User blog:Ireithien/The Walking Jed - Chapter 3





Chapter 3

Sprinting down the street back to his car, dodging left and right around zombies. Shooting them dead as he went. Ire considered why the heck he had ever decided to help the kid in the window.

Ire suddenly felt a tug on his leg. He jerked his head back to see a zombie with no legs, clinging to his ankle. He turned his arm and shot the poor thing in the skull, then turned tail and ran the remaining distance to his car. Throwing open the door, he grabbed the backpack with his supplies, then dashed towards the white van as fast as his legs could carry him.

Malc leaned his head out from behind the van, then held up his rifle and fired into the air. All the zombies turned to look at the source of the sound, and then began rushing toward the teenager in black.

"Get in!" Malc yelled, as he slammed the keys into the ignition. Zombies were slapping at the windows of the van.

Ire ran to the other side and hopped in the passenger seat. Taking a deep breath, he focused on the road ahead.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"I don't know. Out of town."

THREE HOURS LATER

Ire woke with a jolt. He looked around, not sure where he was. Then he focused on Malc, and it all came flooding back in a rush of memories, like speeding up a slow-motion shot in a movie. The zombies. The van. The escape. Malc.

He sat up. "Malc, man, where are we?"

"Just out of Kansas City, actually. Where we live. We're not really heading in any particular direction, but we are in some more rural areas now," replied Malc. "I was thinking we'd find a good spot to stop and talk about what we plan to do."

"Sounds good," Ire replied. He sat up in his seat and sifted through the thoughts chasing each other through his mind. He really had no clue what he even wanted to do. The cities around were likely incredibly dangerous, and the country was their best bet. What about his parents? His siblings? What had happened to them? Had they been killed yet? Were they alive? Where were they?

"Malc... how did this start? Is it a sort of pathogen? How contagious is it? How is it spread? How..."

Malc held up a hand. "Slow down. Look, I know just about as much as you do right now. Last night and this morning, people started spotting the things. It was crazy. My folks were on vacation to the Bahamas, so I was left at the house for a few days. I didn't know what to do. I looked it up, naturally. Some scientists have some theories, but who knows? I just want to live. They're saying that these are dead people, walking the earth again. I think it's absurd, but something isn't right." He paused, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Also... one thing you should know. It's still so weird to call the things 'zombies,' so people have taken to calling them 'walkers.' Sounds better."

Ire nodded, then sighed and looked out his window.

The world had ended.

A few minutes later, Malc pulled the van off the road, into a slightly sheltered spot, with trees hanging over and a picnic table.

Ire climbed out of the car, then headed over to the table, slumping on his seat.

Malc looked at him. "What's the plan?"

"I don't know. Uh... what do you think?" replied Ire.

"I was thinking we could just keep driving and look for things we can... I don't want to say it, but, yes, loot, for supplies. When night falls we can park the van and get some rest, take it in turns to watch."

"That could work." Ire thought for a moment. "Yeah, let's do it."

"Awesome," replied Malc. "Let's have a snack, then we'll get back on the road."

TWO HOURS LATER

The driving was getting monotonous. Ire considered asking Malc if they couldn't just forget supplies for now and stop for the day, but he knew that they needed gear. In his rush to get out of his house that morning, Ire had completely forgotten to get things like batteries, flashlights, camping equipment. He had grabbed food, basic tools like duct tape and a screwdriver. Weapons.

Weapons.

The thought bolted into Ire's mind. Weapons. Of course! They needed ammunition for their guns, and Malc probably needed a handgun...

Ire jerked up straight when he saw the next road sign, about twenty minutes later. A nearby town. But what really stuck out was a store on the sign. Gary's Gun Galaxy.

"Malc, look. Gary's Gun Galaxy. We could get some weapons."

A curious expression crossed Malc's face, like he was weighing the risks.

"Alright. If we're lucky, we might find some more food somewhere, or some general survival gear."

They exited the highway and headed into the town. At first it looked completely deserted.

At first.

Gradually they saw the walkers emerge, feasting on what could only be the remains of human flesh.

Ire and Malc checked out the stores, and even looked in Gary's Gun Galaxy, but couldn't find anything worth taking.

"This was a total waste of time," said Malc bitterly, as they were driving back to the highway. "And now more walkers will be on our trail."

"Wait, Malc, stop the van! I see a house... it's barricaded. A man is fighting the walkers outside with a shotgun! He has bullets. We should go help him, and see if he'll return the favor."

Malc sighed. "If bad ideas were an Olympic event, this would surely take the gold," he said. "But we'll try it anyway."