Disclaimer: I do not own Zombieland or it's original characters. 4 chapters in a day! woooo! I Hope you enjoy!
The tension in the car could be cut with a knife. Stacy had her gun on Tallahassee in the back. I felt Columbus looking at me. His stare lingered for a while before he shifted his position in the seat. I tried focussing on the car so I wouldn't get irritated with the fact that he kept looking at me. The car was nice to drive. It seemed to glide down the road. There were no broken cars on the road so everything felt even more open and bare. Columbus looked at me again. I looked back and met his eyes before narrowing mine and looking away shaking my head. He just looked embarrassed that I had caught him. It's not like he was being subtle. His presence was so awkward but I don't know, non-threatening I guess. I didn't exactly hate having him around.
The car remained silent for a good half hour. Stacy and I had put our guards up so high it filled the air with hostile vibes. Columbus looked to me again. 'Oh for fuck sake' I thought.
"Thank you Wichita," he turned to Stacy, "thanks Little Rock." Tallahassee lashed out and grabbed the gun from Stacy. Reflexively, I slammed on the breaks, spinning around to point my gun at Tallahassee. I exhaled heavily as we stared each other down. This is where the saying 'if looks could kill' came from.
"Hey, for fuck sake, enough already! We are being chased by ravenous freaks, like we don't have enough problems. Only, you stole my Hummer and we have trust issues, but get over it ok! We can't just fucking drive down the road playing 'I spy' or some shit for two hours like four normal ass Americans. Fuck me!" Columbus exploded, speaking fast. He breathed in and out calming down after his rage.
"Whoa," was all Tallahassee could say.
"I know," Columbus agreed, stunned by the fact that he had yelled at someone.
"Let me be the mature one," Tallahassee said putting down his gun.
"Good," Columbus urged. I sighed and withdrew mine, rolling my eyes. I turned back to the road and started the car again, shaking my head.
Everyone in the car fell back into the awkward silence once more. No one dared to say any thing until Columbus asked, "So, where are you guys headed?"
"Pacific Playland," Stacy answered. Columbus turned to her. As did Tallahassee.
"The amusement park?" Tallahassee questioned.
"Ou- Outside La?" Columbus added.
"Yeah, we," she motioned to me, "went there as kids," Stacy smiled.
Tallahassee snickered, "that place totally blows," he turned to see my scary expression, "my mind, it's just so fun, just good entertainment for the whole family," he recovered. I exhaled and looked straight ahead.
"Yeah, yeah, no, I actually went there as a kid too. In fact this probably counts as off season," Columbus joined in.
"Well, did you guys hear, there are no zombies there," Stacy continued.
Tallahassee looked to me questioningly and I pleaded him with my eyes to agree. He answered slowly, "Yeah we heard. Look, I may not shoot you but you have still royally pissed me off and I'm not going to play with you at," he continued in a mocking tone, "Pacific Playland."
Columbus looked to me, "don't worry he grows on you."
"Really?" I asked sceptically.
"No, no, it gets worse," he said.
"Ok, how about we play the quiet game?" I looked to each person in turn, "Yeah. Starting now."
The silence lasted no more than five seconds.
"Oh, I've been meaning to ask you," Columbus asked, "did you hear anything about Columbus, Ohio?"
"You never played the quiet game?" I replied.
"Sorry," he said
"No, well they're playing it in Columbus, Ohio. It's a total ghost town. Burnt to the ground." I remained staring straight ahead until I felt something nudge my arm. I turned to see Tallahassee widen his eyes and motion to Columbus. Instantly I regretted swatting away his question like it was a joke. I looked to him as he sat mouth open, eyes wide, blindly staring ahead.
"You're Columbus?" I asked softly. He looked to me and nodded. I closed my eyes briefly and turned to face the road. "Sorry, I didn't realise." Why did I do that? I have no idea what he's been through. I looked at him again. His eyes were glossy as if he were about to cry. I looked away. As we sat in silence my mind began to wander. I thought back to when I was 14. I had just come out of the designated detention room at school and as I walked down the hall to the exit, I passed many notice boards. They were covered with boring black and white flyers and a list of new school utensils which I regarded sourly. My parents were never around and even when they were they would never spend money on me. I was in detention because I was caught stealing. As I continued my walk down the hall one flyer caught my eye. I stopped to look at it. It's bright colours contrasted greatly against the other colourless flyers. It was one of those silly motivational posters. It read: 'Be kinder than necessary, every one is fighting some kind of battle'. At the time I had let out a bitter laugh and continued my walk. But now, now I understood.
"We could uh give you a ride," he turned to me, "so you can go see for yourself, settle somewhere new." He nodded weakly and we turned away from each other once again.
Quickly checking to see that Tallahassee was looking out his window, I reached over with one hand and placed in gently on Columbus's knee. He looked to me and our eyes met. Almost instantly I regretted doing it and jerked my hand away, replacing it on the steering wheel, turning away to stare hard at the road ahead. Columbus continued to look at me though, his expression said that he was grateful for my attempt at comforting him. Who was I kidding? It was just a stupid poster. And most importantly, Columbus did NOT care for me. I put my guard back up on full. He must have felt it because he turned away to look out his window once more.
Wichita, why you no be friendly? Anyway please read and review.