The Way Back (Book 1): The Way Back

by Giancioppo, Danny

  “Well, so what if we do?”

  “Well, what if they actually have it good again, and this time they’re not evil pieces of shit?”

  “What, you saying you’d want to stay there?”

  “I don’t know… maybe.”

  That’s a big if, first of all,” Nolan argued. “But also, we need to get home, Adam. What if our families are waiting there for us?”

  “Nolan, I know we’re all trying to get along more, but come on, don’t be an idiot,” Adam said bluntly.

  “What do you mean, ‘don’t be an idiot?’” Nolan asked, taken aback.

  “You know what I mean,” Adam said. “We’ve gone through a handful of states already and found one group of people, and they were, debatably, hardly surviving. Certainly not living. We, as a small group of only seven, are constantly in need of food and water, which we are quickly and consistently running in low supply of. Why would the people back home, in a small, suburban, noname town like Foxtale be in any better shape than anything else we’ve seen?”

  “Well… I don’t know, but we’ve got to hope, right? We’ve got to try. That’s kinda the whole point.”

  “Well what happens when we get there and everything’s gone, just like everywhere else?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe we stay there. Maybe we keep moving until we find good people. Maybe we just go back to the Maine House. We could go anywhere really,” Nolan admired.

  “Well what if we die?”

  “That’s kind of pessimistic, don’t you think?”

  “Realistic, more like. Seriously, what if we do?”

  “Well… then at least we can say we went out fighting,” Nolan finished, zipping up his pants and patting Adam on the shoulder. “I’m taking driver’s seat now, by the way. Can’t have you going and killing us all.”

  “The hell you are!” Adam shouted, still finishing up his pee session. He hurriedly tried to zip up and run to the car, but by then Nolan was already in the seat, door locked. Adam groaned, and glared back at the guys frantically. He sprinted over to the other side of the car and leapt into the passenger seat, locking the door as soon as he did.

  Soon after, the others filed in, Luke now a bit disappointed to be in the back. And Nolan couldn’t help but feel smug in his new position.

  “Now this is some horseshit,” Luke said. “I’m like, twice as jacked as Nolan, and I have to sit with you scrawny-ass bitches?” The others in the back started whacking and throwing things at Luke, while he just retreated into the corner and begged for mercy. None of them could help but laugh through it. Once it settled, Nolan decided to ask for directions.

  “So, Der, where we headed? Where’s west?” he asked. Derrick pulled out his compass and translated their current position.

  “Keep going down the main road, and start to veer right. I’d imagine there’s gonna be some kind of exit you can take,” he explained, peering out the window. “Once we get there we just need to keep heading in that general direction, and we should be on track again.”

  Adam, hardly listening to Derrick’s directions, inspected the CD’s all the while, and eventually popped one in.

  “What’d you choose?” Chris asked him. Adam said nothing, and just crossed his arms, laying back into his seat. Suddenly, Don’t Stop Believin’ started playing, and the guys all groaned in protest.

  “You know, it’s one thing to play Journey, but this? You are so god damn corny dude, honestly,” Derrick complained, sighing.

  Despite their best efforts, however, all of them were getting into the flow of the music quite soon. In fact, before the second verse even came around, everyone was all singing along. Once more they drove off into the now setting sun, and slowly creeping night sky.

  Weirdly, Derrick couldn’t help but feel so… happy, to just be driving with his friends, singing to music.

  Day 462

  “The Stranger”

  It was somewhere around 4:00 a.m., maybe later. At least, Adam assumed so. The car radio-face was all scratched up, and hardly functional to begin with. From what he could make out, and he assumed he was right, as per usual.

  They were in Pennsylvania, probably about three-quarters through the state, Adam guessed. They saw the sign a couple of hours back, and that was when the others all kicked into hibernation mode. And though he was against it, he turned the music off, for their sake.

  Derrick had taken over driving, and the others all slept “peacefully” in the back. They were all leant on one another, huddled up with little to no wiggle room; it was pathetically hilarious. Adam couldn’t help but scoff at them.

  “What?” Derrick asked, noticing.

  “Ah it’s just, times like these you know? Wish I had my camera,” Adam said, looking back at the others. Derrick glanced over at them and chuckled, realizing his point.

  “Yeah… well, they’re tuckered out; not used to staying up this late,” he explained.

  “And you? Why are you so awake this late?” Adam asked, genuinely curious. He’d known Derrick all these years, but he never really understood why he was so averse to sleep.

  “Seriously? You know why!” Derrick argued, annoyedly bitter in his tone. Maybe Adam did know…

  “What!? I don’t remember!” Adam defended. “Is it… insomnia?”

  “No, asshole, it’s because of work!” Derrick said. “Remember how I used to be out like hours into the night, working on landscaping and town management and stuff? I did it with my dad, his company, you guys when you asked to help!”

  “Oh, right…” Adam remembered, the memories hazily coming back to him. Derrick just sulked a bit, that was just how Adam was, so he didn’t hold a grudge for very long before moving on.

  “What about you?” he asked. “Why are you awake? You always slept at sleepovers and stuff like right away.”

  “No, I’d try to sleep,” Adam corrected. “You idiots would always keep me up with your talking, and drinking, and gaming. At some point I’d just do it out of boredom. I’d lay there and think, wait for you all to tucker yourselves out,” he said, with a small grin on his face, though trying his best to hide it. As much as he hated to admit it, looking back; he loved those days. “Do you ever miss it?” he asked. “When we used to be able to just be kids?”

  “Sure, of course I do,” Derrick said, his gaze not breaking from the road. “All we had to care about was who hung out with who, who was dating who, who was hooking up with who. Not who was killing who, who was surviving with who, who was taken by…” Derrick trailed off. “Well, yeah, it’s certainly different…”

  “You think we’ll ever get that back?” Adam asked again. Derrick paused, mulling it over in his mind. Adam looked at him intently, and noticed his friend’s gaze only drift further into space as he thought. The road they were on was a long, dark straight away, and there really wasn’t much more around them than woods.

  “No, I don’t think so. I think that time is over, for everyone,” Derrick said, gripping onto the wheel somewhat tighter. His knuckles paling from the tension. “It’s scary, definitely, but… you just gotta roll with the punches, you know? If I’ve learned anything from these guys, it’s that.”

  “These guys? Wow, thanks man,” Adam said, scoffing again.

  “Well, some of them at least. I mean really Adam, when are you ever inspirational? You’re not really the ‘Let’s go out and save the day’ type of guy,” Derrick insisted.

  That struck Adam, hard. It was oddly critical, considering they were trying to be better to each other, but the worst part to Adam was that Derrick didn’t say it with any hate. He didn’t say it angrily, or tauntingly. He just stated it realistically, like a fact.

  “What do you mean?” he asked, both defensively and curiously, secretly seeking some means of improvement. After all, it’s not like he didn’t want to be better too, it was just… difficult for him.

  “Well… look at Luke,” Derrick said. “Everyday, almost from the start, he had us on a regimented schedule; chore
s, work, you name it. When things got hard, he always tried to find a way to keep our hopes up. Hell, even the trip up to the house, you remember that?” Derrick asked, looking over to Adam for a moment.

  “Yeah, of course I do,” Adam replied. “I mean we’d basically split off the past few months; the group was just… gone. You never did anything, I never did anything, Nolan hung out with the other guys, and eventually Luke. Chris and Jer hung out with the other-other guys; plus, hell, you acted like you had some huge beef with them. Codes just saw everyone separately and sporadically, and Luke just… Well I don’t know what he did.”

  “Yeah, you know what he did? He brought us back together,” Derrick said.

  “Well yeah, but it was also because of the gir–” Adam countered.

  “Yes, but…” Derrick interrupted, glancing cautiously back at the guys. “We wouldn’t have even gone on this trip if it wasn’t for him. He rounded us up, made us all remember why we were a group in the first place, and get over that stupid fight that tore us apart. He brought us back,” Derrick explained. “Say what you will about the man, but you gotta respect him for that, at least.”

  Adam turned his head, and gazed at Luke. He sat on the edge of the seat, on the far right of the car. His face pressed hard against the car door. The others leant in his direction on top of one another, all in some way falling onto him. He had hardly any space to even sit, but Luke still somehow slept.

  Adam would not let that fly, had that been him. He turned back around, and leant his head against his seat. He peered out the window and paused, thinking to himself while gazing out at the ever-changing landscape. Well, ever-changing trees, anyway.

  “But that’s not me, you know? There’s a lot to him that makes him that way, but… that’s not me,” Adam thought out loud, still gazing out the window.

  “Me neither man, but still, that doesn’t mean we can’t take something from him. Just like he takes things from us. We all do, it’s what happens when you spend this much time with people,” Derrick replied.

  He glanced over at Adam, and noticed his small break in bravado. Adam hadn’t totally meant to let it slip, but at the same time, he didn’t really care; not in that moment.

  “Look, I’m not saying you’re not a good guy Adam; I mean don’t get me wrong, you are a piece of shit sometimes, but I’m not saying that.” Adam smirked, and saw Derrick doing the same. “You’re strong, literally and mentally. You don’t just bow out to others, even if that can make you hard to deal with. And sometimes you don’t pull your weight, but still, other times you do more than anyone else; we need you. You see through bullshit, and you keep us grounded, even when we don’t need to be,” Derrick finished with a bit of a chuckle. Adam laughed along with him, and then a peaceful silence befell the two friends.

  Eventually, Adam returned to his thoughts on whether or not they would find another group of people. What if they did? What if they were good people, in a good place? Maybe they’d have food, water, technology. That’d be better than anything they’d be going home to, he knew that. Maybe then he’d even be able to let his guard down, and try to actually be friends with his friends again.

  Still, the others wouldn’t just stop this pilgrimage of theirs; Luke, Nolan, Cody– hell even Chris and Jeremy– they were all too invested. He didn’t think they really believed there was a good chance of finding their families, but all the same they wouldn’t give up that chance. For them, this was the only way back; there was no new home. Not right now anyway.

  Plus, Luke was clearly hell-bent on trying to fix them all. Everyone else loved to think it was some great quality of his, but honestly, Adam always saw it as his biggest flaw. Even before all this, back when they were just kids, Luke always seemed like he was trying to make sure everyone got along, but really, he just needed everyone to like him. He needed to feel that sense of belonging, because… well Adam wasn’t really sure why. Maybe it was just Luke’s anxieties getting the best of him. Still, it could make him go to pretty heinous extents. Point being, as far as Adam was concerned, that was Luke’s fatal crux, and it was probably what was driving him to do all this in the first place, so he’d never stop, not until they all got there.

  Adam had always thought, if worse came to worst, he’d just leave them all, survive on his own. In his own mind, he was always preparing for it, at least subconsciously. Now though, especially recently, he questioned his resolve. Could he really bring himself to do something like that? After everything that they’d been through together? At the same time, what if they did end up finding someone– or worse yet, something– bad again? Was Luke really gonna be there for them, again? How far was he actually willing to go for everyone, when worse came to worst? And if he couldn’t, who else would? Could Adam manage to do that?

  Adam wasn’t able to finish that thought at the time however, because they started slowing down, a lot. Like, very quickly; annoyingly quickly, even. He turned to Derrick, who had simply resorted to laying his head on the steering-wheel in defeat. Adam realized the tragedy that had fallen unto them, and he sighed.

  “No more gas?” he asked rhetorically.

  “Mhm…” Derrick moaned, his head seemingly laced to the wheel, and his eyes clenched in disappointment.

  “Welp,” Adam defeatedly expressed, getting comfortable in his seat, “might as well get some sleep while we can.”

  He shut his eyes, and laid restless in his seat until he heard Derrick sigh, shift around, and breathe steadily, before he actually allowed himself to sleep. It took somewhere around an hour, maybe more. At least, Adam assumed so.

  Chris was the first to wake up. Much to his chagrin, he happened to have woken up in the middle of a five man sandwich. One that, for a number of sanitary reasons alone, he’d like to forgot as soon as possible. Though that would soon become impossible.

  Cody and Jeremy were on his left, and Nolan and Luke were on his right. Jeremy was… cuddling, with him, and Cody, though not cuddling, was leaning very close to Jeremy. As was Nolan to Luke, and… as shameful as it was to find, Chris was cuddling a little with Nolan himself.

  That must’ve been because of Jeremy though, Chris was sure of it. He put his arms around Chris, so in his subconscious, he was sure he must’ve just felt he had to move his arms to get comfortable… with Nolan…

  He also noticed that Nolan was crying a little in his sleep, and he was gripping a bit too tightly onto Chris’s arm. Chris had no problem with the crying, he did however have a problem with the pain and numbness his arm was simultaneously experiencing.

  “Someone likes to be the little spoon,” Chris muttered, trying to pull his arm away. Unfortunately, Nolan was fairly stronger than Chris, and he had quite the iron grip on his arm at the moment, so Chris was very unhappily locked in place.

  Chris sighed, and tried to view the time on the clock. It was all scratched out, but he was fairly sure he could make out 10:Something. The sun was fairly high behind them, the tips of the trees just barely brushing it’s bottom, so his assumption fit the bill.

  He saw as well that they were still on a highway, and were also totally motionless, even though the car was still shifted into drive. He knew enough to understand what that meant.

  “Great…” Chris grunted, upset. He tried his best to look outside the car and see if there were any others around from which to pull gas from, but he couldn’t see anything from his current position. He turned back to face Nolan, his arm still stuck. “Alright buddy, time to wake up, or at least let go,” He struggled to whisper, tugging at his own arm, and pushing Nolan’s back away from him. It didn’t help.

  Chris pulled with greater intensity at every attempt, but nothing seemed to work. He stopped, and thought for a moment. What could get Nolan to wake up? Well, he was very attached to the cuddling… so maybe…

  Chris was not proud of the next thought that came. He was willing to do it for the output, but the input was not going to be very respectable. At least everyone was asleep.

 
; He leant in next to Nolan’s ear, and softly blew into it. Nolan wriggled a little, and Chris, grimacing, regretfully continued.

  “Hey,” he whispered, in as sultry and feminine a tone as possible.

  “Mmm?” Nolan sleepily replied, turning slightly, his eyes still closed.

  “It’s me Nolan, it’s… it’s Jackie…” Chris continued; he grinned a bit at that.

  “J-Ja…?” Nolan muttered, still half-asleep.

  “Yeah, and I wanna–!” Chris stopped, as he had to stifle a laugh. If only the others were awake, he thought. They’d understand. “I wanna practice kissing again!” he whispered deviously.

  “Huh…? T-That was just for practice… it’s been years…” Nolan murmured, Chris made a face of disbelief– a very “Oh shit no way!” disbelief. He burst out a held in laugh out of pure shock, and had to recompose himself.

  Nolan let go of Chris’s arm, and turned back around, though still half-asleep. As soon as his arm got free, Chris reared back, and slapped Nolan across the face with it. Hard.

  “Ahhhh!” Nolan screamed in pain. He immediately woke up, as did the others. He clutched his face, and Chris fell back onto Jeremy and Cody, at this point in a fit of laughter. Everyone sprung up, assuming the worst.

  “What the hell just happened!?” Luke said, frantically looking around, and already reaching for his gun.

  “Why the shit did you just scream Nolan!?” Derrick shouted from the front, clearly annoyed at his rude awakening. Chris struggled to breathe as he tried to explain things, with tears streaming down his eyes. Jeremy shoved him off of his shoulder, and back into an upright position.

  “I…! I…! He was…!” Chris tried to explain, unable to string a sentence together without falling apart into a cackling fit again.

  “He slapped me!” Nolan yelled. “Right across my face!”

  “Why?” Jeremy asked, still annoyed, but also now curious. Chris took a few deep breaths, and wiped his face, trying to seriously pull himself back together.

  “He…He was sleeping on my arm, cuddling with it. I wanted to wake up, so I tried to pull away, but it wouldn’t work. So I…I leant in, and whispered into his ear…” Chris explained.