Death From Below

Chapter 5

I am currently loading up my suitcase with my clothes and personal hygiene products, I toss in a couple of pairs of shoes and close it up. I head downstairs and set it near the door and head into the kitchen to begin pulling everything out of the cabinets, and pantry and pile it on the counters and table. "What are you up to?" Dante asks as he walks in to find me going through the bottom cabinets for my pour-over coffee maker.

"I am gathering up everything we are going to need, and I am heading to Louisiana as my father suggests," I tell him just as I find it and put it with the rest of the stuff next to my thermos. I run to head upstairs to my closet and open it to search for my old duffle bags and carry them down to the kitchen to begin putting the stuff I gathered into them. I grab up all the stock up items we had of paper plates, bowls, cups, napkins, and plastic utensils; I also grab up the fire cooking thing my parents had bought for camping.

They even had a portable pop-up shower and toilet "Man your parents were either prepared for something like this, or beyond paranoid." Annie says in astonishment as she looks at everything I am loading up near the door.

"My parents have always thought ahead in case of emergencies, they said I am their priority and want to know that I am well taken care of no matter what happens," I tell her as I slowly peek out the door to make sure the coast is clear. I unlock my truck and begin to pull up the two side seats with Annie staring in amazement.

"Did your parents get this truck custom made?" she asks staring in awe. "Yeah, it can fit twelve people, they put in a bench seat upfront, I have the normal bench seat in the middle and the back, I have two more bench seats that rise out of the floor I also have storage that goes up under all the seats where I can store a crap ton of stuff. That is why the truck is so big and takes a lot of gas but worth it since I can drive for quite a while before it hits E." I explain as I begin loading my bags into the truck.

"Who is all coming with me?" I ask as I finally get to the last bag and shut the trunk door,

"We all have decided to go with you like you said we are a family now and family sticks together no matter what," Annie said with a smile as everyone else nods and agrees. I pull out a small pocket size notebook and make a third tally mark to keep up with the days and slide it into my backpack and set it on the floor next to my feet. I climb into the driver seat as Dante and Tristan climb in next to me, Ethan and Sofia go with Annie and the girls. Angel, Torri, Victoria crawl in the seats behind me while everyone else gets back on the bus and we begin the long journey from Washington to Louisiana. I slide in a cd and begin to pull out of the driveway and out on to the road "I still can't believe all this is happening to us, I thought this was only in books and movies." Victoria says talking to herself out loud.

"Can we swing by stores and see if we can find extra supplies like walkie talkies, so all three vehicles stay in contact with one another?" Dante asks while I turn onto a road that leads to a strip mall.

"Not a bad idea, let's go," I say as I turn into the parking lot of the mall and pull up to the front for an easier escape. I grab my weapon and head inside the first store I see and ready myself in case one of those things comes after me and head towards the camping equipment. I turn the corner and there is a group of about ten human people standing there talking.

"I need to find this girl; she meant the world to my little brother, and I am not going to let anything bad happen to her." a tall blonde male says to the others. Dante appears from beside me and they all turn to look over at us since they don't seem to want to hurt us, I turn and start looking for the walkie talkies and grab two packs of them and then run and grab up some rechargeable batteries.

I head over to another store that has two stores in one "Whose dumb idea was this?" Dante asks while chuckling as we walk in to find on one side was a mattress store and to the other side was a store with food and hygiene supplies. I laugh as I head over to the beds and lay on one.

"Oh man, you guys have got to try this out, it is like laying on a cloud," I say closing my eyes and relaxing. I stand up and we begin to stock up on all the stuff from the store and then head to the next which led into an actual large mall which made everyone shout in glee and take off in different directions. I begin to walk forward when I hear the group from the other store run in after us.

"Hey, have any of you guys seen my little brother? My name is Josh, can someone please help me?" a guy asked as he walked in.

"Whoa, you look just like my best friend." Ethan said pushing his way to where the guy stood "Hey, Harper, could you please come here?" Ethan asks as I am turning to head to a small pharmacy.

I turn and walk up to them and when I face the guy my mouth drops open "Garrett, baby, is that you?" I ask him feeling my mouth go dry, and tears spring forth.

"No, my name is Josh. I take it you know my brother?" he asks with hope in his eyes and that is when the room starts spinning and I faint as everything goes black. I slowly begin to stir and look around to see I am laying in a bed instead of the floor and it seems to be dark outside. I sit up and look around but don't see anyone even though I can hear the voices of everyone talking quietly from somewhere close by, Dante walks in as I am about to stand up and walks over to help me.

"We all have decided to just camp out here for the night if that is alright with you," he says, and I am already nodding.

"Yeah, there is some stuff I was hoping to buy while we are here even though money isn't a problem anymore," I tell him, and he agrees as we walk out to the others and get some food.