Only Can Salmonella Outlast

THREE

Sam started to dig in the debris pile for something, he knew the bus was filled with suitcases, there must be something there that he could put to use. At last, he found a suitcase, it was in fair shape, he dug it out and drug it over to a flat spot. He unzipped it and opened it. He knew right off that it was a girl's suitcase. He dug through clothes and other items, typical things you would find in a suitcase, however, he found nothing that could possibly help them in their situation or the items were too ripped up to be able to use. He remembered Ella's mangled shirt, her sleeves were ripped off and she was left with a sort of tank top that was in shreds. He grabbed out one of the shirts in the suitcase, it was a black t-shirt that was emblazoned with the iconic Pink Floyd prism, it was ripped but not as bad as the article she was wearing currently. He seized it and walked back over to Ella who he was letting have a moment or two to calm down.

He handed the shirt to her. "Here, put this on, I'll try to find some jackets too."

She took the shirt and put it over her ripped tank top. "Thanks..." She simply said.

Sam nodded and returned to searching the pile.

~

What the hell just happened? Ella grasped her shoulders tightly, she blankly stared out onto the landscape before her. There were mountains, and then there was a mountain of flesh and metal parts scattered all along the road. But then Ella wondered, there aren't any other cars driving by. If there were, then an ambulance or something must be on their way by now. Ella looked over to see Sam returning with items in his hand.

"I found an empty backpack that's still in fairly good shape, we can put things we need in it."

Ella just stared at him, she was still in shock.

"I still need to see the condition of your legs before we do anything." He crouched down beside her again. She looked at him and then at her legs, they were clothed in bloodstained jeans. "If you're not comfortable we don't have to but I need to make some sort of diagnosis so I can gauge the seriousness of the situation."

"So... Are you a doctor now?"

"No, but I'm literally your only hope right now so you're going to have to trust me."

"Ok, fine." Ella relented. Then Sam reached into a deep pocket and pulled out a pocket knife. "We need to cut your jeans."

She looked at him once again, she knew taking them off wasn't going to be easy, so it was their only option. After a moment, she finally nodded.

"Okay," He flicked out the blade and pinched some denim right below her knee, he poked the knife through, careful not to cut her leg. "Tell me if I cut you or anything." He started to slide the blade vertically down Ella's leg, it was surprisingly easy to cut, it seemed they were not jeans or maybe jean leggings. Once he had sliced them open, he carefully peeled back the fabric from her leg. It was a little difficult, the fabric was sticking to her leg with dried blood and and wounds that had started to scab. When he peeled some of the scabs that were stuck to her jeans away, all that was left was cuts and fresh blood that was replenishing. Ella started to hiss in pain but it wasn't as bad as her main injuries. Sam started to cut and peel her other pant leg, then he sat back on his knees and scanned her legs.

They looked almost completely ripped up, Sam was surprised she could even stand up, there was so much blood and scabs covering her legs, it was horrifying, Sam even saw small shards of glass wedged into her flesh. Ella slapped a hand to her mouth and lurched over to the side like she was going to puke. She lurched a few more times before, it seemed, she could not hold it in any longer, her hand flew away from her mouth as the yellowish liquid of a dry heave rapidly escaped her mouth. Sam could only watch, he had no idea what to do. He snapped the knife back into its handle and he stuffed it back down into his pocket. He looked out onto the scene of sizzling bones and flesh and blackened metal. Oh my god. Everyone's dead.

~

He stared for a while until he started to think.

"Why aren't there any other cars driving past?"

Ella wiped her mouth after the dry heaving had stopped, she responded after a couple minutes of coughing. "I was wondering the same thing." Her voice sounded like it was coming back to her.

"I haven't seen a single car, I think by now we'd be hearing ambulance sirens."

"You're right."

"What in the hell is happening?" Sam looked at Ella and she looked at him. It seemed that only Sam and Ella could outlast the crash.