Better off Undead

Chapter 53: The World's End

They drove on for the rest of the day, putting as much distance between themselves and the town they were leaving behind as possible. When darkness started to fall, they found the first concrete building they could and barred themselves inside. They passed another mostly restless night in this manner until morning came and they could be on their way again.

Eli tried several times to find ways to comfort Amber, but she mostly did her best to keep away from him. When they stopped for the night, she made it a point to lock herself away in a separate room from him. In the morning, she was up before he was and already packed and waiting by the car before everyone else. She barely even responded to him talking to her beyond the occasional grunt or motion of her head. Even simple single word responses were a big response for her for the next forty-eight hours as they traveled north and east.

They continued traveling back roads as much as possible, avoiding all big cities, dodging around Tennessee almost entirely to avoid both Memphis and Nashville, despite Jay's instance that they could use a morale booster by going to something like Graceland or Dollywood. Nobody else seemed too eager to agree. They were all still reeling from the sudden loss of two of their group, and they were all clearly responding to the loss in different ways.

It wasn't until late in the third day that they finally realized they were in sight of the Appalachians. They pulled off the road in a small town and walked up to the second story of a motel to look out at the view.

"I thought they'd be... bigger," said Eli.

"They're not exactly small," Aliyah commented.

"I guess. They just... they look more like really big hills than mountains."

"It's probably good everyone around here is undead," said Amber. "They probably wouldn't be very happy to hear you insult their mountains."

Aliyah stood straight and yawned. "It's not important. We should get some sleep so we can get an early start tomorrow."

Aliyah and Amber took one room, while Eli, Jay, and Gabriel took a third. They used furniture from the other rooms on the floor to barricade the doors, but trusted that they were finally far enough away from the werewolves to not worry about needing to sleep in what amounted to concrete bunkers. In this area, they figured they didn't have much to worry about other than zombies.

They got on the road with the first light of dawn. However, they quickly discovered that the mountains had been deceptively distant. What Aliyah had thought would be a short journey proved to be a seemingly endless journey through thick woods down winding streets. They kept turning through long loops to go around someone's property that had probably not changed in size or scope since long before the roads had been put into place. By the early afternoon they had only just manage to crest the top of one of the mountains, though from their vantage point they could not even tell. Frustrated and tired, they stopped for a brief rest break.

Everyone exited the vehicle and stretched their legs, and one by one they wandered off into the woods to relieve themselves. Eli was the first back and he stood around the vehicle waiting for the others and running through a series of stretches. He saw Amber returning and gave her a hopeful look, but as soon as she noticed him she quickly crossed to the far side of the SUV and out of his line of sight. Eli let out a sigh of frustration, crossed his arms, and leaned back against the vehicle.

When Jay and Aliyah returned they pulled out some food and ate a little, but they were all growing uncomfortable with remaining in the same place for too long.

"Where the hell is Gabriel?" Aliyah demanded after a few minutes.

As if on cue, they heard a noise in the thicket nearby. They all quickly dropped their food and raised their weapons, ready for an attack.