Apocalypse Nirvana

Oz and the Lion

That was about a week ago. Now here we are, on the road. Riley, Harper, Grey, Kate, Micah, and me. All alive, fighting, and super exhausted. The wind deafened me as I roll the windows up then back down. The blast of the evening breeze envelopes the vehicle. A million shades of red and blue shine on the truck.

The light snores of Riley is the only other noise you can hear. I keep the window down as we drive across the bridge, past the beautiful gleaming lake. The water ripples as fish bubble to the surface for air. If it weren't for the half zombie in the back seat, snuggling up on the annoyed Kate, you would think it was a normal day.

Harper yawns, grabbing the seat, trying to pull Riley off of her. "Where are we?" She asks, wiping drool, that wasn't hers, off of her cheek.

"Oz, Dorthy, we are going to Oz." Grey says, looking in the mirror at her.

"What?"

"The land where dreams come true." He says, pulling into a store parking lot. 'Cashy's Local Store.' "BayBourne." He halted the vehicle to a stop, clicking the clutch in park, and honking the horn two times. Micah shot up from Kate's shoulder, Harper jumped, and Riley stayed still. Harper shook her, nothing.

"Get up you lazy bum." Kate clicks the door open, only to be slammed back.

"You shouldn't be here. It's tempting, to keep. You here. You will die here." A man, around his twenties said. He had an untrimmed beard, bed head, scruffy dirty blonde hair, his eyes twitched, crazy man.

"What are you talking about weirdo? You know pedophilia is not okay in my book, even if it is the apocalypse." Riley got up. "Hey, Bunny, where are we at?" She turned to Harper.

"I told you not to call me that, we are in BayBourne."

"It's the apocalypse. I'll call you whatever the hell I want. Onwards!" She rolls her eyes dramatically, putting her arms back underneath her head to sleep.

"We need food, water, and gas. Collect what you need, then we'll leave. Grey, get rid of old MacDonald's brother will you?" Kate budges the door in the chest of the crazy man. Grey gets out of the car, walks around the front, and pulls his arm. "Micah, move." She whistles a high pitch shrill through the air and Micah jumps out of the car.

I lift my head out, looking at the bright sun, it was sometime around three or four in the afternoon. The gas station looked run down and tacky. The walls were stained with aged moss and cracked stone. The paint was faded and chipped.

I run my hand along the truck as I walk to the door. Then, I felt something. The same feeling I felt when Micah was afraid, that aura of blue and green fear emanated from inside. I stop in place, Harper bumping into my back. I saw them, the guns, the people, the children, all glaring- or maybe squinting- at the new comers. We were invading them, they were ready for an ambush.

"What's the hold up?" Harper asked grabbing the door handle. I push her back. A man steps out from behind the tinted windows and aims his gun.

"We don't want trouble." Kate says, pulling her gun from the hostler.

"Neither do we, you best be on your way." The man says through his thick straw hat. His overalls were ripped and strings swayed from every crease. He aimed his rifle at my head. He wasn't taking crap, not from anybody.

"That girl you have at gunpoint may be the key to saving whatever humanity has left of itself. So think carefully before you pull that trigger." She says, putting her gun back. The man looks from her back at me. He raised a brow then glared.

"How'm I supposed to believe this?" He turns back, shaking the gun. Kate walks over to me, ripping my shirt, all the scars and the bite I had from the zombie girl were clear to see. Everything was, crystal clear. The man stepped back, not lowering his gun.

"She somehow possesses antibodies for the zombie virus and we are trying to get her to our next lab in the Kanaro Islands, but as you can see, there are no planes around here, so we are riding first class till we get a boat. We need to keep her alive, and to do that, we need food." She grabs my collar and thrusts me towards the door. I fall in, stumbling. Looking up, all the people in the room stare. Uncomfortably, I grab water jugs, chips, jerky, and some gum and walk back to the car. I go back in and make Grey some coffee, since he will have to drive us into the next city. I remembered he liked his coffee with three spoons sugar, one spoon creamer. Grey thanks me and I open the door to the car. A guy around my age, so nineteen or twenty, slams the door.

"I don't buy it."

"What?"

"That bite." He grabs my torn shirt and forces my head to the side. Micah rushes over, picking the boy up with one hand.

"Wait!" I yell, grabbing Micah's free arm. "Don't." I look at the boy, Micah puts him down. I stare at him with an unheard conversation. Micah nods then walks towards Kate.

"What is that?" The boy asks, ruffling his orange hair.

"My good friend, Micah." I give a thumbs up, and Micah returns it. He turns toward Kate and grabs her hands before she could reach for her gun, picking her up and dipping her down. He pulls her back up, shifting his feet and spinning. He then turns to me and the boy, grabbing my hand he kneels down kissing it, in return I kiss his forehead.

His hair begins to sink into his skin, leaving some only on his head, his eyes glowing a pale blue, his fangs retract a little but are still sharp, and his ears were still a point. He became a beautiful man before me, he chuckles, examining his hands, quickly his smile faded and he drops to the ground. The once beast was now a beauty.