Broken World

40. On The Road

NEXT MORNING  

“I’m gonna miss this place and the roller-coaster memories we shared,” Finn said, looking at the hostel one last time. 

“We came in as thirty and leaving as two. Damn, I can’t believe we made it this far,” Ty replied. 

“Come on slowpokes, we are hitting the road,” Amy said, getting in the RV. 

“Is everyone in? We are moving,” I informed, starting the RV. 

Slowly we came out of the forest and got on the main road. Our car was still on the sideway with ghouls all around it. 

“It’s been a while since I saw this part of the road,” Ty said, looking outside through the window. 

“So, how far is Golden Woods?” Amy asked, sitting in the passenger seat beside me. 

“If nothing goes wrong, we should be reaching there in two to three days.”  

“We sure have a long journey ahead of us.” 

“Let’s hope it’s not the worst one.” 

Since we had everything inside the RV, we didn’t stop anywhere, it slowly started getting dark and I was tired from all the driving. 

“Need a hand? Let me drive,” Finn said, walking up to me. 

“Sure,” I replied. We exchanged the spots. I sat on the bed with Jane, she looked at everyone and smiled. 

“You look happy,” I said. 

“Everyone looks so relieved, just like normal children. It reminds me of how our world used to be.”

Ivan was reading a magazine with his legs on the dashboard beside Finn. On the dining area, Amy, Kevin and Ty played chess which they found in one of the cabinets, both of them joined forces against her, who was surely a better player than them. They looked at each other and screamed in excitement every time they took out Amy’s piece, at the same time blamed each other when lost one.   

“You don’t get to see people thinking about something else than surviving nowadays. It’s good to see them enjoying,” she said. 

“You are right, except Kevin and Ty, they are acting crazy… I mean, they are the crazy people of our group,” I replied.   

Just then the RV gave a jerk, and all the pieces on the chess board fell down, Kevin and Ty screamed in frustration. 

“What happened?” I asked, walking up to Finn.

“There’s smoke coming out of the engine, let me check.”           

“Everyone, stay inside,” I said, following him. 

The empty road looked creepy; nothing was visible on any side except the light from our RV. He examined the engine for a moment and turned towards me.

“The engine’s hot, nothing out of the ordinary for a rundown RV. We can start moving once it cools down a little bit,” he informed. 

“Well, let’s get out of here quickly, I don’t think this would be a good place to stay at night,”

 ***

Early the next morning we made it to a town, it was quiet and peaceful, only the sound of the engine filled the air.

“This is a big city, be careful of the ghouls,” Jane warned, getting down. 

“Let’s refill the supplies and get going,” Amy suggested following her. 

“Do we really have to?” Kevin asked, getting down from his bed. “Every time we scavenge for food or do something else in towns… we end up in trouble.” 

“Unlike you, Erik and Finn have been driving all night, they need energy to concentrate, dimwit,” Ivan replied. 

“I know that idiot. I was just kidding,” he said, looking at himself in the mirror. 

 After they left, I and Finn dozed off to sleep, I was hungry but felt sleepy after a long time. 

 ***

“Yo, where the hell have you guys been?” Finn scolded them as they came walking towards us. 

“That bag looks heavy,” I said. 

“It’s heavy,” Jane replied, placing it on the ground. 

Finn got to cooking, while Kevin grabbed chairs and tables with Ivan’s and Ty’s help. That guy has a weird habit of eating while sitting in the middle of the road. He’s having fun, so, nobody seems to care. 

“We met a woman back at a mall, she said the highway leading to Golden Woods is currently filled with ghouls,” Jane informed, while we sat inside the RV. 

“This place has survivors? Staying here for too long doesn’t sound good,” I replied. 

“Only one woman, she’s surviving on her own, that’s what she said.”            

“You trust her?” I asked. 

“I mean, she helped us gather some supplies, you know?” 

“She even had a gun and could have robbed us if she wanted,” Amy agreed. 

“So, if the highway is blocked with ghouls, then we might have to take a detour.”

“Or we can wait till the horde passes by, besides this place has a lot of supplies, but we couldn’t find any gas though,” Jane said. 

“Wait? If we are gonna wait, then we need a well-protected place to stay, unlike this RV,” I replied.      

“Then let’s go house hunting after lunch,” she suggested. 

“Sure.”

***

“If we won’t kill ghouls… will they never die again?” Kevin asked as we were having lunch. 

“That’s a stupid but surely an interesting question,” Ty replied. 

“Ghouls are dead creatures who somehow came back to life, you have to turn into one to unravel the mystery,” Amy said, laughingly. 

“Let’s try not to unravel that mystery,” I replied, taking a bite. 

After lunch, Kevin, Ty and Amy went to look around the city, Finn went to sleep while Ivan sat down to read the same magazine for the 100th time, Kevin promised to get a book for him if possible. 

“So, house hunting?” Jane reminded. 

“Let’s go,” I replied, getting up.