Joe sat in his seat, with glossy eyes as he watched the scenery pass by. He refused to look at the two aliens present. If their people hadn't invaded, Tracy would still be alive. So would Nick, Neil, and Tammy. It was the alien's fault. It didn't matter to him that these two were helping; it was too late.
Zack watched Joe out of the rearview mirror. Joe was one of his best friends. He hated not trusting him, but right now, he couldn't. By the look on Joe's face, he could tell that he could explode at any moment.
Zack drove the bus slowly toward the next town, keeping a watchful eye on the road for either survivors or potential threats. He didn't want to find either of them. There was too much going on to add more to his plate.
Outside the second town, the highway was littered with cars and decomposing bodies. The stench of decay and rot filled the air.
Glancing back at his friends, Zack stopped the bus.
"We need to fill the gas tank and collect more fuel from these cars. If any of you find any more gas cans, collect them so we can fill them and bring them along to keep this thing running," Zack stated. "Unless you want to start walking sooner than later?" he added, eyeing everyone on the bus. His eyes stopped on Joe, who was still giving Shadick and Shelia a death glare.
They all filed off the bus, heading in different directions to look for gas cans. Joe was the last to leave. His posture stiff, his face pale, as he walked off on his own.
Zack pulled the gas cans out of the back of the bus, then headed to the tank to fill it.
While Zack filled the large tank of the bus, everyone else was still busy inspecting the cars on the road, looking for gas cans to hold extra fuel. They filled the cans they found, bringing them back to the bus for Zack to use.
Shelia walked up to Zack; Shadick was close behind her. Both aliens looked troubled.
Zack looked up at them in the middle of filling the tank. "Is everything okay?" he asked, setting the can he was holding on the pavement.
"You have a fairly large group," Shelia started quietly. "How many in your group have already died?"
Zack breathed in, unsure he wanted to answer her question; it was a difficult subject to talk about. The wounds were too fresh. It had only been a couple of days, and they had lost so many of their group in such a short amount of time.
"Nick, my sister's boyfriend, was the first to die. After that was Neil, then Tammy, and now Tracy," he started. "Nick was shot with a blaster by one of your people. We found Neil in the tunnels only a day before your team attacked the bunker. You were there for Tammy, Tracy, and Neil's deaths. We've lost four of us so far."
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. It was clear to Zack that she was deeply affected by all the deaths that her people were causing. "All I can do is work to save as many of your people as possible."
Zack lifted the gas can back up to continue filling the tank, not saying anything. There wasn't anything he could say to make her feel better. The truth of the situation was all around them.
Shelia stepped back, not sure what to do. She headed slowly toward the cars to help find more gas cans.
Shadick stepped up; he had his own questions to ask. "Do you want Shelia and me to go?" he asked quietly, but for different reasons for being quiet. He didn't want to be overheard while Shelia was depressed, feeling bad about what her people had done. Although she was helping with the search, she was still close by.
Zack emptied the last of the gas out of the current can he was holding, picking up another. "I think you should do what you want. If you want to go, then go. If you want to stay, then stay. Your ability to smell the zombies is handy, I'll admit. But if you don't want to be here, then don't," he said. "Just be careful around Joe; he's hurting right now and wants your people's blood."
Shadick nodded, walking away with the empty gas cans, so he could take them to be filled.
Once finished with the line of cars, they had nearly a dozen gas cans filled with gas. They would use every drop at one point. If they had more cans, they would have more gas. There was still plenty left in the tanks of the vehicles on the road.
They all filed back onto the bus. Zack kept Joe in front of the bus with him so he could keep an eye on him. He didn't want Joe to attack either Shadick or Shelia.
He started up the ignition, and they continued into the city limits. All their moods were somber. There had already been too much death on this trip.
"Just in case, have your weapons ready, everybody!" Zack called back behind him. "Shelia, Shadick, let me know if you smell any zombies!"
Being in the city limits meant more zombies. More zombies meant more threats to their group as they traveled through the city.
Both aliens nodded, then kept watch out the windows of the bus.
Zack watched discreetly as Joe sneered at the two aliens, giving them a sideways glance; hate shimmered behind his brown eyes. Zack knew right away that Joe was going to be a problem.
Passing through the flattened town, they didn't see anything. Shelia and Shadick didn't smell zombies; there was no sign of life of any kind.
Zack stopped the bus near the water facility; he knew he could fill water bottles at this location, but he had to go into the tunnels to get to where he could find the pipes, considering everything above ground had been flattened.
"What are we doing?" Jamie asked as Zack opened the bus doors.
"Weapons out, everyone. We need to fill our water supply," he started. "We can get to the pipes down there," he said, pointing to the grate. "People may be hiding down there, and some of them may see us as a threat and try to kill us."
Shelia and Shadick watched Zack address the group. Then, finally, Zack looked over at them. "I need you two to stay up here unless you smell something that we need to know about. Okay?"
They both nodded and stayed near the bus.
Zack pulled out all the empty water bottles and clean containers, and they all headed down the tunnels, leaving Shelia and Shadick behind.
Weaving through several places, they found a pipe holding clean water. They opened it, then filled everything they had.
Just as they were about to leave, they heard a shotgun rack.
"That's my water!" a gruff voice yelled angrily.
"There's enough for all of us," Zack stated, trying to defuse the situation. "We're just passing through. It's doubtful you'll see us again after this."
Zack slowly moved toward the exit; the man shoved his gun at him. "Leave the water!" the man yelled. He had the large barrel shoved into Zack's chest.
With all of the man's attention on Zack, Joe slammed his machete across the man's neck, severing his head from his body. The head fell to the ground with a thud, the body falling slowly after.
"We're humans," Joe growled at the body in anger. "There's not enough of us left to fight over this shit."
Joe picked up his water supply and stalked out of the tunnel. His friends watched him walk off in shock. After they watched him slowly disappear down the tunnel, they began to follow him back to the bus.
They piled on the bus, everyone staying quiet, not wanting to discuss what had just happened.
Shelia and Shadick eyed Joe, seeing his machete covered in blood. Neither dared to ask what had happened.
Zack was tight-lipped as he started the bus and pulled back onto the highway.
They drove in silence, not wanting to discuss anything, as they made their way outside the city limits and toward the third and final town.
They had to get to the third town, find the tunnel entrance, and then find the hidden sanctuary city so they could warn the people there before the aliens destroyed the city, killing everyone. They were short on time to do it. The city could be destroyed at any moment.
Even though they would be there in a couple of hours, it was going to be a long, silent drive.
Joe wasn't acting like himself; Zack had to protect the two aliens with him and hope nothing would attack them while they were too focused on their own thoughts than the shit that was going on around them.
This world had definitely become hell in a handbasket.