Warriors Awaken

Them

    My vision get blurry with tears as I look at the chat room. Three people. What if that was all that was left in the world? And me of course. That can't be it right? Maybe they know more than I do.
    I quickly enter the chat and everyone stops what they are about to type and I feel suddenly awkward. What did I do wrong? I scroll up to see what they've typed. It's not much, just them asking what is happening and no one having an answer. I'm scared again, what if these people stop talking to me too? I don't want to be alone again. Then someone starts typing again.
    NiniaGirl12: Did you wake up to no one around you up?
    Me: Not even my dog is waking up... Are they dead?
    HumorMe: We don't know. The same thing happened to all of us.
    I don't know if my heart has ever beaten this fast. There's other people awake. I'm not alone. This is so great; probably the best I've felt this morning; I can't believe it.
    MeJoseph2727: What's your name? I'm Joseph. NiniaGirl12 is obviously Ninia and HumorMe is Hunter. Who are you?
    Me: I'm Angelina. What's going on? Does anyone know anything about any of this? Are we the only ones awake?
    HumorMe: We know just as much as you do. My question is, what should we do? I vote is that we all get together.
    NiniaGirl12: That's probably the best idea. There's no reason for us to be the only ones we know that are awake and then be alone. Who else just knew something was wrong this morning, because I could feel it when I woke up this morning.
    I nod even though they can't see me, then I look over at my parents. Even though it's only been a matter of hours since I talked to them last, I miss them and hope that those goodnights weren't our last shared words. They were good words, but I don't want them to be the last ones.
    MeJoseph: I did. It was too quiet. Going off what you say about us all getting together, that might be a little bit difficult depending on where we're all from. I'm in Texas.
    NiniaGirl12: Colorado.
    HumorMe: Minnesota.
    Me: Except for Hunter and me, we're alk kinda spread out. Do we still want to get together? Where are you from in Minnesota? I live in a town about 45 minutes by car from Minnesota.
    HumorMe: About an hour from the border.
    NiniaGirl12: If everyone is down, I still think we should get together. We might be able to find more people too. Does anyone know if cars and stuff work? Because if they do, getting around won't be too hard.
    MeJoseph: They work, at least mine does. If we want to meet up, where should we go. My vote would be in Texas and I'm not just saying that so I don't have to go anywhere, I'm saying that because it's always warm.
    HumorMe: Well I don't know about Ninia but I know how to get Angelina there. I could drive down, pick her up and keep going. I'd stop for Ninia too but that would be quite out of the way.
    NiniaGirl12: That's a good plan and I can drive myself. We should put this plan into action as soon as possible, I know we hardly know each other but as far as we know, we are the only people still awake and I don't want to be alone any longer than I have to. I can't tell any of you how excited I was to see that other people were awake. Oh yeah, how old is everyone? I'm 17.
    She talks a lot but it's nice. I can't speak for anyone else, but I like it. after having discovered my parents wouldn't wake up, I didn't know the next time I would talk to anyone so she could talk non stop and I wouldn't mind. As long as someone is talking, I'm all good.
    MeJoseph: 21.
    HumorMe: 18.
    Me: 17. And I agree with Ninia, we should get together as soon as possible. I hate being alone, it's so quiet and unsettling.
    MeJoseph: I say we all pack up and meet back on in an hour then especially Hunter and Angelina can decide how they're gonna get here since they're carpooling, agree?
    NiniaGirl12: How much should we pack? Like, how many bags?
    MeJoseph: The needs for now. If we need more, we can get more. I'd say pack one suitcase. Bring as much money as you can, you never know when we'll need it. Okay team, break!
    No one responds so I suppose I should use my hour and pack but I don't want to get out of this bed. It has everyone I love in it and in a matter of hours, I will leave and maybe never see them again. As much as that's really overwhelming I sit up. People who are actually awake want to get together and survive. I take a deep breath and get out of bed and walk to the door. As I'm walking out I look back at the bed and don't close the door; that way it kinda seems like they're still around.
    We don't travel often but when we do, it's for awhile so we have suitcases which is good. I open the hallway closet where we keep them and choose a good sized one with wheels; plenty will fit in here and I'll be able to roll it. Double points.
    I roll it into my room, flick the light on and turn on my TV since I can't really hear the one in the living room all that well anymore; this time I actually turn it to a show I like and put my suit case on my bed. I unzip it and open it up. Sighing I turn to my closet and open that too. Sighing I look at my shirts, not really sure what to grab. I've never been to Texas so I don't know the weather there. Joseph said it's always warm bu tI think it snows there every now and again so I should have at least a few warm clothes.
    My phone chimes and I goback to my bed, where I left it and it the notification is from TalkNow. A little bit of me had hoped it would be from one of my friends from around here saying they had woken up too. I wouldn't have to go to Texas with strangers if one of my friends was awake, because I could just stay with them. After thinking that though, I feel guilty. They were being really nice to let me get together with me, especially Joseph since I assume we'll probably be living in his house.
    I type in my password and tap the notification. It's from Ninia, but with just the two of us in the chat.
    NiniaGirl12: Are you having trouble packing because I have no idea what to pack. I've never been to Texas.
    Me: I haven't either so yeah I'm having trouble. Joseph said it was always warm there but I think it snows every once in awhile so I have no clue. I don't want to over pack but I don't want to not bring enough.
    NiniaGirl12: I am having the same issue. I just have no idea.
    Me: I was thinking I'd maybe pack one or two warm things and more tshirts and shorts. Let me know if you have any good ideas of stuff to pack. Don't forget basics like toothpaste and like... tampons haha.
    NiniaGirl12: Thanks, I would have forgotten that. I'll let you know.
    I don't bother replying, I push the power button and toss it back on the bed and walk back to my closet to try to decide what I want to pack again. I walk up the shirts and look through them, but I can't deicde. It shouldn't be so hard, I just need to grab some shirts and put them in the suitcase. What goes with everything? Getting grustrated, I grab some random shirts off them hangers, two long sleeved and four short sleeved. I fold them and out them in the suitcase without even looking at them; odds are, they're either fandom shirts or band. I go back over to my closet and grab two tank tops and put them with the shirts. My dresser is built into my bed so I kneel down and grab two pairs of jeans, one pair of black leggings, one pair of sweat pants and two shorts. When I put my stuff in there, I grab the leggings and put them on the bed, that's what I'll wear today so I can bring them with me, but put something else it in it's place; then I grab a plain, light blue tshirt and set it on my bed by the leggings. I open another drawer and pull out a hand full of sock pairs, you can never have enough socks. I also toss a few bras in there and also put one on my bed near the rest of clothes I'm gonna wear today. Of course, I also grab a bunch of underwear; that's another thing you can't have too much of.
    I look at my clock and fifteen minutes has passed. I grab my suitcase and bring it with me to the bathroom. Opening the drawers and cuboards, I look at my stuff thinking about what I need. Like I told Ninia, tampons are necassary, but I don't want to bring the box, it's bulky and takes up a bunch of space; but I also don't just want to dump the box in. I go to the kitchen and grab the box of Ziplock baggies and bring that in with me. It'll probably come in handy with other stuf too.
    I dump my femine products into the baggie and toss it into the bag. Then on a second thought, I put it under the clothes I have in there. I have two makeup bags with all my make up in there so I set those on the counter so I can use it quick before I put it in the bag. I've packed enough. I can take a quick break. I put the box of baggies down and open up my makeup bags. My mind drifts as I put it on, I'm not even focusing. I'm thinking about my parents and the people I just met and my freinds. By the time my mind returns to Earth, my makeup is on. I look into the mirror, examining myself before I continue to pack. I hate to be vain, but I'm kinda pretty, I look like my mama and she's quite pretty, especially for her age. Big, blue eyes. Blonde hair that I've dyed deep purple. Smooth, pale skin. A body that gets people interested, not that I really notice, I'm too shy to talk to most the people; which is why I have most of my freinds on the internet, it's easier to talk to them.
    Alright. Time to get packing. That "break" took another fifteen minutes. Not that that's a big deal, I can still pack when we start talking again but it'd be nice ot be done soI wouldn't have to worry about missing anything. I sigh and zip up my makeup bags and set them in the case. Then, I put toothpaste on my toothbrush and brush my teeth; then I put both those things into a baggie and put that into my suitcase as well. The next things I grab and shove into a baggie is shampoo, conditioner and body wash; I grab a couple of all those things. Not knowing what else I need from here, I wander back into my room with my case in tow. I grab my phone charger and put that in there too.
    Looking at my clock shows I stilll have like 25 minutes, so I change quick and sit on my bed braiding my long hair so it's out of the way. With nothing else to do, I go back into my parents room and look at them. I need something to remember them by. The thought hits me like a train; I might never see them again. I need something to always keep them close to me. A picture? No, that's not good enough. I need something real and able to feel so if I ever get lonely I can have something to hold in my hands so I know that I wasn't always alone like this.
    I know what to grab of my dad's. He always has a necklace on; it was his brother's. I walk over to my dad and pull the blanket down just enough so I can see his neck. The necklace is old, the chain has a lot of those clips on it because it's broken over the years but dad never wanted to get a new chain. He wanted as much of his late brother as he could get from this simple peice of ewlery, and simple is what it is. It's a plain, thin chain and the only charm is a small paw print. When my dad and his brother were kids, they had the best dog in the world, as my dad says anyway. My uncle got the necklace to remember the dog by when it died and he never took it off. So when he died, dad got the necklace in the will with instructions to wear it always like my uncle did to keep remembering their childhood dog.
    As I'm undoing one of the clips I feel a little bad because dad is supposed to always be wearing it but it's okay because I will always wear it so it's kinda the same thing, right? Once it's off him, I do it up around my neck and tuck it into my shirt, then walk over to my mama. I don't know what's the most important thing to her. Well I do, it's family but I don't know how to turn that into a palpable object. Wait... I turn to her nightstand and grab the picture frame. It's a picture of the first time we brought Elly home. She was smaller than she was now, obviously. It was only a year ago so the three of us look mostly the same. We all look so happy and my vision is all blurry with tears again. I hug the picture tightly to my chest and try to not completely burst into tears.
   I hear my phone chime from my bedroom and I bring the two things into my bedroom and lay the picture gently in my suitcase and pick up my phone.
    MeJoseph: It's been an hour. Time to make our plans. Since we want to do this as soon as possible, Hunter, when do you plan to leave your place and go get Angelina?
    HumorMe: Whenever. I can leave right now, she just needs to give me her address.
    I give him my address and he says give him about ten minutes to make sure he has everything together and then he'll leave. He also said he'd tell me when he was ten minutes from my house.
    NiniaGirl12: Since I'm driving myself, what's your adress, Joseph? Hunter will need it, too.
    Joseph gives his address then reminds everyone that they need to bring as much money as possible; which is good that he said that because I had completely forgotten that.
    Me: Do you think cards will work or do I need to go to the bank and try to take all my money out?
    MeJoseph: Well, if they don't work, you probably can't take money out so who lives close to a bank and is willing to try it?
    Me: I do. I'll try and let you all know. That'll also give me something to do while I wait for Hunter to get here. How much should I take out?
    MeJoseph: I don't know. Just some. You won't want all your money to be in cash but it'll be good to have some cash on us just in case it becomes needed.
    I nod even though they can't see me and bite my lip. What will I find when I go outside? When I peeked outside earlier, everything looked how it normally looked but what if it's like, a zombie apocalypse now. That thought gives me a bad vibe so I think about something else: the fact that I need to quickly go to the bank and check cards. I walk over to my purse and pull out my wallet. There's only about ten dollars in the cash spot because most of my money is on my cards. I don't really know which card I want to try, and I need my liscense anyway, so I just bring my entire wallet.
    I'm not able to stop myself from looking into my parent's room, just to see if they have by some miracle woken up. But of course they haven't. Neither has Elly, but I guess deep down I knew that they wouldn't be up. They might not ever wake up, which as sad as it is, it could be the brutal truth of my life now.
    Before I can go outside, I walk into the laundry room, where we keep all our keys, and grab the keys to my car. Once I'm outside I walk to the driveway and have to walk right up to my car and unlock it with the key. It used to have powerlocks, but they no longer work. My car is a 1997 Jeep, with a crack in the windshield, casset player and rust creeping up. It's also my baby.
    As I get in, I toss my wallet and phone onto the passenger seat and close the door. Because it's a habit, I do the seatbelt then I start my car. For some reason, I'm surprised when it starts. I guess I thought maybe it wouldn't start, even though all the electronics in my house worked, even  the wifi.
    I pull out of the driveway and go to the right, the way out of my neighborhood. As I drive, I'm looking around for anyone that's just as awake and confused as I am. When I see someone, my heart jumps but I realize they're frozen in place, asleep as they were trying to walk to their car. I have to look away. Are they completely asleep, or are they just frozen in place, not able to move? Prisoners in their own minds begging for someone to help them, soundlessly.
    When I get to the stop sign, I turn right again, onto the bussiest road in the town. It's eerie seeing no cars moving on this road. There are cars I have to avoid because they are frozen in place on the road and it makes my heart sad. These people were just trying to go on with thier lives, but they might just rot in their cars, not getting to do the things they love and see the people they love. Which just makes me think of my parents and my heart hurts again. So I just make myself look around my town, for this may be the last time I drive around here, for at least awhile.
    It's a small town and I drive past a small gas station. Without really thinking about it, I look down at my gas gauge and it's getting kinda close to empty and I almost pull into the station to get gas, but then I remember that I will probably be leaving my car at home so there's no reason to spend the money since I'll be able to make it home on what I have left.
    By the time it's time to turn - a left turn- I can see the bank. When I pull up, I put my car in park by the ATM and roll down the window. Then I grab my wallet, open it and pick a card at the random. I insert it into the ATM and wait for something to happen. When it asks me how much money I want to take out, I just hit the twenty, since it's the lowest amount. After a few seconds, I'm getting worried. Am I just being impatient or is it just not working? When I'm starting to get frustrated and upset, the machine dispenses twenty bucks and asks if I want a receipt. I grab my money and hit no and smile as I roll my window back up. It worked.
   I grab my wallet and return the card to it's place and put the money where it goes; then I grab my phone and type in my password and quickly go back into the chat.
    Me: I got money out with my card. It took awhile but maybe that's just my bank, but I did get the money. Also, cars work too, I drove here.
    HumorMe: I can second the cars working. I'm on my way to your place, Angelina.
    I set my phone back down on the seat and pull out of the bank. I keep hoping I'll see someone awake, but I see no one, well, at least no one who's awake and not frozen in place. Driving back home is a little easier because I know that I have to avoid cars again but it's no more pleasant this time. I can still see people frozen in place while I drive past them. I wonder what made their cars stop and turn off when they fell asleep, since my car still works. Do theirs? Something had to make all these people fall asleep. I speed home and park my car in the driveway and run inside. Something is off. Again, I go into TalkNow.
    Me: So when I drove to the bank, I had to avoid a bunch of cars with sleeping people in them. Why did their cars stop when they fell asleep? Why didn't they just keep going and crash into each other and go off the roads?
    MeJoseph: I went outside earlier too and was thinking just. I thought that maybe the cars fell asleep too when the people did and maybe I was right. I checked, and those cars don't work anymore. But you two said that your cars worked so that's weird.
    I agree, even though they don't know that.
    Once back inside, I think about money some more. I have no idea how much money is on my cards and I don't know how to check because I bet I can't go to the bank and check my balances. Dad was always the one who knew tht stuff, I never bothered to ask him my account numbers and such. But I know it can't be that much since gas is expensive and I bought my car not that long ago. What will I do? I can't just go to Texas with hardly any money to donate to the cause. I bite my lip nerously and look over at my mom's purse and my dad's wallet, which both are laying on the counter.
    I feel quite bad, but I walk over to the counter and grab my parent's wallet and go to my room with them. I open my mama's wallet first because I know that I can take two of her cards because I know the pins for both. So, I take both of them and put them in my wallet, then I take her cash out, which is only about fifteen bucks, but it's something.
    Dad has more money (thirty, so I take that), but I know none of his card numbers, so I leave those. As I'm putting the thirty dollars in my wallet, I notice a small piece of paper in between two fives. I pull it out and it says "Safe code: 44-82-16". At first I have no idea what he means by "safe" but then I remember. My parents have a safe in the back of their closet that I've never been allowed in the room when they open it.
    With no second thought, I dart back into their room and yank their closet door open. I move their clothes out of the way and reveal a black cube with a dial on it. I try to pick it up and when I can't, I faceplam. Of course I can't carry it. The point is that it's heavy enough so it's hard to steal. I want to examine it in my room so I grip it and try to drag it. It hardly moves, but that small movement gives me a small bit of hope that it can move. I take a deep breath and pull harder, it moves again. It takes all of half an hour before I can get it back into my room, so I have about an hour before Hunter gets here and takes me away.
    I collapse in front of the safe, on my stomach and rest for a moment or two. Dragging the safe to my room was exhausting, how do people steal these for a living?
    Once I'm at least a little more rested, I grab the code and put it into the safe. After I put the last number it, there's a click and I pull open the small door. The first thing I see is a black, metal shape. I put my hand in and wrap my hand around the cold metal object. When I pull it out, I almost scream. In my hand, I'm holding a gun. I almost shove it back into the safe when the logic side of my brain kicks in. You never know when you might need a weapon. I put it into my suitcse, under clothes so it's not the first thing people see if they were to look in my case.
    The next things I pull out of birth certificates and social secruity cards and passports, things I probably won't need, so I toss those aside. Then I see what I want to see, cash. I pull out a baggie of a lot of cash, probably my parent's savings they didn't want in banks, just in case something was to happen. I don't know how much it is but I grab half of it and put the rest back in my safe. If my parents wake up, I don't want them to wake up with nothing since I'll have mama's most important cards that probably lead to my parent's shared account so if I spend that stuff, at least they'll have cash in the safe.
    I don't want to just leave this important information laying around should some stranger break into the house, I put the certificates and such back in the safe, along with my parent's wallets. I have no idea where I should put the code, so I just hope they have it memorized and put it into my wallet. Then I have this new chunk of money to work with. I don't want it all in one place so I take a few bills and shove it into my bra. Then I grab a pair of converse and put some bills on the bottom of each and put them on. It's a little uncomfortable but I deal with it and know I'll get used to it. Then I put a couple bills into my phone case and put the rest in a baggie and then into the bottom of my suitcase. I just hope my suitcase doesn't get stolen. That would be bad.
    I look back at the safe and feel guilty, I should at least tell my parents what I did. Nodding to myself, I grab a pen and a piece of paper and sit on the floor, using the safe for a table. When I write it makes the letters have a bumpy texture.
    When I'm done writing I look at my note and read it.
    I don't know what's happening but here's what I do know. I woke up this morning (5/19/43) and you two, and Elly, didn't wake up. As far as I know you two aren't dead and I guess if you're reading this, you're not dead. When I discovered you weren't awake, I tried to call my friends but none of them ansered my calls so I'm assuming they didn't wake up either. But what I did find, was three people on TalkNow. They are awake and we're going to get together. In a matter of about 45 minutes, I will be gone. I took a few of mama's cards, the ones that I knew the pins to and I also took the cash out of your wallets. But while I was stealing the cash out of dad's, I found the code to the safe. I the gun, because you never know when you'll need it and I also took about hald of the money in there. Your wallets and the rest of the money is also in there but I have the code so if you don't know it, I'll have my phone and you'll know how to reach me.
    Also, dad, I took your brother's necklace. I took the picture of the three of us when we got Elly. I needed something to remember both of you by jsut in case I never see you again. That thought is not a good one but it may be the horrible truth. As much as I hope the both of you will wake up soon, see this note and reach out to me so I can come back to you, that might not ever happen. I don't want to stop writing but I don't know what else to say so I know that I need to stop and make sure I'm really ready to leave. Although, I don't really ever think I'll be ready to leave you guys, but going with these people might be the only way for me to survive now. Okay, I have about 30 minutes before Hunter gets here to pick me up.
    If you get this note, contact me. We'll find a way to get back together. I love you both. And you too Elly. Signed, Angelina <3
    I sniffle and wipe away forming tears; I know I need to put this somewhere where they will see it almost first thing. The place that comes to mind first is their door. If they wake up, they will probably get up really soon and go to leave their room and they'll see that note. So, I grab some tape and walk into their room. I tape the note to their door and look at them. I walk over and kiss all three of them on the forehead gently, then lock their door from the inside so if anyone breaks in, it'll be harder to get into the room and then close it. After that, I grab my suitcause and put my wallet in it. I zip it closed and roll it into the living room. My stomach rumbles and I wonder if I should bring food. Probably not. The only things that will last for long enough are cans and cans can get heavy quickly. I figure I should just eat now and hope Hunter is okay with stopping during the way.
    I go into the kitchen and open the fridge. The first thing I see is a thing of bagels so I jsut grab one of those and close the package and the fridge. I'm too worked up and lazy to put butter or cream cheese on it so I just take a bite of the plain bagel. It's kinda tasteless but it's good to get something in my stomach; I'm hoping it'll calm down my nerves, but it doesn't really. I finish it anyway, just because I'm hungry then I sit back down on the couch and stare thoughtlessly into the TV. I'm not watching or hearing it, I just don't know what else to do. I check my phone but there's no notifications. Ninia and Hunter are busy driving and Joseph is probably getting the house ready. Or he's not, I guess I don't really know what he's doing.
    My phone chimes and I look at it. Of course it's for TalkNow, so I type in my code and go in.
    HumorMe: I am ten minutes away from your place, Angelina.
    My stomach clenches painfully with nerves. In around ten minutes, my life will be thrust in a totally different direction than I ever thought it would go. I just wish we knew more about waht was going on. Were the three of us special in any way? Why weren't more people awake? You'd think more people would have to be awake and that at least the teens my age would go onto TalkNow and find other people. I go into the chat lists and refresh a few times but there's no other chat lists that ask about being awake. I just wish someoen I knew not from the internet was awake. Or even friends from the internet, just so I wouldn't be going to Texas with three people I have never talked to before. Again, I feel guilty for thinking that because these people don't have to let me go with them, but they are, so I need to stop thinking those kinds of things.
    I look at my phone clock. Hunter will be here soon, I should wait outside. I turn off the TV and the house falls into almost silence again and i grab the handle to my suitcase and pull it to the door. As I'm standing in the doorway, I give my home one last look before I lock the door from the inside and close the door. Right after I do that, I remember I left my house and car key inside but I don't start to go back. That's probably for the best. If I had those keys, it would give me an option to stay here forever and I know that can't happen. Not having them is for the best.
    I plop down on the driveway and let the warm May wind blow gently against me. I hope Texas is this nice because this weather right here is so amazing. Not too hot, not too cold. Just about perfect. I close my eyes and will myself to relax. Life is gonna get difficult, but I still need to be in control of my emotions. It might be hard, but life isn't impossible. I'm finally getting relaxed when I hear a car coming down the street, I open my eyes and look. When it gets closer, it's obvious that the liscense plate isn't an Iowa one, so I know who it probably is. My hypothesis is confirmed when the slightly rusty truck (I don't know what type, I bought my car and I hardly know what it is) pulls into my driveway and goes into park before turning off. I'm still sitting down on the pavement so I can't see the driver but when the driver's side door opens, a giant fluffy thing hurtles out and runs at me. Without thinking about it, I yell out and protect my face as the fluff ball jumps at me. It takes me only a few seconds before I realize this furry monster is a dog and I'm getting kisses.
    "Benji. Benji, come!" A male voice yells and the dog jumps off me and runs to the man, tail still wagging excitedly. "Sit, dog." The dog obeys and sits next to his master, tongue lolling out of his mouth and panting loudly.
    I sit up and rub back stray hairs from my face and look up at the person standing just over me. He holds out his hand and I grab it and he pulls me up. Then offers me the hand again, to shake.
    "I'm Hunter. You must be Angelina." I shake his hand, nodding, and look up at his face. Blonde hair, blue eyes. He's not gorgeous, but he's atractive. All hard angles. He's also tall, probably around 5'11" ish, which towers over my 5'1".
    "Awesome, well. We should get going. I checked, from here it'll take about 11 1/2 hours - 12 hours to get to Joseph's and I want to get there today," Hunter says. I nod and go to the passenger door and he calls for Benji to get into the car. The big dog goes to the back of the truck. Before he gets in, Hunter puts my suitcase into the bed of the truck, along with his case a big bag of dog food.
    "Wanna tell Joseph we're on our way?" He asks when he gets in and starts the car. Again I nod and get int TalkNow.
    Me: Hunter and I are leaving now. It'll take us about 12ish hours to get to your house, Joseph.
    NiniaGirl12: It was only supposed to take me nine hours to get there and I've been drivign for almost two hours so I will beat them there.
    "Ninia is gonna beat us. She has a little more than seven hours to his house and we have like, 12," I say. It's the first thing I've said to him. He nods in response.
    "It'll probably be closer to 12 since we'll probably have to stop for lunch and bathroom breaks for both us and Benji. He doesn't bite by the way. You don't need to be afraid of him,"
    "I'm not. I have a dog. She didn't wake up either otherwise I probably would have brought her along."
    "Benji sleeps with me so I had no idea that no one was awake until I actually saw my parents still asleep. Usually they're at work when I wake up so it was super weird seeing them still in bed. I just thought maybe they just turned off their alarms onaccident so I tried to wake them but when they wouldn't wale, I tried to call my friends and they when they didn't answer either, I thought..." He chuckles a little. "Nevermind, it's kinda embarassing."
    "Tell me," is all I respond with.
    "I actually thought I was dead. I guess maybe I watch too many Si-Fi movies. But then I went on TalkNow and found Joseph's chat. I was the first one to join. Ninia joined a couple seonds later, then you. What about you? How'd you discover it?"
    I don't answer for a moment. I just stare at the road as he drives then I sigh. "My house was too quiet. Usually I wake up to noises like my parents talking and Elly -my dog- walking around or playing with a tennis ball. I didn't hear any of that. So I went into my parent's room and tried to get them to wake up but they wouldn't. Then I did the same things you did; tried to call my friends but they didn't answer. I don't know what made me go onto TalkNow. I just did and I'm really happy I did because I found you guys." I shrug. "I probably wouldn't do very well trying to live on my own."
    "Neither would I," He agrees. "Did you get any money?" I nod and he does too. "I just hope we don't need very much of it."
    "Well we'll need to buy things like food," I say, looking at him. He laughs.
    "We don't need to spend money on that. No one is probably working those stores, why spend the money?" He asks. I had never considered that, but he's right. Why spend the money when you don't need to?
    "Then why did we have to bring money?" Hunter shrugs for a response and accelerates past the speed limit, dodging cars along the way. I look out the window and see nothing that really interests me, so I close my eyes. When I do that, I realize how tired I am and fall asleep in minutes.
                                                                                                                              ~~~
    "Angelina. Hey, wake up." Hunter shakes me and I jerk awake. I look around at my surroundings and at Hunter and forget where I am for a moment, but then I remember. "Benji needs to go out and I need too as well." He unlocks the doors and I step out and stretch my legs.
    "Where are we?" I ask. There's nothing around except for a rest stop and a highway with a bunch of still cars on it.
    "Not really for sure." Hunter laughs. "You slept for a good while though. It's about one, you hungry? I'm starving. Benji will be fine out here alone for a few minutes, let's go in." I slept for three hours? Wow.
    We walk in together and I don't see anyone that's not frozen. At the bathrooms, we part ways. When I get in, I immediatly go into the stall; I hadn't had to go but when he said something, I'd discovered I really did have to go.
    After I wash my hands, I look up at the mirror to fix anything I can about  my appearance. My makeup is a little smudged so I fix that as best as I can then undo my hair and comb my fingers through it so the braid can unravel. It's a bit wavy so I put the hair tie around my wrist and wander out of the bathroom.
    Hunter is looking around the asiles of the gas station part looking for food. "What sounds good to you?" He calls out to me when he sees me. I shrug as I walk over to him. "No idea." "Me either."
    I wander off on my own and scream. "Hunter!" He comes running to see me face to barrel with a gun.
    "Who the hell are you two?!" The man's hand shakes and I back right into Hunter.
    "What do you mean "who are we?" We're just getting some food, mate." Hunter says. I look closer at the guy. He has a unifrom on that shows he works here. He also has very thin, brown hair and he smells strongly of cigarette smoke. If I had to guess an age, I'd say he was 60 ish.
    He lowers the gun and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "You two are the first people I've seen today, you know, that are moving around." He puts the gun down on the cashier's counter and hobbles over to get behind the register. "Can I ring you up?" Hunter looks a little nervous. His plan was to just steal everything.
    "Yeah, just let me get my stuff. I'm paying." I grab a muffin and go to the coolers and grab a green tea and fast walk back, setting my stuff on the counter. I pull the bills out of my phone case and hand it over when he says the price. When he offers the change, I just take the bills and put the coins in the donation container, not even looking at what they're raising money for. "Thanks." I grab my stuff and nod at him, while Hunter does the same.
    Once we're in the truck, I open up my tea and take a long drink, then look over at Hunter. "That's why I brought money in."
    "Hey now. Don't mock me." He laughs and reaches to the backseat and pets Benji, who wags his tail and licks his master's hand.
    "Do you want me to drive, since I kinda slept for awhile?" I ask, taking a bite of my muffin.
    "Nah. I like to drive. Maybe later though." He stops for a second, then continues. "Do you think we should have asked that guy to come with us?" I shake my head. "He was gonna shoot me."
    "Yeah, I know but, that guy will probably be alone," Hunter says.
    "He'll probably spend his time taking money out of registers and truckers' pockets. He'll survive." Both of our phones chime. "That's probably the chat. Wanna check it and read it to me?" I pull my phone out and go into TalkNow.
    MeJoseph: Updates on where everyone is?
    NiniaGirl12: I still have four hours left; I just hope I don't fall asleep haha.
    "How much longer do we have till we're there?" I ask.
    "We a have probably 8 1/2 hours."
    Me: Hunter says we have about 8 1/2 hours left. Have either of you found anyone who isn't asleep? We have.
    MeJoseph: What? You did? Are they with you?
    Me: No. We forgot to offer but personally I'm okay with it because I was face to barel with his gun.
    NiniaGirl12: I've seen one car moving but they were driving a different direction and didn't come back to me so I figured if they wanted to be with me, they would have turned their car around.
    "Ninia has seen one other car moving, but they were going a different way," I read to him.
    "I would be surprised if we didn't see at least one car." He drives around more cars, having to break hard sometimes to avoid running right into the backs of the cars. I nod in agreement.
    "Are you sure you don't want me to drive? Just for a little bit?" I ask, finishing my muffin.
    He sighs. "You probably should, I've been driving for quite some time." He pulls over, behind a Prius and puts it in park. When he gets out, I cilmb over the console and move the seat up so I can reach the pedals. He gets comftable in the passenger side and closes his eyes and is asleep before I've even driven for five minutes.