This Is Not A Joke

Chapter Twenty Eight

We laid for what felt like forever, until our breathing went back to normal and the sweat didn't cling to our skin. His arm rested lazily on my hip and I traced circles on the back of his hand with my index finger.

There was a soft knock at the door and I pulled the blanket up over our bodies. "Come in." I spoke quietly.

Bailey's red head popped into the door way. Her good eye widened and she gave me a smirk. "Just wanted to let you know that we're stopping if you guys uh need anything. Looks like you got all you need though." She winked at me. Before I could answer she stuck her tongue out at me and left.

I shook my head and sat up on the bed. I pulled on Sal's tee shirt and my jeans that had been tossed aside. I heard soft snores and turned to find Sal asleep, sprawled out across the bed. After kissing him on the forehead, I left the room.

I walked and sat myself down on the couch. All eyes were on me as I pulled on my boots. The heat rose in my face and I glanced back and forth between all of the smirking faces.

"What?" I bit my lip to hide my smirk.

Murr rolled his eyes. "Don't play innocent. We heard everything."

My face turned beet red as Joe started mimicking me. "Oh Sal! Oh Sal!"

"Sounds like your mom." A sleepy Sal came out of his room rubbing his eyes.

"Let's just do this." Anger filled me and before anyone could stop me I grabbed my axe and bounded off the steps of the bus.

I wasn't sure where we were or where our destination was so I just kept walking. Walking and walking farther and farther  away from the bus.

I heard footsteps quickly approaching me and turned to see a breathless Sal holding Q's mallet. "I told you not to do that anymore."

I shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

His hand gripped my wrist and he stopped me in my tracks. His eyes were practically bugging out of his head. "Doesn't matter? What do you mean doesn't matter? What if something happens to you?! Eliana I love you. I can't lose you."

More footsteps approached and I tugged my wrist away from Sal's grip. I rubbed it as Jeremy ran up, gun in hand.

"Where are we going?" He gave me a forced smile, obviously pretending he didn't see what had just happened.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. But there must've been something here or else Q wouldn't have stopped."

Right on cue, Brian ran up. He stole the mallet out of Sal's hand and handed him a baseball bat. "Mine." He held the mallet close to his chest and pet it like a baby.

Sal glared at him and slung the bat over his shoulder. "Where to, Quinn?"

Brian shrugged. "The exit sign said there was a bunch of rest stops around. Gas station, McDonald's, Dunkin. Wherever is fine."

The word Dunkin caught my attention. I hadn't had a nice iced coffee in ages. "I say we stop at the gas station and grab what we need and then grab everyone a coffee." Everyone nodded and we made off in the direction of the gas station.

The town seemed pretty much deserted, just like everywhere else. The bodies that were there were all decaying, the smell of rotting flesh thick in the air.

I was proud of Sal. He had come a long way since seeing his first zombie. The first one caused him to throw up, now he could at least tolerate them. It took him a while but he was finally okay.

The thick smell of smoke filled my nose and I had to pull my shirt up over my face. Jeremy pulled a bandana out of his back pocket and tied it over his mouth and nose. Sal and Brian had ran ahead of us, wildly swinging their bat weapons as if it would clear away the smoke and ash.

My lungs burned and I was thankful to see a clear spot in the clouds of smoke up ahead. My heart was about to explode as I cleared the smoke and gasped for as much air as I could take in.

Jeremy broke through and clung to my arm. He could barely stand and his breathing was ragged. I held him up as he caught his breath and returned to normal.

Sal and Q had ran ahead and we had to full force run to keep up to them. They came to an abrupt halt and I slammed into Sal's back, falling down to the ground.

Jeremy pulled me to my feet and I gasped when I realized why they had stopped. We had found the source of the smoke.

A giant blue sign reading Mobil stuck out in the gray clouds. It flickered every couple of seconds before shutting off completely for a couple more. Burning pieces of car littered the ground and I knew the place must've blown up.

I was thankful that all of the bodies around us were burnt to a crisp. I felt weak from running through the smoke and definitely did not feel like running anymore.

Q kicked at some charred remains. "So much for this."

"We'll find somewhere else, Q." I rested my hand lightly on his shoulder and he furiously pulled it away.

"What if we don't?! What if there's nothing left?! What if it's just us?!" He sobbed and fell forward onto his knees on the ground.

I glanced around, aware of how loud Q was being. "Q, just calm down, everything will be oka-"

Q hopped up from his spot on the ground. "No, Eliana. It won't! You've been making promises to everyone that you know you can't keep." He was in my face now. " You don't fucking know what's going to happen. You don't know-"

"Hey! Get out of her fucking face she's just trying to be positive and hopeful." Jeremy came between us and pushed Q back.

"Get the fuck away from him!" Sal became defensive and pushed Jeremy back. The man fell into me and knocked my backwards. I landed in a pile of car parts and hit my head. The wind was knocked out of me and I couldn't think straight.

That's when I heard it. The unmistakable screech.

I shook my head trying to clear the fogginess in my mind, to no avail. The screech happened again and I could feel myself being picked up. The world swirled below me and I realized I had been thrown over someones shoulder.

I used every ounce of my strength to lift my head up. My mind cleared for a moment and I saw Sal and Q swinging their weapons wildly at the insane creature.

"S-Sal?!" I barely croaked out. "SAL?!" I started screaming and my head started pounding. I was enveloped in smoke and i felt weak. My head dropped and I swung helplessly as my rescuer ran away from the love of my life.