Ronny sat on the back of the truck waiting for Sarah to contact the other van. Gavin was smoking a cigarette by the tipped van. Ronny turned to look at Patrick, "Was this the result of your people getting revenge"? Patrick said, "No. They wouldn't head this far for something like this". Then suddenly a growl was heard. Gavin dropped his cigarette and loaded his gun. Ronny turned and looked around. However, no one was mentally prepared for what was about to happen. Out of the van crawled a woman. She had transformed into a biter. Gavin hopped off of the van and stabbed her in the head. Gavin looked inside and saw no one else was moving, so he crawled inside. As he shifted through the bodies, he found someone who was bit in the stomach. Below everyone there were guns, loaded. Gavin crawled back out. He walked up to Ronny and said, "My guess is someone didn't tell the group they were bit and they turned. I think the driver lost control and steered off of the road. Everyone died from the crash". Ronny asked, "Was it Kyle or Frank"? Gavin said, "I don't know, neither of them were in there". Sarah got out of the truck and said, "No one's answering. But my guess is they will be driving down this road. Same way this van was and judging by the blood trail, someone was alive in this van and started heading north". She pointed to the blood stained on the road that came from the van.
Ronny looked at Gavin, "Should we go after them"? Gavin said, "It's your call". Ronny said, "But you're the leader. You make the decisions". Gavin walked up to Ronny, "No. That was back in Seattle. I was at home. I failed to keep my home front safe. As a failed leader, I don't deserve to have another chance". Ronny said, "Everyone deserves a second chance". Gavin said, "But these people respect you. They listened to you. You saved everyone while I was panicking. Lead these people Ronny". Ronny looked at Sarah and Julie, then back at Gavin, "Let's go find our guy". Gavin ran back to the van to pick up any guns, medicine or food they could find. Then he ran back to the truck and drove off.
Sarah continued to try and contact the other van with no results. Julie looked at Ronny, "We should have buried them". Ronny asked, "What do you mean"? Julie said, "Those were our people. We should have buried them". Ronny looked at her, she was serious, almost looked like she was mad. Ronny said, "We had to leave. One of our people could still be alive. They could be hurt, exposed with probably no weapon of any kind. We save the living before we help the dead". Patrick chuckled.
The sun was beginning to set when Patrick and Julie fell asleep. Ronny observed the surroundings. They were fields full of corn withering away. Gavin pulled over. He saw that Sarah was asleep. He got out of the truck and started smoking. He saw that Ronny was awake. "So what do we do now? Should we set up here or do we keep going"? Ronny said, "Set up what? We've only got this truck". Gavin thought about how stupid he sound. Ronny said, "Just keep driving until you feel tired. Then I'll take over". Gavin flicked his cigarette into the grass and started driving again.
As Ronny looked at the scenery, he realized that the sun set and it was dark. Everything suddenly became more ominous which made Ronny alert. He held his gun a little tighter and saw things a little more clearly. With each second that passed by, he heard more noises that startled him. Then he saw a biter on the side of the road, but didn't think much of it as the truck passed by it. A few moments later, another biter passed by. Ronny still thought nothing of it. Then he saw a small herd of them slowly chasing the truck. Ronny sat up and was more alert. Then a herd of them were inches from the truck as it drove by. Ronny said, "Gavin look out. They're getting closer"! Then the truck started swerving as a huge herd started grabbing on the truck. Suddenly, the truck came to a halt. Ronny turned around to see a biter grab Gavin's arm through the window. Gavin took his knife and cut off its arm. The biters surrounded the truck. Julie woke up and saw what was happening, but before she could react, a biter bit her arm. She began to scream as the biters pulled her out from the side of truck. Ronny knew she was gone so he didn't waste the bullets.
Sarah woke up and saw what was happening and she took her gun out. She began to shoot the biters at her window. Patrick curled up into a fetal position. Ronny began to shoot the biters all around him, trying to prevent them from climbing on the truck. Gavin was still shooting but then the biters began to overwhelm him and a biter bit his arm. He screamed in pain as blood splattered throughout the truck. Sarah started to panic when she saw that he was bit. She looked at him, then a biter got her neck. She grabbed her neck and screamed. Then another biter bit her arm.
By now a biter started biting Gavin's face off. Ronny yelled, "Come on Patrick, get up"! Ronny climbed on to the top of the truck. Patrick got up and reached out for Ronny. Ronny tried to help him up, but a biter got onto the truck and bit Patrick. Ronny shot the biter but it was too late, Patrick was bit. Patrick was still reaching for Ronny's hand. Ronny refused to grab his hand. The biters started getting closer and Ronny couldn't keep up with them. They kept getting closer and closer. Suddenly, Ronny fell as a biter grabbed his feet. He looked up at the moon and saw Grace walk up to him. She said, "It's ok Ronny. I'm ready to see you". She extended her arm and Ronny reached out for her. Then suddenly, Ronny saw a biter on top of him and it took a bite out of Ronny.
Then Ronny woke up. The sun was shining in his face. The truck wasn't moving. He saw that Patrick and Julie were gone. When he got up, he saw that he was at a rest stop. Ronny hopped out of the truck with his gun. He saw that Gavin was in front of the truck, with the hood popped up. Ronny walked up to Gavin. Gavin was fixing the engine. Gavin said, "You're a violent sleeper. You were tossing and turning". Ronny asked, "Why did no one wake me up"? Gavin said, "Well I thought it'd be rude". Ronny asked, "Where are Julie, Sarah, and Patrick". Gavin said, "Sarah is out in the woods, getting some fresh air and Julie and Patrick are inside looking for anything useful". Ronny said, "We trust Patrick now"? Gavin said, "No. Julie's keeping watch". Ronny hopped in the driver's seat and picked up the radio. He put it on channel 6 and said, "Can anyone hear me? Hello". No response. "Kyle, Frank, can you hear me"? No response.
Then Ronny changed the channel to where he heard Omar. "Omar, can you hear me"? No response. "Omar, come in. This is Ronny, can you hear me"? No response. He threw the radio on the passenger seat. When he got out of the truck, Gavin threw a wrench and said, "It's shot. We have to walk from here on out". Ronny walked to the back of the truck and grabbed the sports bag. Then he walked into the rest stop. The entrance was destroyed. The windows were cracked and broken. Blood was on the walls and floor. It was a scene that, by now, Ronny was used to. He looked around and saw a few restaurants, some of the signs above them were still glowing. Ronny saw dead bodies throughout the building. He walked into a bathroom and turned on the sink. However, no water came out. He looked at himself in the mirror. He hadn't seen himself since the day everything went to shit. He had looked like a man he once saw on a TV show. His face was covered in blood, sweat, and dirt. His brown hair was greasy and covered in biter blood.
As he observed himself, he saw something in the stall behind him. It looked like blood. He turned around to look at it. He pulled out his gun and quickly opened the door. Inside was a body. He was sitting on the toilet with a gunshot wound in the head. The gun was in his hand and a note was in the other. Ronny grabbed the gun and put it in the back of his pants. Then he grabbed the note. He read it and realized it was a suicide note. He dropped the note and walked out of the bathroom. Once he was back in the main room, he heard something fall over. He became cautious and scouted out the area.
He heard something shuffling around in the room next to the bathroom. Ronny quietly walked up to the door and opened the door. It was Julie and Patrick rummaging through boxes. Julie looked at Ronny and said, "Hey, you're awake. Nice to see you". Patrick looked at Ronny, then continued stabbing boxes with a knife. Ronny said, "We're going to have to walk now. The engine is broken. Julie threw whatever she had in her hands and stormed off. Ronny walked over to her. She began to cry, "What if Shaun was in that van? I didn't even check. It just slipped my mind". Ronny said, "He's not dead". She screamed, "How do you know"? Ronny said, "You have to have faith that he was in the other van. He might be". Julie said, "We have to go back. I can't stand not knowing if he's alive or not". Ronny held her, "It's too late for that. We're far gone from the van. We'll know once we regroup with our people". She said, "You're heartless, you know that? You don't know what it's like". Ronny said, "Actually I do know what it's like. My girlfriend is in one of those vaults back in Seattle. I had to leave her there for the safety of the group. I don't even know if she's still alive or not. I'm going off of the small chance that she's alive. You have to do the same".
As Ronny and Julie were talking, Gavin ran in and said, "Guys, I've make contact with the rest of the group".
YOU ARE READING
In The End
Short Story"As he drove, he looked around and saw many sick people eating their comrades. Ronny was in pure terror. He even saw a newly wed, both dead, being eaten by, what seemed like a guest of the party. Ronny began to hyperventilate. He looked out to the f...
