Final Crisis

Chapter 17

Raphael and Juliet were laying down in the back of the truck, looking up at the clear sky. They both hoped to see something normal like a plane flying through the sky.

Juliet was on edge and constantly lifting her head up to check their surroundings.

In the time that they had left Lane, they had been attacked by a few different groups of infected. She was worried that more would show up or that a bunch of other members were sent from the FWR.

Finn laid his head back in his seat, fidgeting with his fingers. His body felt odd. Strange sensations would course throughout his body every now and then, like the faintest feel of a needle poking his skin. At one point, there would be itches throughout his body that he'd seemingly be unable to scratch, as if they were inside him. His concern regarding his body grew worse, and he was thinking back to the request he made to Raphael.

Do I really want to die? No...but for them...

His train of thought was interrupted as the truck came to yet another stop. Juliet's voice came in through the back window.

"What is that?"

Raphael sat up and looked out to the side of the road.

They were at the very entrance to the forest, and on the side of the road were a few wooden pikes with very pale heads on them. One of the pikes did not have one on it, but the tip was still covered in blood and there were a few bits of sludge stuck to it.

"They look like zombie heads, at least," He said.

"Be alert," Bill said, continuing on forward.

Raphael pulled out his gun, scanning the area as they moved.

"Not sure how well I like being under all this..." He muttered, looking up at the canopy of leaves.

Juliet readied her baseball bat, taking hard looks at the bushes nearby.

The road was covered in red dirt and the tires made a satisfying crunching sound as they rolled over it. The looming trees and bountiful bushes made an overwhelming sight of green. The soft soughing of the wind through the branches was calming to the group, who remained silent as Bill slowly drove. There was the faint sound of water running in the nearby creek, and birds chirping.

They passed by a few berry bushes and the truck stopped.

"Should we go for those?" Raphael asked.

"Are they even safe to eat?" Finn asked, rolling down his window.

"I can check," Bruce said, grabbing a water bottle out of the storage compartment and stepping outside carefully.

Raphael hopped out as well and remained close to him, gun in hand.

"What're you doing?" Bruce asked.

"Going with you. You know, in case anything happens."

"Whatever."

Bruce gave him the water bottle to hold in his free hand and he paced towards the bushes, his shotgun aimed toward them.

As they reached the bushes, he did a double check behind them and looked up at the trees.

"What's with the water?" Raphael asked.

"Well, I can't exactly tell what kind of berries these are, but I remember doing some reading a while ago and hearing about some 'exotic' berries they were growing here. If memory serves me right, there's this one type that isn't exactly good for humans to eat. A good way to tell it apart from some other berries that look similar to it though is to flick water on it. But, the creek is fairly close, so I might as well use the water from that instead..."