Sorry I haven't been updating recently. My computer crashed and I had to get a new one. But here's Chapter 13: Ridgecrest. Enjoy!


Following them all agreeing to head out to Dil's friend's family farm out in South Dakota, which according to Chuckie's mental math was a little under 1,500 miles from LA, they all knew what to do next.

Find something to drink.

Going on almost 24 hours without something to quench their heavy thirst they were all feeling major signs of dehydration, and the 110 degree Mojave Desert sun wasn't doing anything to help that.

Their roadside map said the nearest town was about 15 or 20 miles from where they were outside the highway exit which was a small miracle.

They hadn't seen anymore abandoned cars for over an hour and they only had a gallon of gas left.

The name of the town was Ridgecrest, one of those massive surburbias located in the middle of the Mojave Desert which only in an advanced modern society is practical. But the second the faucets ran dry everyone was fucked, to put it bluntly.

Tommy said the place used to inhabit like 200,000 people, but by their first impression when driving in, they'd be surprised if even two hundred of the former populace were still around.

The whole place was row after row of middle-American homes, all of them identical two-stories with the same shade of pale white paint. And like in their past lives, they were all still following uniform conformity. Every single one of them destroyed beyond repair.

Every window in every house was shattered. Entire sides of them crumbling from where distraught drivers crashed into them, killing themselves and the vehicle's passengers, mainly entire families, instantly. A few on every street were smoldered from a past fire, some with fresh ashes flowing down the sidewalk. Walkers wandering in-and-out of the buildings whose doors weren't bothered to be shut. Herds of them were roaming street-to-street, many of them in rotting clothes glued to their bodies or stark naked, following the scent of the remnants of humanity.

This was what everyone saw within the first quarter mile of the burning suburbia, and it made them all deep down inside, especially Phil to outwordly say what they were all thinking, "We're fucked if we go any deeper into here! We gotta to get out now!" Screaming at Chuckie who was sweating at the van's wheel. His words only threw everyone else into a panic.

"No shit dude, but we need water and at least some basic supplies and gas. If we want to go to South Dakota we need at least a couples days worth of stuff to give us a head start, not to mention... FUCK!" Squealing the van to a halt as the vehicle rammed into a walking corpse at full speed, spewing dark blood and intestines onto the windshield like some Jackson Pollock. The rapidly moving windshield wipers soon revealed the upper half the of the thing's torso, clinging to the hood with snarling teeth. Its eyes fastened to Chuckie's frightened face.

In temporary shock, Chuckie's mind wasn't present as the vehicle remained still as the thing's bloody hand slapped on the windshield.

"REVERSE. REVERSE!" They all screached at him, bringing him back to reality as he quickly pulled the vehicle into reverse, throwing the walker off as the front tire crushing its deteriorating skull simultaneously.

"That was way to close for comfort!" Dil called from the backseat, hastily inserting the last of the .38 ammo into his revolver. Kimi loading a fresh clip into the .22 rifle, racking a round into the chamber.

Chuckie finally managed to get the vehicle straightened out and they were heading deeper into the infested town.

"Did you hear me the first time?" Phil asked rhetorically in a hoarse yell, "We're dead if we stay here any longer. We better to turn around while we have the chance. Did that biter on our windshield mean anything to do?"

"Damn it, Phil! This is the only place in fifty miles that might have any sort of substance! If we turn around now, we'll just run out of gas and die from dehydration. This is the only choice we got for survival," Turning the van abruptly down some long street."And I have a plan by the way. We passed some sign near the entrance advertising stores, which I'm certain are down here. So all we got to do is run in a few of them, throw in whatever we can find quickly and drive away. Less than ten minutes this'll take, I guarantee it. So chill and get back in your seat, I need to focus on the road." Pushing him back down with one hand, with the other firmingly on the wheel.

And Chuckie was right, this was certainly the mainstreet of Ridgecrest. The whole road was lined with shops, multiple convenience stores, and even a Walmart which, despite was probably looted from the ceiling to the floor tiles. was a promising sign. Pulling in park in the center of road, not even ten feet from the nearest 7/11, Chuckie said leader-like as if rehearsed, "Split into pairs to search each store. Do a quick sweep of the place and immediately start taking the essentials: food, meds, trash bags, any of those big red portable gas tanks, lighters, but especially water. I'd recommend grabbing a duffel bag, backpack or even some plastic bags if you see any in there to make carrying easier. We meet back here in ten minutes. But Tommy, start taking gas from the abandoned cars around here while your at it. The more gas we get the better. Now everyone get moving!"


Thanks for reading, as always! What did you think of this chapter? Your opinions are very important to the story as a whole, so please feel free to review, favorite, follow, etc. Thanks again, until next time. -Crocy98