23 Chapter Twenty-three

(Dipper)

I yawned waking up from my slumber, it was morning thank god. The night was terrifying I hated being in the dark and this apocalypse did not make it any better.

Dennis and Tom switched driving, looking around the area we were in there were trees littering everywhere around us, the sun shining through there leaves.

This was the closest thing I've gotten to peace other then when I can relax with Tom and Dennis.

I looked at the slumped Dennis in the seat infront of and smiled, happy that he was able to get some rest driving for that long.

My mind wondered to the cross roads last night and I looked at Daniel, he was awake and staring at the window. Most likely gazing at the beautiful trees around us.

It must rain often, in this new climate I imagined the trees wouldnt have survived. I stretched letting out a small groan from my slightly sore body parts.

Tom smiled at me and muttered a good morning while he drove.

"Goodmorning" I said softly, "where are we after those crossroads last night?" I asked.

"Well we're definitely further down the way but so far no sign of a city, I feel like were close to one now tho, just a little further" I nodded understanding what he said.

My body felt sore from being in a car from all this time, hopefully Tom's hunch is true and we'll be at a city walking around for a little.

I grabbed my bag sitting at my feet in the car and pulled put a granola bar, I had the munchies. While chewing on my crunchy snack I noticed something in front of us.

My heart thumped slightly in excitement, we had just finally arrived in another town and this one wasn't complicated like the last.

It was your usual ran down building set up you'd see anywhere in the apocalypse. Tom pulled the car over in a very nearby parking lot of a motel.

The motel was mostly intact, its broken buildboard barely read the words "Sanctum" in red. At this point we woke Dennis up and we debating whether or not we should go inside.

Dennis yawned and quickly got himself to speed, grabbing his bags and un-buckling his seat belt.

"I don't know about you guys, but regardless of what it is I dont feel like staying in this car another minute. My ass is literally killing me" he groaned rubbing his sore bottom.

With Dennis out of the car Tom, daniel, and I all glanced at each other with amused looks before grabbing our stuff and leaving too.

We picked room 120 and checked to see if the door was locked. We turned the knob and found that it wasnt indeed open, making our way inside we scoped it out.

The beds were messy, as if someone had previously been laying in here no doubt before the apocalypse. The walls were a little tore leading into another room that inhabited a zombie.

The zombie has it's back turned us and we all went silent not wanting to alert it. Dennis changed his hand into a claw and I watched as he slightly crept up to the zombie in a crouched stance.

He swiped his claws into its neck, slicing it open and gushing blood, its body slowly slid down to the floor dead. Dennis grabbed it and hauled it out of the hotel door.

Once it was over the banister he walked back in and clasped his hands together. "Alrighty" he said, "let's get settled in for the the night and tomorrow we can explore the rest of the city and see what they have here."

We nodded in response and picked spots in the room we wanted to sit in. Dennis told us he was gonna try to find some cleaning supplies so he went to find the main office.

After he left, Tom Daniel and I sat in awkward silence just waiting for him to return. I couldnt help but notice the way Tom wouldnt stop glaring at Daniel, and how Daniel would just look away scoffing a little.

It felt extremely uneasy considering we were in this slightly cramped room, I hoped Dennis would make his little trip short as we need him to come back an lighten up the mood a little.

I scooched over to Daniel in order to try and make an attempt at socializing with him. "H-hey Daniel, how are you feeling after getting out of that car?" I said twiddling my thumbs.

Daniel puts on a small smile and turns his full attention towards me, making me cower a little. "I'm feeling much better that's for sure, I was getting SO stiff in that car" he said dramatically frailing his back.

I giggled at his goofiness, happy that we could find some middle ground and actual conversate like we were real friends.

I looked over at Tom to see him playing with his knife, sulking at Daniel and I's friendly behavior. I waved him over when our eyes met, a small welcoming smile on my face that seemed to get him to brighten up a bit.

He walked over and say next to me, face my direction as much as possible in order to avoid contact with Daniel. "W-what about you Tom? H-how are you feeling after being able to sit somewhere other then those cramped seats?" I barely managed to get out.

God why do I have to be such a loser. I eternally frowned but zoned back in on Tom's response, "Yeah after driving for that long I couldnt stand sitting down in the same place, plus I was getting so tired but that little fright earlier woke me up" he said.

I hummed in response, agreeing that the fright earlier jolted any sleep away from me for the time being.

We continued to talk for a while. That is until Dennis opened the door so suddenly scaring us all shitless.

We yelped and he chuckled at our fright, "sorry guys, I didnt mean to scare you but I do have news!" he said pulling some cleaning supplies from behind his back.

"I managed to find a supplies closet with some bleach in it. Hopefully this should be enough to clean up the blood" he said grabbing some near by fabric.

"Alright give me a moment while I try to fix this as much as I can, it's not going to be perfect, disclaimer" I chuckled at his remark and watched him bend over to wipe away the blood with some fabric.

He put aside the now bloodied cloth as he poured bleach over the major stain and let it soak into the carpet. The sour putrid smell of the bleach wafted over to us and I choked.

"Yeah you guys might wanna cover your nose this shit is really strong" Dennis said coughing. "Yeah a warning would been nice" Tom said heaving as he moved away.

After a while of letting the bleach sit and conversating with each other more, Dennis got up and moved the cloth he put over the stain to reveal a white stained carpet.

"Well as expected the carpet is stained now, but no more blood hehe, so it's fine to sleep in here now" he informed us. Tom didnt waste much time then, grabbing his bags and walking into the lesser cramped room.

"So who gets what? Theres four of us so we could perfectly divide two into each room" Tom said.

"Ok, Dipper and I will get the more cramped room since we're not that big while you two can get this one" he said pointing to Tom and Dennis.

Tom's face dropped a little, seemingly sad because he couldnt be with Dennis, Daniel looked indifferent however, I imagine he didnt really care.

"Ok guys let's settled and then we'll explore this city for little. See if we can find one of those hidden bases" Dennis said.

We all nodded and began to put our stuff in the correct rooms, mines was already in here but I moved it onto the bed and out of the way, Dennis doing the same.

Soon everyone was ready and we headed outside in the blazing heat to explore and see what we can find.

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