Fragile Hearts [DANGEROUS FELLOWS]

⚠️SIXTY-ONE: WHEN THE TOLL COMES DUE⚠️

Things seemed so much quieter without Jay.

Everyone woke up early that day. You all had breakfast and then set off towards the hills. Travel was slow because of all of the abandoned cars in the road. Considering how chaotic everything had been on the small side of town, you couldn't even begin to imagine how things were in the city.

"I hope we get there fast," Eugene said from beside you, picking at his sleeve with a bored expression. "If I don't do something fun soon I think I'll go crazy."

It was strange for him to be thinking about fun at a time like this, but you couldn't blame him. He'd been stuck in the infirmary for days, and he hadn't stepped outside the bus since he first got in.

He was looking a lot frailer than usual. But his eyes looked more clear, more like how they used to.

"Why are you staring at me?" Eugene asked suddenly, trying to look annoyed to cover his embarrassment.

"I'm just checking to see if you're okay," you said plainly. "Is something wrong with that?"

"All you have to do is ask," he grumbled, looking away at nothing since you had the seat by the window. You sighed. Eugene going back to being himself meant he was going to be as stubborn as ever.

"It's cold," Ethan spoke from behind you. You turned around, resting your chin on the back of your seat to see him playing with Saddle. "It's fun to play games outside in this weather."

"What kind of games?" you asked. Ethan rubbed Saddle's head absently, thinking for a moment.

"Baseball," he finally decided.

"That's obvious," Eugene said, and you realized he had turned around too, elbows propped up. "Don't you do other things?"

Ethan fell back into thought.

"There's all sorts of things you can do in snow," you offered. "Like building snowmen, making snow angels-"

"Boring," Zion interrupted, standing by the pole next to Ethan's seat. "My friends and I used to make giant snow bricks and pelt them at each other."

All you could do was stare at him.

"You sound really proud of yourself," Eugene said drily.

"Well, what'd you do?" Zion retorted. "Make snow snacks?"

"I stayed inside," Eugene announced proudly, "drinking hot chocolate and watching TV."

"I bet you watched cartoons," Zion snickered.

Eugene went bright red. Like he wanted to deny it, but he couldn't.

"I didn't really do much other than baseball," Ethan said at last, talking slowly and thoughtfully. "If I wasn't playing baseball then I was doing homework. And then I might play some video games. After that I'd go to sleep and do it all again."

He smiled, seeming satisfied with his answer.

"Yikes! His life really was as boring as I thought!" Zion gasped.

"You must've been really good at baseball," you said, ignoring Zion. "What did you do?"

"I was pitcher," Ethan responded after a moment. "I'd hit sometimes. But usually the ball would go into the stands and hurt someone. So they made me pitcher."

"So you're telling me you were so good at hitting home runs they had to change your position?" Eugene asked in shock.

"The coach thought it'd be bad for me to keep signing bloody baseballs," Ethan said. Coming from anyone else you would've assumed it was a joke, but since it was him, you suddenly weren't so sure.

"Ethan's the kind of guy that's good at everything hands-on," Zion said with a grin. "And he's chill about it, too. Maybe if you guys hang out with him more you'll each learn how to be good at something."

"I'm good at all sorts of things," Eugene insisted. "I can get the high-score on any game you can imagine."

"Sure, but you couldn't get the high-score if it was on top of the refrigerator," Zion teased.

You couldn't stop it. A giggle bubbled past your throat.

"(Y/n)! Why are you laughing?" Eugene cried. "I thought you were on my side?"

Zion burst into laughter, and soon more uncontrollable giggles made it out of you. Eugene looked away, covering his mouth in hopes you couldn't see him smiling.

"Hold on," you heard Lawrence say sternly, pulling your attention away from the conversation. You turned back around to the front to see him standing beside Harry, the map in his hands.

The bus slowly rolled to a stop, and an uneasy feeling settled in your stomach.

"Why are we stopping?" Eugene complained.

Lawrence didn't say anything, and since his back was to you, you couldn't tell what was going on.

"What's wrong?" you asked nervously. You heard Saddle begin to meow, like he knew something was off.

"There are people," Lawrence finally reported. "Blocking the interstate. What in the world are they doing out there...?"

"People? Like survivors?" Zion asked, brushing past you to stand in the front of the bus. You got to your feet, sidling past Eugene's knees so you could see too.

"Damn it... Do you think we can turn this around?" Lawrence asked Harry. "I suddenly get the feeling I know what's going on out there."

You put your hand on Zion's shoulder for support, getting up on your toes to see past everyone. You finally got a good look outside, just in time to see the line of people Lawrence was talking about. Someone from the group started walking towards the bus.

"You think they're trying to pick a fight?" Zion asked, slamming his fist into his palm.

"They're not going to fight. At least, not right away. They're collecting 'toll,'" Lawrence explained, putting air quotes on the last word.

"You mean they're gonna try and take our stuff?" Zion growled.

"Essentially... yes, exactly."

"It's a tight squeeze," Harry pointed out, looking nervous. "Besides, wouldn't it be better to talk to them and come to a peaceful agreement? We looked on the map and this is the only way we'll be able to get there by tonight."

Lawrence groaned in frustration. "Who do they think they are, anyway?" he muttered under his breath. You quickly stepped out of his way as he moved towards the middle of the bus to retrieve something from his backpack - a taser, from the Safe Zone.

Ethan seemed to get the memo and he quickly got up, grabbing his bat and following Lawrence towards the door.

"You think things are gonna get bad?" you asked Ethan worriedly. He just shrugged, giving you a look that said, "why are you asking me?"

You would've asked Lawrence, but... Well, you weren't exactly sure if you were ready to talk to him again.

"This should be interesting," Zion said, watching the two guys step out onto the road.

Interesting was definitely one way to put it. And you couldn't help but feel like this whole situation was just a recipe for disaster.