by Mason King
Hunter went through a quick version of what he and Kendall had experienced respectively.
“You lost your fiancé? Wow, I’m so sorry. That’s interesting though, I’d have bet money that you and Kendall were together. It’s hard to believe you two have known each other not much longer than we have.”
“Yeah, at this point it feels like I’ve known her and her parents for years. They’re good people. Tough as nails.” Hunter finished, realizing he had been damn lucky to get connected with that family. They had saved his ass.
Brad finally pulled over in to an abandoned gas station, “Worth a shot right?” He shot Hunter a grin.
The cars all had the same idea and each one pulled into a station. Frank was the only one who still had a wallet on him, so he used his credit card and miraculously there was still enough to gas to fill up their tanks. Trevor and Jonathan broke into the store and were able to find a few things. A gas can allowed them to take some additional fuel with them, and they grabbed some drinks and food.
Anything they thought they could fit, they grabbed. Jonathan grabbed a Yoo-hoo for Jamie for when she woke up. She had finally fallen asleep in Ashley’s lap and she looked too peaceful, no one had the heart to wake her up.
Each person took turns using the restroom, and then the group congregated together to come up with a game plan. Kendall told the group that she had tried to find a radio station that could give them an update on what was going on with no luck. Brad admitted that he and Hunter hadn’t even tried, causing Kendall to shoot Hunter a dirty look, which he returned. That exchange also earned Hunter a nudge from Brad with a knowing glance. Hunter shrugged him off, but admittedly appreciated his attempt at a joke.
While the morning had been eventful, following equally eventful days, the group had felt lighter since being on the road and, somewhat, out of harm’s way.
They continued to talk, getting to know one another and trying to decide what their next move would be.
“You know, we could camp out here for the night.” Jonathan, who hadn’t been much for ideas since the groups had merged, offered suddenly. “I saw some blankets and stuff inside and we could always take turns keeping watch. There’s food, power, and we’re miles from the last sights of any Dead we’ve seen. Maybe it’s time we try and get some rest and regroup with a next move tomorrow.”
The group looked around at one another before eagerly agreeing.
“I’d kill for a shower…” Kendall finally confessed.
Hunter cleared his throat and fake coughed, “Girl!” before clearing his throat again and causing the entire group to laugh. Jonathan picked Jamie up out of the car and carried her inside while Ashley made a bed for her out of the only sleeping bag they could in the store. Jamie was still fast asleep while everyone else got themselves set up. Everyone got in a circle and settled in with various drinks and snacks.
They went around the circle and everyone went into more detail about what they had been doing when the outbreak happened, who they’d lost, and anything else they could think of. After a while Jamie finally woke up and drank her Yoo-hoo. She asked what happened to Elliot and Jeanne which caused everyone to go silent once more.
“They aren’t with us, sweetie. They had to stay back.”
“Oh. Are they okay?”
Ashley looked to Jonathan for help, she had no clue how to explain to her 9-year-old daughter what was going on.
“They’ll be okay. They’re in a better place now.” Jonathan promised Jamie, who didn’t seem convinced but continued to drink her chocolate milk and munch on her chips.
Ashley excused herself from the group, “bathroom.” She mumbled before rushing off.
When she returned it was clear to everyone that she had been crying, but no one called attention to it. Hunter knew he was having a hard enough time dealing with all of this emotionally. He couldn’t imagine what she was going through trying to remain calm and strong for her daughter.
This time it was Frank who offered to stay up and keep watch.
Everyone fell in to a peaceful sleep and for the first time in days, nothing eventful happened to cause anyone to wake until they were absolutely ready the next morning.
***
Kendall woke the next morning, feeling fully rested. She lay there for several long minutes, just listening to the sounds around her. Before opening her eyes to face the day, she wanted to get a good feel for what she was expecting. All she heard was the soft breathing of her friends that were still sleeping. She finally peeped one eye open and looked to her left to see her mom still sound asleep, snoring softly. Turning to her left, she expected to see Hunter still sleeping, but his make-shift bed was empty.
Kendall finally sat up and stretched before quietly getting up so as not to disturb her mother. She needed her rest.
Kendall found Hunter outside in front of the building, staring in to the road as though lost in thought.
“Morning.” She called, making sure not to sneak up on him. Hey, she’d seen what he was capable of after all.
“Morning.” He answered without turning around. “How’d you sleep?”
Kendall realized suddenly that his southern drawl was more prominent in the morning. There were days she sometimes didn’t even notice it, but this morning it was really coming out; probably because he was so tired.
Hunter broke her train of thought by asking. “Do you think this is what it will be like now?”
“What do you mean?”
“Our lives. From now on. Find a place, rest, run, then do it all over again. Do you think this is what it’s going to be like from now on?” He finally turned to her to make eye contact.
“I honestly hadn’t really thought about it. But I guess…yeah. We’re in survival mode now.” Kendall turned towards the road, looking in the same direction Hunter had when she’d walked up.
“It sucks.” Hunter continued.
“It does. We just have to hope this isn’t forever, and make it until something changes, you know?”
A rumble in the distance caused Kendall and Hunter to abruptly end their conversation and turn towards the opposite direction of the road.
The road was quite long and they were able to see a truck in the distance making its way towards the gas station.
“Shit.” Hunter cursed loudly, and he and Kendall went back into the gas station where everyone was, some still sleeping but most everyone was slowly waking up.
Hunter locked the door and told everyone to stay down. Kendall made sure to quietly tell everyone that someone was coming, while Hunter stayed ducked near the door to keep watch.
Everyone remained quiet and Hunter’s eyes were locked outside. The truck pulled into the gas station and 3 young men jumped out. The first went around to the pump and hollered happily when he realized he was able to fill up his truck. Hunter watched as the first man proceeded to fill his tank and the other two started making their way to the front door. Neither one of them seemed phased to find it locked, but Hunter continued to hold his breath, waiting to see if they were going to attempt to break in. Both men walked on opposite sides of the building, scoping out the store. As they disappeared out of sight, heading towards the back, Hunter cursed once more, waiting for the inevitable.
Sure enough he heard it, “Well I’ll be damned! Jesse come look at this!”
Kendall looked to Hunter questioningly, and he mouthed, “The cars.”
Kendall’s eyes went wide, realizing the implications of that. They knew there were people inside.
Only a few seconds passed before the two men were back at the front of the store, pressing their faces against the windows and looking inside. They were joined by their third counterpart and after some whispers back and forth, one of the men grabbed a long gun out of the bag strapped to his back, and gave one good crack to the door with the butt of his weapon. The door splintered into a thousand pieces before shattering to the ground. Jamie, who had still been asleep, screamed at the sudden noise that woke her up
. Ashley and Jonathan instinctively pulled her close between them.
Hunter and Kendall both stood up, followed quickly by Frank. The groups made eye contact with one another, but no one said a word. The sound of the men’s boots crunching the glass beneath their feet was the only sound in the small store. Brad and Trevor, who had been camped out in the back part of the store, slowly made their way to the front to stand with Hunter, Kendall and Frank. Diana stayed back with Ashley and her family.
“Well, well, what do we have here?” One of the men said smugly, walking towards Hunter and Kendall.
“Look y’all, we don’t want any trouble. We were just camping out for the night, we were planning on heading out shortly.” Hunter said, hoping to quickly diffuse the situation.
The man simply looked at him before turning his gaze to Kendall and giving her a salacious grin.
“Why the rush? You all are the first group of people we’ve come across in a day or more. We were starting to get a little lonely, weren’t we fellas?”
The two men behind him nodded.
“Those your cars out back?” The man continued.
Hunter nodded.
“Nice jeep. That yours, I’m assuming?” He finally took his eyes off of Kendall and stared Hunter down.
“Yes.”
“Keys.” Was all he said before holding his hand out to Hunter.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Give me your keys.”
Hunter took a step forward, “Look…” but he didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence. The second he took a step forward the two men pulled their guns out and pointed them straight at Hunter, who stopped dead in his tracks.
“Hunter…just give them the keys.” Kendall spoke up. The man who had been showing an interest in her looked her way.
“She speaks. And what’s your name, sweetheart?”
Kendall simply looked back at him.
“Not feeling very social, are we?” The man walked a full circle around Kendall before standing in front of her once more.
Hunter pulled his keys out of his pocket and held them up, then started to walk towards the man.
“Here.” Hunter handed them to him, “Seriously, we don’t want any trouble. Take the jeep, it’s all yours.”
The man shot Hunter a fake smile, “Thanks, bud. Now.” The man grabbed Kendall by her arm roughly and began to pull her out of the store. “Looks like we’ll be on our way.”
“No!” Frank and Hunter screamed simultaneously and Brad and Trevor finally pulled up the guns they had been holding down beside their legs and pointed them directly at the man.
“Take the Jeep and piss off. You’re not taking her with you.” Brad called, spitefully.
“Oh, we’re not?”
“No. You’re not.”
The other two men kept their guns up and pointed at Hunter as they were before. Brad and Trevor had their guns pointed straight at the man who had Kendall.
No one spoke for a second and Brad prompted once more, “Let. Her. Go.”
The man looked at Brad and said, “Make me.”
Brad did just that by shooting him in the arm that was holding Kendall, causing him to immediately let go. He screamed, and the other two men were so shell shocked they continued to stand where they were. Hunter jumped at their surprise and was able to duck and move away. By the time the two men realized that they needed to react and protect their partner, Hunter already had one of them knocked off their feet. The third man let out a shot and the commotion in the store became an all-out chaos.
Kendall went to run towards Hunter to help him take down the two men, but was immediately jerked backwards. The first man that had been shot had a firm grip on her foot and she stumbled, falling hard to the floor. Kendall quickly sent her free foot directly in to the man’s nose; she could feel the crush of the bones beneath her heel and he let go, rolling over to his side and yelling, “son of a bitch!”
As he had turned over, Kendall noticed a pistol tucked in to the waistband of his jeans. Thinking quickly, she grabbed a gun and quickly rolled out of his reach, looking for the second shooter. She found him, heading directly for her father and without hesitating she sent a bullet directly into his back. He went down, but as he fell he sent one last shot flying directly towards Frank, who had been making his way to Diana to protect her.
“Dad!” Kendall screamed, suddenly feeling like a 12-year-old girl scared for her father. Frank looked up, but was flung backwards as the bullet buried itself into the top part of his shoulder.
“Daddy!” She screamed again, tears streaming down her face. Frank fell to the floor and Diana quickly made her way towards him. Kendall stood up and scanned the room to figure out where the threat was. Hunter had one of the men pinned beneath him, and he was making no move to escape. The other two men were both down and severely wounded. Kendall headed directly towards her mother and father, making sure to stomp on the ankle of the man whose nose she’d already broken, ensuring he wasn’t getting up anytime soon.
“Dad, dad, talk to me. Are you okay?”
Frank looked at her calmly, “I’m okay. Let’s get the fuck out of here and we can worry about my shoulder later. Let’s go!”
Diana ushered Ashley, Jamie and Jonathan outside while Kendall made sure to stay with her father. Brad and Trevor pointed their guns directly at the man Hunter had pinned, so that Hunter could let go of him. As Hunter took a few steps backwards away from the man, he got to his knees as if about to charge, only to stop in his tracks when Brad and Trevor simultaneously took a step closer.
“Get on your stomach with your hands behind your head.”
The man listened, cursing them the entire time.
They made it outside and everyone got into a vehicle. Ashley, Jonathan and Jamie were in one, Jonathan was behind the wheel. Brad and Trevor were in another and Kendall was behind the wheel of Hunters jeep with her parents. Hunter hopped in to the passenger seat beside Kendall and was ready to roll.
The three vehicles drove away as quickly as possible. Hunter looked back at the store and his heart slammed in his chest as he saw the only uninjured man come out, with a shotgun pointed directly at the last vehicle in line,
The vehicle containing Jonathan, Ashley and Jamie.
The man fired two shots directly in to the vehicle, causing it to swerve off the road.
“Oh my god.” Kendall cried, “We have to go back!”
Right as Kendall was about to turn the Jeep around, the car containing their three friends burst in to flames.
Kendall continued driving but put her hand over her mouth, doing her best to suppress a sob. Hunter looked in the rearview mirror to see Brad and Trevor crying as well, looking forward as though trying to figure out what they needed to do.
As an answer, Hunter quietly told Kendall that she needed to keep going. When Kendall looked at him, devastated, the car exploded.
The sound was one Hunter knew he would not be forgetting for the duration of his life.
The car ride continued in the most silence Hunter had experienced since this entire situation had begun. All that could be heard was the sound of every single person weeping to themselves.
Hunter wasn’t sure about everyone else, but this was easily the most tragic experience he had endured for the duration of this epidemic. For someone to do something so heartless to a family, a family with a child.
Hunter was disgusted. Wasn’t it bad enough that we were having to protect themselves from the Dead, now they had to worry about protecting themselves from other survivors as well? God.
Hunter was feeling utterly helpless until he heard Frank let out a cry from the backseat.
Hunter turned around to see Diana doing her best with a bottle of water and a piece of her t-shirt to clean out his wound. He listened for a moment to hear Diana tell him that it just grazed him and he was going to be fine.
After a while Kendall pulled the car over to the side of the road. Brad and Trevor stopped directly
behind them, and every person stepped out of their respective vehicle.
Once everyone was out, they stood silently in a circle. No one knew what to say, but it was obvious what they were all thinking. Trevor was actually the first to speak, “Goodbye.” Was all he said, so quietly that it was a wonder anyone even heard him.
One by one, everyone else said “goodbye” softly. Mourning the loss of their companions, even as short of a time as they’d known them, without saying too much. That made five people they had lost as a group. That number wasn’t counting Allison, or anyone that had been lost prior to them all meeting.
Of everyone, Kendall was taking it the hardest. She refused to speak to anyone, even as they got back in their cars and began to drive. Hunter had taken over driving. Kendall sat in the passenger seat and stared in to space without speaking. Frank and Diana both tried to talk to her and she merely ignored the. Hunter didn’t try. He knew what she needed was time. Nothing can make the loss of someone feel better, and Kendall had been the one to take the most interest in getting to know Ashley and Jamie.
As night began to fall, they had driven almost two hundred miles, having stopped once when they found a gas station to fill up at. Hunter was amazed that they were even still finding gas stations that were not only still powered enough to use a card, but that also still had gas. No radio stations played anything, so they were still flying completely blind; not knowing what the gravity of the situation was anymore.
Surviving. Kendall was right, that’s all they were doing at this point.
The roads were still abandoned. They passed one or two vehicles on their drive, but where before they may have tried to get their attention, it was unspoken that they were now wary of getting involved with any more people.
No one knew where Hunter had been driving to, and no one asked. He had made the decision about an hour before, but didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up on where he was heading.
They still had a decent amount of supplies; guns, ammunition, even food and water from places they had stopped.