Thanks everyone for your reviews and support :) I wanted to post a map of the state showing the girls path. I've always tried to write stories with accurate geographical information. Link to the map: .
Georgette poured the gas into the trucks tank. When she was done she capped the container and put it into the bed of the truck with the rest. She went around to the drivers seat and hoisted herself up inside. The truck they had had back at Angela's house was not nearly as big as this. She was much higher off the ground and with the plow attached to the front they would be able to move through anything. Candice sat in the seat next to her, reading. Georgette was almost finished the American History book and told Candice she could start it if she wanted too. What else was she supposed to do on the ride? Georgette was unsure of how long it would take to get to Cheyenne. When she started the engine the truck revved, making her heart beat a little bit faster. She always liked driving and she knew on the highway she'd be able to go as fast as she wanted too. She backed up and drove out of the parking lot. She kept the map spread out on her lap. They had a few miles to go before they reached the highway and for now they were traveling on a two lane road. It was sunny out and there wasn't a cloud in sight. She took a peek at the map. There wasn't a major town in between Glenrock and Cheyenne. There were a few small villages. They'd stop and see what supplies they could find but Georgette wanted to get to Cheyenne as quickly as possible. She rolled down the windows, enjoying the spring air.
Candice shut the book after getting through the first chapter. As intrigued as she was by it she could only read for so long. She looked at her sister who was focused on the road. They were surrounded by wide open plains. It was so much different then the wooded area they had grown up in. The white-capped mountains could be seen in the distance. It was so beautiful. She wondered what Georgia would look like, or what any of the other states would look like for that matter. Would they took be wide open or would there be thick forests? She looked over at the radio and saw it was off. Angela had used a radio many times when they first arrived in Wyoming. She wanted to try and contact a group or anybody else but there had been nothing but static and she eventually gave up, happy with it being just the three of them. Now seemed like a good time to try again. She turned it on.
"What are you doing?" asked Georgette.
"I wanna see if we can hear any voices." Candice played with the channels, most of it was static and she couldn't make anything out. Everything was a mystery and she hated it. Somewhere out there could be a huge sanctuary were thousands of people were living. It frustrated her. How could the world be so disconnected. What was their motivation to keep on going? To continue on the human species? She had never been really suicidal but she often thought about the meaning of life. "Do you think if there was a base in Cheyenne there'd be radio signals?" asked Candice. Georgette shrugged and said
"Maybe they don't want new people." Candice hoped if there were people there that they'd welcome them with open arms. Besides they had no interest in staying there, they were just going to be passing through.
She looked out the window. Every so often she'd see an abandoned car on the side of the road. What were the owners of those cars doing when they pulled over? Were they attacked, did they get out and decide to continue on foot, or did they simply give up and put a bullet in their brain?
Soon they were on the highway. Candice saw the excitement in Georgette's eyes. Her sister had always had a need for speed but the back roads of Wyoming hadn't provided enough space to drive more then 40 miles per hour. She felt the car pick up speed.
"We're in a truck not a race car," said Candice smiling. She looked over at the speedometer to see they were going 100 miles per hour.
"I feel so free," said Georgette. Candice just laughed and looked back up at the road. She screamed and yelled
"Look out!" They smashed into a walker, sending bits and pieces of it flying into the air. Brains and blood coated their windshield so they could no longer see. She screamed as they spun out. Georgette was laughing and Candice tried to grip onto the seat but ended up lurching over into her sister's lap. The car came to a sudden halt. Georgette was still laughing, while Candice remained on her lap in shock.
"Aww man," she said, "This is awesome, I wish a herd would cross the street then we'd have some real fun!" Candice sat up and said
"We could of rolled over and gotten killed!"
"Lighten up," she said, "This is fun."
"Not if we could get killed," said Candice.
"We always have the chance of getting killed," said Georgette, "We're all gonna die eventually so why not have some fun while you're still alive." Candice didn't answer and instead turned on the wind shield wipers. She watched, disgusted, as it took off the sludge on the glass. Georgette was still laughing to herself as she turned back onto the road.
The first town they hit was Douglas. Georgette drove slowly in, looking out for any signs that people could be living in the town. The first clear sign she drove past. It was a little green four door Honda. She could still hear the clicking sound of the exhaust system cooling down like it had been recently driven.
"Do you think we should stop?" asked Candice.
"I don't know," said Georgette. She scanned the buildings carefully, trying to spot movement in the windows. She had respect for other people when it came to survival. She didn't want to clear out a persons main supply of medicine and food. She kept driving on slowly. She saw a crude wooden sign on the side of the road. When they got closer she could see what it said. Her blood went cold. It read: We are watching you, you're in our line of fire. Candice and Georgette looked at each other with unspoken fear. Just as Georgette stepped on the gas pedal bullet ricocheted off the truck. She didn't look to see where they were coming from and took off at full speed. Georgette could see the end of the buildings where the open highway began again. Just as she thought they were safe she felt pain pierce her upper arm. She screamed out but kept going. When they were finally out of town she stomped on the brakes. Georgette looked at her arm. It was covered in blood. There was a bullet wound in her shoulder. Candice was already rummaging in the back for bandages and peroxide.
"Fuck!" she said, gripping her arm. The bullet had not gone all the way through and it was stuck somewhere inside her arm.
"We're gonna need to get the bullet out," said Candice, pulling out a pair of tweezers. If she didn't she'd get led poisoning or an infection. She put her arm on console in the middle of the seats. She felt her sister wiping the wound down with peroxide. It stung but she kept the pain to herself. She let out a hiss of pain as Candice drew back the skin and inserted the tweezers. She gripped onto the steering wheel as her sister dug around. "Got it!" said Candice. She pulled out a silver bullet and dropped it into the cup holders.
"You'd make a good nurse," said Georgette. Her sister seemed to patch her up whenever she got injured.
"Maybe someday," said Candice with a smile. After she'd bandaged Georgette's arm they got back on the road. "What would you be if we lived in the normal world?" she asked.
"I don't know," said Georgette, "Maybe a cop or something to do with the military." She would be happy to continue toting around guns and living a risky lifestyle, even if it meant getting shot in the arm once in awhile.
Candice fell asleep soon after fixing up her sister's arm. She could see herself as a doctor or a nurse. When she first had to amputate her sister's toes it had started out as a disturbing, terrifying experience but as she went on she got more confident about it. If she could help more people and not just her sister it would be awesome.
She sunk into a deep sleep which opened up a whole new world. She was in a bedroom. It was pretty, with wood floors, a big white bed, and sunlight pouring through a long window. On the bed lay a blonde girl. Her face was blank, she wasn't smiling or frowning. Her hands rested on her stomach. She seemed to be alone. She remained motionless on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Candice jumped when the girl suddenly sat up and let out a sob. She wasn't sure what was going on. A second earlier the girl had seemed fine. She curled herself up into a ball and continued to cry. Candice was unsure what to do. There was no one around. The girl slipped out of the bed and went over to the window and looked outside. She clearly could not see Candice so she followed her and stood behind her. Outside Candice could see wide open fields, a barn and what looked like people carting away bodies. What had happened? She tried to get a better look at the people's faces. She didn't recognize any of them except for one man who was helping load several bodies into the back of a truck. It took her a moment to realize that he was the man from the jail, except his face wasn't bleeding and he had much less hair. She watched him intently, not realizing the girl had walked away from the window. She heard a door shut and looked to see that the girl had gone into the bathroom. She quickly followed her in. The girl was staring at herself in the mirror. Candice stood behind her again, seeing her own face in the mirror. She looked a lot like the girl. They had to be close in age. She had the same blonde hair, facial structures, eyes, and body. The girl walked away from the mirror and locked the door. She then went back to the sink and pulled out a small knife from inside her shirt sleeve. She brought the blade up to her wrist and to Candice's horror, sliced herself open. Blood immediately fell onto the floor at her feet, landing in thick ruby red droplets. Candice heard someone pounding on the door. She heard a woman's voice yelling in a deep southern drawl.
"Beth open the door right now!"
"Candice, we're in the next town." Georgette looked over at her sister who had just woken up.
"What?" she said, rubbing her eyes.
"We're in Glendo," said Georgette, "It's the next town on the map. It's really small but we should stop in anyway, see what we can find." She turned off the highway and drove down into the town. It wasn't much more then a cluster of mobile homes. It didn't look like anyone had been living there for awhile now. She drove around the town and spotted a pharmacy. She had yet to see one walker. She figured everyone who had lived there had cleared out to try and find sanctuary in the city, but she stayed on guard. She got out of the car and peered inside the windows. There didn't seem to be anything inside. She pulled open the door and found that the shelves were still stocked. She took what she knew they needed and then got out.
Candice looked at the map. They had two more towns left to go before Cheyenne. They had everything they needed now and probably wouldn't be stopping again. She put the map back up on the dashboard for her sister to keep an eye on. She looked in the rear view mirror and was surprised to see dark clouds behind them.
"Looks like it's gonna rain," she said. She saw her sister look behind them. She pulled over to the side of the road and got out. Candice followed her. They stood at the back of the truck listening. The clouds flashed with lightning and a loud rumble of thunder echoed throughout the valley.
"Looks like a bad storm," said Georgette. Candice could feel rain starting to softly fall, speckling the dusty, dry road with drops of water."We better go," They hurried back into the car and drove off.
Ten minutes later it was coming down in sheets. The windshield wipers couldn't keep up with the amount of the water and Georgette could barely see.
"Just pull over!" yelled Candice, but she was determined to keep going. Thunder shoke the car, and lightning flashed close around them. Suddenly she felt the car start to bump around. They were no longer on the road anymore. She looked out straight ahead and saw the shape of a building in the distance. She drove further and saw it was a barn. She stepped on the brakes. They skidded a few feet before coming to a complete stop. She turned off the truck. The rain sounded like bullets on the roof.
"Ready to run?" she said, looking over at Candice. She nodded. Georgette grabbed the bag full of meat and water. She threw open the door and jumped out. She was soaked instantly. She slammed the door shut and ran towards the house. A clap of thunder made her run faster and soon they were both at the barn door. Georgette yanked at it an pulled it open. It was dark and damp inside and she was pretty sure she had landed on a pile of old hay. Her sister pulled out her flashlight and turned it on. A walker lunged out of the darkness as them. Georgette reached for her gun to realize it wasn't in her belt where it usually was. She must of left it in the car. She dove out of the way as the walker landed on its face. She stomped down on its head with all her strength. Its skull caved in and her shoe was covered in brains. Disgusted, Georgette rubbed her shoe in the hay, trying to clean it off. She heard her sister say
"This'll do for the night." Georgette looked around. It was a typical barn, it had stalls for animals, and a hay loft with a ladder. It would do.