Chapter 5

(Four weeks later…..)

"I can't believe we're already out of gas," Merle exclaimed as he kicked the front tire on the driver's side of the car out of frustration.

"I told ye ta stop to scavenge cars before turning off the highway," Murphy stated. "How far did ye think we were goin' ta get on a single tank of gas?"

It has been a month since the group escaped what remained of Atlanta Georgia. Four weeks ago the group of six had walked to Atlanta from the ruins of what had been their camp before sunset. They broke into a convenient store (filling a few backpacks they found with water bottles, cigarettes, lighters, two six packs of beer, crackers, chips, and canned beans), stole a Chevy Suburban, and followed a few small off roads to avoid being mauled on the concrete streets of the large, heavily populated city. Since then, they had only stopped at night to sleep and had planned to drive east out of Georgia, through South Carolina, and head for the coast. Now they are stranded in North Carolina with an empty car and no fuel to carry them into the next town. It was an easily made decision to continue north once they touched the blue waves of the Pacific and it was on another supply run, driving between towns and trying to find the coast once again, when Merle took a wrong turn off the highway. They're now standing on the side of a road easily seven miles from the nearest gas station and ten from the nearest town with an hour till sun down and not even a tree for cover.

Now the group stood around the car, glaring at it in distaste.

"I thought it would at least get us out of town and back to the water," Merle spoke up, speaking mostly to himself. "It ain't like we're that far off."

"Are ya kidding? It'll take at least a day if not two to walk back from here," Sean spoke up, now regretting having suggested to travel so far inland for better supplies, "Not to mention how long it would take us to walk into the next state."

"No, we'll find a car 'fore we reach Virginia," Murphy stated as he looked ahead of the vehicle at the empty road and barren fields on either side which lay ahead of them, "Though I'm don't fancy the journey."

"Looks like we're gonna be here awhile," stated Norman, walking around to the back of the car to begin unloading the bags. "Let's set up for the night."

Within fifteen minutes the group had set their bags down in a pile and had started a fire between two small trees about thirty meters from the road. Connor pulled out a few cans from one of the bags and went to sit in front of the low burning fire to start warming the equivalent of dinner. Norman and Sean sat across the fire from Connor, patiently awaiting food, and Merle sat against the tree to his left. Murphy stood leaning against the tree to his right and pulled out a package of cigarettes from his back pocket, in desperate need of one. Daryl was standing by Murphy's right side and reached his arm out, tapping Murphy's left forearm. Murphy allowed Daryl to take one out of the package, then, after lighting his own, he lit Daryl's for him without needing to be asked. Daryl leaning forward a mere inch for the tip of his cigarette to touch the offered flame. After camping and being stuck in a car together for four weeks the group had become pretty comfortable with each other; they had a good idea of the type of people they were now stuck with and knew each other's strengths and weaknesses.

The group was made up of decent men, with short tempers, good instincts, and great senses of humor, all coming from completely different backgrounds.

Norman and Sean were more city boys, working in the filming industry (at this time, early in their careers and hardly known). They had met each other in an audition and became best friends, but the film didn't get very far and now wouldn't since the apocalypse had taken over. They had got stuck in Georgia while promoting the movie and were just scrapping by when they meet the group. Sean was from Texas and studied a Brazilian fighting style before the outbreak. Norman had been living in New York and was an artist. They are both trained to use guns.

Daryl and Merle grew up in the woods of Georgia and had learned how to hunt, fish, etc. and each know how to survive alone in the woods. They can both use guns, are quick with knives, and Daryl is good with a crossbow. They had spent most of their childhood in the woods to stay away from their abusive father, especially after their mother died in a house fire. Daryl spent most of his free time out in the woods alone when Merle wasn't around and after he left home.

Connor and Murphy grew up in Ireland with their mother, their father having walked out when they were babies. They were close ever since they were little and spent most of their time alone because their mom had to work odd hours to keep them going. When they got older, they worked odd jobs, mostly on farms, for extra money. They left Ireland and moved to Boston together in their twenties after saving enough money and still to this day have never been separate for more than five hours; it was rare and strange to see one without the other. Connor had eventually taught himself to trap and snare and Murphy had picked up on using throwing knives, they both can use guns.

After the first week of camping together, after everyone had their beers and begun to relax, each pair took turns telling their stories in full (with Connor and Murphy going first). The brothers also told the group about their work back in Boston after being asked again. After hearing everyone's stories the group got a better understanding of each other and the twins actually earned even more respect for their work because the rest of the group understood and even believed in what they had been doing, whether it was considered wrong at the time or not. Norman, Sean, and the Dixon's told there short pieces as well and, though it wasn't discussed, the group suspected the Dixon's had come from an abusive background and always gave them space when it was needed. After that night the group had become relatively close and now had a mutual understanding of each other.

As odd as they all were, they worked together well and trusted each other almost completely. That trust had been earned from being attacked twice while on the road during that week from small groups of walkers. The group had helped each other, not only protecting their brothers or friends, but each other as a unit. The group didn't spend all their time talking, but when they did find themselves talking it was always mildly pleasant and even fun conversation and they helped to keep each other entertained. Connor and Murphy were always the most active and tried to keep the mood as light as possible considering their situation. At night when the group stopped to camp the twins would wonder off on their own in search of entertainment and would usually end up playing some simple minded game. They'd quietly invite the other members along, but they wouldn't be surprised when they were turned down equally as quietly and the would turn their backs on the other men around the low burning fire and run off into the dark to play as if they were kids on a farm in Ireland again. But it was after the first week Sean and Norman began to take the younger members up on their offer and after two days they were just as eager as the McManus brothers to join in on the fun. Even Daryl and Merle had gotten bored enough just last week and slowly, tentatively joined in on their games, kicking around big rocks, throwing knives, and running around to blow off steam before the group of rowdy men would turn in for the night.

Now the group sat close together around the fire as the sun disappeared behind their car and the stars came out to shine brightly overhead. Daryl had gone and sat down by his brother and Murphy followed him, having Connor move over and to sit between the two. Sean sat to the right of Connor and Norman sat between Sean and Merle. Everyone was smoking, except for Sean, and a large can of beans sat between every two people. They sat there in their group for hours after sunset that night talking, smoking, eating, and laughing freely like they hadn't since the end of the world had begun. They were a strange looking group, as anyone could see just by looking at them, but they got along well and enjoyed each other's company. They were happy to be in their group, better than being alone or with just one other person; it would prove to keep them sane. As the fire started to burn out Norman stood up and walked over to the large pile of bags and dug out everyone's blankets, tossing them to their owners (winter was now fully setting in and they were now needed). That night the group slept peacefully through the night without a single disturbance and slept late into the next morning. It was a beautiful clear, cool, and quiet evening and it seemed that everything, for once, was going right for the group.

And that's exactly when everything went wrong…

It is now ten o'clock in the morning and sun is shining brightly over the still sleeping group. At this moment it is quiet, still. But that will all soon change and the air around them will filled with screams and gun fire.

To BE Continued…