In Session - A Zombie Apocolypse Story

Chapter Thirteen - One Month Mark

Chapter Thirteen-

        -June, 23, 2014 - One Month In-

        "It's different. Way different... very different. The way the earth looks, the way I feel. The sky a more dirty blue than it's original. The world's changed. The group and I.. we travled quite a distance to Indiana. lost a few. The survivor rate has decreased rapidly over the short amount of time... It's almost like we're the only ones left. Each day more dead people turn grey and into flesh eating monsters. There's nothing we can do to stop this madness.... So we don't. We keep pushing. Then we hope to find the light at the end of the tunnel... If it's there we will get to it one day." I say to the group. "We lost Jessica Macias to the horde. And Jessica Lopez can be anywhere by now... we have to keep going..."

        "I just need a break.." Freckles pants, "We've been walking for three days straight and we walked on foot all the way to Indiana carrying all of this shit."

        "Guess what that 'shit' is? That's your life. You are carrying your life. We can't just stop." Jane furrows her brows at Daisy, "What is wrong with you? Stop? Why would that even cross your mind with thousands of dead people right at our doorstep?"

        "We just need a car... When I visited here there was a Piggly Wiggly's right down the street from where we are now... maybe there's still a car there. Then Austin can hotwire it for us and have us on our way." Regine looks to me and winks, I purse my lips and slap her arm gently.

        "Sure can do." Austin half smiles, obviously winded from our long walk.

        Damn even all winded and sweaty he's still hot.

        "Well we have a quantity problem.." Yoshi reminds us.

        "Well there may be more than one car...." Regine says, "If not then we travel on foot... Destination anybody?"

        "I have one..." Jamie says. She looks around at the group then focus's her eyes on me, "Savannah... Savannah, Georgia... Jane and I heard about a refugee camp there from a survivor we saw before we met you guys.... we would like to visit it if we could... see if maybe it's a nice place."

        "The drives only about a day..." Jane says, "Maybe we can get there soon enough."

        "That's fine with me.." I say, "As long as it's safe."       

        "Then it's established?" Regine says questioningly, "Savannah it is."              

        The cracked road leads right to the PigglyWiggly. So we keep following it as if it's the yellow brick road to the emerald city. Why Savannah? Maybe there is a refugee camp there. What's it called though? Whenever I hear refugee camp though it makes me feel queasy. What if it isn't what it sounds to be. We reach the supermarket and there they are, three ironically perfect trucks, A fedex, an Avon, and a UPS truck.

        "There's probably people in there..." I say, "Be very cautious. I'm gonna go check it out. Austin, care to give me a hand?"

        "Yeah Austin, give Jerry a hand." Regine smirks.

        "O.. Okay?" Austin raises a brow, following me into the store, The automatic doors swing open, and finally, we're alone... together in the same room. "If anybody did make camp here they obviously didn't do a very good job of securing the place. Automatic doors are a death trap now..." He scratches his head and flips his hair.

        "I think so?" I reply, almost in a daze.

Austin looks at me, "What?"

        "I mean... Yeah. Totally... they could just walk right in... and plus it's on a highway... so double whammy.." I snap out of it.

        "Totally." He smiles.

        We walk down the aisles, nobody. "Can we take a break for a second..?" Austin asks me, "I'm seriously about to pass out.."

        "Of course..." I say.

        We sit down on the checkout desk together and I give him a water bottle, "Here.."

He takes it and opens the cap, sipping out of it in very small, controlled sessions. "Must be hard being a group leader."

        "Yeah, but I guess it has it's virtues.. I can't say I'm lucky to have the position though. But these are shit times... I guess having the job takes my mind off those things.. I'm going to have to grow up at some point... so why not now." I reply, looking down at my cargo pants, trying to hide my blush.

        "True... I can't say I'm very happy on first impressions. We held you at gunpoint. You and that girl. I don't want to be like those burglers or bandits. But I can tell that this group is breaking... we're falling apart. I can sense it... and it's not a good feeling. We're all starving and tired, and most of us are depressed as hell. Who knows how much longer Jacquees is going to make it. He's gonna snap one day. On one of us." Austin bites his nail and blushes gently, probably from talking badly about the group... but he's right. We don't know how much time any of us have left... we're cracking.  "I just wanna feel normal again.. I've always been the guy in school bullied. Even with the pain I felt back then I would kill for that again."

        "Maybe you can feel normal again.." I stare at the stocked store in front of us.

        "No... It won't happen... these things-"

        "No Austin...., maybe we can be normal again..." I interupt him and kiss him fiercely, I knock him onto the table and keep tasting his lips against mine, then his face in the palm of my hand, my heart beat rises and my stomach grows queezy inside like a feeling I never felt before... I pull my lips away from him and he smiles his half smile, "Maybe I can feel normal again.. Or maybe I just got a glimpse of it."

        "I think you did too. But I think I felt normal all along. Ever since I layed eyes on you." I smile and kiss him again.