The Downfall of YouTube

Althea- Rough Patches

      Jack, one of my favorite YouTubers, was in the truck, my truck, with Mark and next to me, Matthew Patrick. I don't think that I could have felt any happier. Mark and Jack were rekindling their deep friendship while Matt was chatting with me about who else was with us now.

      Apparently, the other two people minus Christopher were AmazingPhil and Danisnotonfire. I had to physically keep myself from slamming the breaks and rushing to the back to meet them and hug them. They were number 3 and 4 on my "Favorite YouTubers" list, no doubt. Phil was super funny and Dan's high pitched squealing warmed my heart every time I hear it.

      "Althea, your idols are in the truck bed," Matt grinned. "Just don't go into into fangirl overload and have a mental breakdown on me, 'kay?" I smiled and promised I wouldn't, or at least try my hardest not to. "I'd miss our chats about random things," he explained. I turn a dark cherry red.

      I heard Mark and Jack fall silent behind us as they heard Matt. Mark said "What'd you guys talk about?"

      "Halloween," Matt replied. "Althea here is a huge fan of the holiday." My face gets redder and Matt notices. "So Jack, did you know that Althea is from Ireland too?"

      I silently thank Matt as we continue to drive towards the city. Through the mirror I can see Jack's head lift up and look towards the back of my seat. "Yeah, I could tell with the accent. What part of Ireland you from, Althea, right?"

      "Yeah I'm Althea, and I'm from Skerries. Heard of it?"

      Before Jack could reply, Matt said, "I thought you were from Dublin?"

      "It's a small town outside of Dublin," Jack explained. "It's easier to say Dublin just cuz people have a better idea of where you're talking about. I've been there. S'a very beautiful place. Right by the coast."

      The two continued to chat about Ireland and other small towns and I just listened, not really paying too much attention. They seemed occupied with each other enough and I hoped they wouldn't ask me anything as I drove down the long road that would bring us to the city.

      "What do you think, Althea?" Shit. Mark was looking at me from behind Matt's seat, waiting for a response. I stuttered on my words, unsure of what to say.

      "We talked about this earlier," MatPat interjected. "She prefers the American version more." American version? American version of what? Either way, I was grateful for that. Matt had saved me from some major embarrassment. Looking at him, I could see the understanding in his eyes and I barely nodded so the others wouldn't see as thanks.

      After another minute or two of driving, listening to the boys chat, we were on the outskirts of the city. Everyone fell silent as we entered the once heavily populated place. "Holy shit," I cursed aloud, seeing how terrible the city had become.

In a single day, the whole place was overrun. There were zombies everywhere in the streets. Right on the outskirts there were already almost 20 waiting for any unlucky person to stumble across them. I had to almost plow through them to get onto the next street, which luckily had only a few of the undead roaming around. There was a convenience store up ahead and I wanted to head there and pointed it out to the guys.

"I think it's a bad idea," Mark grunted. "It's probably full of biters in there from all the chaos that definitely went down here overnight. People had to have wanted to go there for supplies, and as soon as one zombie walked in, it would have been over in minutes. It's gotta be crammed shut with death, and we're already low on ammo from saving this asshole earlier," he says, lightly punching Jack's shoulder.

"I agree," Matt says. I sigh as quietly as I can under my breath, slightly disappointed. "What stores are around here that people wouldn't normally raid?" Matt asked, turning his body in his car seat to face the guys.

"Not sure. We should stop and ask Christopher," Jack decides. I nod in agreement, starting to slow the truck down.

I look for an indiscreet place to park while we talked about where to head next. I saw an alleyway that seemed pretty lonely and dark, so I drove the truck closer, checking to see if there were any biters in there first before backing into it slowly.

I put the car into park and everyone gets out, heading to the truck bed. Mark climbs on first, and Matt attempts to, but the alley is tight and he struggles a bit until Mark notices and pulls him on.

"What's going on here?" Dan asks, and I almost squeal. Instead, I inhale a quick, sharp breath, praying that no one heard it. No one did, so I head to the side of the truck bed. Jack has already climbed up and it's just me on the outside, alone.

Matt is on the side of the truck and sees me, smiling as though he just remembered a funny joke. "Need a hand?" I nod gratefully, and (gasp) grabs his hand, blushing, and is lifted up and into the truck's back.

"We want to know what other kinds of stores are in town. Any kind," Mark explains as I sit on a tire cover next to Matt.

He's still holding my hand. Oh my god he's still holding my hand and not trying to let go. My inner fangirl is going nuts right now. Does he just not care? Does he want me to let go? What do I do? In full on awkwardness, I just stay there, still holding his hand, well, really it's his hand completely enveloping mine, but I digress.

"Chris...?" Jack asked, only getting a grunt in reply from Christopher, who appeared to be buried into Phil's shoulder. Phil didn't seem to mind, and was just kind of sitting there. "Could you maybe tell us what stores are around here, buddy?"

Christopher lifts his head slightly, allowing his mouth to be exposed so his speech wouldn't be muffled. "There are about two clothing stores and there's a craft store down the block. And- also a Starbucks." Phil's head lifts up and eyes brightens as he hears his favorite coffee store's name.

Dan smiles and lightly punches Phil's shoulder. "We gotta stop there!"

I myself, am only thinking about the craft store and I think Matt could tell. "We should go to the craft store; I don't think anyone would have raided that place for supplies yet," he says, looking directly at me, still holding my hand. What was happening right now?

I think I must've fainted because next thing I know, my head was on the floor of the truck bed, with Matt looming over me, looking worried, with his hands around my face. When he sees me open my eyes, he starts grinning and laughing.

"I think someone lied about being a fangirl..."