Humanity's Last Hope.

Chapter 13: The Gas Station.

I get up from the back of the car. We are parked in front of a gas station. "Yo John, it's your turn to drive." Ryan says as he inspects his M16.

"How about we set up shop here instead? We need to modify our weapons and clean them. Plus this place might have food and medicine." I say as I get out of the car with my AK-47 at the ready.

"Sure, it's better than me constantly driving." Susie says sluggishly.

"Perfect, you guys got a flashlight?" I ask as I pull out some duct tape.

"Let me check the glove compartment." Ryan says while opening the compartment and looking through it.

"Oh shit, here it is." He pulls out a DVD case and some duct tape.

"Here. If you find a DVD player, we are fucking binging this shit." I take the duct tape from him and attach it to the AK-47.

"Nice." I switch it on and open the door to the interior.

Food bags are scattered everywhere. A dead man is twitching as he is being eaten by a teenage girl. The body and living corpse are on the floor. Jesus, I think she was his daughter. I put the barrel of the gun up to the back of her head and pull the trigger. "I am sorry for you two. I hope you meet once more in Heaven." I say.

I walk behind the counter and open the door leading to the break room. A person is swinging from the rafters. "Fuck. Is everyone here dead?!" I shout.

"I s-survived. But I got bitten, I can feel myself start to lose control. Please, put me out of my misery." A man in his mid-fifties says weakly as he comes out from the shadows.

"Damn. I'll free you from this hell, but do you have anything you want me to pass on before you leave?" I ask as I pull out my pistol.

"Tell my son, Rob Walker, that I am proud of him and that I shouldn't have left his mom and him. Give him my lighter. Take it. I should have been a better father. I am sorry." He says as he holds out a lighter with an eagle engraved in it. I take it from him and put it in my pocket.

"I promise that I'll give it to him. I wish you the best of luck in the afterlife." I say while aiming the pistol to his head.

"Thank you." He says as tears slide down his face, he is smiling weakly.

BANG!

His body collapses backwards in a loud thump. "May God have mercy on your soul." I say as I pick up his body. I put my pistol in its holster and set the AK-47 by the couch. I open the back exit.

There's a shovel lying against the wall. I pick it up and start digging a grave. After I dug it, I put Walker's body in it and bury him.

"God damn it." I say as I walk back to the car.

Ryan greets me with a smile, but it is gone as he notices the shovel I carry. "What happened?" He and Susie ask.

"I put a man out of his misery. We have a new objective. Give this lighter to a man named Rob Walker." I said weakly as I hold it out.

"Alright. Do we have a place to stay?" Susie asks.

"Yes, there is food and a break room that we can stay in. There are two dead bodies in the entrance." I say as I lead them to the break room.

As we walk into the break room, Ryan notices the blood pool and the DVD player. "So, this is where we stay. At least there's a DVD player and a TV, right?" Ryan says, trying to lighten the mood.

"Heh, yeah. Thank god for this." Ryan and Susie set their bags down and Ryan puts in the show that he found.

"At least we are all here today. I can't imagine a world without you." Susie says as we sit down on the couch. I hug her.

"I never want to see a world without you, ever again." I say into her shoulder, letting out a couple of tears.

"You won't. Not now, not ever." She says reassuringly while running her hand through my hair.

"Thank you." I say as she hugs me tightly. I return the hug with equal force.

"Are you okay, John?" Ryan asks as he sits at my side with the remote at hand.

"Yeah, man. I'm good. Just needed to cry a bit." I say as I wipe a tear.

"Start this show, Ryan." Susie says while giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"Sure thing, my amigo." He says while turning on the show.