Dead Or Alive

Chapter Five: Loki

Chapter Five: Loki

The night is silent.

Dead trees pass by, the bones of the once alive forest. The empty road stretches forever, lit up by the bright headlights. Up above, the stars watch.

I sit back in my seat, almost not believing.

But in a world like this, you've got to be a believer.

Early that morning, I had woken up, my body covered in scratches. Marks from when the dreads tried to kill me.

Peyton had sat beside my bed, waiting for me to wake up to tell me the news: we were going to find the other bases. Me and her and Will had been assigned to Base One.

Farther, more hidden, and a much bigger chance of death.

A few stayed behind- I saw why they hadn't been assigned. They're faces showed defeat, as if someone had doused the flame inside of them.

I turned my head to look out the window.

The FBI van was making good time. The faster, the better.

Will had told us that he had a general idea of where the base was. It was dangerous to tell anyone else where your base is- you never know who you're talking to. A human, a killer, a traitor.

I close my eyes, resting my head. My thoughts wandered back to when I was a little girl. My parents would always say 'Don't lie, Lokiea. Lying isn't nice.' I remember that I listened. Up until a year ago, a lie had never left my mouth.

But now it's just another way to survive.

You do what you have to. There are no limits anymore, no one to enforce the rules, no one telling you to play nice.

There simply isn't nice.

You either play dirty or you die.

I sigh to myself. Opening my eyes, I watch as the moon sits in the sky, lording over the earth.

I see my reflection staring back at me. My eyes are wild, uncontained.

A pair of milky white eyes stares back at me. It takes a moment to register.

"Dread!" I scream, scrambling away from the window. The truck swerves on the road.

I rummage through my pack with shaking hands until I come up with a knife. As I grip it, I realize that the feeling of the hilt in my hand is reassuring. I stand up, trying to see if there are anymore.

"Loki, how many?" Will asks, not showing any emotion. His features harden.

"I only saw one, but there are probably more," I respond. As I say this, something lands on the roof of the truck.

"...and there they are...." I say. They hammer with there fists, trying to penetrate the truck. I grit my teeth.

"Faster," I hear Peyton say.

I move towards the front, crouching in between Peyton and Will.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, there it is, standing in the middle of the road. It lurches towards us, white eyes hungry. Will doesn't hesitate. He runs it over.

The banging continues over head.

"We need to get them off," Will says, fighting the steering wheel.

"C'mon Pey, just like old times," I say with a slight grin. She raises her eyebrows with a smirk.

"Your on." She lowers the passenger windows and starts to climb up onto the roof. I grab another knife for her and climb on after her.

It takes a minute for them to notice us. We stand, watching them pound the roof of the truck, baring their teeth. One turns it's eyes to us and snarls. It lunges, and we easily step out if it's way. It falls over the side with a sickening crunch.

The second one watches with interest. It slowly crawls towards us, dripping saliva from it's rotting mouth. I grip the knife and lunge, plunging it into it's back. It wails, a painful sound, but Peyton kicks it over the side, and we leave it behind, just like a lot of things we once knew.

Instead of following Peyton back into the van, I sit on the roof and watch the sky and the stars and the trees. I remember when families would come out to watch the stars, too.

When people would hike the trails, and would lay on the grass and would smile and laugh.

But this place wasn't all there anymore.

Just like a lot of people, these days. Not all there.

I eventually climb back into the van, climbing through the window as it drove along, the lights driving away the oncoming darkness.

I lean my head back on the seat. As much as I fight it, drowsiness creeps over me, causing my eyelids to slowly flutter shut.

"Loki, get up!" I blink rapidly, momentarily forgetting where I am. I sit up in the back seat of the van. Peyton is facing me, waving her hand in front of my face.

"Where are we?" I croak. Through the front window, I can see the grey sky that seems to stretch on forever. I lean forward, scanning the area ahead. Deserted streets. Broken windows. An old Superstore. We're parked at a gastation. The rusted pumps are flecked with dirt, and the florescent lights above are long dead.

"Quick pit stop," she says, climbing out of the van. Jumping over the front seat, I follow her into the cool day. A light mist hangs in the air, hugging my skin. I shiver slightly, wishing we had something other then tank tops to keep us warm.

I follow Peyton inside the gas station, where we find Will rummaging through shelves. He holds up a few cans of soup.

"Supper," he grins. I roll my eyes and scout out the rest of the store. I stay away from the freezers, where no doubt the milk has gone terribly bad. Most of the goods had been stolen long ago, but at the backs of the shelves, or in a dusty corner, some was left behind.

"We should go now. I don't really want those dreads to catch up with us," Peyton says, heading out the door. The doorbell tinkles, the only sound in the emptiness.

I climb back into the van, claiming the front seat for myself. As we start to move again, I silently watch the dead town pass by. A library, the books probably used for fires. An old movie store. A faded poster was up in the window.

'The Walking Dead, new season premiere'. I almost laugh out loud.

"Look Pey," I say, pointing to the sign as we pass by.

"We definitely need our own show," Will says, smirking. I shake my head.

We keep driving, and eventually, the town turns into a city. Darkened skyscrapers reach for the sky, trying to get away from the suffering on the ground.

"It feels like we're the only humans alive," Peyton whispers. She's right. The world was once filled with people. It's like they're all hiding. I want to tell Will to drive faster.

I close my eyes with relief as we leave the city behind and continue back into the small towns speckled around.

As we enter another one, I see the sign.

It's not big. It's not pretty. But it means one thing.

Home.