The road was littered with abandoned cars, trash, and decomposing bodies as they walked inside the city line to the first town on the map. The smell of rot and decay permeated the air.
The town was flattened like their own; no buildings could be seen standing. The entire town had been incinerated, completely free of buildings. There was only rubble that remained.
The small group stayed on the highway, which ran straight through the center of the town's rubble. They had to go onto a side street to go under a bridge of the highway that had been turned to rubble as well; the once beautiful bridge was scattered below like crumbs.
Each side of the bridge reached toward the other in desperation, yet too far out of reach.
Zack walked in the lead with his sister Carrie, Joe, and Tracy were at the tail of their group, weaving around the fallen bridge, trying to get to the other side so they could get back on the highway and toward the next town. They knew they were running out of time.
Shadick and Shelia scanned the area, a disgusted look on their face. As the breeze swept under the ruins of the bridge, the faint odor of zombies could be scented.
Shadick stayed in his spot while Shelia made her way to the front of the line of friends, keeping a watchful eye around her as she went, weapons at the ready. The others noticed her tense behavior, readying their weapons also.
Shelia, reaching the front of the line, called for Zack. "I smell zombies," she breathed, scanning around the area. "It's faint, but the scent is there. Shadick and I smelled it on the breeze."
Zack tensed as he looked around; then his eyes rested on Neil. "Do you think it's Neil you smell?" he whispered, trying not to be overheard.
She glanced over to the youngest of the group, his face pale, sweat dripping off his chin as he walked through the scattered rubble with everyone else. There wasn't any sign of the green tint, which was a sure sign of a zombie transformation. He knew that the green tint only comes after the transformation.
"I don't know," she confessed, looking over at Neil. "I don't want to take chances in thinking it's him when there might be others out there stalking us. I believe we should assume others are following us, perhaps at a distance," she said. "I don't know. I smell zombies and don't know where it's coming from."
"On your way back, let everyone know to be ready for an attack, just in case. Make it discreet if we're being watched; I don't want who or whatever might be following us knowing we know they're out there somewhere," he ordered quietly.
Shelia nodded, then headed back down the line of friends, whispering instructions as she went.
Everyone held tightly to their weapons, tight grips on the hilts of machetes and wrapped around their blasters, ready to fire.
Shelia continued to scan the area, sniffing the air. Shadick did the same. His eye; going to Neil.
Neil stumbled on a rock; his pale face pinched in pain. A green tinge was starting to tint his pale skin.
Shadick whispered to the body that was closest to him, Jamie. "I think I found our zombie," he said, pointing to Neil.
Jamie looked over at the stumbling Neil, seeing the green tint wash over him. Sweat was still pouring, and his eyes were pinched shut. Neil suddenly grabbed his stomach and groaned. He was trying not to scream.
The group hearing the young man's groan of agony all turned, witnessing his complete zombie transformation. It lasted only seconds.
When Neil opened his eyes, the irises were a dark green, the color of sludge, the whites tinted lightly, and so was his skin. Neil suddenly stood up straight as if nothing had happened, then grinned. His teeth were in sharp points, no longer blunt.
The group, in unison, opened fire, aiming to sever his neck. The multiple blasts sent his thin frame flying through the air, hitting his back against a large rock, which was rubble from the ruined bridge.
Joe rushed up to him and, before he could gain consciousness, slammed his machete across Neil's neck, severing his head. The head fell to the piles of rubble around him. The head rolling between two rocks, green-tinted blood pouring out of the stump.
They were one less in number.
Steeling their emotions, they remained ready for an attack. The shrinking group of friends quickly filed across the rubble, around it, and up the bank on the other side, making their way to the other side of the highway so they could continue their journey to the next town.
This was only the first town; they had two more to go to reach the underground entrance to the sanctuary city, the aliens' human trap.
Reaching the highway, they filed back on it, walking toward the second town of their journey, scanning the area for zombies or aliens that wanted them dead.
They weren't even in the middle of the first town. This one was far larger than the one they came from. Large piles of rubble that were once high-rise buildings, now piles of rock and steel that had sunk deep into the basements of the tall buildings.
Shelia, still sniffing the air, still smelled the faint smell of zombies; the look on Shadick's face said he smelled them too.
They both scanned the area for danger, not finding any.
Shelia weaved through the line of friends, making her way to the front to speak again with Zack. He was scanning the area also, watching for threats. His features are tight. He was being affected by the death of his people.
Standing beside him, she bent to whisper. "We still smell them," she whispered. "It's still faint, but the smell is still there."
"Do you know what direction the smell is coming from?" Zack asked, still scanning their surroundings. Shelia felt the breeze around her. "I think it's coming from that direction," she said, pointing to the direction the breeze was coming from. "I could be wrong; the faint smell could mean they're downwind," she explained, frustrated.
"On your way back, stay sharp; let everyone know there is still some out there that you and Shadick can smell," he told her. His voice was even. He was trying to keep his emotions in check. All the others were doing the same.
Shelia nodded, then turned around, heading back the way she came, whispering to stay ready. She received nods on the way in acknowledgment of the information as she passed.
They were now on the abandoned car-littered highway. In this stretch, no decomposing bodies were seen. Only the abandoned cars.
Zack had an idea when they walked past a yellow school bus. Smiling, he stopped, stepping into the large vehicle and twisted the key. The engine turned over. He let it idle for a moment, then checked the gas gauge. It was three-quarters of the way full.
"Do you guys see a hose of some sort?" he called. "I want to find a way to get more gas to this bus."
Everyone looked around in the other cars. There was a pickup with several big red plastic gas cans, a clear siphon hose rolled up and taped to one of them. It had 'regular' written on the side of each can. It was regular gas.
Checking the bus, their luck was still with them. This was a newer bus that ran on 'regular' gas, too.
Using the gas cans, they filled up the tank, then filled the cans again by siphoning the nearby cars with their fuel.
As long as the aliens didn't incinerate them, they had a ride to get to the towns much quicker.
As Zack drove, the others ripped some of the seats out, throwing them out the back doors of the bus so they would have room to sleep when it got dark. They left enough seats, one for each of them. All the rest were tossed out with the trash.
Driving down the highway, they watched their surroundings, seeing no sign of survivors or zombies. They saw no sign of aliens in the sky or on foot either. Near mid-afternoon, Shadick hunted with Joe, Jamie, and Carrie. They brought back a string of four rabbits they had prepared and cooked over a fire.
Zack was pleased they didn't need to break into their MREs; He wanted to save as many supplies as possible because he felt they would need them.
The group sat around the campfire, feasting on the rabbits, still keeping watch around them for threats.
They planned on leaving after they ate to finish the trek to the second town; they would make it there in a few hours.
Unfortunately, the towns were far apart in this particular area of the state, making it take longer than they liked to get from one town to the next. It made for more opportunities to be attacked while trying to get to their destination.
Shelia and Shadick had expressed that they could still smell zombies somewhere, making them believe that they were being followed.