Project Ami (7 page)

Not long after, Ami walks into the RV and closes the door. She looks around to see where she can lay down, and decides to rest next to Ryan. They both lay next to each other in the bed, with Ryan already in deep sleep. Ami also closes her eyes and asks her mind to switch off.

The following morning, Ryan wakes up early and, with sleepy eyes, looks around him and sees that Ami is not in the RV. He shocks himself awake and jumps up. He quickly walks to the door and opens it. He looks around and sees Ami sitting in a folding chair reading what appears to be a comic book. Relief washes over him, and he walks over to Ami. He takes the seat next to her and says, ‘Good morning. You scared me for a moment.’

Ami looks up and says, ‘Good morning. What do you mean?’

‘You weren’t in the RV when I woke up and I thought something had happened.’

Ami smiles and tells Ryan she is sorry but she wanted to enjoy nature and she found a cool comic book.

‘What kind of comic book is it?’ he asks.

‘I only read a few pages, but it is about a guy and a little girl that live in a world where a virus killed many people, and they both try to survive.’

‘How ironic. Add some KBs and it’s just like our life!’ Ryan takes his backpack and looks inside. ‘Damn it,’ he says in a soft voice.

Ami looks up and asks what’s wrong.

‘It looks like I won’t be having any breakfast today,’ he says, disappointment on his face. ‘Oh well. I think it’d be best if we start walking again soon. It feels like it’s going to be a warm day today and it’s still a bit cool right now.’

Ami agrees, and Ryan starts to pack his bag. He walks into the RV and takes some things he can use in the future, such as cups and forks and knives. He then walks outside and sees Ami waiting for him, all ready to go.

They start to walk back in the direction of the road. ‘I’m going to miss that bed,’ Ryan muses. ‘It’s been a long time since I slept that well!’

Ami smiles and, with a funny but sarcastic voice, says, ‘Yeah, me too.’

They both start to laugh for a moment, and then all falls quiet again.

After a few minutes, they arrive at the road again and continue their walk in the direction of the city. After walking for a while, Ami hears a sound in the distance. She asks Ryan what it is, and they stop walking for a moment. Ryan listens closely; he hears what sounds like a lot of people walking. The sound comes closer and closer, and Ryan and Ami decide that hiding out behind some trees next to the road is the best choice.

Not long after they sit behind the trees, Ryan peeks over and sees a mass of KBs walking towards them from the distance. With a frightened look, he signals to Ami to be very quiet and not to show herself. Ryan stays behind the trees and does not peek around them anymore because he does not want to risk being seen.

He hears the KBs coming closer and closer; his heart starts pounding in his chest. He waits to see what happens. Luckily, he hears that the KBs did not see them and that they walk past Ryan and Ami. After a while, Ryan peeks out again and sees the KBs walking off into the distance, far away from them.

He takes a deep breath and crawls over to Ami. ‘Okay, I think it’s safe. I don’t know where they were going but I’m lucky we are not in that place!’

Both flooded with relief, they slowly stand up and come out of cover. Ryan checks both sides of the street to make sure there are no KBs nearby. When it looks like it’s safe, Ryan and Ami start to walk again.

After a few hours, the sun is high in the sky, and Ryan starts to get really warm. ‘I think it’s time for a pit stop soon,’ he says to Ami.

They reach a hill where the road continues to pave. The hill is pretty steep, and Ryan and Ami start to walk up it. They arrive at the top; from there, they can look out over the forest. They see a beautiful skyline with the city in the background; the sun shines between the buildings.

Ryan and Ami take a moment to look at the view and, while doing so, Ami says that it looks amazing.

Ryan replies, ‘Yes, it sure does,’ and he takes a deep breath of fresh air. ‘Okay, I have been in the city many times before. Do you see that big skyscraper over there? That’s where the shopping centre is. That’s where we need to go,’ says Ryan, pointing his finger to a tall building that reaches high above the other buildings.

Ami smiles and, with an excited voice, says, ‘I would love to get some new cloths when we are there.’

Ryan laughs and tells Ami that, when they are there, they will do some clothes shopping.

Ryan and Ami start to walk downhill. It is a lot easier for them, and sometimes they even walk too fast and need to slow down. It does not take long for them to get down the hill, and when there, they walk up to a big tree next to the road and sit under it, deep in the shadows, and take a break.

Ryan starts to complain that he is hungry. ‘We need to find some food and water soon. With this heat I’m starting to run out of energy. Soon I’ll be dehydrated,’ he says.

Ami tells Ryan that she is sure they will find something soon.

They both lean back against the tree, and Ryan closes his eyes for a moment and takes some rest.

Ami, on the other hand, looks up through the trees to where the sun is shining through the leaves and just enjoys the view.

Half an hour has passed and Ryan and Ami decide to move on again. Ryan stands up and stretches himself. He then pulls Ami up, and together they start to walk in the direction of the city.

Ryan is starting to get dehydrated by now, and he is getting worried that he will not be able to walk for much longer. Nonetheless, they keep walking for another fifteen minutes and then, in the distance, Ryan sees what looks like a building on the side of the road. When they get closer, Ryan sees that it is a restaurant.

Immediately, Ryan cheers up and starts to walk a bit faster. ‘There must be some water and food there,’ he says, excitement in his voice.

Ami also gets excited because Ryan is happier. They both start to jog to the restaurant.

When they arrive, Ryan tries to open the door but finds it is locked. Luckily, the door is made from glass, and so Ryan looks around, picks up a big stone from a few feet away, tells Ami to step back, and then throws the stone straight through the glass.

The glass shatters and makes a large hole big enough for Ryan to step through. He goes into the restaurant and tells Ami to be careful. He then immediately walks over to the kitchen; it has not been used for a long time because everything is greasy and dusty. But, of course, Ryan does not mind that. He starts to check all the cabinets. There, he finds a whole bunch of cans of food. He grabs all he can carry and puts them in his backpack. He looks around and sees a fridge, where he finds one last six-pack of bottled water. He pulls off the plastic and opens up one of the bottles. It takes Ryan only a few seconds to drink down the entire bottle and, with a relieved expression on his face, he starts to put the rest of the bottles in his backpack. By now, his backpack is starting to get really heavy, and he is having trouble lifting it.

When he is getting ready to leave, Ami comes running into the kitchen with a frightened look on her face. ‘I heard some people outside!’ she says.

Ryan’s joy immediately fades away, and he lays his backpack in the corner and pulls out his gun. He tells Ami to stay in the kitchen and then slowly crouches down and overs over to the other room. There, he sees two men coming to the door. Ryan quickly hides behind the bar.

The men climb through the door and then turn around to look outside.

When they turn around, Ryan jumps out from behind the bar and tells the men to put their hands up.

The men quickly turn around and, as a reaction, go to grab their guns.

‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you,’ Ryan warns.

The men slowly move their hands away from the guns and put their hands up. Ryan tells them to drop their weapons and backpacks. When the men are about to drop their backpacks, they stop and start to smile. Ryan thinks it’s strange, and asks them if they think this is funny. But not long after saying that, he sees that there is a man standing right behind Ryan, a gun aimed at his head.

Ryan drops his gun. ‘What do you want?’ he asks.

‘Revenge,’ says one of the guys. Ryan then realises that they are probably from the resistance.

Behind him, he hears the click of a gun, and sees that the guy is about to shoot him. Ryan sees no way out, and so he closes his eyes and waits for the shot.

A few seconds later, all he hears is the man making a strange sound, like he is gasping for air.

‘What’s wrong?’ asks one of the men, but soon after asking, the guy falls to the ground. A knife is planted firmly in his back. Ami stands behind him, a look of fear on her face.

The two men standing in front of Ryan grab their guns, and Ryan quickly grabs Ami and they both dive behind the bar. In the process, Ryan manages to grab his gun from the ground, and he prepares himself to shoot.

The men split up and start shooting in the direction of Ryan. Ryan waits for a few seconds until he hears that one of the men is very close to him. He looks around the corner and sees that one of the men is reloading his weapon. Ryan aims his gun and shoots the man three times in his chest.

The guy drops his gun and falls down to the ground. Ryan then tries to look around to see where the other guy is; he notices he is trying to flank him.

Ryan crawls around the corner of the bar and makes sure the other guy does not see him. He then walks alongside the bar and is now standing only a few feet away from the guy.

Ryan jumps out and shoots the guy in the back.

The guy falls to the ground and it gets quiet for a moment.

Ryan is still not sure what just happened and he looks at the men he just shot, He then realizes that Ami is still behind the bar and he runs to her. He looks behind the bar and sees Ami sitting against it, her arms covering her face. He walks over to Ami and wants to touch her arm, but Ami is frightened and pulls her arms tightly around herself. Ryan quickly grabs both of her arms and holds her in controlled way whilst saying, ‘It’s me, Ami.’

Ami then looks up and sees that Ryan is sitting right in front of her.

‘Is it over?’ she asks in a scared voice.

‘Yes, it’s over,’ Ryan reassures her.

Ami gives Ryan a long hug and tells him that she was really scared that something would happen to him. He comforts Ami and then stands up and walks over to the dead guy with the knife in his back. Ryan takes out the dead man’s gun, removes the ammunition, and puts it into his own gun. He then walks over to the other guy. Ryan opens up the man’s backpack and finds some more ammunition, a bottle of water, and some basic survival supplies. He takes the backpack with him, and then walks over to Ami who, by now, has calmed down. He tells her that it’s best for them to get far away from this place because it isn’t safe.

They walk outside of the restaurant and there Ryan sees a rusty pickup truck; it looks like it belonged to the resistance guys. Ryan walks over to the truck and sees that the keys are still in the car. He smiles and tells Ami this will help them to get to the city a whole lot faster. He throws his backpack into the back of the car and tells Ami to get into the passenger seat. Ryan sits in the driver’s seat and starts the car. He sees that there is probably just enough fuel to get to the city. He drives off the parking lot and onto the road, heading in the direction of the city.

After driving for a while, Ryan sees it is getting dark; he also feels a bit worn out by everything that has happened during the course of the day.

The city is still a few hours’ drive away, and so Ryan decides to overnight one last time before arriving at the city. ‘I think it’s a good idea if we get some sleep now. Tomorrow we will arrive in the city,’ Ryan says to Ami.

Ami agrees, and Ryan drives up into a small forest path and drives the car into the bushes so that no one can see it.

Ryan and Ami step out of the car and walk into the forest. There, they find a tree that has fallen and split in two, and they sit on it. Ryan notices that he has forgotten his backpack, and so he walks back to the car, grabs his back and also the one he took from the dead resistance guy, and walks back to Ami. He sits down next to Ami and hands her the backpack. ‘Here. In case you ever want to easily carry something with you and to keep your stuff safe,’ says Ryan.

Ami smiles and says, ‘Thanks! You’re always are so good to me, Ryan. You always protect me so well. I want to be able to protect you, too. Maybe you can teach me how to shoot a gun in case we ever get into a situation again like at the restaurant?’

Ryan agrees and tells Ami he will give her a crash course in the morning. He finishes his food and tells Ami that it is getting late. ‘I’m going to get some sleep,’ he tells her.

Ami agrees, and they both walk to the car. Ryan steps into the driver’s seat and makes himself comfortable. Ami also gets into the car and sits in the passenger seat.

They both close their eyes and fall asleep.

The following morning, the sun is shining through the windshield, and Ryan wakes up. He yawns and looks over to Ami, who is looking around the dashboard. ‘Good morning,’ he says, and Ami looks over at Ryan and smiles.

‘Hey, how did you sleep?’ asks Ami.

‘I’ve had better, but I got a few good hours in. Today will be a busy day, so let’s get some food, learn some basic defence techniques, and then we’ll go off to the city!’

Ami reacts with happiness and excitement, and they both step out of the car.

Ryan walks over to his backpack and takes out another can of food. He opens it up and starts eating. Ami sits next to him and asks if it is hard to learn how to shoot.

‘Nah, it’s not very hard. It just takes some practice to become better at it,’ he tells her.

‘So what do you expect to find in the city today?’ Ami asks.

‘Well, the plan is to get a lot of supplies from the shopping centre, and now we have a car we will be able to get enough supplies to stay away from the city for a long time. When all this started, the first thing that got overrun were the cities, and so we do need to be very careful. I hope we won’t come across any other KBs.’

Ami looks a bit worried whilst Ryan is telling her all this.

‘Don’t worry. We will stick together and, after today, you also will be able to defend yourself a lot better,’ says Ryan with a kind smile on his face.

Ryan finishes his food and tells Ami that, if she wants, he can teach her how to shoot right now. Ami says yes with excitement in her voice. He stands up and grabs a few empty cans. He also grabs his gun, and they both walk a bit further into the forest.

Ryan walks over to a tree that has fallen over and places the cans on the trunk. He then walks back to Ami and takes out his gun. ‘Okay, so it is very simple. What you want to do, when you want to shoot, you need to flip this switch—this is the safety switch—and you then want to hold your arms straight and aim at the target you want to hit. When you feel confident that you are going to hit your target, you want to press the trigger.’ He points at the various parts of the gun as he speaks. ‘Now, this gun does not give a lot of knockback, but do be aware that there will be some knockback as soon as you shoot. One last thing: a gun is not a toy. You’ve seen that over the past few days, so when you shoot, make sure you mean it. Also, ammunition is scarce, so if you have to shoot, make every shot count, okay?’

Ami agrees with everything. Ryan shoots one of the cans to show Ami how to do it. He walks over to the can and puts it back on the tree. He then walks back to Ami and hands her the gun.

‘Okay. Now, aim the gun at one of the cans,’ Ryan says, and Ami starts to aim. Ryan moves her arm a bit higher and says, ‘Okay. Now take off the safety and, when you are ready, press the trigger.’

Ami takes off the safety and takes a few seconds to aim. She then fires the gun, which gives more knockback then she expected. She looks a bit scared because of the shock, and unfortunately misses her target.

‘It’s okay,’ says Ryan. ‘Try again. Take all the time you need.’

Ami aims her gun again and fires again. This time, she prepares herself for the knockback and hits her target.

Ryan looks surprised but, then again, he did expect that it would be different to when teaching a human to shoot!

Ami then focuses her attention on the other cans and shoots all of them off the trunk in her first try. She starts to laugh and gets all excited because she hit all the cans.

‘Wow, amazing job!’ says Ryan.

Ami thanks Ryan and says, ‘That was fun!’ and hands the gun back to Ryan.

‘Yeah it was. But remember that, out there, when you aim your gun at someone else, make sure you mean it—and you can deal with the consequences. Emotionally.’

Ami nods and tells Ryan that, from now on, she will do everything she can to protect him. He thanks her and smiles, and they both head back to the car.

Ryan puts the gun in his backpack and then takes out another pistol that he took from one of the resistance fighters. He gives it to Ami and tells her to put it in her backpack. ‘Now, let’s do this,’ he says, and throws his backpack in the car. Ami also lays her backpack carefully in the car and gets into the passenger seat.

Ryan takes off the branches that cover the back of the car and gets in. He starts the engine and reverses backwards before driving out of the forest. Soon they are on the main road once again, and begin driving in the direction of the city.