In town was the worst, each member of the group could easily admit that. People were panicking, claiming that it was the end of the world, and in a way, it was. Nick tried not to look out the window as Pete drove, but it was hard to ignore the sounds of people screaming and things breaking...and was that growling? Nick shook his head at the thought. Nobody really knew what was going on at the moment.
"Alright," Pete spoke up, breaking the silence in the truck. "As soon as we get Luke's folks, we're outta town...that's non-negotiable."
"Do you think my family's okay?" Luke inquired. Hell, he was closer to Nick's family than he was his own, but still, he had love for his parents, and he'd feel bad knowing that something happened to them and he wasn't there to help. He was worried, everyone was.
"Hard tellin'," Pete replied, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.
"You alright, Ma?" Nick asked, turning his head and looking to his mother who sat in the front seat of the truck beside Pete.
She shook her head. "A little shook up, but I'm alright."
Pete smiled. "Your mom's tough as nails, where do you think you get it from?" he asked Nick.
"Just...a lot happened back there." Nick shook his head, trying to forget what he saw.
Luke sighed. "Are you sure you're alright, bud?"
"I'll be fine," Nick dismissed him. He always hated when people worried for him, there were days when he thought he didn't deserve their compassion. Luckily for him, Luke didn't pry him anymore, and for that he was thankful.
Ten or so minutes later, they reached Luke's old neighborhood, and to say that it was worse than Pete's was an understatement. Some houses were burnt down and a couple were on fire. Cars were flipped over and there was blood everywhere. On the remaining houses, the streets, you name it. There also seemed to be more and more of those dead things walking around. Screams from people erupted from every direction.
"Shit," Luke muttered to himself as his phone went straight into voicemail. He'd tried to contact his parents to know if they were alright. "Shit, shit, shit."
"The phones must've cut off," Helen pointed out, trying to come up with a hopeful reason for their lack of answer.
Luke's old house was, fortunately, still standing. There was blood on the garage door and the front entrance, which was very worrying. What the hell had happened? Before Pete had even stepped on the brake, Luke opened the door to the car and bolted to the front door. Nick wasn't far behind.
The young man threw the door open, calling for his parents.
"Mom? Dad? If y'all are here, I need an answer!"
But there was no answer. There was, however, a noise coming from upstairs.
Nick's gaze softened, worried for his friend. "Are you sure you want to go up there?"
Luke turned around to face the younger man. "I have to. They're my family." Taking one step at a time, he slowly moved up the stairs while Nick stood at the bottom with a rifle, as if keeping watch. Helen and Pete never left the truck, and both men were seemingly thankful for that. They didn't need an audience for this. He took a deep breath as he finally made it to the top.
"Mom? Dad?" he questioned rather loudly again, but still received no answer. He tried to be an optimist, but right now, only one thing crossed his mind.
Luke let his feet carry him down the hallway to where he knew his parents' room was, and he held his breath when he reached for the doorknob. Mentally, he counted to three before opening the door, and nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. They were his parents, but they were hardly recognizable.
On the floor was his mother, her upper body leaning against the bed, her head dented in. A large bite mark on her neck very easily indicated what had happened to her, as well as the blood splatter on the wall. A groaning noise finally broke Luke out of his trance, and on the bed was his father, crawling forward and trying to reach for him. There was a bite mark on his wrist, and a deep one at that.
Luke felt physically sick. He had never seen anything more disturbing in his life, and it had to happen to his parents. The smell was unbearable, and he had to cover his nose. He had no choice but to back away when his father finally fell to the ground, standing up and going towards him.
He briefly turned away, knowing what he had to do. "I'm sorry, Dad."
Then, he took the machete found in Pete's basement and plunged it deep into his father's eye. The man was fully dead in a second. Luke jumped away as the machete came out, now caked in blood.
His parents were dead. There was nothing more that could be done for them.
Taking a few moments to himself, he grieved, but he knew that Nick, Helen and Pete were waiting for him. So, he put on a brave face and headed back downstairs where Nick was still standing. "Hey man," Nick started, but as soon as he saw the look on his friend's face, he decided to shut up. Whatever Luke had just seen, couldn't have been good.
"Let's get going," Luke said, heading out the door and Nick following behind him.
When they climbed back in the truck, Pete didn't hesitate to start conversation. "Everything alright, son? Your folks in there?"
Luke swallowed the lump in his throat. "They uh...they must have cut town before we had."
Pete nodded as he started the truck. "Well, let's hope they're somewhere safe, then." He put the truck in gear and sped away before one of those things had the chance to catch up to them. They drove down the long winding road, and crossed their fingers that they would be able to get out of town soon. But then where would they go? That was surely something that had to be on everyone's mind. They had little food and supplies, no place to stay, and they barely knew what was going on out in the world.
"So, does anybody actually have a plan, or are we just gonna drive around until we're out of gas?" Nick questioned bitterly.
"I'm thinkin', boy," Pete got out.
"Town obviously ain't safe, so that's out of the question," Helen pointed out.
Pete decided to turn on the radio to see if there was any update on the catastrophe. Unfortunately, there was no luck. There was a Level 10 Emergency almost everywhere in the state, and he shut it off with a groan.
"Damn it," he muttered under his breath.
"Gonna need to find a map, maybe it'll lead us to somewhere safe," Luke announced. Anything to get his mind off of what had just happened back at his old home.
"Or out of the state, at least," Nick added.
Helen opened the glove box and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. "Here's one!" she announced. She read through it and groaned, an annoyed look crossing her face. "Shit. It's gonna be nightfall before we reach the state line."
"I don't suppose y'all are too keen of trying to find a safe place for the night?" Pete inquired.
Nick scoffed. "I'd rather sleep in the truck."
"Will you two stop arguing? Now ain't the time!" Helen chided. "If we can find somewhere safe before the sun sets, I think we should go for it. Hell, we don't have nothin' to lose." She looked back towards Luke who was seeming to keep his opinion to himself at the moment.
"I agree," Pete nodded.
"Hey," Luke pointed to a certain spot on the map. "How about these old campgrounds? They haven't been used in years, most likely abandoned," he asked, letting Helen and Nick eye the map as well. "Better than being stuck in the truck all night. And we can get a good night's sleep and think things over before we make any big plans."
"Hm, seems secure enough," Pete said, taking a brief look at the map due to the fact that he was driving. "Hopefully that area ain't gone to hell yet. What do y'all think?" Here, he turned to Nick and Helen.
"I'm fine with it," Nick replied.
"As long as we have someplace decent to sleep tonight," Helen answered.
"Alright, so I guess it's settled then," Pete announced. "Now how far away is this campground?"
Helen looked at the map again. "About two hours," she said.
"Think we can hold out for that long?" Nick inquired, looking uncertain.
"Think so. We've got enough diesel to last us a bit," Pete told him. "But we gotta think of a long-term plan once we reach this place. It ain't gonna be some kind of sanctuary forever."
They just hoped things wouldn't go even more downhill than they already were.