Not worth the effort

Lazar was one of the first to use this somewhat radical technique to break through this deadlock. There was no puncture contrary to what a certain person feared and no problem to roll properly through the layer of mud on the ground. It wasn't deep enough to stop or slow down the advancement of the massive wheels of the bus.

The passengers on the bus were fortunate to have someone as careful as Lazar. Much luckier than some of the people who tried to imitate them afterward and who found themself stuck in the mud or suffered an accident mostly due to general panic. These people lasted no more than 2 minutes against the creatures.

The bus was already far away. None of the passengers saw the blood of these poor people stain the asphalt of the highway but being shocked to have seen such abominations, even after 20 minutes only the driver had thought of thanking Lazar for having avoided them becoming witnesses or victims of what these monsters were going to do, "We owe you a lot. Wait a little longer and they will apologize for being so stupid just now. Just... Let them recover from what we just saw."

In his rearview mirror, the bus driver saw the effect that the appearance of these monsters had on the others. Some passengers had vomited on the floor because of disgust. Others were crying and in the most extreme cases one of them had passed out and another had a panic attack. It didn't look good for the future if they came across things like that again. Even for him, it was difficult to stay calm. He kept thinking about his grandchildren, 'Are they safe?', 'Did they have to see something like that?'

"I don't care if they're grateful to me or not, and that shouldn't be your priority either. You better think about your survival and nothing else right now." It reassured the bus driver to see that at least one person was keeping his composure, but it was only a facade. Lazar is human and of course, he could be worried too.

Two minutes ago, while checking if his phone was still working, he noticed that there was no longer any network. He had missed 2 calls from Lana and she had left a vocal message.

He stepped over the puddles of vomit on the ground and went to sit at the bottom of the bus in his seat. The annoying guy he kicked in the face chose this precise moment to talk to him, "I just wanna say that I'm sorry to have..."

"Don't care, get out of my way."

Having tasted the sole of the shoes of Lazar earlier and not wanting to repeat the experience he obeyed with annoyance in his gaze, 'The only reason I came to apologize is that you seem to know what you're doing, jerk.'

Lazar knew very well what this guy was thinking, but he just didn't give a damn about such an insect. He sat down, put on his headphones and turned on the vocal message.

At the instant he pressed the play button he began to hear people screaming, sounds of explosions as well as howls which were obviously not human. He was afraid to understand what this message was for and unfortunately, it was what he thought...

"You know what's happening in the world. The situation is ugly for me too and I will not lie to you, I'm gonna die...

His throat tightened.

...I was just coming back home from work by car and suddenly we were all surrounded. People around me are being slaughtered, as soon as I look up I see someone lose his life. I could have fought... But if you could see what's going on around me you would have understood that it's lost in advance. I don't know how it goes for you and I hope you are well, even if I don't worry a lot about you knowing how resourceful you are. Anyway, please don't come here! I have a feeling that Boston is doomed! And before I go, I want you to know that I love you with all my heart Lazar."

The message ended. The bestial screams being easier to hear at the end, Lazar understood that she had stopped recording at the very moment preceding her death. The second most important person in Lazar's eyes had just died...

He couldn't hold back a tear and squeezed his weapon as hard as possible. He was furious that history repeats itself but he was aware that he couldn't have changed anything. When his grandfather died he had sworn to kill the person responsible for it, this time the situation was more complex...

'Sorry but not coming to Boston is impossible. I should at least try to look for your body to give you a dignified funeral. Even if I have to kill everything on my way.' Basically, Lazar wanted to return to Boston to say goodbye to Lana before returning to his homeland. But with the Apocalypse, leaving the United States was out of the question and going to Boston had become the right thing to do.

Sensing that it wasn't the right moment to come to speak to him when they saw that Lazar was tightening the handle of his blade, nobody came to speak to him. That was all the better. Even saddened by Lana's death, he was still paying attention to what was going on around him and he didn't like what he saw. 'Seeing that I made the right choice, it looks like they expect me to become their leader. If they want me to guide them and put myself at the service of the group, they are sticking their fingers in the eye. We certainly don't have the same goals and sacrifice myself for them... not worth it.'

Not knowing where to go, the driver had preferred to bypass Philadelphia to go through a road where a gas station was located. After some minutes it was in sight and he was already preparing to change lanes to find a place to park. A woman suddenly started shouting in the bus, a man saw the same thing as her and yelled at the driver, "Don't stop the bus!"

For an unknown reason, the passengers having barely recovered from their nausea began to vomit again. Lazar decided to finally get up from his seat to see what was causing so much agitation. He wasn't disappointed because he had just discovered an opportunity. He was one of the only people crazy enough to see an opportunity when seeing a monster eating the head of an unlucky guy through the window of a car.

He waited until he was far enough according to him before going to ask the driver something, "Old man."

He was focused on the road and half paying attention to what Lazar was telling him, "Yes?"

"Stop the bus, I'm going to get off."

"Of course. Wait, what the f*** are you saying?!" All the passengers were paying attention to what was said now. After all, they believed they were dependent on Lazar's actions now.

"I said that I wanted you to let me get my stuff, I'm going to leave on my side."

The passengers were upset by what they had just heard but it was nothing compared to the driver. In no case a soldier should abandon civilians in need of help and that's exactly what Lazar was doing. If he could get up from his seat to punch Lazar, he would. "I saw your tattoo! You're supposed to be a fucking Navy Seal! Not a coward! For what reason can you justify abandoning civilians?!"

The indignation also won over the passengers, the one they took for their leader was leaving them after all but although it wouldn't have changed anything, they didn't show him with the right words that they needed him, "You're a soldier and you're not even going to honor the oath you made to protect civilians! You're a shame for our country!", "My daughter is only 6 years old, son of a bitch!"

'They act as if my help was granted to them just because I'm a soldier. These ungrateful bastards quickly forgot that I had saved their lives just a few minutes ago.' You had to realize the mood in which Lazar was to understand the words he uttered right after. He had just saved these people, his adoptive mother had just died and the driver hadn't even started yet to slow down.

"Shut the fuck up! All of you!"

The brief sight of this usually calm boy getting mad was enough to silence them all. Lazar turned to the passengers and spoke to them with a calm voice that didn't hide a growing hostility, "So this is it? This is all the respect I deserve after saving your asses. Each of you may be afraid, but if you aren't already dead it's thanks to me. Put that in your fucking heads. If I had been even a few seconds slower to warn you, then these monsters would be playing with your guts right now and I don't know if they would have made a distinction for your daughter."

'The daughter of the woman who insulted Lazar started to cry.'

He then turned to the driver, "To answer your question old shit, I'm a Navy Seal for barely 24 hours now."

Now he was addressing everyone, "You aren't the only ones having people you care about and I will abandon you no matter what the circumstances are for them. Don't try to make me believe that this isn't the case for each of you, you wouldn't even have the balls to fight against these things for the vast majority."

As a farewell gift, he gave them one last indication not because he thought these bastards deserved it, but because the door to take his bag is far and he wants to avoid them leaving with it as soon as he passes the front door, "Your situation is as follows. You have a bus that can take you anywhere 400 kilometers around with the fuel you have left. You're all alive, think two minutes and you will find what to do. So don't piss me off and let me go!"

Before he had even finished speaking the bus had stopped. The front door and the luggage door were already open too. He realized that no one dared to look him in the eyes anymore, so he left without adding anything.

---

A heavy silence reigned in the bus since Lazar's departure. The driver's thoughts reflected those of many of the passengers.

'I feel like shit now.'

---

Lazar had moved on. He had returned to the gas station and had the good surprise to see that his prey was still there eating. He dropped his bag and the sheath of his blade on the ground to attract the attention of the beast, it was useless to be discreet. He had recognized the thing in front of him thanks to memories of an illustrated books on beasts from different mythologies and folklores.

He knew that it had smell him for a while and that it was surely pretending not to know he was there so that he would make the mistake of approaching it with the idea that it hadn't noticed him. This thing was described in his book as being fast, vicious, and cruel. Yet Lazar was confident in his victory and he needed to smash something anyway, this beast will be his first victim he didn't doubt it.