An arrow embedded in the metal of the bus just above the window of the driver's side, startling the hell out of Tank, who was still dozing in the driver's seat. Toombs looked out the side windows of the bus as Trix came into the driver's window and attacking Tank, playfully. Link came off the bus and greeted Sy and Zero, raising an eyebrow at Alex, Björne and Fares.
"Who are you?" Tank asked coming off the bus with Toombs.
"This is Alex, Fares and Björne." Zero introduced the new members. "Their new members of the crew."
"Wait, what?" Tank shook his head. "No, it's bad enough we had to keep Trix. But he's got skills we can use. What the fuck can the three of you do?"
"Um, I was a game designer before the apocalypse." Björne said.
"I was unemployed." Fares answered.
"I worked off and on, but I have some military experience." Alex explained.
"See, useless." Tank ranted, throwing his hands up in the air.
Zero grabbed Tank by the shirt and slammed him against the side of the bus. "I'll be the judge of their usefulness and if they aren't, they're staying anyway." he growled.
"But.."
"Tank!" Zero barked. "End of conversation. You don't like it, get to walking." he snapped, shoving Tank into the bus as he stepped back.
"Fuck this." Tank snapped, going back on the bus. "I don't give a shit. We die cause of them, not my fault."
"You'll the first to go, then." Sy rolled her eyes. "And we'll all stand around and watch."
Tank narrowed his eyes at her, starting the bus up and pulling his sunglasses on. Zero turned to Link, who held up a hand to him.
"Stuff's all packed away, gas tank is full and Toombs has been working on our next spot." he told him, before he even asked.
"Good, then. We can all get on the bus and head the fuck out. I'm sick of being here already." Zero said, heading around the bus to the door.
"Come on guys." Sy said waving the new three to follow her, Link and Toombs. "Say good bye to this place."
"Bye." Björne said looking back and spitting on the ground. "Hope we never see you again." he mumbled climbing on board with the rest.
Tank pulled the doors shut and Toombs pushed a thick steel pipe in welded on hooks on the doors and the sides of them, securing that the doors stayed closed and nothing could open them up. The bus jerked forward as Tank hit the gas, moving the vehicle forward on the cracked and pot holed road, leaving behind their camp and the city they'd been in. They headed in the direction Toombs had highlighted on the map. Tank sat in the driver's seat driving, Zero sat in the seat behind him with Link, Toombs sat in the seat two rows back at a table that been put were another bus seat had been, but was ripped out to put the table there for his mapping. Five other rows of bus seats were taken out and cots were bolted in like bunk beds on each side, there was six of those, another 4 rows of seats than the last of the seat after that were taken out to make room for all the gear and supplies they needed like food, more guns, ammo, clothing, shoes, chairs, tents, tools to build things and repair the bus, spare tires, radios, wood, two boxes of grenades, glow sticks and flares among other things. Fares and Björne sat in one of the two rows in front of Toombs and Sy had Alex laying down in one of the bottom cots checking over his wound as she sat on an empty box beside him. She cut the gauze from around his chest that held the other gauze in place and pulled that gauze away. The wound was pussing still a bit and it was reddish and a little puckered around the edges. She spread it apart with her index and middle fingers, more puss came out with some blood and Alex hissed.
"I have to flush this." she told him letting the wound go. "Get the solution really in there to make sure. Wish I had some antibiotic for you to take with this too, but I don't. The hospitals we've been in ran out trying to treat infected people with it, in hopes it help."
"It's alright." Alex replied looking her in the eyes. "I'm sure I'll survive without it as long as I got you looking after me." he smiled.
Sy blushed looking down at the bus floor. "Thanks, I'm trying." she smiled encouragingly at him. "Zero, I need you." she called to the front of the bus."
"Why do you need him?" Alex asked watching Zero get up and come towards them.
"I need someone to hold open the wound as I flush it out and you can't do it yourself and I can't cause I need both hands." she explained to him as Zero pulled up an upside gallon sized bucket and sat next to her by him.
"What's up?" he asked.
"Hold on." Sy said, digging out iodine and a 35ml syringe. She sucked the iodine into the syringe and set it on her lap. "I need you to turn on your side facing the wall." She instructed Alex. "And I need you to hold open his would the best you can. Wash your hands with this though. He doesn't need anymore infections." she told Zero handing him a medical hand sanitizer wipe.
"Okay." Zero nodded, ripping open the wipe and rubbing his hands clean with them.
Zero pulled Alex's wound as far open as he could with his thumb and index finger. Alex groaned in agony, balling up his fist and hitting the side of the bus. Sy frowned softly, picking up the syringe and using it to flush the wound out. Alex screamed in pain, hitting the wall again, as Sy refilled the syringe and squirted more iodine into the wound. When she was done she dropped the syringe on the floor and pressed a fresh piece of gauze to it, carefully pressing it into the wound to soak up what was inside of it, Alex's body tensed and Zero held him down with his other hand.
"You're doing good, man." he encouraged him.
"Tell me that when the shit is over." Alex groaned.
"It's over." Sy laughed, tossing aside the dirty gauze and ripping open a new package of it. "Thanks Zero." she smiled at him.
"Anytime, sis." Zero smiled back, patting her on the back and kissing her temple, then going back to the front of the bus.
"You two are related?" Alex asked, sitting up so Sy could wrap up his side.
"Yeah, he's my older brother." She replied tying the gauze around his torso to secure the gauze over his wound.
"Got anymore siblings?"
Sy dropped her hands to her knees and looked at him with hurt guarded eyes. Alex looked at her, gulping with regret.
"I'm sorry I didn't..."
"It's okay. You didn't know." she whispered, cleaning up. "I had a twin brother. He was with us for the first two months, but we got ambushed one night by the eaters and they got him." Sy pressed her eyes shut, fighting back the tears for a moment, then regained herself.
"You kill him too?" Alex asked, regretting that the moment it came out of his mouth.
"No," Sy scoffed, smiling faintly. "He got away before we really knew what happened to him. Haven't seen him since. Likely not too."
"I'm really sorry about that, Sy." Alex frowned, resting his hand on her shoulder.
Sy smiled, resting her hand on his, smiling at him warmly. "It's alright. I'd rather remember him for who he was and not for what he probably is now."
Alex's hand slid up her shoulder to the back side of her neck, they stared each other in the eyes as he pulled her closer. His cracked lips pressed to her chapped ones, their eyes closing the farther they melted into the kiss like a chocolate bar in the noon day sun. A gun click and locked into the loaded position and pressed to Alex's temple. Gulping, he opened his eyes to find it was Sy holding one of her pistols to his head, her face blank as they pulled apart. He licked his lips nervously, tasting her chapstick as he did.
"Don't ever do that again." she whispered to him. "Got it? There's more shit to worry about then you wanting down my pants." she told him, putting the gun away and walking up to the front of the bus to talk with Toombs about their next rest stop. Alex's head slowly dropped as rejection set into him like the nail that ripped open his side as Fares shoved him against a fence to save him from getting eaten by one of the eaters they encountered.
Sy looked back over her shoulder at him as she leaned against her hands on the map covered table. She saw his head drop, face full of rejection and he laid back on the cot, an arm over his eyes. A sting of regret and guilt settled in her as she realized that he possibly just wanted to kiss her and not jump her, because who knows when the last time it was he saw a female and got some off her. She blinked hard, shaking her head and forcing herself to focus on what it was Toombs was say about it would take a day and a half to get to the boarder and not even sure they could pass it.
"We'll try any and every way we can." She told him. "No matter what it takes, we'll get pass the boarder and see what's on the other side."
"Whatever you say, Sy." Toombs nodded, circling the name of the city they'd be going to if they got passed the boarder and making a highlighter orange line where the boarder would be at.
"Yeah, what I say." she mumbled back at him, earning a look from Link and Zero.
Zero gave Link a nod and Link got up and moved to another seat as Zero pulled Sy down into the seat beside him. He wrapped an arm tight around her shoulders, so she couldn't get up and rested his forehead against her temple.
"Why don't you take a nap." he whispered into her ear, only Sy hearing what he said. "You've only slept 6 hours in four days. You need the rest. You're no use to us asleep on your feet, we need your bow and ground skills and Alex back there needs a medic to keep him alive." Zero told her. "Just a few winks, two or three hours. Nothing is going to happen to us on the road and we'll be riding for at least 8 hours, it won't hurt, Sy-Sy."
Sy adjusted her sun goggles and looked at Zero, tapping her forehead on his in a mini head bump and smiled. "Two hours and that's it." she warned him pointing a finger in his face. Sy was the only person on the planet that could get way with a move like that, Zero thought. "Any more and I'll cap you in the foot." Zero smiled impressively at his sister and quickly kissed her cheek.
"Scout's honor." he said pounding a fist on his bulletproof Kevlar vest.
Sy rolled her eyes at him, shifted and laid her head on his bulky shoulder, sighing. "I want my life back." she groaned, dropping off into pitch black dreams.
"We all do." Zero whispered, looking out the front windows of the bus. "We all do."