Dissociative Flesh

|Chapter 17| A Hand of the Bible

Day 505, since the undead rose

Sabre

In the back of a truck in the cold of fall. Pluto lay next to my legs. The truck bumped against the rough road. My leg healing over along with my head wound. The little girl Jalaine was resting in my lap. She was sound asleep with a soft snore filling the air. I helped keep her steady against the ride. Everyone has been switching around to drive. Everyone except me. With how I got hit in the head they don't want me driving. Katynana and Dimritri were in the back of the truck enjoying the chilly air. Lars was in shotgun and taking it away with Amber. Ever since we got out of the house... She's been more open.

I looked at Jalaine. Her bite mark was still hidden from the bandages we covered her with. It is mostly healed over by now. They don't know it... but even after being bit. She is still here. Thanks to the blood that pumps in my body. Ever since I've learned of this- fully... I can feel it. The blood rushed through my body. I feel more focused on listening to my heart as it pounds in my chest. With each breath I take there is hope. Hope for a future where everyone can be safe. Where we can all live without the fear of being bitten. I ran my hand against my arm tracing my finger over the veins on my body. If I die it's over... possibly for everyone. What's next? What am I supposed to do now?

Lars and Jalaine are alive.

"Hey were are almost at our next pitstop. Just be ready." Amber speaks without looking back at us. Pluto sits up and perks his head up.

"Sounds good, hopefully, we get better luck on gas here." I stretched my hands over my head a small grunt escaping me.

"I can say in the care with Jalaine. She looks out of it." Lars offers.

"Good idea, it is pretty late," I replied softly. As the truck slowly pulls into an abandoned gas station I reset her on her side. We both looked around the area very closely. No undead anywhere in sight. We all got out of the car slowly. The sunset an hour ago. We kept the car running as we looked for gas. The door was broken down already. Not a good idea.

We shifted inside the dirty remains of the gas station. The ground was covered in dirt and grim. Some shelves had titles over their sides while others stood upright and mostly empty. Some stocks of food remained. I took a look through them, the plastic wrapping crackling as I checked the dates of expiration. Most of them were past that due date, while a few were still salvageable. I took them with me. Among everything in here, only a few things remained untouched. Toys. Little plushes and animals that are covered in dirt. I sorted through them, finding an adorable blue sheep. I picked it up. Maybe she would like it.

"I found a bit of gas! It should last for a while!" Amber cheers as she grabs a few gas containers.

"Perfect, I found some good we can eat tonight. Looks like another night in the car right?" I asked her. Out of everything we had, we didn't have enough sleeping supplies, the only things we had were the three sleeping bags me and Dimirti kept from our travels. Half of the group remained with nothing. Katyana sleeps with Jalaine in one bag together. I have some thicker clothes so I sleep without them. Dimirit had his sleeping bag still, while Lars slept in another. They all sleep outside. Inside the car, me and Amber rest with the dogs. As we are huddled together we manage to stay warm in the night.

"Looks like it, hopefully, we run into a town soon. We can look for winter clothes and sleeping bags. Even in the south it still gets cold." Amber acknowledged as we made our way out of the gas station. I did snag an old lighter that may or may not be functional. Before we got out of the gas station we heard some noises from outside.

"You can get away from the truck! We don't want anything to do with you!" I heard Dimirit yell at someone from the truck. The dogs started barking wildly. I looked at the glass to see a man and a woman. They were both wearing heavy clothing.