If Tomorrow Never Comes

Chapter 14

    I looked to the tall older brother who appeared emotionally vacant, and then to the younger on who wore a smile. "Welcome aboard, I'll get this for you ladies," the younger brother said as he threw my duffle bag over his shoulder. "Thanks," I said as I trudged behind him. "This is great, you won't regret it. It's hard to pass the time with that grouch as my only company," he said as he began walking behind his brother who stalked off ahead into the woods. "And passing time can be rough with a little brother that talks far to much," the sour attitude baring man said causing his brother to roll his eyes. "Throw your insults all you want ya jackass. It's all that bran in your diet if you ask me it tends to unsettle you," he joked before turning to me. "I'm Landon by the way and this Axel." I offered him a small smile and fell into step with him and Baylor, as Axel walked ahead of us leading the way."it's nice to meet you."

   Suddenly Axle stalled and turned to face us pressing his finger to his lips to silence us, holding his axe at the ready. The forrest seemed quiet, I didn't understand what he was worked up about until I heard a stick crunching under some weight followed by a series of growls that congregated behind us. I turned around to see multiple zombies appearing over the hill with their sights set on all of us. "Holy sh-" "Run!" We all took off running straight ahead as dozens of zombies wandered out from the trees. I began to fall behind significantly as I felt Asher growing heavier in my already sore arms. I tried to keep up but my legs wouldn't allow me to run any faster. "Come on Exora run faster!" Baylor yelled turning to see how far behind I was. The two boys turned around to see me struggling to keep up. They both ran over to me quickly. I felt Asher being lifted from my arms by Axel which got me upset at first until I felt sweet relief flush through my body. "Come on!" Landon yelled as he placed his hand on the space between my shoulders and guided me into a sprint.

   I watched as Axel effortlessly lifted Asher into his arms and ran with him as the small boy began to cry. "Don't cry, I'm here," I said to Asher as I caught up with Axel. He looked up at me and reached his little arms out for me as he cried. Axel began to run faster, and we all did the same as more zombies flooded the woods. Where are all these creeps coming from? We are out here in the middle of nowhere, how can there be so many of them? Suddenly I heard a scream and a thump and looked behind me to see Baylor had fallen and was being gained up on by a pack of zombies. I moved to run over when Landon stepped in first. "Keep going!" He yelled to me as he ran to fight away the zombie that had reached her. He fought a few of them off before helping Baylor to her feet. Maybe coming with them was a good idea, and maybe they are feeling like we are definitely extra baggage at this point.

  "You need to shut him up he's drawing more attention!" Axle yelled. "He's right," Baylor said as she caught back up with us. "We're almost there we'll be fine!" Landon interjected. We ran until our legs were about to give out or at least that's how mine felt. In the distance I saw a black van waiting at the bottom of the hill. "I see it! Faster! we need to get out of here!" Landon yelled. I could hardly breath as we approached the car. I flung the door open and threw myself inside. Axel delivered the infant into my lap before running to get in the drivers seat. "Do you have any water?" Baylor asked out of breath. "In the back, drink sparingly there's not that much," Axel said as Baylor ignored him downing a whole bottle in an instant.

   I rubbed Asher's back calming him down as he nuzzled me. It's amazing how attached we've grown to each other in such a short amount of time. Though I've saved him and risked my life for him a countless amount of times he couldn't understand that. All he understands is that I'm the one that takes care of him and keeps him close. "What were you guys doing all the way out there if your car was down here?" Baylor asked. "We had been driving for a while and we got off to use the bathroom. Zombies swarmed us from everywhere chasing us far into the woods. There was another guy with us his name was August, he uh didn't make it," Landon said sadly. That must've been the scream we heard that basically saved us.

   "Why do you think there are so many of them out in these woods?" I asked. "It's just right off the highway. The roadblock stalled all the traffic. The roadway is crawling with them. They migrated out here after the sound of us horseing around out there," Landon said as we drove through the woods. "Where are we going?" Baylor asked. "We heard that they're collecting survivors just North of here," Axel said. "Up North? How far up North?" I asked. "San Francisco," He said shocking me. "We're hours from San Francisco, days even at this rate," I said. "Well then we better get comfortable," He said as he turned off the main road. "That sounds like a great idea," Landon said turning to face us with two CD's in his hands. "What do you say Matchbox 20 or Nickleback?" He asked to which I couldn't help but crack a smile. I saw Axel roll his eyes as he observed his flamboyant little brother. "Matchbox 20," Baylor said right away. "Great choice," Landon said as he popped the CD into the radio. The music blared through the speakers as we soared down the road.

It seems as though I've made the right decision so far. I just hope that this alliance remains stable. "I'm starving," I said to Baylor as I dug through the duffle bag that held some snacks from the convenience store. I devoured a granola bar in a matter of seconds. Grabbing a bottle of water I looked at Baylor to see she was covered in dirt and soilige from head to toe. We all are especially me. I fed Asher some peanuts and gave him some water glad he had settled down. He's all dirty from running off into the woods to play in the mud. "We all could definitely use a shower," Baylor said as she took notice to what I was staring at. "I'm sorry but I'm going to have to agree with you on that one," Landon laughed looking between the both of us. "If only you knew what I've been though in the past couple of days you would understand why I look like a zombie myself," I said.

   "That is definitely on the bottom of our worry list," Axel said as he stopped the car abruptly. I furrowed my brows and moved to look out the windshield at the hold up. Infront of the car stood a pack of red eyed rabid zombies that were backed by at least a hundred others. To make matters worse they were running right for us, faster than any zombie I'd seen until now.