A bump in the road provides an abrupt and harsh awakening.
When did I fall asleep?, the girl wonders, rubbing her eyes and blinking a few times as her eyes adjust to the morning light. She yawns, stretching her arms and legs out in front of her. Thank goodness for short legs, she smirks as she's able to stretch them out to their full length. Her seat being adjusted back slightly did help, however.
"Good morning." She turns as she hears the boy's soft greeting. Her smile diminishes upon laying her eyes on him. The shaky limbs and dark circles around his eyes tell a tale. He must have stayed up the whole night, driving. She cannot help but feel guilty.
"Dez…Do you want to pull over and get some rest?" she inquires, softly. Driving while drowsy is just about as dangerous as driving while drunk, after all.
"Oh, I'm fine," he smiles, glancing at her.
"Dez…"
"I'm fine, Trish," he insists, his smile vanishing. Why is he being so stubborn?, she wonders. Silence befalls them as they continue down the interestingly empty road. Where are all the people? There were a few cars parked off-road here and there, but nobody seemed to be occupying any of them. A thought hits her.
"Have you been driving all night? Miami's only three hours from Orlando. What's taking so long?"
"Detour. The road was blocked. Was able to find another route off-road, but it took me backwards. Got a little lost. I'm back on track now...I think."
"Oh. But what about the gas? You've definitely driven more than fifty miles."
"There were some gas cans in the trunk."
"Lucky us."
"We're running low again, though. We'll have to find more soon." She nods, having no more questions. Silence falls between them as they watch at the road ahead. Dez, focused on getting home, and Trish trying not to distract him. His drowsiness would do enough.
Trish finally breaks the silence by letting out a small laugh as they pass by a particular billboard.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, I just saw an ad for that new Zaliens movie that was supposed to come out in a couple months. It was on that last billboard we passed," she explains. Just as soon as she finishes, Dez steps on the breaks and they screech to a stop. Trish groans, her seatbelt pressing hard onto her chest as he did so.
"Really?! How'd I miss that?!" the boy enthuses, putting the gear into reverse. He twists himself around to see behind him, while keeping one hand on the wheel, and begins back-tracking towards the billboard. Trish laughs out slightly louder, relieved to see him donning that look of pure enthusiasm again. It was all too rare these days; she had missed seeing it.
Dez stops the car, putting it into park. He bursts out the door like a child rushing towards an amusement park. The most basic thing brings him such joy – she wonders if they had both really gotten to that point. Appreciating the small things in life wasn't something she did often – she always wanted more; she always wanted better. And now, even finding cold water to drink would be the highlight of her day. She exhales her worries away and hops out of the car soon after him, making sure to take her cleaver with her.
Dez stares up at the billboard, hands on hips as he examines it with a smile. "I remember hearing that they constructed entire cityscapes in this just using CG. Can you believe that?"
"Are you serious? It looked so real in the trailers!" Trish states with disbelief as she walks up beside him. She looks up at the billboard. "I was really looking forward to this one. They were going to bring back one of my favorite characters from the third movie. I really wanted to watch it, but I guess…" Dez turns his head to face her, his gleeful aura suddenly losing its glow.
"I guess now…We'll never get to see it," he murmurs, suddenly pulled back out into reality. He looks back up at the ad for a few more moments before turning away and walking back towards the car. Trish bites her lip, wishing she could've just kept that last comment to herself.
"Dez!" she calls after him as she runs to keep up. She had snuffed out his one, small, but shining, moment of joy. Why couldn't I just shut my mouth and let him have this?, she berates herself. So wrapped up in her thoughts as she runs towards him, she fails to keep a good enough eye on the ground before her. A small baseball-sized ditch in the ground is all it takes to stop her in her tracks. She closes her eyes as she falls forward, bracing for the impact of her face against the hard asphalt. After a few moments of waiting, she wonders if her face had immediately gone numb from the face-plant. Warmth wrapping around her shoulders tell her otherwise. She opens her eyes to see the ground far enough from her face, and her friend's chest close. She looks up at him. "Nice catch." Dez smiles.
"You should probably watch where you're going," he teases, helping her up properly onto her feet. She rolls her eyes and taps him on the arm with her fist.
"I got distracted, okay?" she admits.
"I didn't know my butt was that distracting," he taunts her, earning him a shove from the short girl.
"Shut up, you doof!" She rushes passed him as she feels the heat rising to her face. She might've been subconsciously staring, not that she'd ever want to admit that to him.
She hops back into the passenger seat and buckles up, hoping her blush would subside before he caught up to her. She manages to pull herself together just as he joins her.
"You sure you don't want to take a quick nap or something, Dez? You look exhausted." She reaches out and places a hand on his shoulder.
"The sooner we get home to Miami, the better. We can't afford to waste any time. Besides, there's no other cars driving on the road. If I start feeling really drowsy, we'll still probably be fine. If I'm ready to collapse, I'll let you know," he reassures her. She opens her mouth to speak, but stops herself before arguing with him. Drowsy Dez wasn't safe. Drowsy and angry Dez would probably be a lot worse.
"Alright…But if I feel like we're in any danger, I'm going to have to stop you," she warns him. He buckles up and puts the car back into drive.
"Alright." He starts down the road again, smirking as he glances over at her. "So, about my butt…"
"Shut up!"
"Shit." Dez slows the car down to a halt upon getting a good look at what lay ahead.
"What? What is that?" Trish looks up from the book she had been so engulfed in. "Is that…" her jaw drops as she leans back in her chair. Her books falls out of her hand.
"A…A herd." Dez nods, eyes trained on the moving mass a mile or so down the road. It was probably the largest herd they encountered thus far.
"What are we going to do now? We can't drive around that, there's creeks on both sides of the road – if we try to go down those, the car will get stuck!" Trish pulls her legs in towards her body.
"I guess we're going to have to…"
"What?"
"Drive through it," Dez affirms, his tone solemn. Trish turns to him.
"Are you crazy?!" she asks, incredulously.
"We just did that back in the city, and made it out without damage. We can do it again."
"That herd was so much smaller and, unlike you, not that dense," she mocks him. He glares at her.
"Then what do you suggest, Trish? We fly over it somehow?" he shoots back, his temper flaring up quickly.
Oh, gosh, not now. We can't argue now, we need to keep it together, Trish realizes, stopping herself from pushing the debate any further. "Okay," she gives in. "We'll drive through. Just…Be careful." Dez's face softens at her sudden capitulation.
"You alright, Trish?" he asks her with concern. It isn't like her to back down just like that.
"I'm fine. Let's just…" She breathes heavily. "…Get this over with." He nods, pulling his foot off the break. As they close in on the herd, Trish sinks down in her seat, unbuckling herself as she tries to hide in the space under the glove compartment. The zombies have clearly spotted them by now. Once within five hundred feet of the herd, Dez pushes his foot all the way down on the accelerator;the car's speed shoots up quickly. He squints his eyes as he braces for initial impact.
CRACK.
He hears the snapping sounds of breaking bones.A few bodies roll up against the windshield. Trish, hiding away under the glove compartment, squeezes her eyes shut and covers her ears. The groans and scratchy cries of the monstrosities can still be heard.
Dez keeps his foot down on the accelerator, noting how much the car had slowed. The creatures press onto the windows all around them and the car is engulfed by the decaying bodies. They scratch, they claw at, and they press their rotting faces against the glass. A few even thrash their frail bodies against the sides of the car, their efforts in vain. It's a sluggish, aggravating, and tense process, but they muddle through. Slowly, but surely, Dez pushes onward, eventually seeing the tail-end of the herd. A few cracks in the windows from all of those creepers ramming against the car begins to worry him, seeing as the herd keeps the larger brutes in the back. Three of them gang up, starting towards the small vehicle.
SMASH.
The two friends let out a scream, watching as the cracks in the windows get larger. Dez lifts his foot from the accelerator in his state of fright.
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," Dez chants, his hands shaking as they grip the wheel. Trish hops back up onto her seat and grabs his shoulder.
"Keep it together. Keep driving."
"Trish, they're almost through," he whimpers, his voice thick and his reddened, sleep-deprived eyes glazing over.
"Dez, it'll be o–" She had spoken too soon.
CRASH.
The shards of glass go flying, and the duo turn away to protect their faces. Dez feels an immense grip tightening around his arm, and before he can turn around to see what was grasping it, he's pulled, his body smashing against the door and his head forced outside the broken window.
"DEZ!" the girl shrieks out, jumping over onto the driver's seat – partially seated on his lap in a strange position. She puts an arm around his torso to hold him, and puts her free hand on the wheel as she slams onto the accelerator. The brutes are pushed aside at the sudden burst, yet the one that had latched onto Dez's arm refuses to let go. Dez wails out in pain from the pressure at the base of his arm. Trish keeps her foot down on the pedal. Dez struggles to get free. The combination of force manages to help him pull free, but at a cost.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the boy screams out in pain as he feels his tendons tearing. The brute releases him, and they begin to speed down the freeway – finally clearing the herd. "Ahahahowwwww," the boy sobs as he retracts his arm in through the window.
"Did it bite you?" Trish immediately questions him, keeping her eyes on the road, checking all of her mirrors frantically. She sees Dez shake his head 'no' in her peripheral vision. "Good."
"I-I think…M-my arm got disl-located," he says thickly through his tears, holding his injured limb with the other arm. Trish frowns, but doesn't turn to him.
"Since wh-when do you drive?" he asks her, wiping his eyes with the wrist of his good arm.
"I don't. I-I've only ever driven once with my mom when she was trying to teach me. That didn't end very well," she replies, nervousness emanating from her voice.
"Oh." Dez goes quiet, looking down at his feet. "Well, you're doing good. Just keep going like this." He shifts around a bit, moving her off of him, letting her sit between his thighs. This wasn't any less awkward, he had to admit. But it was less uncomfortable for the both of them than her balancing on his one thigh.
"Dez, I-I can't…I need to stop," she responds, shakily.
"You have to keep going, my arm's broken or something."
"Can't you drive with one?"
"Maybe, but I'm…I'm in a lotta pain, and I…I'm pretty sure I'm about to…To…" he lays his head back against the seat and dozes off, his lack of sleep finally catching up to him.
"Dez?" she asks.
Silence.
"Dez?!" she asks again with worry from not receiving a response.
"Y…Yeah?" he mutters, keeping his eyes closed. "I'm so tired, Trish. Just keep going. I can't even keep my eyes open."
"I can't do this."
"Yes you can. I know…Ah know you caaahn," he starts to yawn. Trish bites her lip and keeps focused on the road. After a few minutes pass buy, she decides to pull over. She moves to the side of the road and hits the break. The sudden stop wakes Dez. "Huh?! Where are we?!"
"Dez, how do I park?" she asks him. He reaches over and groggily shifts the gear to 'P'. "Oh. Right." She looks down and releases the break. She tactfully climbs back over to the passenger seat, careful not to put his arm in any more pain by nudging it.
Dez frowns, immediately missing the feeling of her back pressed up against him. "So…We should patch up this window with something."
"We need to patch up your arm first, doofus," she rolls her eyes and reaches for the medical kit amongst their stash of supplies in the back seat. She assists in disrobing him, delicately pulling off his shirt. She examines the arm, seeing the bruises run down the length of it. Thankfully, no bites. "Yeesh. Okay, not much I can do about these bruises, but…" She puts a hand on the base of his arm, near his shoulder.
"What're you–?" Dez starts as Trish gives his arm a heavy push, forcing his arm back into place. He howls, more tears escaping his eyes. "Did you have to do it that hard?"
"Yes. Quit your whining." She smiles as she retrieves a sling from the kit. She helps him put his shirt back on, then the sling. "There. That should take some pressure off of it while it heals."
"Thanks, Trish," he smiles warmly at her. Here comes that heat rising into her face again. She looks down at her lap.
"So, uh…We still need to patch up this window…" He notices the blush this time, but doesn't comment on it. She looks back up at him.
"Don't be stupid. If we patch it up, how will you see through it – or watch the rearview mirror on this side? There's a large van up ahead. Looks pretty sturdy, too. We'll hotwire it and get going."
"Well, alright. But I'm way too sleepy and in too much pain right now, so you're driving." Her gaze drops back down to her lap. His brows scrunch together. "Or…Not. If you're not ready for it, anyway."
"No, no…I should try and learn, but…I kinda need you awake the first few times." She shrugs, looking back up at him.
"That's true…" He scratches the back of his neck with his free hand. "Well, how about we just…Rest for a while in the van before we get going? I'm sure I'll be okay enough to drive after some sleep."
"You sure? Even with one arm? I mean, once you're awake, I can take the wheel if you help me out," She suggests.
"I'm sure I can manage. I don't know if this is a good time for driving lessons…" He tightens his lips. "Especially if you're an anxious driver."
"I'll have to learn at some point."
"You will." He nods. "Buh foh nohw…" he starts yawning again. "Let's leave it."
"Fine. But you're gonna have to teach me how to hotwire the van once we get going."
The two friends settle into the van. The lack of windows in the rear would keep them hidden well enough from creepers passing by. Dez lays his head down on his bundled-up cardigan; a makeshift pillow. Not all that comfortable, but better than nothing. He's much too tired to care at this point. His eyes slowly shut, and he drifts off with ease.
Trish checks and makes sure that all of the doors are locked, for probably the fifth time in a row. She had taped up flatted-out brown paper bags against the windows and windshield to keep them both hidden. She crawls into the back, setting up something of a chain fence between the front seats and the back cargo area. Once satisfied, she lies herself down next to her friend, scooting in close enough to share the tablecloth-blanket with him.
She watches him as he rests peacefully. His mouth hangs slightly agape as he breathes steadily. She reflects upon what had happened earlier. I could have lost him today. She shudders, the vivid image of him being pulled at the arm by that brute popping back up in her mind. She moves closer to him, her protective instincts kicking in.
"Goodnight, you doof." She gives him a light kiss on the cheek and rests her head beside his shoulder. She could have sworn she saw him smile for a second there.
Shout out to trezisendgame for helping me out with this chapter!
-AJ