Escape -Third in the Run. Series

Chapter 5

Warning for explicit language in this chapter. Because it is dispersed throughout the chapter, I've placed a summary of what takes place in this chapter at the end in case you are uncomfortable with the use of  swearing and mentions of hell.

Adam's POV

"Who even needs food, anyway? I mean, it's not like we do, we aren't human. I don't think we've been human in a long time, considering the fact that it's a friggin' zombie apocalypse!"

"Jerome," Mitch sighed. Jerome whirled around from where he was walking at the front of the group and pointed angrily at him.

"Nope, you don't get to use that voice on me. Nope, definitely not allowed," he paused for a moment, head tilted to the side." I dunno if you noticed or not, but I had a nervous breakdown when you fucking disappeared for a year, and remained pretty unstable for that entire time! So, no, you don't get to use that 'Jerome please calm down' voice, understood?!" He spun back around before Mitch could answer, practically stomping on the pavement. The road we were on stretched out endlessly in front of us and even farther behind us.

"If we're complaining about basic needs, I think some water would be appreciated," Jason muttered. We all murmured in agreement, but none of us actually spoke too loud. Shouting just made you more thirsty.

Occasionally we would pass a corpse on the side of the road, or something still moving, and we would all stare at it for much longer than necessary. Thinking about the fact that it is meat, technically. It probably isn't human. Even if it is, it's still meat. We could avoid infected parts. Still meat, right?

But then we'd all shake our heads and keep walking.

"Ian," I called, "Maybe thinking about stopping wouldn't be such an awful idea."

"The last sign said there was a town coming up in about 7 miles. We could make it there before it gets dark, easy." Ian called back. I sighed. The sun was still high in the sky, heat radiating off the asphalt as we walked and probably giving us a sunburn from hell. Not that the existence we were living in was much better, but still.

3 hours later, however, found us still walking as the sky darkened. Ian was swearing violently, and Jerome would occasionally toss back something worse and the two would blow up at each other. Mitch, Jason, and Olivia all led the group, practically hanging off each other's shoulders from exhaustion. Ryan walked next to me, his face pinched from tiredness.

"I think he read that sign wrong," he mumbled. I nodded in agreement.

"Fuck you, Ryan!" Ian retorted, but Ryan just shook his head.

"Yeah, man. Agreed."

Felix  was staring at the ground as he walked, barely picking up his feet enough to shuffle. His gun hung at his side, and occasionally his hand would brush against it and he'd stare at it for a moment and then pick up his feet a little more, for a little longer.

"What're you thinking about, Felix?" I asked. His eyes flickered up to me, dull and glazed.  

"Got to find Marzia," he whispered, "I need to find her. We are going to find her, right?" My throat tightened as he stared at me, his expression so mournful and in pain that it seemed a crime to do anything else other than nod.

"'Course we are, buddy. No doubt."

He nodded at this, then resumed staring at his feet. I sighed. So much for that.

We hit the town Ian was talking about an hour later, feet burning and legs cramped. Olivia had taken to getting rides from all of us, switching from person to person after her legs had given out underneath her and she had started to sob in defeat.

I had picked her up first, wordlessly, when I saw that she could barely produce a tear because of how dehydrated she was. Ryan took her ten minutes later when my face turned green and my vision tunneled. He lasted longer, carrying her piggy-back style for almost 20 minutes before he groaned and passed her to Mitch. It went on like that for the rest of the walk, each of us attempting to carry her for as long as we could before having to pass her on to someone else.

She was slumped against Felix's back now, eyes barely open as we passed the damaged WELCOME sign.

"Adam," Ian croaked. "Go check that house." He gestured at the nearest house, a white one with green shutters and a picket fence that looked all too fairy tale-ish for a zombie apocalypse. I nodded and left the group and their sunken eyes and cracking voices behind.

The door was unlocked. I pushed it open gently, wincing as it swung open and creaked noisily. Even though the sun was long down, I could still see well enough in the dark kitchen.

Well enough to see that nothing was there.

The cabinet and fridge doors were all wide open, shelves bare. I turned the tap on the sink halfheartedly, not really expecting anything to come out.

The team's hopeful eyes when I walked back outside were heartbreaking. I shook my head.

"Nothing," I apologized, "There's nothing. It's all been cleaned out already. Everything."

Ryan sunk to the pavement, trembling as his remaining strength left his body. Ian cussed quietly, punching the side of the house with barely any effort behind his hits. Felix stared blankly at it, and Mitch and Jerome both looked at me dazedly. Jason swore and kicked a rock.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

Ian slid down the side of his house till he was sitting. "I guess this is it, then. The whole town is definitely worth bull if they got this one way on the outskirts." Felix flopped down, curling into a ball and burying his head in his hands. Olivia slid off his back and leaned against him, eyelids fluttering. Mitch sat down next to her and put an arm around her.

Jerome continued to stare at me in disbelief.

"N-nothing?"

I shook my head. "Nada. Zip. Zilch. Completely cleaned out."

"Damn it. Damn it all," he laughed and shook his head. "Let's go to hell."

He sat down next to Ian, laughing until it dissolved into sobbing.

I found myself staring at the sky, where all the stars still twinkled innocently. The same as they were before this whole mess started. Jason came and stood next to me.

"I hope so."

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Summary:

The group slowly loses hope as they travel. Jerome crawls toward breaking down again, and Felix focuses only on his girlfriend to keep him alive. The team, in desperate need of basic survival supplies, reaches a town after several hours of traveling only to find it empty of supplies. The chapter leaves off there, with the team admitting defeat and unable to travel any further.