Survivors: A Walking Dead Story

Chapter 2: Road Trip to Tennessee

The car sped down the highway at just over 60 miles an hour. The group were mostly silent as they wondered just how much destruction this infection may have caused. Bethany turned to Ben.

"where are you from by the way?" asked Bethany.

"Baxter Tennessee" replied Ben.

"that's a long drive, have you got enough fuel" said Bethany.

"yeah my dad always use to tell me to make sure your cars always got a full tank of gas" said Ben.

"sounds expensive" said Callum from the passenger seat.

"yeah well my dad never had to worry about money that much" said Ben. "He got really lucky with some company shares, the company exploded with popularity, those shares were worth millions, it allowed him to retire early".

"damn that is some luck" said Callum.

"yep, so Bethany where are you from?" asked Ben.

"Blue Springs Alabama" said Bethany.

"Sweet Home Alabama" sung Callum.

"screw off" said Bethany with a grin on her face.

"damn that's some distance" said Ben. "what about you Callum where are you from".

"Ducktown Tennessee" said Callum.

"well at least were in the same state" said Ben. He looked at Morgan through the mirror. "Morgan where you from?".

"Eton Georgia" said Morgan. "Alannah's from there as well".

A thumping noise came from the trunk and a slight muffled voice could be heard.

"I'm from there too" said Connor.

"how long have we been driving for?" asked Alannah.

Connor looked at his watch. The time was 12:30.

"nearly two hours" shouted Connor so they could hear him.

"only about 5 more hours till we get to my City" said Ben.

"what will we do when we get there?" said Bethany.

"Probably have to go our own ways to find our families" said Ben. "you guys have to go to a completely different state".

"yeah so what do you guys want to do to pass the time" said Bethany.

"Jesus look guys" said Callum. He pointed at something up ahead. It was a roadblock, dozens of cars smashed together in a desperate attempt to get away from the infection. Bodies lay everywhere some infected some dead.

"can we go around?" said Callum.

"I hope so" said Ben. The car slowed down to a crawl.

A thumping sound came from the trunk.

"hey guys what the hell is going on" said Connor.

"roadblock" shouted Morgan.

"okay" shouted Connor.

Ben searched desperately. Trying to look for a way round. There didn't seem to be a way.

"crap" said Ben.

"any ideas" said Callum.

"well if we get out, we can try and move some of the cars, but it will be risky there's some of those infected about" said Ben. The car came to a halt the group contemplated what to do.

"could we go back and look for another route?" said Morgan.

"no, I don't know any other routes, and this car doesn't have a map" said Ben.

"damn, looks like we don't have much of a choice" said Bethany.

"alright everyone stay close" said Ben as he opened his car door. Ben made his way to the trunk to let Connor out while the others climbed out of the car.

"thank god my legs were aching" said Connor.

"alright join the others" said Ben. A couple of the infected had finally noticed them and began to slowly creep towards them.

"how many do you think there are Morgan?" said Ben.

"I see 8 but there could be more" said Morgan.

"alright everyone stay close and watch each other's back's" said Ben.

The group slowly stepped forward with Ben and Connor leading the charge. Connor approached the first infected and stabbed forward with his knife. The Blade entered the creatures head right between the eyes. The first one was down. Ben approached the second infected and swung his cleaver at its head. The blow was quick and strong but not enough to take it down. The infected staggered backwards before going for Ben again. Ben swung a second strike; the blow finally did the creature in and it slumped to the ground along with the first one. Six more to go. Connor walked up to third infected and distracted it allowing Morgan to come in from the side and stab it through the back of the head. The Fourth infected came around a car and managed to grab Bethany. She struggled against its grip, but Alannah attacked it from behind plunging the knife through the back of its head.

Ben whistled at the fifth zombie and drew its attention to him allowing Connor to stick his knife through the side of it's head. Infected number six staggered forward and tried to grab Callum. He waited for it to get close before quickly dispatching it with a quick knife to the forehead. Two more to go.

"Callum, you Bethany and Alannah deal with the last two and the rest of us will start moving the cars" said Ben.

"alright" said Callum moving to side of the road to bring the infected away from Connor, Morgan and Ben.

"Over here freaks" said Callum. Ben opened the door of the first car. There was no-one inside.

"alright, I'll take the hand brake off and then we can push it" said Ben. He pulled the handbrake and the three boys started to push the car. Behind them they could hear a body hit the floor just one infected left. They successfully pushed the first car out of the way and started on the second.

"I think one more car and we should be able to fit through" said Ben.

"okay" said Connor. Bethany finished off the last infected and the three of them came over to help move the cars. After couple of minutes the road was clear enough for them to get through. They began to make their way back to the car when suddenly a bloodcurdling scream echoed all around them.

"holy shit what was that" said Connor. The group looked around wondering where the source of the screaming was coming from. They saw it. Just out of the woods on the side of the road a woman came sprinting out from the woods and down the road towards them. She was clutching her neck and a trail of blood followed her as she ran.

"oh, damn she looks pretty banged up" said Morgan.

She eventually reached them and came to a stop.

"help me please" she said.

"of course, what happened?" asked Ben.

"I was hitchhiking when this thing started people were coming back from the dead and starting eating people, I was running through the woods to get away and ran into one of the things it grabbed me and we both fell down. Then it sunk its teeth into my shoulder, I managed to grab a rock and hit it off me" said the woman.

The group looked at each other and gulped.

"what do we do?" said Bethany.

"what is it" said the woman. "what's wrong".

"you were bitten, this infection or whatever it is, it's spread from bits or scratches, if you get bit eventually you become one of them, it was all over the news" said Connor.

"you mean I'm going to become one of those things" said the woman.

"I'm afraid so" said Connor.

The woman began to cry hysterically.

"I don't believe you, it's nothing, I'm not going to become one of those things. I'll be okay" she said.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think there's any way to help you when your bitten" said Connor.

"I just need some bandages and clean it, it will fine" she said.

"it won't be fine, you'll be one of them" said Callum.

"I don't want to become one of those things" she said.

"I don't think there's any way we can help you" said Callum.

She continued to cry this time into her hands.

"do we take her with us" said Connor.

"no room in the car, unless someone wants to stay" said Ben.

"no your all lying to me I'm going to be fine you people don't know what your talking about I'm getting out of here" said the woman. She clutched her shoulder and began to walk back towards the woods.

"I'm sorry this happened to you" said Connor.

With those last words she walked back into the forest never to be seen again alive. The group returned to the car and continued their journey to Ben's home.

"we still got a few hours to go" said Ben. "you guys might want to get some rest it's been a tiring couple of hours".

"you're right" said Callum.

"least Connor is comfortable" said Morgan.

"screw you" said a voice from the trunk.

4 hours later

"hey guys wake up" said Ben. "we're just about to enter Baxter probably another 20 minutes".

"thank fuck, my legs have gone to sleep in here" said Connor.

"okay, I hope your family is still there" said Bethany.

"yeah I hope so too" said Ben.

"so, what were courses were you all doing at University?" asked Bethany.

"I was studying in Animation, I wanted to hopefully work in movies" said Callum.

"I was studying Forensics" said Morgan.

"interested in the police were you" said Ben.

"yeah" said Morgan.

"that's cool, I was studying in English Literature" said Ben. "was hoping to become a teacher".

"I was studying in Computer Science" said Alannah.

"damn that's cool" said Callum.

"you Beth" said ben.

"Business and Marketing" said Bethany.

"okay, hey booty, what were you studying" said Callum.

"Criminology" said Connor.

"another guy interested in the Police" said Ben.

"we're almost there" said Ben pointing at some houses. "just up here" said Ben. The car pulled up in front of a medium sized house.

"nice house" said Callum.

"thanks" replied Ben.

The group got out of the car and approached Ben's house. The front door was shut but there didn't seem to be any sign of anyone being inside. Ben approached the front door and pulled out his house key from his pocket. He placed the key in the door, and slowly opened the door. The lights were off, and the curtains were all closed. The group slowly crept into his house and looked around for infected.

"looks clear for now, but let's check all the rooms" said Connor holding his knife tightly in his right hand. The group split up into different directions and carefully checked each room. Connor approached the stairs and slowly ascended them one at a time. He listened for any sounds of infected. Nothing all he could hear were the other's checking the rooms. He reached the top of the stairs and opened the first door in front of him, this room was the bathroom. Nothing. He closed the door and checked the second room. A little boy's room, probably Ben's brother Connor thought to himself. This room was empty as well. Ben came up the stairs.

"downstairs is clear, how's up here" asked Ben.

"so far nothing, just four more rooms to check" said Connor.

"Alright" said Ben. The two boys checked the last four rooms, but they were all empty.

"nothing my family's not here" said Ben.

"hey Ben, Connor down here" called Morgan. The two bolted down the stairs and towards Morgan's voice. He was in the kitchen. When they entered Morgan held up a piece of paper.

"it's a note to Ben" said Morgan, handing it to Ben.

Ben took the note and slowly read what it said.

"Ben, something's happened, some disease or something, the army are putting up blocks, trying to contain this thing. I've taken the family and have gone to stay at Grandma's. You'll find us there. Stay safe son I love you"

DAD

Ben lowered the note a smile appeared on his face.

"at least there alive" said Ben.

"where does your Grandma live" asked Morgan.

"about a two-hour drive from here" said Ben.

"at least you know where they are" said Morgan.

"alright, let's get ready" said Ben.

"is it alright if we eat something, my stomach's killing me" said Callum.

"yeah should be some food in" said Ben.

Connor looked at his watch. 6:02. The group tucked into a couple sandwiches that Ben made. They weren't fancy just ham and cheese.

"alright what's the plan" said Connor.

"I'm going to take Callum and take him to his home, then if he stays with me or goes with his family, then the next destination will be my Grandma's" said Ben. Ben chucked Connor something. It was a set of car keys.

"those are to one of our cars, should have a full tank of gas, you can use it to get back to Georgia" said Ben.

"Thanks Ben" said Connor. "okay I'm going to head to Georgia and find my family, if you want to come with us Beth, we can drop you off in Alabama or something".

"I'd like that thanks" said Bethany. The group finished off their food and readied their things. It was going to be another long drive home. They headed out to the cars and said their goodbyes. Ben held out a hand and Connor took it, the two shook hands.

"I hope you find your family guys" said Ben.

"I hope you find yours" said Connor. They waved goodbye to Callum and got inside the second vehicle. Connor put the keys in the ignition Morgan in the passenger seat, Bethany and Alannah in the back. Connor reversed the car out and began to drive away before he stuck his right hand out the window and gave Ben the thumbs up as they drove away. As they left Connor wondered if they would ever meet again. He hoped so Ben was a good guy.

End of Chapter 2