SORRY! I submitted it, but apperantly it didn't. Darn Fanfiction problems! Thanks to AlexTheMortal, zackt2010, angie2282, and Zro Kemuri 9t6 for your reviews! By the way, I have a poll up on which character of The Apocalypse would you want me to right next. I've done Paige and Leslie, but who shall be next for the one-shot treatment? All right, so we know the location of Tally, now to the mode of transport!
Rose had decided to wait one more day, and it was in the early morning of the third day at the house where she gathered everyone outside.
"Man... I liked that house." Miguel moaned, hoisting his rifle over his shoulder.
"Well, we have a mission to do." Rose glanced at Miguel. She didn't trust him, but that was likely because of his appearance. He was a good worker, everyone knew that. "As you know, we are heading to England where, as far as we know, Tally is. The main objective is to find her."
"Obviously." Miguel muttered.
"Has everyone got their packs and weapons?"
A chorus of 'yes ma'ams' hit the air.
"Good. Follow me." Rose led the group down the dusty trail, which once would have been yellowy and hot, but now it was cold and dark, much like the rest of the world. The trail was small, so the group went single file. It spun and twisted like a snake. Little crevices made the trail hard going, as if you got your ankle stuck in there, it could snap quite easily.
They walked in silence for about an hour until they spotted a gulley with trickling water. Rose followed the water for another pressing nine miles, which was another three hours. The river slowly widened, up until an intersection where the river went left or right. For the non-military people, their legs started to burn from the constant walking.
"How can you manage this kind of walking?" Leslie asked James when they had a brief break at the intersection.
James shrugged. "We just do. Years of effort on every ones part have made us strong." James suddenly grinned.
"What is it?" Leslie asked, taking a long drink of water.
"I forgot to ask, how did you get those scars in the first place?" James asked. "I know you got them when facing Death, but how? Did you have a punch-up?"
"I wish it was that heroic." Leslie said, smiling. "I was actually thrown into a hotdog cart..."
"Fair enough." James said, nodding. "At least you didn't get hit by any mustard. I know your reaction to mustard."
"I forgot about that, actually..." Leslie muttered, scratching his cheek.
James clapped him on the back. "I haven't. I still remember taking you to hospital because I put mustard in your ham sandwiches. You swelled up like a damn balloon."
"All right everyone, breaks over!" Rose called out.
"Hey, Rose." Miguel spoke up. "I thought you said we weren't walking the way. How long till we get to where we going?"
"Oh, let's see... about..." Rose glanced at a watch on her wrist. "Another 24 miles or so. About eight hours with breaks every three hours."
"Fun." Miguel muttered, glancing up at the clouds which constantly swirled around and around.
The journey was hard, especially for Lorraine and Christine, who were worried about becoming dehydrated again, much like when they managed to escape from Papa Hades for a brief time. Leslie was being helped by James, while Zeke, Paige, and Conner all soldiered on individually.
The scenery didn't change, only the river which broadened and widened, from a trickle, to a stream, then the full blown river. The terrain continued to be flat with slight hills, which was practically the whole of Utah.
"Hey... what's that?" Leslie asked James, pointing to something in the distance.
James squinted. "A bridge, I think."
Leslie fell silent again, and in ten minutes, the steel bridge appeared, flat with slight stone inclines.
Roger nudged Paige next to him. "The river, by the way, is called The Dirty Devil River. Runs all the way through Wayne, Utah."
"Are we near a town or something, then?" Paige asked.
Roger nodded. "Yes. 2 miles away is Hanksville. You'll likely see the ruined building tops around 1 mile away."
Paige nodded, but Rose motioned for everyone to come to a halt at the start of the bridge.
"Okay everyone, that's all the main walking today." Rose said, before motioning to an abandoned bus on the side of the road. It was dirty yellow, the glass smashed out. "Pile in everyone."
"How convienent." Miguel muttered, hopping on the bus first. As he was first, he was first to see the corpses all in the bus. They were withered and thin from a long time of being dead. The bus driver's body was slumped forward, a large hole in the back of his skull. The bus was practically full, and even Miguel was slightly disgusted that they were mostly children, withered and fallen into the aisle.
"Must be a school bus." Rose said. "Poor kids. I hope they died quickly." Rose turned to the larger members of the group, or more accurately, Gordon, James, Jake, and Chris. "Guys, let's get the bodies out of here pronto."
"You can't just leave them out here to rot." Lorraine exclaimed, surprised at Roses actions as the children's bodies were lined neatly behind the bus.
"Lorraine, it's hard to see bodies, I know that." Rose said. "But if we stop to bury every single body we come across, even if it was just the children, we would get no closer to saving Tally and stopping Death. Understand?"
Lorraine nodded, and grabbed Christine's hand, biting her lip.
It took five minutes for all the bodies to be lined up neatly, and it was hard for everyone to look at the small bodies. Ten, twelve at most were the ages, apart from the driver. Rose went into the driving seat, and turned the engine on. It spluttered, but turned on. "Good, it works." Rose muttered. "All right everyone, get on."
The bus filled quickly, and Rose started to drive. She turned the bus in a U-turn, and headed up the road. They only spotted one more car, its top ripped straight off. In quite a short time, Rose parked the bus next to a ruined building, the walls caved in.
Miguel smiled. "So, that's your way, huh."
In front of them was a small airfield, with two hangers. The ruined building was some kind of waiting area, from the look of the lines of wrecked seats.
"It's mine." Gabrielle spoke up. "I brought an airfield, as well."
"It's quite far away from your house though." Leslie said.
"We have a jeep back at the house. But we didn't use it because not all of you would fit in." Gabrielle said, shrugging.
Rose walked purposely to one of the hangers, where a small plane stood proud, it's silver gleam now dull. It was big enough though to support around thirty occupants.
"There is your answer Miguel." Rose said to Miguel. "We're taking a plane."
(Random note: I have actually mapped out their journey on Google Earth, so Hanksville, the Dirty Devil River and the bridge and practically everything you'll see in this story are real places. It's wierd though...
See you next time!)