YouTube Goes Zombie

Chapter 5

Ashley's POV

Zack looks at me angrily, but I should be the mad one. He went into my mind, sorted through my memories! He's the one that made me relive my regretful past. I could feel that shadow in my mind. If he can read minds, he could know what I'm thinking. I need to get rid of him. Zack is a danger to Yukon and I. He could have a breakdown again and go unconcious and enter my mind again but go father back into my past. I don't need him seeing my whole life. But... what if he could enter the mind of a zombie? Yukon? Or an enemy? We could know what they're thinking. No more surprises. Maybe he could sense someone if they try to sneak up on us. I can't get rid of him, not until I figure out the true power of his 'gift'.

"Fine, fine. You can stay with me, but I want to know what you can do. Talk to me in my mind, but don't search through my memories please." I order him.

"I'm not sure I can do that, the only thing I could do before was enter your mind. I was physically there, and all your memories were there in age groups." He rubs the bump on his head.

"Try." I say forcefully.

"Okay." He squeezes his eyes shut tightly.

I anticipate the shadow coming. It doesn't.

"What is going on?" I ask impatiently.

"I don't know how to transmit words to your mind from mine." He looks down, disappointed.

"Just, enter my mind. Then talk." I explain.

He closes his eyes again. I feel the shadow, the sense of cold. The instinct to defend myself against this intruder. Suddenly a voice rings loud and clear.

Hello? Hello? Testing, testing, one, two three. The words thunder through my mind, I can hear them like they're being spoken aloud, but they have a haze about them that's odd.

Hello, Zack. I reply to him, thinking the words.

Um, you're voice sounds weird.

Sorry, got the voice of Phil Lester in my head. I regret watching those videos on Zacks phone while he was unconscious. And by the way, you have the easiest passcode. And I may or may not have looked through some texts conversations.

HEY YOU CAN'T DO THAT, THAT'S EVEN WORSE THAN GOING THROUGH MEMORIES. He shouts and I stifle a little laugh.

Sorry, but dude you seriously need a girlfriend. I imagine his expression.

It's not my fault my friends are gay! He replies.

Whatever, just get out. I tell him.

The shadow disappears, and before Zack opens his eyes I grab his phone and shove it in my pocket. It takes a couple seconds, but he finally sits up straight and opens his eyes.
"Can we get a couple horses?" He asks, seeming to have forgotten his phone.
"And live through what happened in the first episode of The Walking Dead? Definitely not." I reply.
Horses will help with speed, but if there are two many zombies they could get eaten alive and I don't want to witness that.
"Fine. Now can I have my phone?" He asks.
"No way. I haven't gone through the photos yet." I grin mischievously.
"Fine, I don't care. Not like I have a bunch of super embarrassing stuff on there." He shrugs it off.
Most people would fight my for their phone back, and I look at him, confused.
"Here." I toss it to him, not caring if he drops his phone.
"Whoa!" His left hand flies up an makes a one handed catch.
"Nice, farm boy." I let myself smile a little, and then start on an inventory of our packs.
"Despite me going into your past, you're still a mystery to me." Zack looks at me, but I don't look up.
"Like what?" I ask and sort through the stuff.
Food.
Water.
My clothes.
His clothes.
Dagger.
Katana.
Shotgun.
Rifle.
Toilet paper.
Bow.
Arrows.
"Your past, your childhood." He says.
"Why do you have a towel?" I hold up a fluffy white towel between my finger and thumb.
"Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy." He replies.
"What?"
"I'll show you, follow me." He stands up and walks out of the bathroom.
"Yukon, heel." I grab my katana and strap it to my back.
We follow Zack through the store, he's relaxed but I'm tense, ready to come across an enemy.
"Here." He tosses me a book.
Despite the good throw, I fail to catch it. It falls at my feet and I pick it up, reading the cover.
"It's a book." I state the obvious.
"Yeah, you should read it." Zack acts like we don't have somewhere to get to.
"No way, we need to get to Toronto." I place the book back on the shelf and Yukon follows me as we head back to the bathroom. Books, I don't have time for books. We don't have time for anything that's not going to help us survive.
"Fine, fine." He shrugs and places the book carefully back on the shelf.
"Now let's pick you out some clothes." I walk over to the men's section and sort through items.
"How about this?" He pulls out a red flannel.
"Absolutely not." I wrinkle my nose at his taste in clothes, they just don't suit him.
"Here, try these on." I throw him a white shirt, black sweatpants, and a black hoodie.
"This really isn't me." He looks at the clothes in distaste.
"Shut up and try them on." I snap.
Zack groans and go back into the bathroom to change. I pick out a new collar for Yukon, and a pair of thick leather gloves that might protect my hands more, in case I need to use my knife and get close to a zombies mouth. I pick out a new pair of sweatpants and an oversized sweater that'll keep me warm in the cold. Hopefully I don't die before getting to Toronto. We need to get a move on, we've spent long enough in this store, and Canada is a pretty far walk. Maybe we should get something to move faster on, a motorcycle maybe. They're a little loud though, maybe we should get a couple horses. But I don't want to see them get ripped to shreds if they aren't fast enough, and we won't be able to take cover easily enough. You know what? Screw it. If we can't travel fast enough on foot I'll just get rid of Zack.

"I feel wrong, but these clothes are seriously comfortable." He shuffles out of the bathroom.

"You look fine, now grab your stuff. We've got to get moving. Every moment we waste is another chance a YouTuber dies." I snap, like it's his fault we're stuck in this store.

Though it kind of is, I mean he is the one who passed out.

"But it's night." He points out.

"We're fine, just get your gun out."

We walk back to where the stuff is. I pack everything up and toss Zack his bag. I hoist mine over both shoulders, holding down the sheath for my sword and make sure my shotgun is within reach. I grab a granola bar and eat half, giving the other half to Zack.

"Can't I just have my own?" He whines.

"We're conserving food." I tell him and pour a little bit of dog kibble for Yukon on the floor.

He eats and shakes his fur, padding in a circle before settling down. I bend down and stroke my dog between the ears.

"Are we going or what?" Zack says, becoming the impatient one.

"Fine." I roll my eyes and snap once, indicating for Yukon to get up. I'm not sure how the dog knows what my hand signals mean, but he just seems to be understanding. He's smart, and his owners taught him well. I hope they aren't walkers, and they died peacefully and didn't leave Yukon behind.

"I wasn't friends with a lot of straight guys in school." Zack starts, and I don't want to listen to him drone on about his life, but if it makes him feel better then fine.

"Okay...?"

"I hung out with the gay ones, and they had lots of friends that were girls, but I never felt comfortable around them either. Uh... no offense."
"Can you just shut up for once? It's not like we're sticking together forever." I snap, starting to get annoyed at Zack.
"Fine, but how much longer until we get to Canada?"
"Long." I tell him with a dismissive wave of my hand, turning my focus back to the road ahead. Trees line both sides, with gaps for houses. I pause for a second and listen. Crack. Someone's following us. I whip around and pull my gun out, swinging it wildly from one side of the road to the other.
"Who's there?" I call out.
"You'll attract zombies!" Zack hisses and grabs at my gun.
"No!" I hit him on the arm with it and he pulls back.
More cracking, from the right. I aim the gun at the treeline.
"Run!" He grabs my hand and pulls me off, and I catch a glimpse of a walker coming out of the trees. More appear behind us, run-limping after Zack, Yukon, and I. My dog bounds ahead of us, guiding us down the road. I look back, and there's a mob of thirty or more zombies. Some are closer than I would like them to be.