Sorry this is late. College life is more important.
Now it is summer so updates will possibly maybe sometimes be somewhat regular.
As soon as the words had left Little Rock's mouth, Columbus' mind was in frantic motion. "Right," he breathed and curled his hands into tight fists at his side. "We're gonna need to make a quick getaway."
Three heads turned his way. Tallahassee opened his mouth but Columbus continued speaking before the man could get a word out. "We'll need a distraction and I—"
"No," Wichita snapped in, quick as ever, her blue eyes fiery and wide. "We're not having any of that hero shit—"
"Damn straight, we aren't," Tallahassee growled. The look on his face spoke wonders about how much trouble Columbus was in if he even attempted to finish speaking about his plan let alone attempting it. Columbus knew they didn't have a choice for this. It had to be done.
"Columbus is right," Little Rock said, quietly from between the two disapproving adults. Angry glares swiveled her way but she shrugged in the face of them. "They're too close now, if we try to get away now they'll be on us in no time."
Tallahassee made a noise harsh enough to send Denver trotting off to a safe distance. He paced off himself, up towards the cliff Little Rock had just been up and then back down, hands gripping the back of his neck in a white knuckled grip. Wichita just stared at Columbus, her expression unreadable. Columbus could almost hear the gears working in her mind. She was smart. She knew it was the only way, too. Her protests only seemed to fuel his drive, made him stupid with something that wasn't quite fearless but brave enough to get the job done.
When Tallahassee had returned to the group, he looked Columbus in the eye. "What do you have in mind?"
"I saw a watchtower, about a mile south east of here," Columbus explained, earning a nod from Tallahassee—he had seen it too. "I've been to it before, when I was a kid, it's got a fire station with this old klaxon."
"Okay," Wichita breathed and she took another, deep steadying breath before turning to Tallahassee and Little Rock. "You two take the SUV and head towards the gyser--"
Something in Columbus gave a violent clench. "Wichita--"
"Shut the fuck up, Columbus," she turned on him with a venomous snap. "You're not going alone goddamnit." She turned back to her sister and Tallahassee, expression resigned. "Tallahassee--"
"No, babe, I got it," he sighed with a drop of his head, offering his large palm to Little Rock. The teenager took it without a second thought, her small fingers curling around his massive ones. "We'll head off course going north-west until we're somewhere aroun' Montana. We'll meet up again at the border."
"Some will probably follow you no matter what," Columbus remarked quietly suddenly feeling awkward about the strange emotions surging in his chest. He knows what it is. It's the feeling he felt die when Wichita told him offhandedly about his parent's demise. The feeling of your family in immediate danger and not being able to do anything about it. But that was wrong, he thought as he curled his hands into tight fists. He could do something and like hell would any hoard of zombies be able to stop him from protecting these people. "We better get a move on." Columbus looked up and was surprised to find all of them watching him, the very same emotions coursing through him reflected on their faces.
"Right," Wichita said and then Tallahassee made an aggravated noise and grabbed Columbus roughly by the arm, pulling him into a tight hug.
"Fucking kid if you don't come back I swear--"
"Yeah, yeah," Columbus bemoaned as he struggled to get away but before he could, Tallahassee had pulled Wichita in with them and there were smaller, shorter arms wrapping around his waist. "I think we can handle a few hundred zombies, Tallahassee." He nearly jumped when he felt a kiss be pressed to his hair and knew, as he pulled away, his face as bright red. Wichita got her own kiss from Tallahassee, pressed to her cheek. She winced, rubbing her jaw.
"Shave before you try that again, old man," she huffed but a smile tugged at her lips despite. "Enough of this mushy shit, what's the matter with you anyway?"
Tallahassee glared at her then with a gruff shrug of his shoulders. "Y'all started it," he retorted before grabbing Little Rock's hand again. "Let's not waste anymore time then." He gave Columbus and Wichita one last significant look before marching off. Columbus watched until they'd vanished below the ridge.
"Alright, no time to waste." And with that, Wichita and Columbus marched off.
To be continued...