guy, it’s Elliot. And secondly, you can have my stuff, it’s fine. But more importantly, you have a group?” The man nodded, still shaking. “How many of you are there?” Elliot asked. “Four. That’s why I have to do this. Four against one I’m afraid.” Elliot shrugged, “And I ain’t gonna stop you.” The man swung the rucksack over his back, but kept his pistol raised.

The man cautiously stepped away from Elliot. “Look, just go. Seriously, what am I gonna do? You’re the one with the gun, and my knife as well now.” As the man stepped further back, Elliot began to make a parallel, “Wait a minute…” he was surprised that he hadn’t deduced something so explicit already, “Your accent, you’re Welsh. But that means –” before he could finish his deduction, Gwen called out, “Andy!” the man turned around, “Gwen? What are you doing here? I’ve been looking for you all night, crazy woman!” they both laughed warmly together. Andy turned back to face Elliot, as Gwen’s face filled with slight shock. “Ah, I see. Andy, this is Elliot. Elliot, this is Andy.” Andy had gone red in the face, “Well,” he began, “This is a little bit awkward”.

Once proper introductions had been completed, Andy and Gwen were leading Elliot back to their group. They were explaining their story to him, “It’s a pickup truck. Just one, but it’s the closest thing to home. At least it gives my daughter a safe place to sleep.” Elliot was a bit confused by that last remark, “The back of a pickup truck is a safe place to sleep?” She nodded, “She’s eighteen, she can take care of herself.” Elliot was piecing things together now, “So presumably, the last member of your group is your husband or boyfriend then?” Gwen looked away at that guess, prompting Andy to answer for her. “No. No it’s someone we met a few months ago. His name is Vincent.” Elliot turned back to Gwen, “So what about your daughter’s father?” Again, she remained silent, which prompted Andy to answer a second time. “Just after we met Vincent, we came into trouble with this rival group. We nicknamed them ‘the Bandits’ – because that’s what they are. They didn’t just take our supplies; they took Gwen’s husband’s life. Right in front of her own eyes, she watched her husband get fatally shot.” Elliot turned back to Gwen, “I’m sorry.” They continued their trek in silence.

Eventually they reached the petrol station that Vincent and Gwen’s daughter were at. The pickup truck was still outside, and Gwen approached it. Upon noticing Vincent asleep in the driver’s seat, she banged on the window, causing him to jump awake. “We’re back!” she called to him through the window. Elliot noticed someone raiding the chocolate stand in the petrol station, he went inside to investigate. Andy watched him go inside, but waited with Gwen to talk to Vincent.

Elliot approached the girl carefully, “Good morning there!” she turned around, startled by him. Elliot noticed she was carrying a bag full of chocolate bars. “Mind if I have one? Hadn’t had a bite to eat in about a day.” She cautiously reached into the bag, and threw one to him. “Much obliged,” he unwrapped it, and ate small chunks from the bar. He noticed the girl staring at him weirdly, “Oh! Where are my manners? I’m Elliot,” he offered his hand to her, but she didn’t shake it. From behind, Gwen entered the building. “I appreciate your help and all Elliot, but my daughter is off-limits,” she glanced daringly at him as his eyes widened, “Oh no, no! No, Gwen. No. It’s not like that at all. I just wanted something to eat. Could also do with a name for her.” Gwen shook her head, “You know I’m very protective of my daughter. That includes personal details. Give her a nickname, I don’t fully trust you yet.” Elliot sighed, “And there I was thinking we were bonding quickly”. She left Elliot with a stern glance before exiting. “A nickname? Let’s see. Well, to me, you look like an Annabelle. Is that right?” She shook her head, but smiled nevertheless, “Annabelle. I like that name. Sure, let’s run with that,” much like Andy and Gwen, she too had a clear Welsh accent.”

A while later, Elliot had asked for the group’s attention, which they gladly gave to him. “Right then, well, hello everyone. My name is Elliot, as I’m sure you all know. Now, I won’t waste time, I’m just going to cut right to the chase. We’re living in the apocalypse, obviously. But despite that, this is not an extinction event. That’s proven by the fact that we’re alive.” Elliot wished he could retract that statement, noticing Gwen and Annabelle’s reactions – obviously remembering her husband/ her father, respectively. He continued still, “There are more people alive than we think. We are not the last five human beings on the planet. In the early days of this apocalypse, while the world was still changing, London was fortified. It was overhauled by the military. Squadrons moved in, and reinforced the area with tough walls and patrolled gates. No one was allowed in, but everyone living in London before hell broke loose was allowed to stay. Two very good friends of mine were living in London at that time. Their parents had died a long time ago, therefore they were two of the closest siblings I had ever met.” Gwen was getting bored of Elliot’s monologue, “I thought you said you were cutting to the chase?” he paused momentarily, and then nodded, “Yes, yes, yes. Ok, so, basically.” Gwen rolled her eyes at him, prompting him to hurry up, “We need to go to London.” Her eyes widened this time. “It’s not as ludicrous as it sounds! Look!” He pointed at the sun, “It rises in the East and sets in the West. I know where in England we are, and I know that directly East is London! If we head towards the sunrise every morning, we will find the Capital city eventually.”

Andy and Vincent agreed with Elliot, “That’s not a bad idea actually. If it’s that fortified, perhaps we can get some guns off the soldiers, and some food off the citizens. Especially if these siblings you are talking about are still there.” But Gwen and Annabelle weren’t as optimistic. “When did you last see those two?” Annabelle asked. “Well, that’s the thing. The last time I saw them was about six or seven months before the apocalypse began. I don’t actually know if they survived Day Zero.” Annabelle interrupted him with another question, “Day Zero? What’s that?” Gwen answered for Elliot, “That’s the day everything went wrong. Although it actually took a couple of days for society to collapse, Day Zero is the day when things actually started to fall.” Elliot coughed to get attention, “So, in this thing,” he slammed the pickup truck lightly, “I’d say we can make London in a day or two.” Everyone looked at each other. “We’ll sleep on it,” Gwen walked away from the others, her daughter followed. Andy and Vincent however were still optimistic, “She’ll come around. Even if she doesn’t, it’s my truck,” Vincent’s English accent made Elliot feel more at home, “If we head for London, she’ll have to come with us anyway.”