Chapter Text
The woods were dark at night. Obviously. Yuri couldn't see very far ahead of him as he walked, but he kept going. His footsteps and the sound of the wind in the trees were all he heard. Every once in awhile, he would step on something that was distinctly not foliage . There would be a sickening crack and a squelch that would have mortified him a year ago. Not now, though. He was way too used to it now.
Otabek’s silent but ever there presence behind him made him feel marginally safer, but he wasn’t fool enough to think there was any such thing in this world anymore. The days were long and grueling. The nights were longer and scarier. He couldn’t read the watch on his wrist in the darkness but he was guessing it was about 11 pm judging by the moon. He could only see flashes of it through the canopy.
Yuri held his machete at the ready as always. A rifle was slung over his back, and a 9mm handgun adorned his right thigh. His clothes were covered in dirt and blood, and his hair was falling out of its stubby ponytail. It had been days since his last wash.
Yuri was a mess, but Otabek wasn’t doing much better. His hair was now long enough to curl around the ends. His white shirt was stained with too many things to keep track of. He had the backpack over his leather jacket. Two knives on his belt and a rifle in his hands.
“Yura, we should get some rest.” Otabek said, Russian rolling off his tongue easily.
“We should keep going.” Yuri insisted. “The sign said we’re almost there.” He didn’t slow his pace.
“Yuri, please.” Otabek rasped. He was walking beside Yuri then. “We’re still miles from Ely. We won’t get there tonight even if we keep going.”
“We’ll get there sooner.”
Otabek huffed a breath and grabbed Yuri’s arm, jerking him to a stop. “We need rest.” he hissed. Yuri tried to pry his arm from his grip, but he had an iron fist. Yuri glared at him, but deflated. “We’ll get going again in the morning.”
“Fine.” Yuri huffed. Otabek let go of his arm, and they set about their normal routine.
They found the biggest tree near them and climbed it. Yuri went up first, and Otabek threw the bag up and followed. It was quite uncomfortable, sleeping on a branch. But they didn’t have any other option. They climbed until they were high enough that they wouldn’t be spotted by anyone on the ground, and tied the bag to a branch using a spool of paracord.
They sat in silence for a while. Yuri was having a hard time keeping his eyes open, but he didn’t want to fall asleep. “Go to sleep, baby.” Otabek muttered. He was at nearly the same elevation, just beside Yuri a little. Yuri looked at him tiredly before finally letting his eyes close.
~~~
In the morning, they ate a can of peaches for breakfast and were back on the ground. Neither of them spoke as Yuri stomped in the skull of an ankle biter. That’s what they called them. The undead that had either lost their legs or couldn’t use them. It was laying on its stomach with its arms outstretched as it snarled and reached out. The wet sounds stopped as soon as the head was convex.
They had just reached another sign with a map directing them to Ely when Otabek broke the silence. “It’s gonna work out.” he began. “It won’t be like the last ones. It can’t be.”
“It can be. And that’s something we have to be prepared for.” Yuri muttered. He wasn’t going to lie. He was running pretty low on his faith in humanity. He was one more disaster away from having another mental breakdown.
“We’re gonna make it.” Otabek insisted. Yuri just shook his head and took a deep breath.
~~~
Yuri stood at the edge of the treeline and frowned at the wreckage. So much for Ely. The place was in ruins. The gate had been driven through by a semi truck, the towers were still on fire. Walkers were sprinkled everywhere inside. It was a lost cause. Yuri couldn’t say he was surprised.
He grimaced and looked to Otabek, who was staring out at the view with a look of exhausted resignation on his face. He pulled on Otabek’s sleeve until he started mindlessly following him.
That night, they didn’t say a word. Yuri hated this. He hated the way they were both slowly losing their minds. He hated the world for making them like this. For putting that disappointed and hopeless look on Otabek’s face. It didn’t belong there.
Just keep moving.
Something will go right eventually. It has to.