At The End Of Everything
Chapter 3: President of the United States
Notes: I am so sorry this took a long time to get posted. For that, I'm giving you two chapters. This and 4. For those of you reading Emma...it's almost done. I swear! Hope you guys are awesome and here's the chapter :)
"So, what's your real name?"
I looked in the rear view mirror at Mary. We had been driving for hours. Ace and I didn't know where we were going to go, but we didn't tell her that. "What do you mean?"
"Oh come on, you can't expect me to believe you're really named Prez and Ace." She rolled her eyes. "So, what's your real names?"
"It doesn't matter," I said. I looked towards Ace who looked to be asleep.
"Why not?"
"Because..." I sighed. "We left those a long time ago."
She pouted for a moment when she realised I wasn't going to explain. "So, why Prez?"
"Cause she's the fucking president of the United States." Ace spoke, her eyes still closed. I laughed while Mary glared. It didn't last long.
She was looking out the window when I heard her mutter, "Maybe I should get a new name." I didn't press it though.
Mary was fast asleep in the back when Ace pulled over and turned off the car.
"Where are we going?" She asked, her voice low so it wouldn't wake the kid in the back.
"Hell if I know. We just needed to go."
She nodded. "We can't just drive with no destination in mind...it's not safe."
"I know..." I rubbed my face. "I just can't think of anywhere that's safe...it's only three of us now."
"Maybe we should head home."
I thought about it. "We left for a reason. No one's left."
"I know. Your dad..."
"My dad got us out in time. He's the only reason we've survived as long as we have. Now we got a kid to take care of...we just need somewhere we can hold up for a while. Where's there's not many infected and we can train her or something."
Ace snorted but turned the car back on.
"Let's just drive," I said, smiling at her. "Maybe we'll find something on the way."
"I hate your ideas like this." She said, throwing a quick look back at Mary before driving away. We needed to figure something out quickly.
"Wake up."
I jolted awake as Ace hit me. The car was stopped and I looked around to find we were at a gas station. "Already?" I asked her, looking confused.
"Yeah."
I stretched as best as I could in the car and leaned into the back and shook Mary awake.
"Huh?" She blinked at me a few times before remembered where she was. "What's going on?"
"We need to get gas. Come on, you're helping keep watch." I got out of the car quickly and handed her the bat. "You know how to swing, don't you?" I waved for her to follow me and I decided to teach her a bit as we moved. "Alright, so always keep your eyes open and watch your back. It helps to watch our backs too. If you see someone you don't know, swing. Got it?"
She held the bat tightly and nodded. Her face had gone white.
"Hey, it's okay," I smiled at her. "You're with us."
Ace already had one of the containers open and checked the gas. There was no pressure, but we knew the tricks.
"So why are we here? Don't you have gas?" Mary was still gripping the bat like a lifeline.
"Yeah," Ace spit and shook her head as she moved on to the next pump. "But you never know when you'll need it...or not hit one for days. We like to keep both the car and the extras filled."
I kept my eyes out on the area. There were a few over turned cars and the small store had its window already broken in. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I pumped the shotgun and waited. I didn't want to scare the poor girl more than necessary.
"Got one!" I heard Ace call out behind me. I ignored her though as I saw something move in the store.
"Move quickly. I think we may have a problem."
"What?" Mary's voice went high pitched but I focused on the store. Ace would take care of her if needed.
A man jumped through the window of the store and ran for us. I waited, trying to not be distracted by Mary's screams. Another one slipped around the building and I saw a girl following him. They were covered in blood and I didn't take a chance.
"Move out! Now!" I waited until I had a decent shot of the guy coming from the window before I shot. He fell back. I turned my attention on to the two others. One went down with a shot to the head. I wanted to grin at Ace but instead I focused on the last one and watched its movements. Ace took another shot and they went down. I saw more movement at the side of the building. I looked for Ace and Mary and found them running to the car. I waited until Ace reached the car.
"Now!" Ace yelled. I ran for it as she covered me. I got in the passengers side and watched the station carefully as we drove off. I was tempted to shoot at one of the pumps and blow it up, but it would have been a waste of gas we might later need.
I laughed a bit with Ace, the exhilaration getting to me. I turned to find Mary in the back seat, white as a ghost. "Alright Mare?"
"No!" I shared a look with Ace as she continued. "I don't...what the fuck?"
"What's wrong?"
"You just shot them! I don't understand. Why is this all happening?" She started to cry and I leaned over and patted her on the back.
"Have you been living under a rock for the past three years?" I asked quietly. Ace hit me in the side.
"What?" Mary looked up at me, her eyes filled with tears.
"Well, how can this shock you this much? No offense but it's been about three, four years since the world started to go to hell."
She shrugged and wiped her eyes. "My parents...they're kind of hippies. We spent a couple years living in this small town. It wasn't much but it was home. We went camping for awhile and when we got back...it was only a couple days before you found me." She cried harder.
"Jesus..." I muttered. I climbed into the back seat and sat next to her. I pulled her closer, letting her cry on me. I looked at Ace in the rear view mirror. She looked as unhappy as I did. It was a terrible world now...and Mary didn't even know the half of it.
I waited until Mary cried herself to sleep before moving back to the front seat.
"Well fuck." Ace said quietly as I rearranged myself and the weapons in the front seat.
"You're telling me. I don't know about you, but I sure as hell didn't expect that. How the hell do you live here for years and not know everything?"
"What I want to know is how her parents kept it from her so well."
I thought about it and shrugged. It came to our town quickly and my dad had acted fast. I had enough scars from the first few weeks of running with him and Ace.
"Hey," fingers snapped in my face and I turned to Ace. "You alright?"
"Yeah, sorry. Want to switch?" She nodded and pulled to the side of the road. We awkwardly traded places without leaving the vehicle. I started the truck and looked at Ace who had her eyes closed. "Ace?"
"Hmm?"
"You think we'll survive this?"
She opened her eyes and looked at me. "We have so far."
