Andy McGowan

Episode 2: Tense

Episode Description: The group is stuck out in the highway once again, Andy and David have to go to a nearby town to get important supplies.

I tensed up for a second at the sight of the horde, but I quickly came to my senses. "Everyone get in the cars, come on hurry!" Me, David, and Adrian ran as fast as we could down to the campsite. I yelled, "Just take any food, ammo, and guns! Leave everything else here!" The Biters were very close, and they would have to be delayed for them to stop. I told Adrian to help me delay the Biters, and we both grabbed some shotguns. I called to everyone, "We'll hold them off as long as we can, get the vehicles ready as fast as you can!"

The group frantically grabbed the supplies that we must keep. Adrian and I started shooting like madmen at the Biters. Row after row of them fell to the ground, but ammo was short, and we lost ground each time we had to reload. Adrian yelled back to the group, "Take your time guys! We'll just hold them off for the next three hours!" I think he could have put the comment a little more... well, lightly. But it was kind of true.

In around fifteen seconds the group got everything together, Jenny yelled, "Okay we're ready let's get out of here!" Adrian and I used up the last of our ammo clips, when we were out we ran for dear life to the vehicles. I got in a small Kia with my family, Adrian got in a truck with David. Jenny was driving, and she honked to signal everyone to get moving. Everyone was sweating like crazy, but we were all relieved that everyone got out safely. I looked to the back seat where my kids were, "You guys alright?" They both nodded, and then I said to Jenny, "Well obviously we don't have our tents now, so we can't camp out. I don't want us risking going to Eugene for shelter, but let's go to Springfield. It's smaller, we can deal with the amount of Biters there better. It's also not that far from Eugene for when me and David make the run." Jenny nodded at me, "Good idea." She honked to stop the group, and everyone did.

We all got out of the cars, and Sebastian asked, "You guys alright?" I stretched and replied, "Yeah we're fine. But I've got a plan." Everyone crowded around. "Okay, so we had to leave our tents behind, so that means we won't have any proper shelter to camp out in. There's a smaller town just outside of Eugene where, because of the size, there shouldn't be many Biters. And because it's so close to Eugene that's a perfect spot so David and I can get in and out of Eugene safely and quickly. We can stay in one of the houses there for the night. And if that doesn't work out, well we will have just have to improvise."

We all agreed, and we got back in our vehicles, and continued to Springfield. I took the wheel, and for a lot of the time we drove in silence. I eventually break it, "How much days worth of food do we have left?" Jenny sighed, "I don't know... probably no more then five days. Hopefully that will change once we're in Springfield."

After twenty or so minutes, someone from behind us honks. It's Sebastian in his Jeep. Everyone pulls over, and gets out of their cars. I raise an eyebrow at Sebastian, "Everything alright?" Sebastian didn't answer right away, he poked his left upper tire. You can easily see that it's almost out of air. Sebastian sighed, "Yup I could feel it. The tire's out of air. It won't last much longer. Do we have a pump?" I looked to the group, but they shook their head, "Guess not. We don't have enough for you and Molina in our cars, okay I saw a sign a few minutes ago saying we were about five miles from Springfield, so we gotta be close. David and I will make a quick run. Adrian, stay here, we need someone who can shoot to stay here. We'll be back as soon as we can." Everyone nodded.

I walked up to Daina and Mark. "You two watch Mom for me, alright?" They nodded at me. I smiled and winked in response. "David, take a few clips of ammo and a knife or machete. You know how it goes, only use our guns if it's an emergency."

In a few minutes, David and I were off to go to Springfield. It should be only a mile or so away. "So, David, ever been to Springfield before?" David took a moment to think, "Only to pass by I believe. I heard it's a nice enough place. What about you?" I shook my head, "Nah but I have a few friends who live here. I'm not sure if they'd still be here if they survived the Biters. I once visited one of them here, so I do somewhat have a lay of the land here." We continued to walk in silence. The sun was just rising over some mountains in the distance. The sun illuminated the dark clouds, giving them life. I smiled at it, "You know despite how much crap the world is in, it's still amazing to look at what Mother Earth creates. Like this view." David then looked at the view, and I saw a smile appear on his face. "Haven't seen anything like this in a long time, I mean, something this beautiful. Does it give you hope?" I had to chuckle at that, "It'll be the day when I have hope of a cure. But you know what I have hope in? Our survival. We've done good so far. Maybe we can thrive for all I know, once we find a good place to settle down. Rebuild, reconstruct our lives. Start from square one." David nodded back to me, "Usually I would say that's crazy talk. But in these past few weeks, I can safely say I can believe that. We have some ways to go though. Right now we have to focus on protecting the group." "I can agree with that."

After a little bit of walking, we finally arrived at Springfield. I looked at David, "You have your binoculars?" He reached to the right side of his belt buckle, where he holstered his binoculars. He took them out and scouted out Springfield. "How many Biters do you see?" David took a moment to make sure his answer would be correct. "I don't see any, there may be more closer to the downtown area. I guess it depends how many people got out of the town during the evacuation. But it looks like the start of the run will be smooth sailing, hopefully." I nodded slowly, "Alright, lets go."

David was right, there were no Biters anywhere. Shortly we came across a gas station with a small store. This was perfect. We cautiously approached the gas station. We saw plenty of bodies littered on the ground, but there was no sign of Biters. David went to look for extra fuel and a gas pump, and I went into the store. There was still some food here, it wasn't completely looted. But I could tell people have been here before. I was able to grab some canned food, water, and some dried fruit. I had enough to feed the group for another week. I stuffed the food in my backpack.

I was about to go outside, when I heard vehicles. I quickly glued my back to the wall, and peeked out a window. I saw David doing the same, he was hiding behind a shed. We both saw each other, and I signaled where the vehicle sound came from. A few seconds later a few vehicles came into view and stopped on our street. Everyone in the cars got out.

I looked at them all, and I didn't recognize any of them. But I did notice one thing, they weren't carrying guns any better then ours, but they still look very dangerous. I looked back to David who was still behind the shed. One of them, a man who seemed Native American started talking. "I could have sworn I saw them around here. They can't be far. They were also carrying weapons, they might have some nice gear on them." An attractive Caucasian brunette talked back to him, "Well I don't feel safe with them around. Let's set up a search party, and spread out. Lets move people!" They all started to disperse, all of them were out of our view.

When I thought the coast was clear so to speak, I cautiously got out of the store. That was a mistake. One of the group, someone who didn't talk, came into view all of the sudden and saw me. He was able to pull out his gun before I did. And he was pointing it towards my head. "You better freeze right there, mister!" He had a thick British accent. "If you move an inch, I'll shoot you!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "Guys, I've got one back at the gas station!"

As soon as he said that, David came out from the shed and shot the man with a pistol, it was a clean shot in the head. A second after he shot him, we heard yelling, it was the other members of the group. I looked at David, "We have to get out of here, now!"