Hunger

Chapter 7:6: Horrifying Halfway To The End - Building Bridges

"Jacob!" Ashyra shouted in vain.

"Ashyra, we’re sorry about him", Debbie said, as she approached and comforted her.

"Don’t worry about him, Ashyra. Jacob is a true hero. He won’t die in vain", Virgil said.

"Dry your eyes, Ashyra. We’re still here. We have to survive, even without him. We have to continue forward, just as what he promised us", Hunnigan said.

Ashyra wiped her tears, and suddenly, she looked at Brock with a frown.

"It’s your entire fault! You shouldn’t have volunteered, when it wasn’t your chance!"

"Hold it right there, young lady. He shouldn’t have stood back there in the midst of emergency!" he defended.

"Stop all your blaming. Jacob is gone now. We should continue to Wintergreen", Diane said.

"We’re a team and we’re not having a fight again, not this time. We should all focus, because this is our last resort. We can’t afford to lose one of us again, so we need to stick together. Understand?" Virgil asked. 

"Guys, hold on!" Brock shouted, as he continued to navigate the coach.

It was still in its constant speed, ignoring all the infected roaming along the tracks.

"Listen to me now! We can’t stop! The only thing for us to do now is to grab onto anything and secure ourselves! The controls are now involuntary, despite of some impacts!" Brock shouted.

Suddenly, the coach made its strong bumps respectively.

"Everybody get down!"

"Ahh!"

After several minutes, the coach ran smoothly.

"Everybody okay?" Brock yelled.

"My head. Oh! It’s still keep on banging", Hunnigan said.

"Yeah, me too", Debbie said.

"I think, we’re getting closer to the base", Virgil said.

"We should be. After several days of sitting here, we should be", Diane said.

"Brock, are you alright? You’re bleeding", Debbie asked.

He stared at her without a clue, and then, he touched his forehead.

"Ahh! Damn! I think it’s bad."

"Debbie, patch him up."

She picked up the first aid kit from the bag, and then, she patched him up with the bandage.

"Stay still. This should help."

"Ahh. That hits the spot. Thanks."

"So, where are we now?" Ashyra asked.

"I don’t know. I’m not paying attention to the signboards."

Brock got up and he looked at the distance.

"You’ve got to be kidding me", he whispered.

"What? What is it?" Diane asked.

"Look."

He pointed to the distance, and unfortunately, there was a gap on their way.

"Oh no", Diane whispered in surprise.

"Oh my! We have to think something now!" Hunnigan shouted

"Are you sure that the controls are obsolete?" Debbie asked Brock.

"Crystal clear."

 "What are we going to do now? We’re getting closer!"

"Stop panicking! We’re not going to die!" Diane shouted.

"Face the truth now! There’s the gap! We have no more way of getting out of here!"

"Brock, can you still increase the speed?"

"Are you insane?! This thing can’t handle stunts, unlike you do!"

"Just do it! We can still make it to the other side."

Brock had no choice, but to obey her. He held the speed lever and pushed it upward.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Just do what I say!"

The coach is already a foot away from the gap.

"Everybody hold on and get down!"

"Holy crap!"

Amazingly, the coach jumped from the track due to an increasing speed, and then eventually, it landed smoothly on the other side of the track with a thud.