Bite {Niall Centric}

Day 672

Niall stretched, his muscles a bit stiff from sleeping in such a weird position - nearly upside down in the backseat of a truck. His eyes searched his surroundings for any zombies. The area was clear, so Niall relaxed against the seat with a sigh. He was alone - had been for a week now.

Niall laughed dryly when the memories flashed through his mind, his heart sinking when he imagined the boys with him in the car; he took a walkie-talkie out of his backpack, pushing the button after tuning into the right frequency. "Hello, are you guys out there? It's Niall. . . over."

Nothing but static.

Niall sighed, head resting against the seat, shoulders sagging in sorrow. They agreed to meet in the next town over. Were they lost? Was he? Was there more than one town over?

He hit the back of the headrest in front of him in a fit of anger. Niall hated being alone now; it was terrifying and lonely.

Damn Missy and the rest of her military affiliates - it was their fault he was alone.

They could have the mall, along with Bessie and the other animals, but it was ridiculous that the military wouldn't let Niall and the others leave without tracking devices. It was how they found the boys in the first place. Why on earth would they believe Niall would agree? Tell them yes so they can steal his home again?

Fuck, he was furious.

He grabbed his bat and rolled it around in his hands, taking a few calming breaths in the process. Being mad would do him no good.

He looked outside, the sun high in the sky. He would have approximately four more hours of light left; the brunette had gotten very good at telling time by sun position - from all those days on the mall roof and in the field. He should get moving to a gas station and then the next town. He was making a large circle around the mall  hoping to find that mysterious next town over.

Sometimes he wondered if the boys were doing the same, yet in the same direction, so every move he made kept them at the same distance. He started to leave trails behind and began looking for theirs. Of course, he found nothing.

Niall shoved his body through the space between the front seats, settling himself unceramoniously in the driver's seat. His bat clanked at the bottom of the car, startling him. He really should take better care of that thing.

Niall drove around for ten minutes before he found a gas station that didn't have broken windows. He knew he shouldn't be picky, but the brunette had become a bit too cautious. He parked the car in front of gas pump three, stepping out and surveying the area with a slow turn of his head left and right. His hand settled on the pistol in his holster before making his way to the station's barred door.

There was a lock on the door and a broken slab of cement right at his feet. He smashed the lock open, toes narrowly avoiding the cement that slipped from his grasp. He pulled the door open, the hinges creaking a shrill announcement of his arrival.

The air inside of the dark gas station was stale, but under the little light from outside, Niall could see that the place was subjectively clean. Dust covered the shelves and counters, but everything was in order and there wasn't a speck of blood.

Niall searched the entire building anyway. It was completely empty, abandoned. He grabbed a few pencils and note pads from the small office inside for his journal keeping. He also grabbed as much unexpired food that would fit into his backpack. Satisfied, he finally went behind the counter to turn on gas pump three.

He walked back to the car, filling it up with gas. Everything was so quiet and peaceful; it felt weird, and that alone put him on edge. Niall did a full circle. Nothing. Not a soul, alive or undead, was around.

He put the pump back, getting into his car. Turning the key sparked the car's engine to life, a gentle purring that could very easily lull Niall to sleep. But he had no time for that now, and he should honestly stop that poor habit of his. It could very well be the end of his life one day.

The road leading out of town was well used - the nice way to describe a decrepit road littered with cracks and chunks of asphalt - and caused the car to jiggle furiously. The tires crunched along the road, even when it smoothed out onto neatly paved asphalt the color of coal. The brunette hoped none of the tires would go flat; he didn't have a spare.

He turned the radio on. Static. He turned the dial until it landed on a station playing soft rock. His fingers drummed against the steering wheel as he sang quietly along to the song. It couldn't be helped how quiet everything was, so the background noise of impressive guitar riffs playing quietly, yet managing to hit certain crescendos, scared Niall into looking for any nearby zombies.

Nothing was ever there of course. This part of the country was so dead - no pun intended. Niall really missed those boys.

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I don't even know what to say rn other than I'm back on my bs. I'm adding more to this book even though it's completed, and I have other stories I should be finishing. . . just, tell me what you think about this chapter, and what you're excited for (both in this book and for Christmas).