Chapter 3: The Tanks on Empty
Austin and Kevin look across the street at the blazing apartment building. "We're gonna drive to my house and hold out there until this all blows over." Austin says as Kevin reaches in his backpack, pulling out a pack of Old Gold cigarettes and a lighter, shoving it in his mouth, lighting it and taking a quick drag.
"Well, what if it doesn't blow over?" Kevin says as he takes another drag off his cigarette. He flicks the ash onto the sidewalk as they walk towards the parking lot.
"I don't know, we do what it takes to survive. And those are so bad for you man." Austin replies as he pulls out the keys to his blue ford F-350, unlocking it from the remote control.
"Jesus Christ, Austin, I always wonder why the hell you still have your snow plow on here. You're so fucking lazy." Kevin says as he takes the last drag off of his cigarette, flicking it onto the ground as the two get into the truck.
"Don't act like you're any better. Do you see that? Over there there's more of those things that killed Ms. Scott over there. there's like ten, maybe fifteen."Austin says as he starts the truck driving out of the school parking lot and up the road.
"Dude you know you're almost of of gas right?" Kevin asks as he looks at the gas gauge noticing it's almost on E.
"I know, I planned on getting gas on the way home from detention today. Let's see if the gas station is still open." Austin says pulling into a gas station and going up to a pump.
The two hop out of the truck and walk up to the gas station door, peeking inside.
"Let's just take some gas. I'm going to make sure there aren't any of those things around." Kevin says looking around for any unwanted guests.
"Yeah I think it's safe to just take some with everything the way it is. Now nobody will notice." Austin says pulling the pump off and shoving it in his gas tank.
"We should see if the gas station is locked, maybe we could take some stuff in case this doesn't just blow over. What should we call them things man?" asks Kevin, walking towards the doors and tugging at the left one.
"It's locked, whatever." Kevin says as he reaches in his pocket pulling out his cigarettes and lighter. Quickly putting one in his mouth lighting it, he inhales the smoke. He walks over to the passenger side of the truck, leans on the truck, and takes another puff of the cigarette. Austin wonders about what to call the things that killed Ms. Scott.
"What about walkers?" Austin says as Kevin makes his way over to the gas pump taking another drag. "Kevin, do you hear that?" Austin say as he hears a low moaning.
"What is that it sounds like a constant… moaning. It's getting louder." Kevin says as he walks to Austin's side of the truck. He looks across the street to see seven or eight walkers coming towards them.
"Get in the FUCKING truck Austin, let's go!" Kevin exclaims as he pulls the gas pump out of Austin's hand and shoves it in the holder as he finishes off his cigarette.
"What are you so worried about?" Austin says as he scouts the area and sees the horde of walkers.
"OH SHIT." Austin says as he scurries into the truck and starts it. He sees the horde crossing the street to the gas station.
"Lower the fucking plow." Kevin says trying to reach over to the remote.
"Why the fuck would I do that?" Austin asks, slapping Kevin's hand away as he starts to lower the plow.
"So we can plow through the horde of walkers without damaging the truck." Kevin says as Austin holds the button to lower the plow while revving the engine.
"Now lets get out of here." Kevin says as he puts the truck in gear, speeding out of the parking lot. The plow makes a thud at it hits two walkers, also making a grinding sound as it drags against the tar.
"Alright, I think we can raise the plow now, it looks like we are clear of them. Anyways, that grinding is annoying." Kevin says as Austin holds the button to raise the plow. The two notice it is starting to rain.
"It couldn't rain at a worse time." Austin says annoyed, as he takes one hand off the wheel and reaches in the glovebox.
"Sonuva, Kevin can you reach in there and find my hunting knife?" Austin says as he pulls his hand back and places it on the wheel. Kevin shoving his hand in the glovebox and pulls out a leather case with a knife handle sticking out of it. Austin clips it to his belt as he steadies the wheel with his knee, his hands quickly swapping back to the wheel. "How the fuck has it gotten this out of control this fast?" Kevin says as he looks out the window at someone trying to wave them down for a ride. "Damn, I feel like we just sentenced him to his death." Austin says with a guilty look on his face. "Don't feel bad man, we don't know him he could kill us. We can't take the risk. Just forget about it, try not to think too much, let's just get home man." Kevin says as he looks out the window seeing a huge line of cars in front of the parking lot of Wal-Mart.