School Of The Apocalypse

Chapter 9/Finding: Journey Forward

Day 7; 12:16 p.m.

"Five minutes!" yelled Jeffery, Autumn's dad. I had finally learned his name. He was the official leader of the mission, but we all felt that Autumn and I were basically in charge.

I grabbed my pistol and holstered it. I had duct taped two knives to the end of my bat for a little more "slice and dice" in my swing. I held it in my hand as I boarded the church bus.

Nathan was driving us to Wal-Mart in the church bus and Mr. Tyson was driving the school bus that we would fill with supplies. I took the second seat on the right side and laid my bag at my feet. A.J. plopped down next to me and held his weapon in front of him. He had placed knives in the slots in his Tennis racket. It looked almost like a hand with the knives as fingers.

Auston, Kelsi, David, Rachael, Scarlet, Autumn, Ben, Hailey, Luke, and Noah also piled on the bus with their things.

In two minutes we were waving out of the window, unsure of what lied ahead.

On the trip, I took mental notes of everyone's weapons to figure out the best play for different scenarios. Auston had his Sledgehammer Ax and his shotgun. Kelsi had a machete that she was sharpening and her hunting rifle at her feet. David had kept with his bat and his baseball helmet. Rachael had her katana and a pistol. Scarlet had a first aid kit and her knife; she was our medic for the trip. Autumn was the baddest warrior we had; she had throwing knives, a pistol, her metal pipe, a machete, and a shotgun with her. Apparently she was expecting WWIII. Ben had his tennis racket that he had outfitted like A.J.'s. Hailey was the second baddest warrior we had. She had a revolver and a knife, but she was the quickest and straightest shot that any of us had ever seen and she matched Autumn's fire power with pure skill. Noah had his broom handle that he had turned into a spear by breaking off the broom head and attaching knives to the end of the handle. A.J. had his tennis racket, a pistol, and his football pads. Luke had his crowbar, a revolver, and his football pads. I had to protect them all. Every one of them was depending on me to keep them safe. Could I do it?

I glanced up to the front of the bus and saw Nathan with a pistol in a holster, on his hip. Jeffrey was the older, male version of Autumn. He had a rifle, shotgun, and a machete with the force of an ox behind it, but the only reason that he wasn't the best fighter we had was because of his uncontrollable temper that often got in the way of him being able to focus. I presumed Mr. Tyson had the machete he had chosen the first night we had stayed at my house. Nathan and Mr. Tyson weren't much up for fighting, but their job for this mission was to stay close to the buses, just in case we needed a quick escape.

"What's with you, Mastermind?" A.J. asked, knocking me in the shoulder.

"I'm not sure. Maybe it's the fact that we have no idea what we could be getting into. What if we fail? What if we die? What if I'm not strong enough?" The stress had gotten to me. Emily... Jess... Sam... George... Baker... They had all died in this war we were fighting with what we could become if we failed.

"You won't fail. You've done this more than I have. McDonald's, your house, the church, you've did all that and survived to tell the story. That's what makes you strong. Not bashing skulls and breaking bones, but coming back no matter what and get the job done at the same time. You got this," he said. I smiled at him and he gave me thumbs up. Autumn approached us and spoke in a low voice.

"I hate to getin the way of your bromance, but we're about there, so suit up."