Semester of the Dead MxM (Staten Krown)

9

"Is anyone sick?"

The guards look around the car. There is a pause. I can see their guns. They don't trust us. Hell, I wouldn't trust us either. Guards have surrounded the limousine. We barely made it. Thank god Quest was good with cars because he had to stop and make repairs on the old hooptie a million times. One time he was attacked. It was me and Ignacio that went out to save him right before he was bitten. That's all it takes. One minute. One minute where you aren't looking. One minute where you feel safe and put your guard down.

And a zombie comes.

All it takes is a bite. The saliva was like venom seeping in, but it doesn't kill you fast. It kills you slowly. Then brings you back. But you're not alive. You're just...moving.

It was my worst fear. We'd made it though. Thankfully.

"No. No one's sick."

"We don't let anyone in. We have a process."

"We aren't just anyone," Valentina states, "We're looking for our mother. Her name is Dr. Serrano. She'll want to see us. She'll want to see what we have with us."

I notice how she says what instead of who. I don't like it. I look over on Sunday wondering if he notices at all. Luckily it goes over his head.
Something Valentina said must have triggered something. I hear the guy on his radio. He's saying something. I look around the limousine. Everyone's nervous. Mitch is breathing heavy, Valentina keeps tapping her foot and then there is Sunday. He keeps looking at me. It feels good. It's almost like he's trying to find comfort in my eyes. So I give it to him. I smile back at him and nod, slowly. It's not much but I want to let him know everything's going to be OK.

He nods back and it's clear he's gotten my message loud and clear.

The guard comes back.

"Dr. Serrano is expecting you. Welcome to Atlanta..."

"This can't be real. This can't be Atlanta," Quest states, "This is my home. This is where my family lives..."

"This is Atlanta alright. What's left of it at least," the guard says, "Follow the escort. We'll take you to the refugee camps."

I didn't know Quest was from Atlanta. I'd come up here a few years ago when Beric was performing at the Fox Theater in downtown Atlanta. It was something completely different now. There is a huge fence that outlines the city. There are guard stations everywhere. As we drive through it's clear most of the city has been barricaded off.

Police and military have been dispatched. For a while, that's all I see. It looks like they have closed off all the roads leaving the city. You can only travel on marked paths. A few more policeman and military units scan the perimeter. I notice the burnt buildings as we drove by. I wonder if the military intentionally set those buildings on fire.

"Are you OK?" Mitch asks Quest.

Quest just keeps driving but I can tell he's distracted, "They burnt it. They burnt everything..."

"Let's switch places," I tell Quest.

"I'm fine."

He wasn't fine. Tears were filling up his eyes. I can almost HEAR his heart breaking. I could only imagine how he felt. Atlanta wasn't my home. Hell, Savannah wasn't my home either. But I could imagine how it would feel knowing your home was in the condition it was.

"Let's switch," I tell Quest, "You don't have to be hard right now. You can let it out man. You can let it out."

When I first met Quest I thought he was trash. One of those guys who'd never make it anywhere. He didn't speak in complete sentences. He was abrasive and rude. I thought that was all there was to him. But he's been the one working hard driving us around and not complaining. He made sure we got to Atlanta. So I was going to be there for him now. Because he needed it.