Chapter 3

Brad lightly tapped on the steering wheel and hummed as he drove down a bumpy road. Dave, in the passenger seat, kept an arm out the window, frowning every time he saw a group of aimlessly walking zombies at the side. Helena in the middle seat, near the sliding door, was engrossed in a small book, letting her imagination run wild.

Ruby, in the back seat, played with her hair and smiled at the few zombies that passed by on the left. Their fruitless attempt to run after them seemed to amuse her. Tyler, beside her, lay back on the seat. His arms were crossed and his eyes closed.

Lucy sat uncomfortably in the seat in front of Ruby. She fiddled with her fingers and thought back to that morning at the supermarket. She wondered if that was how her life would be from then on. She remembered how she was saved constantly. First by her aunt, then Dave and then Tyler. She was even too weak to run to the sienna by herself.

She remembered the weeks she spent in her house with just her aunt. She thought she was living a nightmare then when all she did was cry and be taken care of. Life outside was worse. She was always going to be in danger. She was always going to have to be on guard. She didn't want to have to be saved forever. She didn't want to be a liability. She wanted to be able to fight too. She wanted to survive.

Her stomach rumbled quietly and she curled her lips. She felt shy and somewhat embarrassed to say that she was hungry. She didn't feel like she deserved to eat since she barely did any work. Luckily for her, there was a loud rumbling sound and Brad whistled loudly, giving his belly a smack.

'Helena, I'm starved,' he said comically and Helena rolled her eyes.

'We both know we can't stop to make food here.'

'I'm sure there're some snacks back here,' Ruby said, kneeling on her seat and poking her head into the boot.

'Let me have some too, Ruby,' Dave said.

'Don't worry, I'll get for everyone' —she moved her hand through the stuff behind and they made low sounds as they collided— 'I just have to find them first. Tyler, help me look.' Tyler made a low grumbling sound, his eyes still shut and with no intention of helping out.

'They're in the far right corner Ruby!' Brad said and his stomach rumbled again. 'Seen them?' Ruby moved closer to Tyler, still searching and intentionally bumped him on the head.

'Hey!' he exclaimed, his eyes finally open and narrowed at Ruby. She ignored him and shrieked with excitement when she found what she was looking for.

'Yep!' She passed a few biscuits to Helena and Helena passed them to Brad then Dave, taking one first.

'Sweet!' Brad said, putting the wrapper in his teeth and tearing it open while his other hand remained on the wheel.

'Here you go sweetie,' Ruby said, handing Lucy a few biscuits in a wrapper. She thanked her and took it, trying not to look too hungry as she ate. Tyler reached for some biscuits in Ruby's hand and she swatted his hand away, her full grin turning into a smug smile.

'Get your own biscuits, Tyler.' He glared at her for a second before reaching behind and getting some.

They all ate their biscuits, filling the car with crunching sounds. Ruby looked over Helena's shoulder at the book she was reading.

'What's your book about Helena?'

Helena flipped a page and swallowed the last of her biscuit. 'Forbidden romance.' Her eyes seemed to zoom down each line of writing and before long, she was on the next page.

'Prince and servant kind of thing?'

'A wife and stepson.' Brad laughed awkwardly.

'That's crazy,' he said, with biscuit crumbs on his face.

'Well' —Helena closed her book with a finger on the page she was, keeping it from closing completely— 'Her husband married her at a young age. This was years after his wife died and his children were old enough to live on their own.' There was a particular spark in her eyes as she explained; it was like all the scenes she had imagined as she read were coming back to her.

'She gets married to him for his money, taking advantage of his loneliness but his first son catches her eye. It's a rollercoaster of betrayals, secrecy and lust.' She opens her book and her eyes zoom over her page. 'This is the second time he's just a step away from catching them.'

'That's interesting,' Ruby said, her voice becoming high-pitched on the last word.

'I see a gas station up ahead,' Dave said, pointing ahead of them and Brad looked down at the gas gauge. It had two bars left.

'And just on time,' he said and headed for the station.

Three zombies wandering about there came into view, one in a security uniform. An upturned car was a few feet ahead. Its boot hung open and the windshield was shattered. A zombie was strapped in the driver's seat, weakly struggling to break free. A convenience store with most of its glass windows shattered was just behind the station. The power was down and the little sunlight left barely illuminated anything.

Brad rolled to a stop in front of the station and the three zombies a few feet away turned to them.

'Lucy, you think you can handle these ones?' Brad asked and Lucy turned to him, eyes wide and pulse quickened.

'M—me?' she stammered and Brad and Ruby burst into laughter.

'Don't mind him sweetie' —Ruby said, in-between laughter— 'he's just messing with you.' Lucy nervously laughed, mentally sighing in relief. Helena closed her book and reached under the front passenger seat, pulling out a gun with a silencer on it.

She aimed at the zombie in uniform and fired, making a clean shot. The remaining two zombies shrieked and limped toward them. They got very close to the vehicle but in a matter of seconds, they were lying on the ground with bullet wounds on their head.

'Tyler, you're with me,' Dave said, opening his door and getting out of the car. 'The rest of you, stay back and keep watch while we get the gas cans.' They nodded in unison at his orders. Tyler reached for the door handle and slid the door open.

He got down and walked behind Dave to the boot. Brad popped the boot open from his side and turned off the engine. Dave took out two flashlights and handed Tyler one. They both pulled out their guns and held them in their free hands.

'Let's go,' Dave said and the both of them headed for the convenience store, their flashlights and guns positioned in front of them.

Brad got down and went to the boot, bringing out a rope and gas hose. Helena put a leg out the door just when Ruby put her hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

'Don't worry, I got this,' she said with her signature smile. 'I'm sure the book is way more interesting than blowing some zombie brains out.' Helena gave her a brief smile and put her leg back in. 'Sweetie, come on out.' Lucy's eyes met Ruby's and she quietly nodded.

They both got down and Ruby headed to the front of the car.

'Go and help out Brad. Just alert me if you see anything, okay?'

'Okay,' Lucy said and Ruby smiled just a bit wider before turning around. Lucy looked away from her and at the zombies lying motionless on the ground. A shiver went down her spine and she wrapped her arms around herself. The rotting smell of the zombies went up her nose and made her gag. She quickly turned away and went over to where Brad was.

'Hey, girl!' Brad greeted her with a smile and she forced herself to smile back, the smell of the zombies still bothering her. 'Hold this please,' he said, handing her the gas hose. She took it and leaned back on the side of the boot as he untied the rope he was holding.

The shrieks of the zombie trapped in the car became louder. It was trying harder to break free since its lunch was just behind, but there was no way it was getting out.

'How are you holding up?'

Lucy turned to Brad whose eyes showed concern. She sighed and looked down at her feet. 'Not so good.'

'I get you.' He breathed in deeply and then let it out as he turned and rested on the other side of the boot. 'We all don't feel good; we're just trying to put on a brave face to survive.' Lucy looked back up at him, her unease fading slowly. 'So many are gone; so many of us survivors will still go.' He looked down at the rope in his hand. 'We all wish it'll end… if wishes were horses, huh?'

Her eyes glistened with tears, realising she had someone that could sympathise with her. 'Beggars will—' A loud bang from the convenience store cut her off and all their heads snapped to the source, ready to make a move if need be.

As Dave and Tyler stepped into the convenience store through one of the broken glass windows. They turned on their flashlights, keeping their guns pointed at where their lights shone. Dave motioned for Tyler to go left as he stepped in the other direction and Tyler nodded.

They moved from aisle to aisle, eyes quickly scanning the shelves for gas cans. Tyler heard shuffles and low growls from the next aisle. He quietly moved to the shelf beside it and got in position. The snarls got louder as the zombie moved towards the light from Tyler's flashlight. Immediately the zombie got close, he turned into the aisle and fired.

The zombie fell limp on the floor with a hole in its head and dark blood seeping out. Tyler's stony eyes turned soft once he saw the zombie he had gunned down. His arms went limp at his sides and he stared at it, unmoving. It was a little girl with skin once soft and fresh, already bruised and rotting. Her long messy hair lay around her blood-stained face. She was in a little black and yellow polka dot dress with one of her shoes missing.

'Tyler,' Dave said, putting his hand on Tyler's shoulder. He jumped a little, his eyes finally snapping away from her. Dave looked at the zombie on the floor and pressed his lips together. He gave Tyler's shoulder a pat and looked away. 'Come on.'

He nodded slowly and with one last pat on the shoulder, they both moved to a door leading to another section of the store.

The snarls from the zombie trapped in the car became ferocious once the bang was heard. It trashed around, almost slipping out of the belt. Ruby walked towards it, her gun held loosely in her hand. She looked around for anything that she could impale the zombie with, not wanting to make too much noise.

She stopped a few feet away from the car and then, something ahead caught her attention. She looked up and saw a bunch of figures running towards them. Their snarls that had been masked by the snarls of the zombie in the car became audible and her eyes shot open.

'Rabies!' She shouted, moving backwards and cocking her gun. Helena leapt out of the sienna with her gun in hand, discarding the book. Brad pushed himself off the car, put the rope back where it was and brought out a handgun hidden in a corner of the boot. His hands trembled as he checked if it had bullets in it.

'What's going on?' Lucy asked, fear evident as she put the gas hose back in the boot.

'Keep a safe distance,' he said and jogged to the side of the car, near the driver's seat.

'Tyler! Dave!' Ruby shouted and just then, the first few zombies came running forward. Helena started firing immediately and so did Ruby. The zombies quickly gained on them. Some fell but the ones still running towards them were enough to make Ruby and Helena take steps backwards.

Brad held his gun with both hands and fired. Another zombie fell, but from how his face squeezed up, it was obvious he wasn't in his element. Lucy moved backwards, stumbling on her feet. Her breathing was hard enough to make her chest ache.

A zombie leapt on Ruby, its sharp blackened teeth snapping at her face. She pushed it back and quickly put a bullet through its eyes. Just as the zombie fell, another one leapt towards her and Helena immediately made waste of it.

The gunshots from the three of them rang in Lucy's ears. Her body trembled and the feeling she had when they ran out of the supermarket earlier that day, resurfaced. A zombie made its way to Helena and she shot at it but missed. The zombie got too close, making her jump out of its way, but it run past and straight to Brad.

'Brad!' she shouted, but a zombie quickly came up to her and she had to turn to shoot it. Brad tried to shoot at it but in a split second, it was on him. He put a hand on its shoulder as it drove him back and onto the ground. His handgun flew from his fingers and tumbled to a stop near Lucy.

'Lucy!' he shouted, keeping both his hands on the zombie's shoulders. She stared at the both of them, her heartbeat accelerating. 'Shoot it!' She gulped and then hurried to the gun. She held it up, her hand trembling and the gun fell back to the floor. Brad shouted in pain as the zombie sunk its sharp nails into his right arm.

Lucy picked the gun back up, tears clouding her vision. She pulled the trigger, missing the zombie by a milestone. She whelped as pain shot up her arm from the recoil force and the gun fell off her fingers. Brad's face was clouded in a mix of anger and fear as his arm became too weak and the zombie descended on him.

Just as it was about to take a huge bite from his neck, a bullet flew into its temple and knocked it off. Dave stood close by, holding a gas can in his right hand and his gun pointed at where the zombie was in his left hand.

Brad heaved a sigh of relief and without much thought, stood up, shut the door of the boot and headed for the driver's seat.

'Let's go, let's go!' Dave shouted, alerting Helena and Ruby. He quickly went to the door and rolled it open. Tyler got inside, with gas cans held in each hand.

'Go, I'll cover you,' Ruby said and Helena nodded. She rushed to the sienna and took the gas can from Dave's hand as she went in.

'Lucy!' Dave shouted, frowning at her frozen self. She snapped out of her short-lived trance and rushed to the door, hopping in. Ruby walked backwards to the door, still shooting as the zombies made quick advances toward them. Dave left the door open, went to the passenger seat, got in and started shooting the zombies from his window. 'I've got this Ruby, get in!'

She turned back, just as the engine roared to life. She ran to the vehicle and slid the door shut after her. The vehicle sped off, taking down the few zombies on its path.

'Man Lucy,' Brad said, clutching his blood-stained arm when they had reached a far enough distance. 'Someone's got to teach you how to use a gun.'