"Alright, pull over up there next to where Damien pulled over."
Melissa did just that, pulling up just behind the other car. "I wonder why he's pulling over," Melissa wondered.
"Bathroom break? Food break?" Dean shrugged, wincing when it pulled on his injuries. "My phone isn't working anymore. Get out and find out."
"Somebody's in a bad mood," Melissa muttered, stopping the car.
"Well I haven't eaten in several hours," Dean shot back. It went unspoken that his injuries were probably hurting again. "And I need to get out and stretch."
"Then get out," Melissa told him, mimicking the tone he'd used with her just a moment ago.
"You're hilarious," Dean grumbled, but he got out of the car anyway, gingerly stretching his arms as he yawned.
Melissa removed the keys from the ignition as she too got out of the car, stretching her own legs, which were tense after sitting for so long. She was much better at driving than before though, since the long period in the car had given her some experience. She'd nearly given Roman a heart attack when she'd switched lanes far too quickly for his liking, but she pointed out that since she was still learning there were going to be a few mistakes. Roman retorted that it should be easier that there were no other cars besides a few wrecks on the road, and that there was no reason to nearly get them killed when there was no need to switch lanes so quickly. Dean and Seth had luckily slept through the whole incident, and Melissa resolved to follow Roman's advice and only switch lanes quickly if there was a sudden obstacle, like a zombie; Roman conceded that a zombie was a valid reason for a quick lane change.
She was going to go find out why the others had stopped when she realized Seth was already over talking to them. Not really wanting to talk to Seth, she stayed near the car, listening to Roman talking Dean into taking some more pain meds. It sounded like he was successful, because she heard them talking about wanting showers afterward. She wandered toward the edge of the road, looking around for zombies, something that was more habit than anything.
About to decide it was clear, Melissa frowned as she spotted something on the horizon perpendicular to the road, moving closer. Squinting, she wished she had binoculars or something so she could see what it was, though she had a good idea.
"It's probably time to get going." Melissa cursed under her breath as Dean spoke, startling her, and she decided she needed to start paying to what she was hearing instead of just relying on her vision; she was sick of getting snuck up on. Or maybe she needed to stop being so jumpy. Either way, her heart wanted a break.
Instead she just nodded in reply to the man's words. It was likely zombies they were looking at, and since they hadn't encountered any since the gas station, Melissa wanted to leave it that way. She knew they were probably going to run into some at some point, and she wasn't looking forward to it.
They ended up back on the road a short time later, this time with Seth driving. Melissa was back in the backseat, staring out the window to watch the flat land pass by.
The drive was already going far more smoothly than the other stretches of road they'd gone down; Melissa could see the foothills that the highway wound up into, and she knew it wouldn't be long before they were up in those hills. They didn't encounter any zombies either, which was a relief.
They stopped in a small area—it was really too small to be called a town—at the bottom of the foothills, deciding it wasn't worth risking driving up in the approaching dark. Melissa was happy that they were now making far better time, but she was worried about being in an area with buildings after the day or two without them. They ended up clearing out the In-N-Out, though Melissa was surprised to see there were no zombies inside. The whole place was eerily quiet, as if the zombies were hiding just around the corner waiting for them to let their guard down.
The whole place somehow felt off; the floors were spotless, and every booth and table was free of trash. The only thing that suggested the place wasn't just closed for the night was the smell of the trash rotting, as well as the food in the powerless refrigerators going bad.
"This feels like a trap," Dean muttered once they were inside. "I'd rather just sleep outside than sleep in here."
"We'll have more warning if any zombies try to get to us in here though," Seth pointed out. "They'd have to go through something to get to us, if they even spot us in the first place."
"It's not zombies I'm worried about," Dean admitted. "Zombies are predictable. It's the people that worry me."
"We didn't see anyone on the way in," Damien pointed out.
"We haven't checked all the other buildings though," Roman argued. "They could easily be hiding in there like we are in here."
"How would they know to set any sort of trap in In-N-Out though?" Damien shot back. "We could have easily picked one of those other buildings to stay the night in."
Melissa had to agree with Dean and Roman's assessment of the place; she doubted she would get a good night sleep here, despite being inside instead of out in the open. She sat down in a booth with her backpack though, waiting to see what decision the others came to; she half-hoped they'd decide to leave. She glanced out the window, watching the cars that were parked near to the building. "Um, should we start a watch?" she finally asked, interrupting the debate. "Regardless of whether or not we're staying here, we probably shouldn't leave the cars out in the open unprotected, in case there are people around."
"She's got a point," Dean commented.
"Of course I've got a point," Melissa muttered, but luckily none of the others heard her.
"Fine. Since you pointed it out, you get first watch," Seth told her.
"Of course I do," Melissa grumbled as Seth continued speaking.
"Roman will take the watch after you, and Damien can have the last watch," Seth decided. "Then we'll leave sometime tomorrow morning."
"So we are staying here then?" Dean interrupted. "Because I don't remember coming to a decision on that."
"We'll be fine Dean," Seth assured him. "Just relax a bit, alright? You're making me nervous."
"Maybe that's a good thing." Dean glanced around, and Melissa followed his gaze, spotting the unstained, unbroken glass windows. It was clear he didn't like it, and Melissa still couldn't blame him; she felt like staying in the building was like the idiots who stayed in a haunted house when they knew there was something bad in the building.
She picked her backpack up though, making sure she had her gun and knife as she headed back outside, sitting down on the hood of the car for her watch. This time she was careful to listen, and she heard it when Dean approached.
He pushed himself up onto the hood of the car next to her, unrolling a sleeping bag and reclining back on it, closing his eyes.
"Um…" Melissa spoke hesitantly. "What are you doing?"
"Sleeping out here," Dean told her, his eyes still shut. "I don't like it in there, and I'm too lazy to set up a tent just for me."
"Oh." The sun quickly set and Dean quickly fell asleep, probably tired from his body trying to heal all the injuries. It was quiet as Melissa sat at watch, listening carefully for any signs of life. The night was still though, with not even the slightest of breezes to disturb it. The moonlight made the whole world silver, and it glinted off the windshield, which she was trying not to lean back on; she didn't want to fall asleep before her turn at watch was over.
A low muffled thud shook her out of the stupor she'd started to fall into. She sat up quickly, trying to identify where the sound was coming from. Her quick movement shook the car and woke Dean, who sat up and looked back and forth before his gaze settled on her. "What is it?" he questioned, and she hurried to shush him.
"I heard a thud," she whispered, sliding off the hood of the car and pulling out her knife. "I'm going to go check it out."
"That seems like a bad idea," Dean observed, following her by sliding down to stand on the ground.
"I know. I'm the idiot white girl headed for the danger instead of running away from it like any sane person would," Melissa muttered, heading toward the restaurant, where the sound had originated from. She half-hoped it was someone rolling over and running into a booth while they slept; that would be so much better than the dozens of alternatives her runaway brain gave her.
Dean trailed just behind her as she opened the glass door, walking through the small entryway and through the second set of doors. Dean ran into her as she came to a dead stop, freezing as she spotted the small number of zombies milling around the room. How they hadn't attacked the people sleeping on the floor was beyond her, but she was just grateful for the one small boon.
She did glance down and see that Seth was tensed where he was lying, unable to move very far within the confines of the sleeping bag he was in. The silvery moonlight filtering in through the spotless glass windows illuminated his face; his eyes were wide and his jaw was clenched.
Melissa glanced back at Dean. "I go left, you go right?" she whispered, trying to keep her voice as low as possible.
Dean nodded, and he prowled forward on silent feet, heading for the right side of the restaurant, while Melissa went to the left, where most of the sleeping people were. She carefully crept up behind the first zombie, trying to keep her steps as quiet as possible; she didn't think she was having as much success as Dean though. Melissa was about to close the distance when the zombie tripped, falling to the floor with an audible thud. Seth hurriedly unzipped the sleeping bag, grabbing his gun and pulling the trigger as he scrambled backward.
The gunshot was painfully loud in the stillness of the night and in the stifling confines of the restaurant. Melissa had to fight the urge not to cover her ears, instead raising her own gun and flicking the safety off as she aimed at one of the other zombie's heads, bringing it down before it could even turn around at the noise of the gunshot.
The remaining four zombies were attracted by the noise though, and Dean quickly swept the feet out from under the one he'd been creeping up on, sending it tumbling to the floor, where he stomped on the head, and Melissa heard the boot connecting with the skull until the sound was drowned out by another gunshot as Seth took out one of the remaining three zombies.
That left two, and one of them was taken out by an awakened Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow. That left one, and Roman rose up out of the darkness, swinging a baseball bat that collided with a loud crack, and Melissa ducked as splinters went flying everywhere. The zombie went down though, and then as quickly as the noise had begun it was gone, leaving the In-N-Out silent as before.
"Did we forget to check the refrigerators?" Roman questioned after a moment's silence.
Melissa nodded. "I think we all thought it was just bad food in there."
"The question is, if they were in there…" Dean looked troubled. "…Who let them out?"
"It's probably best if we don't stick around to find out," Seth observed. He knelt, shoving the dead zombie out of the way so he could roll up his sleeping bag. "Let's get back on the road." He glanced at Dean and Melissa. "You two can be back on watch while we get ready to go."
Melissa nodded, keeping her gun out as she left the restaurant; all the gunfire was sure to draw in something unpleasant, and she wanted to be ready to meet it. Dean followed her out, stopping briefly to throw his stuff back into the car and to grab a baseball bat from the back of the car.
They were ready to go almost immediately after, and for that Melissa was relieved. She joined the Shield in the car, Roman deciding that he would drive until they found someplace safe to stop again; they wanted to put some distance between them and this place. Melissa was in agreement, knowing it would be stupid to stick around.
Relaxing against the car door, she watched as the other car pulled out, heading back toward the highway as Roman followed. The moon was still high in the sky, and Melissa didn't look back at the In-N-Out, not wanting to see anything behind her.