Chapter 3
Gain Ground
As we set out in Que's dusty old car, I started to notice a certain lack of life. Not just human, most of those had been eaten, but there was a certain stillness to nature. No birds or anything. Max seemed especially spooked by it. "Have you noticed a lack of activity around here?" Max said, casting one more nervous glance around. "Yeah..." I answered, trailing off. Que spoke but didn't look back at us. "It's a bad sign..." "And why would that be?" I asked, although I think I already knew the answer. "Means there are more zombies up ahead. They've stripped the land of life." I sighed. Looking around, I saw a few barren cactuses, seemingly not minding the changes that had come to the world. Oh, right. They're plants. Dismissing that stupid thought from my brain, I looked back at him. "That wouldn't be good. We don't have so much ammo." He looked at me with a 'Duh, I already knew that' expression. I narrowed my eyes. I looked into the back of the car. Max's back was to us now, shooting wildly at what I assumed were zombies. I climbed into the back to help him. Looking back at what was coming at us, I saaw the thing that I least expected to see. Other humans. I looked at Max in bewilderment. He looked at me back with a pleading expression. One that said, 'They're not friendly'
They were closing in fast. A shot rang out. Que's car started to skid on the ground. Swerving about, another shot came. Two tires down. Que was desperate. If the car could have ridden wheelie, I'm sure that he would have tried it. Once more, I heard a loud pinging sound. Looking at the right side of the car, I saw gasoline pouring out. My eyes widened. These guys wanted us dead. Suddenly, the roar of motorcycles stopped. I looked back and saw the gang getting smaller and smaller as we got farther away. Suddenly, I understood. The lead motorcyclist took a match out of his jacket, lit it, and threw it on the trail of gas. "Hit the deck!" I screamed, as I saw the fiery fuse get closer and closer. With a sickening skidding sound, the car shuddered to a stop. Que kicked open his door, and rolled out. Max, being a little overdramatic, broke the window and jumped out. Frantically, I was trying to get out the same window hole when the fuse grew short. I squeezed my eyes shut. This wasn't going to be pretty. I woke up with my leg throbbing. I couldn't see,I was blindfolded. I was tied to a metal chair and I felt like my hands were bound as well. I hear a heavy door open, then close. I hear a guy lumber in and start doing different tasks around the room. Footsteps. I hear him coming closer and closer to me. Suddenly, I feel a huge wave of cold water roll over me. I gasp. He probably already knew that I was awake, just liked seeing me flop. He ripped off the blindfold. I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the bright light. I was looking into the face of a man about thirty. He had brown bloodshot eyes, a goatee, slicked back black hair, and broken yellow teeth. He sneered down at me, obviously not caring what I thought of him. "Hey," He said in a cracked voice. I said nothing, only stared at him with hatred in my eyes. He returned the look tenfold. In a voice so cracked and whispery I wasn't sure it was mine, I said, "What do you want from me?" He stretched up to his full height and grinned. Then he simply strode away to the other side of the room. He continued to talk with his back to me. "You aware of what's going on, 3?" I wasn't sure why he called me 3, but I replied with a sneer and said, "You think that I would be riding in a car at 80 mph along a highway with a shotgun and two other guys if I didn't know what was going on?" His weak smile turned into a frown. He slowly approached me, bending down on his knees. He looked at me for a moment then struck me so hard I wheeled back in the chair. I gasped for air and tasted blood. He grabbed my chin. "You think I'm playing 'round? You'll answer my questions, and you'll do it respectfully or pretty soon you'll find yourself in 4 different places at once." I shuddered. "Now, I'll ask you once more," he looked at me, then went on: "do you know what's going on?" "I looked at him, and not fancying the taste of my blood at the moment, said "There are undead flesh eating creatures eating every living creature on the planet." He paused, as if he had expected a less in-depth description. "Good. Now, in the midst of all ths' chaos, we're trying to create a community." He sounded like he was trying to convince me that he was out to help people. "But to have a community, you need people. And I'M smart enough to know that there's more people in your group." My heart gave a jump. Had they found Que and Max? "You just gotta find 'em for us." With a sudden burst of white-hot anger, I exclaimed, "You try to sound like you're colonizing the moon! But I know what you're after! You're no better than vultures, feeding off of the remains of civilization!" He looked at me with wide eyes, wondering why I was crazy enough to speak like that again. Without another word, he walked across the room, stomped his boot on my bare foot, and twisted it around. A world of pain opened up for me then. Between flashes of white-hot pain, I saw him angrily stride out of the room. On the other side of the door, I heard certain tidbits of conversation. "Not giving up..." "project must continue..." "Better off dead..." The last bit made my eyes open up. They didn't care what happened to me.
They were closing in fast. A shot rang out. Que's car started to skid on the ground. Swerving about, another shot came. Two tires down. Que was desperate. If the car could have ridden wheelie, I'm sure that he would have tried it. Once more, I heard a loud pinging sound. Looking at the right side of the car, I saw gasoline pouring out. My eyes widened. These guys wanted us dead. Suddenly, the roar of motorcycles stopped. I looked back and saw the gang getting smaller and smaller as we got farther away. Suddenly, I understood. The lead motorcyclist took a match out of his jacket, lit it, and threw it on the trail of gas. "Hit the deck!" I screamed, as I saw the fiery fuse get closer and closer. With a sickening skidding sound, the car shuddered to a stop. Que kicked open his door, and rolled out. Max, being a little overdramatic, broke the window and jumped out. Frantically, I was trying to get out the same window hole when the fuse grew short. I squeezed my eyes shut. This wasn't going to be pretty. I woke up with my leg throbbing. I couldn't see,I was blindfolded. I was tied to a metal chair and I felt like my hands were bound as well. I hear a heavy door open, then close. I hear a guy lumber in and start doing different tasks around the room. Footsteps. I hear him coming closer and closer to me. Suddenly, I feel a huge wave of cold water roll over me. I gasp. He probably already knew that I was awake, just liked seeing me flop. He ripped off the blindfold. I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the bright light. I was looking into the face of a man about thirty. He had brown bloodshot eyes, a goatee, slicked back black hair, and broken yellow teeth. He sneered down at me, obviously not caring what I thought of him. "Hey," He said in a cracked voice. I said nothing, only stared at him with hatred in my eyes. He returned the look tenfold. In a voice so cracked and whispery I wasn't sure it was mine, I said, "What do you want from me?" He stretched up to his full height and grinned. Then he simply strode away to the other side of the room. He continued to talk with his back to me. "You aware of what's going on, 3?" I wasn't sure why he called me 3, but I replied with a sneer and said, "You think that I would be riding in a car at 80 mph along a highway with a shotgun and two other guys if I didn't know what was going on?" His weak smile turned into a frown. He slowly approached me, bending down on his knees. He looked at me for a moment then struck me so hard I wheeled back in the chair. I gasped for air and tasted blood. He grabbed my chin. "You think I'm playing 'round? You'll answer my questions, and you'll do it respectfully or pretty soon you'll find yourself in 4 different places at once." I shuddered. "Now, I'll ask you once more," he looked at me, then went on: "do you know what's going on?" "I looked at him, and not fancying the taste of my blood at the moment, said "There are undead flesh eating creatures eating every living creature on the planet." He paused, as if he had expected a less in-depth description. "Good. Now, in the midst of all ths' chaos, we're trying to create a community." He sounded like he was trying to convince me that he was out to help people. "But to have a community, you need people. And I'M smart enough to know that there's more people in your group." My heart gave a jump. Had they found Que and Max? "You just gotta find 'em for us." With a sudden burst of white-hot anger, I exclaimed, "You try to sound like you're colonizing the moon! But I know what you're after! You're no better than vultures, feeding off of the remains of civilization!" He looked at me with wide eyes, wondering why I was crazy enough to speak like that again. Without another word, he walked across the room, stomped his boot on my bare foot, and twisted it around. A world of pain opened up for me then. Between flashes of white-hot pain, I saw him angrily stride out of the room. On the other side of the door, I heard certain tidbits of conversation. "Not giving up..." "project must continue..." "Better off dead..." The last bit made my eyes open up. They didn't care what happened to me.