We had been driving for a while now, heading towards the Tappan Zee Bridge to get one the other side of the lake. I had shimmed into the front, sitting shotgun next to Doc.
"So, what's the new kid like?" Doc asked once I'd settled down. I glanced over to him and gave him a shrug of my shoulders.
"Don't know really, he didn't say much." I replied, pulling out a cigarette and placing it between my lips. Doc handed over his lighter and I sparked up, taking a few pulls before handing it over to him. I then turned in my seat, looking back on Cassandra. She was sat in the middle of the back seats, looking out the front window with a plain look on her face.
"You want some?" I asked, offering the cigarette once Doc had passed it back. Cassandra nodded her head and I passed it to her, she was hesitant for a moment before inhaling the smoke. She gave a harsh cough as she blew out the smoke, and Doc gave a chuckle as she passed it back, a grimace on her face.
"Yeah, sorry about that. It's a pretty old pack, the tobacco has dried out a little." I apologised. I was relieved when she gave a small laugh.
"It's alright. I've never really smoked before… before all this." She informed with a hint of sadness. I nodded my head and blew the smoke from my mouth out the window.
"And you don't want to start now, it's a bad habit and not one as easily supplied as it was." I grumbled, throwing the butt out of the window.
"You might wanna roll your window up, kid." Doc warned, rolling his window up quickly. I turned in my seat and saw Warren's massive truck slamming through Z's.
We had reached the Tappan Zee Bridge, and it was filled with Z's, cars and bodies. Warren was clearly having fun slamming her way through the soft Z's, clearing a path for us to follow.
"Hold on tight!" Doc exclaimed as a Z stumbled into the road in front of us, too late to stop or swerve. Cassandra sat back, holding onto the loose seatbelts around her, I gave the roof a bang, telling the sniper to hold on. We slammed through the Z, it's body slamming against the front of the truck, it's brains and black blood smearing the windshield.
Once we had gotten over the bridge, we stopped for just a moment to clear the window, before carrying on. We didn't get far before Warren parked on the side of the road. I assumed Warren's truck had run out of gas, and it looked like we had a flat on the driver's side. The only truck that looked like it could survive, was Addy and Mack's truck.
"Alright, so it looks like you got a flat." Warren informed us as she came to stand by our truck. Doc rolled his window down and stuck his head out, getting a face full of smoke before he got out. I and Cassandra followed suit. I headed round to the back and helped Doc lift out the things we'd need to change the tyre. Then I heard the engines.
"Heads up. We got company." Mack called to the group. We all came to stand in front of the trucks, just to make sure the two motorcycles didn't get any ideas. I moved my hand to my pistol, just in case.
"That's right. Keep rolling and we all live to see another day." Warren spoke quietly as they slowly drove by. I looked around our group, making sure I knew where everyone was. That's when I caught sight of Cassandra, hiding from the view of the bikers. I thought it somewhat suspicious, but for now didn't bother asking about it. Maybe she was just scared? With the bikers revving out of view we got to changing the tyre.
"Alright, let's do this quick." Warren ordered. With the truck up she began her work. I would pass tools to her as she worked her magic, from here the tyre didn't look flat, but I had no idea with cars or trucks.
"All right. Doesn't look flat, but it won't turn." Warren said as she tried to get the wheel to move in any direction.
"We ran over some fun stuff." Doc replied, trying to help Warren.
"I wouldn't call it fun. Although Warren seemed to be having fun." I smirked, catching the wide smile on Warren's face.
"Okay. Well help me get it off and let's see what's going on." As the pulled at the tyre a horrible squelching sound assaulted my ears, it sounded like, I don't even know how to describe it. We soon found the problem when the blended Z began to snarl and growl. It was really stuffed in there, its entrails wrapping around the truck's axel. We all stood back for a moment, watching as the Z writhed as it tried to get to us.
"Well that explains the pull to the left." Doc joked. I rolled my eyes and pulled out a kukri blade.
"What are you waiting for? Kill it! Kill it!" Murphy yelled, now turning away from the sight and heading to the other side of the road. Clearly uncomfortable with the situation. Warren and Doc stood aside as I bent down to get a good look at where the head was, it was mangled in there.
"I give you mercy." I spoke before driving the blade into the Z's head, it gurgled for a moment before going still. With that I cleaned off my blade and sheathed it. When I stood, I caught sight of New York.
"Wow, would ya look at that." I spoke, pointing to the view of the big city. From here it didn't look like the streets were filled with Z's, or that the population had dwindled to almost zero.
"Even after all this. This is still beautiful." Warren voiced lightly. I stood beside Doc as we gazed at the city.
"Take a good look. Might be not back for a while." Garnett warned, the journey to California – if we even got there – would take a while. We would be on the move for the whole thing, not settling down and making camp. Just constant travelling.
"So long New York." Addy held her camera up, taking the last images of our home.
"See ya in the next life." Murphy grumbled before heading back to the truck. The rest of us stood there for just a few moments more before moving.
PARAMUS PARK MALL
NEW JERSEY
We had found the ruins of a park mall, black Friday signs hanging in the smashed windows of the huge building. Fires littered the empty parking lot, the cars all stacked up around us. Whoever was left in there, had tried to barricade the place. Clearly that hadn't worked.
Garnett had given us the usual jobs, 'look for anything useful.' And so, we did. I teamed up with Doc and the new kid, and we began our scavenger hunt. Doc checked the front of the cars, I would check the trunk and the back of the car, and the new kid would check for gas.
"So, what's your name, kid?" Doc asked. Curious I moved up to the front of the car, now opposite Doc. He pulled out what looked like a spliff and gave it a sniff, before slipping it into his front pocket.
"Ten Thousand." The kid replied after a moment of silence. I gave a frown.
"That is not a name. It's a number." Doc laughed before continuing to look through the car. I gave him a light flick on the hand, to which he grumbled at.
"It's my name. Made it up myself." Ten Thousand replied, matter-of-factly.
"Well I suppose you'd have to." I looked to Doc with a 'seriously' expression, shaking my head, before standing up and heading round to their side.
"Does it mean anything?" I asked, curious about his strange name. Surely it wasn't his actual name, what kind of parent's would name their child a number? Ten looked up to me for a moment, before quickly looking back to what he was doing.
"How many zombies I'm going to kill." He replied quietly.
"Well that's a whole lot of zombies." Doc spoke, rummaging as he did. I now leant over the open door, watching as Doc picked through the last bits.
"Already on 1,055." Doc poked his head out of the car, rather comically.
"Damn!" He exclaimed, I was shocked too, although I hadn't exactly been counting how many I'd killed, but I doubt it was nowhere near that many.
"So, what happens when you get to ten thousand?" I asked, interested in this boy.
"Change my name." he shrugged his shoulders a little before standing up.
"To what? Twenty thousand?" Doc joked, pulling up a mirror. Unfortunately, he didn't catch my reflection quick enough to miss the slap to his head.
"Jeff." I heard Ten Thousand reply. Doc and I looked at each other for a moment. "I like the name Jeff." He informed, walking over to a snarling Z, stuck in the front of the car. "Ah, shut up." He told the dead thing, before giving it mercy. He wiped his knife off and then looked over to me. "Hey, mind if I have a look at your knives?" he asked, almost sheepishly. I gave him a smile and nodded.
"Of course." I pulled the knives from the sheathes and held them out to him. He took them gently and inspected them, I watched as his fingers glided over the steel, as he twisted them with skill in his hands. Satisfied with them he handed them back.
"They're nice. Really nice." He deducted, shoving a hand into his pocket. I gave him a smile, which was almost mirrored by the sniper.
"Thanks. My parents got me them before the outbreak started. My twenty third birthday, I'd always wanted some." I paused for a moment, thinking back to the memory. "Good job I got them, huh." I gave a sad sort of chuckle. Doc then placed his hand on my shoulder.
"Good job you know how to use them." He gave my shoulder a shake. "The amount of times you've saved my ass with those, man I owe you." I gave my shoulders a shrug, his hand leaving my shoulder as we headed back.
"You can pay me back when this is all over." I said, nudging his side as he chuckled. "And hopefully, it will be over at some point. If the saviour of humanity, is actually able to save us." I thought out loud. None of us were sure about Murphy being the saviour, but there was nothing else to hold onto. At least the hope of him having the cure, could keep us going. For now.
As I was heading back over to the group, I could hear Cassandra talking about Black Summer. God, that was an awful time. I couldn't remember much about the time; I think my mind had just blocked it off. Cassandra however remembered.
"I was in Philly for Black Summer. It was bad. I lost thirty pounds. Thought I was dead." She stated.
"How did you survive?" Addy asked. Cassandra paused longer than usual, and something began to worry me. I had heard of some people resorting to cannibalism, I just hoped Cassandra wasn't one of them.
"Did what I had to do." She answered. That didn't give me much hope. Then from the barricade of cars I heard a rustling, everyone turned and pointed their weapons at the dirty man pulling himself out of the tangle of metal.
"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa." He held his hands up, his head down as he noticed our guns pointed towards him. I stood with 10k my pistol pointed at the man, and my other hand on the hilt of a kukri.
"Hold on. It's not a Z." Warren halted us. Mack took the guys right side, his gun pointed to his head, Warren came around his left and began to check him for weapons.
"Peace. No bites here. Hundred percent alive." I doubted he wanted peace. Wait a minute, he was one of the bikers! I then looked to see where Cassandra was, but she hadn't taken cover like before. Instead she stood with her arms crossed and a hard look on her face.
"What happened to your friend?" Garnett asked, giving him a stern and cautious look. Warren came to stand beside Garnett, her gun still locked to the biker.
"Turns out he had other friends of low morals. Took my ride. Horse thieves should be shot." He finished his lies.
"You should choose better friends." Cassandra spoke up, stepping forwards a little. I headed over to her side, checking in the cars as I passed for anymore stowaways.
"Good advice." I took note of the way he spoke, they way he looked at Cassandra like he knew her. I stood by her and gave the biker a hard look, holding my pistol just a little lower. Most people were more scared of becoming a Z, so aiming for a body shot, usually got them talking.
"What can we do for you? One peaceful group of humans to a lone traveller?" Warren asked.
"Could use a lift. Sure, don't want to spend the night out here alone." He spoke, shrugging his shoulders a little, his hands still in the air.
"Sorry. We ain't running a taxi service." Murphy pipped up, and for once I agreed with him. Something wasn't right with this dude.
"Which way are you headed?" I looked to Garnett a little shocked. I knew he was a good guy, but we couldn't pick up everyone.
"Any direction but back. Word is there's a horde on the move south on the New York side. I see you're scrounging for gas. You know like we used to say, ass, gas or grass." No one quite understood that part, and we all gave an awkward look to each other. "Nobody rides for free. I know where you could fill up." Maybe he could be of some use to us.
"Now would be the time to share that information." Garnett ordered.
"Place called Jersey Devil Refinery, maybe five miles off, just off the turnpike." He informed.
"How do you know there's gas there?" Warren asked, clearly just as suspicious as I felt.
"Got overrun day number one. All the tanks are still full, just rusting away." I could hear the edge in his voice, the light part at the end. Thinking it over for a moment Garnett finally spoke. And it wasn't what I wanted to hear.
"Alright, take us to this refinery. And if there's gas there like you say, you can ride with us to the next outpost." I bit my bottom lip and holstered my gun, moving over to Garnett.
"You won't be sorry." The biker spoke, moving down to pick his knife up. Warren however picked it up, and handed it to him, slowly.
"You got that right." I heard her say.
"Let's get out of here. New guy's gonna ride with me and Warren. Everybody else load up in the truck." Garnett ordered before looking down to me, everyone was packing up to go, but he could tell something was on my mind. "You're biting your lip. What's up?" he asked, folding his arms and turning us away from the group.
"I don't trust him." I started, looking back and watching Cassandra and the biker. "I think he knows Cassandra somehow. And why would he be here? How do we know he's not just bait, maybe he wants to lead us to this refinery to kill us all?" I voiced my concerns and Garnett listened, he always took anything anyone said into consideration, weighing out the pros and cons.
"I know how you feel, Alice." He started, placing his hand on my shoulder in comfort. "But we need gas. We'll take it slow and keep an eye on him, you see anything amiss just tell me, alright?" He gave my shoulder a pat. I gave a huff but agreed anyway, heading over to the truck. I gave the biker a glare as I passed, watching him slide further into his seat. Having been the last to get to the truck, I had to sit in the bed with 10k.
"Hey." I said, sitting against the back of the window next to him, nestled more in the corner. He gave a nod in reply. After we had taken off and were on the road for a while, I spoke up.
"So, who taught you how to shoot?" I asked, pointing to his rifle. He seemed startled for a moment, and shifted awkwardly in his seat, his eyes darting down.
"Uh, my… my dad." He stuttered, clearly not being used to small talk. Then again, I wasn't the best at it.
"Cool, Warren taught me. I didn't even know how to hold a gun before all this." I gave a small chuckle, which seemed to make him smile. "I'm still pretty bad at it. It must've taken you a while to learn how to shoot with that massive thing." I motioned to his rifle. He gave another smile and shook his head a little.
"It's not that big. There's rifle's out there, much bigger than this." He informed me.
"No way, you're kidding right?" I asked, interested in how someone could carry around a gun that big. They'd get eaten in seconds. He shook his head though and I gave my brows a raise. "That's crazy." I paused for a moment, the silence between us becoming more comfortable than awkward.
"So, how'd you know Doc and the others?" He spoke up first, which surprised me slightly.
"Oh, uh. Well I knew Addy and Mack before the Z's; we went to the same college. I helped them get out on day one, after they got stuck in the ice rink. And I met Doc in a pharmacy a few days in." I informed, thinking back to the first times I'd met them all. "And we all got together at Camp Blue Sky. Warren and Garnett are kinda like the parent's, Doc's the crazy uncle, and we're the kids I suppose." I laughed thinking about how weird a family we seemed. "We all have each other's back though." I told him firmly. He seemed happy to know that, but still seemed cautious to get too comfortable. I could understand how he felt, it was hard to trust people now that they could be taken away at any moment.
"It's nice, talking to you." He said quietly after a moment. "I don't know why, but it just feels… easy." He gave me a small smile, the corner of his lip turning up.
"Well, I don't plan on going anywhere soon. So, if you ever want to talk more, I'll listen." I returned his smile.
Another fifteen minutes passed, and we started to get closer to this so called 'refinery'. 10k and I had now stood up, leaning against the roof of the truck as we pulled into the refinery. There were plenty of buildings and warehouses, and more than enough Z's around. A constant banging could be heard, and it seemed to be attracting the Z's like bugs to a UV light. It was kind of strange how they all seemed to walk in a somewhat orderly fashion, up the stairs, and along the catwalks.
"Frackin' zombies." 10k said. I was somewhat confused, but chuckled, nonetheless.
We all began to spill out of the trucks, coming together at the front to sus out what to do next. I noticed the biker stood close to Cassandra, and I could tell she was uncomfortable, but for some reason didn't move. I gently called her over to the side of my truck, watching as the biker began to move, but stopped when he saw my scowl. Cassandra stood in front of me now, distance between the two made me comfortable. I didn't trust him.
"They seem to want something in there real bad." Garnett spoke, as we all watched the Z's.
"It's that sound. Like bees to honey." Cassandra said.
"Or Z's to shit." Of course, Murphy would have his own version.
"Hey, you know about this?" Warren asked, pointing back to the biker and then the disaster in front of us.
"Hey, all the easy gas is gone." He replied. He did have a point. This looked to be like the only gas left.
"So, what's the brilliant plan? Die, get eaten, go home early?" Murphy chimed up once again.
"What's that smell?" Addy asked, and it's only then did I catch it myself.
"Smells like the undead and gasoline, and Murphy." I informed, giving the scowling Murphy a sweet smile.
"Both highly flammable. So, no firearms of any kind." Garnett ordered.
"Fine with me." I pipped up, unsheathing my katana happily. I didn't use it as much as my kukri knives, but when I did, I was a happy camper. I noticed 10k's almost worried look, but I could tell he was interested in how good I was with it.
"So how do you want to handle this?" Warren asked.
"Well first we got to shut off whatever's making that noise." Garnett thought out loud.
"Okay, it's probably some kind of pump. But where?" Warren answered.
"Follow the zombies. They all seem to be headed for the top of that tank." Mack spoke, it seemed simple enough.
"We'll get up there and check it out." Addy volunteered herself and Mack.
"Then we got to have a sound that draws the Z's away from the pump so we can get to the gas." Garnett gave the next problem out.
"Sorry, I left my guitar back at Camp Blue Sky." Doc joked, and I gave a small chuckle. He always knew how to lighten the mood, even if it was just a little bit.
"Car horns?" Addy suggested. Mack had gone to pick up a busted shovel from a pile of scrap.
"No, they'll all just head this way." He informed.
"And so, will every other dead head within earshot, and worse, humans." I gave a nod to the biker and Addy and I both gave him a glare.
"I have something." Cassandra spoke as she rummaged around in her bag. "Z's like high-pitched sounds. The more musical the better." She pulled out the innards of a musical box, the key still in place. As she turned it and let the music play, a few of the closer Z's turned around and began to stumble our way. It was sort of interesting, but also weird.
"Wow, learn something every day." Warren voiced our thoughts.
"That's great. You're our decoy." Garnett spoke pointing to Cassandra.
"I'll go with her." The biker spoke up. Instantly I looked to Garnett, my gaze warning him.
"I don't need his help." Cassandra spat, giving him a dirty look.
"No, you need cover. Take him. And start the music when you get to the top of that catwalk." I gave a sigh as Cassandra started to run off, trying to get as much distance between herself and the biker.
"You two, get to the top of the other side and see if you can kill that noise." Garnett pointed to Addy and Mack.
"Got it." Mack spoke and off they went.
"Where'd that kid go?" Garnett asked, and I looked to my side. But he wasn't there. How'd he do that?!
"He was here a minute ago." I said, pointing to the empty spot beside me.
"Oh, and his name is Ten Thousand." Doc informed Garnett.
"Well he better be back by the time we're ready to go." The commander voice of Garnett informed us he was serious. I just hoped 10k would be back, I was starting to like him. I hoped out of the back of the truck and headed over to stand by Doc, looking around high for any sign of 10k.
"So, what should I be doing while you all are getting incinerated to death?" Murphy asked, hanging out of the car like a child.
"All right, why don't you take Mr. Congeniality here and the suburban and get back to a safe distance, just in case." Garnett spoke to Doc.
"What if… you know… zombies?" Doc asked.
"If this all ends in tears, you got to get him to California." Garnett told.
"Sure. No problem." Doc grumbled walking to the truck.
"And me?" I asked, being the only one left without a job.
"You're gonna help me and Warren, keep us safe while we try and get the tanker running." Garnett gave me my orders and I nodded, heading over to the tanker with them both. I took down a few Z's along the way, slicing through their heads like butter, dropping them with ease almost.
"Good job I sharpened this." I yelled out, slicing the legs of a Z as Warren stabbed it through the head with her machete.
"Good job you know how to use it." Warren replied, giving me a smile as she stood up, wiping her forehead.
"In another life, you two could've been mother and daughter." Garnett joked, seeing us standing there and working together. We both gave a chuckle as we headed to the tanker. I stood guard as told. From here I could see Addy and Mack making their way up the stairs and along the catwalks, killing Z's as they went. I worried that I couldn't see Cassandra or the biker.
I jumped a little as the tanker behind me roared into life, I turned around and gave Warren and Garnett a quick thumbs up. Now all we had to do, was wait for that noise to stop.
"Alice! Look out!" I barley heard Garnett's voice over the roar, but certainly felt the Z grab me from behind. I dropped my katana in the scuffle, moving my body as far forward as I could in the grasp, so the gnashing teeth couldn't sink into my flesh. Garnett began heading my way, but before he could reach me, the Z went limp and I along with the Z tumbled forwards. Shocked I tried squirming from under it, grabbing onto Garnett's arms as he pulled me out and up.
"You alright?! You okay?!" Garnett fussed, making sure I had no bites. I just stared down at the Z, staring at the hole in its head. I looked around as barley caught sight of a figure. 10k had saved me? But how? I didn't hear a shot, and the place hadn't gone up in flames.
"Alice, you alright?" the voice of Garnett finally came through and I looked to him, a little blankly.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine." I mumbled back, giving myself a shake to bring me back to focus.
"Good. Good." Garnett sighed gently and gave me a pat on the shoulder, handing my katana back. Just then the noise stopped and all the Z's stood still, until the ringing of Cassandra's music chimed.
"They did it." Warren spoke as Garnett and I climbed onto the sides of the tanker. Before we could move out however the banging started up again.
"What's going on?" I spoke, climbing further up the tanker, now sitting on the roof. I could see the Z's on the catwalks begin to move again. Then the noise stopped again. A few moments later, Addy and Mack came running around the corner.
"What was up there?" Garnett asked.
"Some kind of a pressure valve thing. But that tank is full of zombie goo, like to the top." Addy informed us, before climbing onto the tanker behind Garnett, Mack going around to the other side.
"Start the music! Let's dance." Garnett spoke before Warren gave the tanker horn a loud blast. The music then began to play, echoing through the pipes, drawing the Z's away. Warren shifted the tanker into gear, and we headed towards the hose. I stayed on top as Mack, and the others began to fill the tanker. It all seemed to be going well, too well. After a moment the floor shook, and the pipes began to hiss and groan. I stood up and looked up at the shaking pipes.
"Guys, I think whatever you did, it's getting ready to burst!" I called down before slipping off the roof, landing with a thud next to Addy and Mack. Then we heard a loud pop and saw one of the pipes explode, spilling Z's covered in gas onto the ground. They stood, looking at us before slowly advancing. I pulled out my kukri knives and Mack and Addy picked up whatever they could find.
"Where's your Z Whacker?" I asked looking to Addy. She gave me a sad look before glancing up to the catwalks. I nodded my head and unsheathed my katana, holding it out for her. She looked between me and the weapon before taking it.
"Just, don't break it." I asked, and she gave me a nod and a smile. As the Z's came closer and closer, we stood our ground, and just before they reached us, a truck came barrelling around the corner. It slammed into a support and the zombies on top of the truck went flying, landing with a thud. The Z's in front of us stopped and turned around and began to amble towards the truck. Warren jumped out of the tanker and stood by us.
"Is that Murphy?" She exclaimed.
"Who else is it gonna be?!" I grumbled, if we made it out of here, it was gonna be a hell of a long journey if he pulled crap like this all the time. It only took another moment before Garnett noticed the sparks flying from the broken truck, and the remnants of gas everywhere.
"Get out of here. Get out of here! Go! Come on!" Garnett pushed us away and we scurried far enough away to be safe. We watched as Warren tried to stay but Garnett quickly pushed her on. She came running over to us and we watched as Garnett approached the truck. He managed to get Murphy out of the truck and began running towards us. A Z stood in their way, covered in gas. Before it could even lunge for them, its head exploded. I looked around but couldn't see where 10k was, but I knew it was his doing. Garnett and Murphy barely made it out of the blast as the tanker exploded. I could feel the heat from here, and the smell was awful. Three burning Z's stumbled towards us, not even realising they were on fire.
Once back at the old truck – the one with barely any gas – Murphy dropped to his knees.
"I'm alive?" he grumbled. I passed him and rolled my eyes, mumbling an 'unfortunate' under my breath. I headed over to Addy and she handed my katana back, I smiled and sheathed it on my back.
"So, did we get the gas?" Murphy asked still sitting on his knees. I was bewildered that he would be this stupid, but it just got worse.
"Great. Who screwed that up?" He asked looking between us. Of course, we all looked to him with angered looks. He seemed to catch on.
"Oh. Sorry." He grumbled and then walked away.
"So, where's your friend?" Warren asked, I only just now noticed that the shifty man wasn't here anymore.
"He didn't make it. And he wasn't my friend." Cassandra informed.
"It's not like we needed him anyway." I pointed out, only to get a nudge from Garnett. I rolled my eyes and shrugged my shoulders before heading to the back of the truck. As I hopped in something bizarre happened, the phone booth next to us began to ring. I was surprised it still worked, and that someone would be calling one that was right next to us. Garnett headed over to the phone and picked it up. I simply sat on the back of the bed of the truck, my legs swinging off the side. Cassandra had come to stand by me. She was silent for a moment before speaking.
"Thanks." She murmured. I looked over to her with a small look of confusion. "For calling me over at the truck, to get me away from him." She spoke with a hint of disgust. I simply gave my shoulders a shrug.
"I didn't trust him, and I've learned to trust my gut feeling." I informed. She gave me a smile and let out a relived sigh. "And I know something else is going on." I pointed out. I had a suspicion those two knew each other, but I had no idea from where or when. He could have just been a dick of an ex-boyfriend, but that didn't feel right to me. I could see her tense beside me, but she didn't say anything.
"As long as it doesn't get us in any trouble. I won't say anything." I informed her, she then looked to me shocked, but hopeful. I gave her a smile.
"More puppies and kittens." Warrens voice broke our quality time as we saw a group of Z's heading our way. We began to get into the truck, Cassandra decided to sit with me in the bed of the truck. I wondered where 10k was, if he was even alive. I hoped he was, I liked him. Wait, what? Stop talking like that, getting attached in the apocalypse wasn't a good idea. I shook my head and gave my cheeks a little pat, trying to rid the girly thoughts from my head. Cassandra looked over to me with a concerned look but shrugged it off for now.
"Hey, look what I got." Addy chimed as she came to the back of the truck, holding her precious Z Whacker.
"Awesome, you got it back." I smiled, helping her into the back. She smiled giving her weapon a gentle hug. The three of us laughed for a moment.
"Wait! Here comes the kid!" I heard Doc's voice from in front of the truck. I was up on my feet and looking over the roof to see 10k jogging towards us with two containers of gas. I couldn't help the smile that lit up my face. Once we were all in the truck we began to head off, for god knows where.
"Excuse me, ma'am." I looked over to 10k and watched as Cassandra turned her stoic look to him.
"You have a finger in your hair." He informed, nodding towards the severed finger, that was indeed twisted in her hair. She pulled it out and quickly threw it over the side of the truck.
"Just another day in the zompocolypse." I laughed along with, Addy and Cassandra, noticing a slight chuckle from 10k. As bad as things had gone today, surely it couldn't get any worse.
Oh, how wrong I was.