Episode 2 Part One
Tappan Zee Bridge
They drove for a little while before they came across Tappan Zee Bridge with Warren leading in the Military truck, Mack and Addy in the next car and Doc, Ellie and Cassandra following up the rear with the kid who's name they still didn't know standing up in the bed of the truck.
Sticking her head out the window Ellie could see that he had his rifle perched on the roof of the truck ready for any oncoming z's. Which wasn't necessary as Warren was ploughing into any and all zombies that crossed the path of the truck. Which also resulted in a very bumpy ride for the rest of them as they had to drive over the dead zombies on the ground.
"She enjoying herself way to much" Ellie piped up looking over to Doc in the drivers seat with a smile on her face but also a glint of annoyance in her eyes due to the uncomfortable ride.
"Think she deserves some enjoyment after what we've been through" Doc said back to her "She's just blowing off some steam, let her have her fun".
"Yeah" she replied a thoughtful look going across her face before they drove over another zombie particularly harshly resulting in a loud bang and them having to hold on fast in order for them not to be knocked out of their seats. Ellie also heard a bang above her and she assumed that the kid also had to quickly grab onto something to avoid being thrown off the vehicle. "Don't appreciate the bumpy ride though" she said holding the top of her head where she bumped it on the roof when she was thrown up and from the corner of her eye she could see Cassandra nodding her head with a look of pain on her face. Doc just grumbled, and looking back through the front window Ellie could see the truck and car in front bumping up and down along with theirs as they drove down the zombie infested bridge. As they got to the end of the bridge Warren suddenly pulled her truck over the others following suit.
"Out of gas" Warren shouted to them while getting out of the truck, Garnett following.
"Well that was fun" Addy said to Warren laughing, as she approached their car.
"Ha-ha, out of gas" she said again holding her hand up to give Addy a high five through the window as she walked past before going towards Docs car.
Seeing Warren coming towards them Doc and Ellie and Cassandra got out of the vehicle, while the kid stayed in the bed.
As Ellie walked around the truck towards Doc and Warren she could see smoke coming from the bonnet, the bumpy ride put strain on the vehicle and it looks like now they were out of gas she wanted to make sure their vehicle was in good shape.
"All right. So it looks like you got a flat" Warren informs them looking down at the tire, nudging it with her foot.
"The downside of driving over everything in your path instead of going around" Ellie said as Doc went to the bed of the truck to grab some tools and the spare tire. "But noo it's good to blow of some steam" Ellie said to Warren nudging her hip playfully with hers and Warren responded by punching her gently in the shoulder. Both of them were smiling but those smiles soon dropped when they heard motorbikes in the distance and they both saw Mack walking quickly to them his gun out with a serious look on his face.
"Heads up. We got company" he informed them and looking towards where Mack was looking Ellie could see two people on motorbikes coming down the road so she also took her gun out and looking back at the Warren, Garnett and Doc she could see that they also had their guns out. The kid had his gun at the ready too.
"Murphy get in the truck or get over here" Ellie shouted to Murphy when she saw he was just standing in the open away from them. And she heard him mumble something under his breath something like "who made her boss" before he quickly walked towards them and stood behind Warren and Garnett. Seeing movement in the corner of her eye, Ellie looked behind her to see Cassandra discretely trying to hide behind the truck a scared look going across her face.
"That's right. Keep rolling and we all live to see another day". Warren said to the bikers as they slowed down when they got closer, they then drove slowly as they passed watching them as they went. But Ellie could see that one of them was looking more at Cassandra then the rest of them and it wasn't in a way that could have been out of curiosity, Ellie had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that it was something more sinister. Especially with the look on Cassandra's face she looked terrified. Tightening her grip on her gun Ellie waited for them to make a move, but she breathed out a sigh of relief when they just revved their engines and sped off down the road.
Looking back towards Cassandra, Ellie could see her looking towards the fleeting figures on the motorbikes with a look of pure terror on her face which made Ellie just want to go over an give her a hug. But she knew if she tried that she would probably just push her away as they didn't know each other that well so she just looked back towards the others before Cassandra could catch her staring and decided that if she could get her on her own she would try to find out what happened.
"All right. Let's do this quick" Warren said interrupting Ellie from her train of thought, turning towards her Ellie could see Warren helping Doc with the wheel
"All right doesn't look flat, but it wont… turn". Warren said struggling to pull the wheel off
"We ran over some fun stuff" Doc said
"Okay. Well help me get it off and let's see what's going on" Warren said back to him as they both grabbed the wheel and pulled it off.
"Aww that's gross" Ellie said turning away from the mangled snarling zombie which was trapped in the wheel. "This is why we should go around the zombie's and not through them!"
"Well that explains the pull to the left" Doc said
"What are you waiting for? Kill it! Kill it!" Murphy said backing away from the zombie
Picking up one of Doc's tools, Warren said "Alright you. Time to go home" before piking it in the head and giving it mercy. She chucked the tool on the floor and then her and most of the group walked towards the edge of the road to look at the New York skyline, with the exception of the kid who was still in the bed of the truck watching from a distance.
"After all this time. This is still beautiful" Warren said smiling
"Take a good look. Might not be back for a while" Garnett said
"So long New York" Addy said holding up her camera to take a picture
"Thank you for all the memories, however brief" Ellie said walking towards Addy and wrapping her arm around her shoulders pulling her in for a side hug as they all watched the sunset, smiles on their faces. After a few moments they all made their way back towards the working vehicles to carry on their long journey to California
Paramus Park Mall- New Jersey
After a few hours driving through Jersey they came to a stop in a parking lot to look for some fuel. Getting out of the cars Warren, Garnett and Ellie searched the cars in the middle while Addy, Mack and Cassandra searched the cars on the right and Doc and the kid searched the ones on the left. Murphy was just standing there watching everyone else do all the hard work.
After searching for a little bit and having no luck they all made their way back to the middle except for Mack, Doc and the kid who were still looking.
Ellie walked towards a camper van leaning her back onto it, arms crossed against her chest. Looking up she could see Warren and Garnett standing on the vehicle surveying the area
"All these cars.." said Garnett
"…And not a drop of gas" Warren finished his sentence
"Just when you thought you saw the worst if it huh?" Garnett said sarcastically
"They didn't stand a chance" Warren said
"Black market sale?" Murphy asked from the ground wiggling his finger in his ear
"More like first comes first served" Ellie said "Someone or someone's got here first and took the lot"
"You find any gas" Garnett asked Mack who was walking back to them
"No, this areas been picked clean" he replied shaking his head before going to stand by Ellie's right.
Looking towards Addy, who was standing in front of them Ellie could see her recording some bones on the floor with her mini video recorder. She could also see Murphy walking towards Addy a confused look on his before he stopped behind her to look at the video recorder.
"What? You on Vacation?" Murphy asked her
"Somebody has to keep record" she said to him turning her head to look at him "You know we're probably the last generation of humans left on earth"
Murphy shook his head with an exasperated look on his face before saying "To us it's the Apocalypse. To her it's the memories" as he was walking away. Looking towards his departing figure with a annoyed look on her face she turned to Mack.
"Would it hurt the antibodies if I kicked him in the nuts" She asked him sarcastically to which Mack just chuckled along with Ellie
"Feel free too" Ellie said still chuckling "Because if you don't I probably will, he's been here for what a day? and he's already driving me insane" she said
"Here comes Doc and the kid" Garnett interrupted them, turning to where they were looking Ellie saw Doc and the kid walking towards them with a sullen look on their faces confirming that they too had no luck in the search for gas.
Hearing a noise above her Ellie looked up to see Warren and Garnett climbing down from the camper van before landing down on her left side.
"Where did everyone go?" Warren asked walking away from Murphy who was leaning against a stack of cars and going towards Garnett stopping in front of him. "I haven't see a survivor except for those two bikers"
"Black summer. Everybody starved to death" Garnett replied
"I was in Philly for Black Summer" Cassandra said "It was bad . I lost thirty pounds. Thought I was dead"
"How did you survive?" Addy asked her coming up behind her. Wanting to know the answer to this too Ellie walked closer to them so she was to the side of her but she could see her face as her back was to the rest of them.
"Did what I had to do" Cassandra replied after a few seconds of hesitation. Ellie could see Cassandra biting her lip nervously and she knew there was more to that story.
Suddenly they all heard a noise by the cars where Murphy was standing and out walked one of the bikers guys from earlier from the gap between the cars. Warren quickly took out her gun aiming it at the man as she walked forward. The rest of the group did the same, except for Murphy who quickly walked away from the man and to the back of the group next to Ellie. Mack, Doc and the kid were behind the man, while the others where in front off him.
"Whoa- whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa- whoa" the man said as he quickly raised his arms above his head.
"Hold on it's not a z" Warren said walking closer to him
"Peace. No bites here… 100 percent alive". The man said as Mack walked next to him his gun raised and Warren circled him stopping behind him before patting him down for weapons. As she was doing this Mack looked towards where the man came from before going to scope it out to make sure no one else was there.
"What happened to your friend?" Garnett asked him
"Turns out he had other friends of low morals" he replied as Warren took his knife out his holder before throwing it on the floor. "Took my ride. Horse thieves should be shot"
"You should choose better friends" Cassandra said to him
"Good advice" he said back to her staring intently at her
"How did you find us?" Ellie asked him not liking the way he was looking at Cassandra so she tried to get his attention off her.
"Past this place when we were riding, when they took my bike thought id walk back to see if I could find a working car when I came across you guys". He informed her smiling. But Ellie didn't believe him, she didn't know why but she knew this man couldn't be trusted.
"What can we do for you. One peaceful group of humans to a lone traveler?" Warren asked him gun still raised
"Could use a lift" he said "sure don't want to spend the night out here alone"
"Sorry. We aren't running a taxi service" Murphy said
"Which way you headed" Garnett asked him
"Any direction but back. Word is there's a horde on the move south on the New York side. I see your scrounging for gas. You know like we used to say, ass, gas or grass." He said chuckling to himself. "Nobody rides for free" He explained "I know where you could fill up".
"Now would be the time to share that information" Garnett said a serious look on his face
"Place called Jersey Devil Refinery, maybe five miles off, just off the turnpike"
"How do you know there's gas there?" Warren asked him
"Got overrun day number one. All the tanks are still full, just rusting away".
"How do you know someone else hasn't already gone there? Drained it dry?" Ellie asked him
"I don't but it doesn't seem like you have much of an option, because your not finding anything here so id say you best bet is to try the refinery" he explained to her
After some hesitation and mulling over the idea Garnett said "Alright, take us to this refinery" as he said this Ellie could see Cassandra roll her eyes an annoyed look on her face. Either she just didn't want to help this guy or she also didn't trust him either and Ellie was betting on the latter. "And if there's gas there, like you say, you can ride with us to the next outpost".
Smiling the guy said "You won't be sorry" before he kneeled down to retrieve his knife. Seeing this Ellie tightened her grip on her gun as did everybody else and Warren raced forward and grabbed his knife before he could.
"You got that right" She said to him before holding the knife out for him to take with a stern look on her face as if she was saying I dare you to try something.
"Let's get out of here" Garnett said to the group "New guy's gonna ride with me and Warren, Ellie you alright to come with too?" Garnett asked turning to her.
"Yeah sure" she said although she had a confused look on her face wondering why he wanted her to come
"Good. Everybody else load up in the truck" Putting their guns away Garnett, Warren, Ellie and the new guy walked towards the car while the rest went to the truck. While the Guy and Garnett walked ahead Ellie walked next to Warren.
"Why am I coming? I don't trust this guy and don't particularly want to be in a car with him" Ellie said to her grumbling
"That exactly why your coming, you can get a good read of people, see if his intentions are sincere and if he tries anything I have no doubt you wont struggle putting him down" she said
"I have no problem with that, this guy gives me the creeps" Ellie said a shudder going though her body. Warren just chuckled before throwing her around her shoulders and nudging her hip with hers as they walked to the car. As they got to the car Garnett got in the drivers seat, Warren in the passenger and Ellie got in behind Warren with the new guy next to her.
After driving for a few miles in awkward silence and Ellie trying to ignore the side glances she was getting from the guy when she finally had enough.
"Can I help you? She asked him turning her head in his direction not bothering to hid the annoyance in her voice
"I'm sorry" The guy said chuckling "I was just wondering how old you were, you don't look old enough to be out of high school and i was also curious about that accent. You're not American are you?"
"You're the second person to say that to me" she said irritably "So i look young for my age, so what?. It doesn't mean i can't fight, I am just as good as everyone else in this group, if no-"
"Ellie" Warren said from the front of the car and looking at the rear view mirror Ellie could see her staring at her with a look to say 'calm down'
"Sorry" she said not really meaning it "And not that it's any of your business but I'm 23 and I have the skills to look out for myself"
"Duly noted" he said raising his hands up in mock surrender
"And in regards to my accent and as you probably guessed I'm Welsh and from the UK"
"So what's a Welsh girl doing all on her own in America?" He asked her and he looked genuinely curious
"Girls holiday" Ellie shrugged not caring to elaborate, she still didn't trust this guy and she wasn't about to reveal her life story to him and to be honest she couldn't remember what happened to her friends. She remembers going on holiday with them, she remembers the outbreak starting and then it was bit off a blank until she came across Warren and Garnett and that was a few months into the apocalypse and shes been with them ever since. So she has a few months memory missing and she hasn't got a clue what happened.
"Well there you have it. We're officially on E" Garnett informed them interrupting her train of thought
"How much further?" Warren asked the guy looking towards him
"Spittin distance" the guy replied "Keep following this road and you'll see it"
*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*
Jersey Devil Refinery
As they were driving through the gate they could here a loud thumping noise which was getting louder the closer they got. Garnett stopped the car in front of a large scaffolding structure, which was three floors high with many catwalks which seemed to be where the noise was coming from. There was also tons of zombies around and they were heading in the direction of the noise.
"They seem to want something in there real bad" Garnett said as they all got out of the car and went to the front.
"It's that sound" Cassandra said "Like bees to honey"
"Or Z's to shit" Murphy said from the car which he was leaning out the door holding onto the roof
"Hey you know about this?" Warren asked the guy turning to face him
"Hey all the easy gas is gone" The guy said shaking his head and chuckling
"A warning would have been nice though' Ellie mumbled under her breath.
"So what's the brilliant plan" Murphy asked "Die, get eaten, go home early?"
Ellie rolled her eyes before looking towards him "Hey Murphy, if we die you die. So how about you be a little bit more helpful or a little bit less judgmental" she said sarcastically and Murphy just glared at her which she returned with a smile
"What's that smell?"Addy asked scrunching up her nose
"The undead and gasoline" Garnett said "Both highly flammable, so no firearms of any kind" he said putting his gun away
"Great" Ellie said "As if this wasn't hard enough" she said glad she was good with a knife
"So how do you wanna handle this?" Warren asked Garnett
"Well first we've got to shut off what ever is making that noise"
"Okay, Well it's probably some kind of pump" Warren said "But where?"
Garnett shrugged "Follow the zombies" Mack said "They all seem to be headed for the top of that catwalk"
"We'll get up there and check it out" Addy said to Garnett
"Then we got to have a sound that draws the Z's away from the pump so we can get to the gas" Garnett informed him
"Sorry, I left my guitar back at camp blue sky" Doc said jokingly. Ellie sent a smile his way which he returned.
"Car horns?" Addy asked
"No, they'll all just head this way". Mack said while pulling a shovel out of some construction material behind them.
"Yeah, and so will every other dead head within ear shot" Warren said
"And without our guns I don't think that's a fight we could win, even with actually. They outnumber us" Ellie said
"I have something" Cassandra said drawing their attention back to her before pulling out a mini music player she had on a chain "Z's like high pitched sounds, the more musical the better" she said as she turner the key and high pitched music started to play.
The group all looked on in fascination as the zombies closest started turning to the sound of music before they stopped when Cassandra stopped the music their attention going back to the sound of the pump.
"Wow, learn something everyday" Warren said sounding impressed
Nodding Garnett turned to her "That's great, your our decoy"
"I'll go with her" the new guy volunteered
"I don't need his help" Cassandra said refusing the offer
"No, you need cover. Take him and start the music when you get to the top of that catwalk. You too" he said pointing to Mack and Addy "Get to the top of the other side and see if you can kill that noise".
"Got it" Mack said as they all walked forward. As they all walked away Ellie walked closer to Warren and Garnett eyes still on the fleeting figures of Cassandra and the new guy.
"I'm gonna go with Cassandra, see if she needs back up" she explained to them. "I don't trust this guy, the way he looks at Cassandra and if he messes this plan up then we all die and all this would of been for nothing"
Both of them looked at her debating her idea, nodding his head Garnett said "Ok sound like a good idea, but be careful" He said to her and as she was about to walk away she felt someone grab her arm, looking down she saw it was Warren
"You be careful" she repeated "I can't lose you" she said a bit of fear leaking through her voice.
Smiling at her Ellie reassured her "You won't tapping her hand gently "I'm a bad-ass remember?" she said chuckling to which Garnett and Warren chuckled too. Once Warren let go of her arm she gave them one last smile before running in the direction Cassandra went.
None of this belongs to me except Ellie and any original story lines the rights go to the wonderful creators and publishers of z nation