At the end of the night, all of us settling down after eating some sandwiches scrounged up from the kitchen, each person or couple goes to find a place on the floor to sleep. Some rolling sweaters or their bags for a pillow and complete tablecloths for blankets, one for each. Lee and Quiyl are volunteered for the same watch, and they pull up two chairs, relaxing into them with their knives sheathed in their laps.
I roll to Xavier, and my hand goes up to caress his face gently. "Hello handsome."
"Hi beautiful, haven't seen you much lately." His low voice rumbles, and I lean in his chest as he relaxes on his side. "How are you feeling?"
"I am okay, how about you?"
His lips thin into a tight line, and his eyes grow sad as he answers. "Not really. I am very worried about my parents, and my sisters…"
"Everything will work out eventually, but at the moment, sorry love, I think it might be best to hope for the best but prepare for the worst."
His lips press a gentle kiss to my forehead and I snuggle in, until we jump apart cause a deep voice calls to us.
"We may be in the apocalypse, but I swear to whatever deity is listening, if any of y'all feel like feeling each other up, I will throw you outside. With your partner in crime. Or partners, whatever the hell you are into. In any case. No." My dad exclaims, and some of us chuckle while some others look like deer caught in headlights.
The restaurant lobby starts to settle down as dreamland takes each person, the moon high overhead, and the stars continuing their shining even as the world as we know it goes to hell.
Chapter 18
The morning comes, the light burning some tired eyes as they blink open, some groans at the prospect of moving. Anthony and Avyanna stretch from where they were sitting guard, Liam stumbling to the bathroom. Lee detaches himself from Quiyl's arms, who makes a sad noise, and he presses a kiss to her forehead then wanders the perimeter of the lobby. My Dad gets up, followed by my uncle Jay. James wanders back to the kitchen and finds a glass pot, Jay walks to the door, flipping open a cigarette box, slipping one in-between his lips.
"Anyone else want some fresh air with a side of zombies?" Uncle Jay jokes, and Lee stretches and walks over to him.
"I will come out to hang out with you, besides, we could gather up some kindling and heat up that pot for tea or coffee."
"I would love some coffee right now." Liam groans, and follows Lee.
The three boys wandered outside and Lee and Liam split up to look for small pieces of wood, and Anthony walks over, staring at the bodies of the infected who tried to break to door down last night. He grabs an old shirt and wraps it around one of the arms, preventing skin to skin contact. He drags one of the bodies further away then does the same for the other body. Lee kicks the heads far away and then starts piling the sticks in one area. Quiyl finally dragged herself out of bed enough to locate some metal heating racks and sets it up over the makeshift fire pit. Anthony digs some matches out of his bag and coaxes the fire to life, James bringing the pot now filled with water over.
"Just need to let the water heat to boiling. Did you find any filters?" Anthony askes, and James gives him some of the filters he scrounged up from the coffee station.
They work on tearing the filters down to size then covering the cups and thermoses of the people who drink coffee. The rest have their tea bags all set up, each taking turns in the bathroom and getting ready for another day on the run. The girls dig in their bags and find a hair elastic for each, Avyanna and Quiyl choosing to put their hair up into buns and Violet and I put ours into high ponytails.'
As soon as the water is ready James begins to pour it into each mug, the respective person taking it as it is filled with a thanks mumbled. Hums of contentment and smiles start to show as the drink wakes them up.
"Did everyone sleep okay?" Lee asks, hugging Quiyl into his side as she sips her tea.
"I think so, no unusual noises as well which was nice." My Dad teased with a twinkle in his eye. "Seems like teenagers have finally started to put a rein on their hormones. That's a pleasant surprise."
"Bee, stop." My stepmom protests. "They were fine."
"Can I ask why you call each other 'Bee'?" Violet asks as Idris settles down beside her.
"Because honey is overrated, and she is sweet as honey, and I am attracted to her like a bee. It became our thing way back when we started dating."
My stepmom rolls her eyes and takes another sip, my Dad grinning proudly to himself. "This feels like a 'when I was your age' moment."
"No, it's not. I don't need to share any of my wisdom now."
"Wisdom." My stepmom uses one hand to do a quotation gesture, and my Dad looks offended.
"Check your attitude missy, I am plenty smart."
"Okay, how about you two stop bickering like high school sweethearts." Uncle Jay chastised the bickering couple.
"But we are high school sweethearts." Dad fired right back.
"Okay, lets just simmer down and plan the next step." My step mom talks over my Dad's arguments. "Does any body have the time? In my rush to evacuate London I left my watch there. We got out early before most of the city was infected."
"It's 8:30 in the morning." James reads off his watch, and I groan.
"So, if we were to leave now we could make it to Niagara by noon at the latest, taking the back roads, and begin raiding houses." Lee hypothesizes, and the rest of us nod our agreement.
"Now, you and Idris have been doing an awful lot of driving, would you want some others to take a shift driving?" I ask, Idris and Lee look to each other and nod.
"Wouldn't be a half bad idea, keeps us alert and takes some of the strain off us." Idris answers, Lee nodding his agreement.
"If we left within the next half an hour we could make it to Bracebridge, retrieve my mom and step dad, and we could start coming back Niagara way, meet up with you guys in about a week’s time at your high school?" My dad proposes, and we nod.
"Sounds like a solid plan. Let's give ourselves an hour to get ready and trade the supplies as needed." Liam announces, and Xavier stands up, helping me up with him.
I gather my things and pack them back into my backpack, and Xavier does the same beside me, then we roll and pack the tablecloth as well. The rest of my friends do the same, the general conversation quieting down to just be between a few people.
"What if we find family members of our friends here, and they have already turned?" I quietly ask Xavier, and he gives me a sad look.
"Then we do everything in our power to take care of them, so the person that was closest to them doesn't have too."
"It would be cruel to keep one to experiment a cure on, wouldn't it be..." I ask, and he nods.
"Who's to say we won't round up everyone we know and lock them in a pen, and then they just decompose and collapse over? As far as we know this disease attacks the part of the brain that controls recognition, they would just be drooling creatures. We would need to capture one to see if we can get some scientific study off the infected..."
I cuddle into his side with a soft laugh. "My forever experimenter, if anybody can figure this out you can."
He gives me an uncertain smile and I chuckle. My Dad walks up to me with my stepmom beside him and pulls me into a hug.
"Promise me you will be safe, my beautiful girl."
"I will be Dad. Promise." I look into his eyes and he winks, something he has done with me since I was a child.
My stepmom wraps me into a hug as my Dad shakes hands with Xavier.
"Remember, nightmare fuel."
"Yes, sir."
"Bee, stop with the threats, he hasn't done anything to invoke your ire." My step mom chastised, and my Dad smirked.
"Always good to let them know the feeding chain, it's how you invoke fear." He stage-whispered to my step mom who sighed.
"I like you, please keep each other safe though." She pulls him into a gentle hug, and he hugs back.
"I will." He answers the same time as I say, "We bot
h will."
They step back, and my Uncle Jay hugs me, echoing their sentiment. The rest of the group begins to filter outside, somber as eyes look around to see the way the world has become.
"We should go to the gas station together before we leave, watch each others backs." Idris offers, and Dad agrees.
We all climb into the respective cars and the drivers turned them on one by one. We look to each other as shrieks call out over the engines, the infected hearing the noise. Some begin charging from behind the restaurant, and one by one our cars fly out of the parking lot, Dad's in front as we follow to the gas station. The infected continue to follow but fall further and further behind. We get to the gas station and each drive to a pump, my Dad jumping out first with a long rubber tube. Liam and Anthony get out and scope out the perimeter, gesturing to each other where there are infected.
"Ever stole gas before?" My Dad asks Lee, who shakes his head. "Well be prepared to learn how."
My Dad instructs Lee on how to syphon the gas from the station, and Idris comes to watch then brings them over to his car and they do the same. Xavier winks at me then disappears towards the convenience store.
A few moments later he re-emerges with some empty gas tanks and sets them beside the three syphoning gas and goes back to the store, gesturing for a few of us to follow. Quiyl, Violet and I look to each other, shrug, and follow him in through the door.
Chapter 19
Xavier is raiding the aisles of food and we grab a few plastic bags and follow suit. A few moments of crinkling plastic follow before Violet speaks up from where she is by the beef jerky.
"Are you guys a little uneasy with the fact that this town is practically untouched? Isn't it usually very busy?"
"Usually yes." I muse, standing up from where I was kneeling. "Vi, I knew something was off but thank you for voicing my concerns."
Suddenly a large amount of shouting comes from outside and the lot of us duck, crawling over to be by the windows. The bags crinkle underfoot where some have dropped and Violet peeks out over the top of the shelf.
"There's some guys out there looking real threatening with some guns, most defiantly not infected." She whispers to us and the rest of us trade looks. "The one guy, tall threatening mofo with too much silver glint has Lee pinned against a gas station."
Quiyl has her knife drawn and a murderous look on her face before Violet finishes her sentence. I lay my hand on my shoulder and shake my head, lowering my voice.
"Not yet, we have the advantage of surprise."
"Isn't that what all wannabe heroes say before they are ambushed?" Xavier mumbled beside me, and I cross my fingers.
"Don't jinx us!" I cautioned him, and he gives me a half-hearted smirk. "There should be something here we might be able to scare them away with."
"Might want to hurry, they look really angry." Vi commented, then dropped down to kneel beside us.
I look around and my eyes land on an old box labeled 'fireworks' that is behind the counter from last June, and I begin crawling over to it. Xavier follows my line of sight and follows. The boxes groan as I open it, some of the cardboard tearing slightly. A golden one stands out on top of the pile, the shine slightly dimmed by the dust covering it. I hold it up and Xavier's eyes shine with the light bouncing of the firework.
"Think we can name this rocket 'Element of Surprise'?" I giggle, and Xavier locates some matches on the shelf by the cash register.
"You are off your rocker." He mumbles, sliding the box to over by the back door.
Violet keeps and eye on the front door as the rest of us slowly move to the back door. The door creaks open as Xavier pushes it, Vi nodding that the coast is clear. The rest of us get out of the store and lean against the wall, the shouting louder.
"WE WANT EVERYTHING!" An unfamiliar masculine voice yells.
"How do you expect us to live without any provisions? Are you really that heartless?" My Dad's voice rings out, significantly quieter.
"We don't fucking care. Give us everything or the boy dies!"
"So, I feel like it's a bad idea to light a firework near a gas station, y'know, fumes." Violet inquired.
"I don't care if we blow the place sky high, that thug should get his hands of my boyfriend." Quiyl hissed, her voice dropping to a deadly tone.
"You realize the blast would kill everyone. You wouldn't have a boy toy to hold because he would be halfway across the town. In pieces." Violet pointed out, and Quiyl sighed.
"How about we point it at the sky instead of someone?" I asked sarcastically, and the rest turned to me. "Just a thought."
I grab the golden one from the box and put the stick in the ground, pointing it away from us.
"I would move away." I strike the match and hold it to the fuse, letting it light, then jumping back a few feet.
Everyone takes shelter behind some old concrete in a pile, about 10 feet from the lit firework. After a nerve-racking few seconds the firework takes off with a loud hissing noise, and then shoots off high in the sky before exploding, a loud banging echoing through the sky. Violet sneaks up to beside the building and the rest of us follow.
As we peek around we notice the situation to have drastically changed, the thugs lined up with their hands raised, my Dad wielding one of their guns and the rest of our group doing the same, including my step mom. Quiyl steps out and runs to Lee, kissing his cheek and wrapping her arms around his waist, leaving his hands free to use the gun if needed.
The rest of us follow, leaving Xavier behind the building just in case, and as I walk up I notice some of my friends holding the gun with some hesitation. I stand beside James and Anthony, Anthony true with his aim while James is a bit shaky, I lay my hand on his arm and take a deep breath, prompting him to do the same. He stops shaking, and I begin to pay attention to the debate happening.
"And I am assuming you are all the reason why the town is quiet." My Dad observed, and some of the thugs nodded.
"We are the gang that ran quietly in this town, but as soon as the infected came we gained ruling power. As you can see, we are some of the only healthy left." The same voice from before comes from a tall guy in the middle, his long brown hair in a ponytail and the light glinting off his multiple piercings.
"What's your name?" My stepmom questioned, and the thug looked confused.
"Why would you want to know that?"
"Always good to be polite and call you by your proper name."
"We just held you up and were going to leave you for dead, and you want to know my name?"
My step mom raised an eyebrow. "Just because its the end of the world doesn't mean we have to not use manners, before you know it we would start regressing to an uncivilized time period."
"My name is Quinton, we are the Brantford Bad-asses." He gestures to the thugs beside him, a total of 9 people are standing around him, hands still raised.
"Well Quinton, if you don't mind us leaving some guards we are going to have a little discussion. But if you care to move, then said person will be finding out their pain tolerance. We won't shoot to kill, but we will shoot to injure." My Dad commanded, and Quinton nodded.
My Dad turns to us and nods to Anthony, Liam and James to keep an eye on them, the rest of us gathering in a huddle behind the three keeping guard.
"We should take their stuff, after all they were going to do it to us." Quiyl hissed, and Lee turned to her and raised an eyebrow.
"A little bloodthirsty, dear? I am fine, no bullets in my body." Lee responded.
"Even though most of the world isn't human anymore, doesn't mean we have to regress to caveman days. I mean, I get it, if Liz was threatened I would throw caution to the wind. But we need to think rationally, and rationally does not include mowing down every person that threatens us." My Dad warned, and Quiyl finally sheathed her knife again.
"I vote we take three of their guns and just leave after we finish clearing out the gas station of provisions. Just so there is a little punishment, b
ut we aren't leaving them for dead." Liam proposed, looking around the circle to see who agrees.
"Sounds fair." My Uncle Jay agreed.
We broke the circle and spread out in a line, Quinton turned his attention from the guy beside him who he was speaking too.
"Decided our fate, have you?"
"You are just lucky you came across some people who are forgiving and have some humanity left unlike you assholes." My step mom answered, and then holds up three fingers. "We are taking three of your guns, whatever we can scavenge from that convivence store, and enough gas to fill our tanks and then we will leave town and never bother you again. How's that for a deal?"
"Fine." Quinton said, and his cohorts looked slightly disappointed.
"No fighting is boring." The one beside Quinton spoke up, and the rest nodded in agreement.
"Well aren't you bloodthirsty bastards." My Dad mutters, and then nods to the three keeping guard.
Idris brings his car to the syphoning gas station and they begin to fill it up, the rest of us either carting store items to the cars or keeping an eye on our temporary captives. Once all the cars are full we each get into our respective cars, Quiyl driving Lee's and Violet driving Idris', we head off in the direction of the back roads, my Dad following.
We drive until we are well away from Brantford, then we all pull over and quickly scope out for any infected, everyone getting out of the car. My Dad walks over and folds me into a long hug, and I smile into his chest.
"Be safe, my lovely girl."
"We have already been through this, I will." I pull back and smile up at him.
"We will be in Niagara in a week, give us two weeks at most. But here.." He reached back and gave Liam his solar panel textbooks and handed me a bag of fresh food. "Probably the last fresh food you will get in a while, there's some bread and some fruit in there."
Friends Against The World (Book 1): Bite Me Page 7
