Brain Dead

Chapter Six

 

The night came quickly, and we where obviously exhausted from the past events. We decided to assign places for us to sleep. Jasper got the couch, I got the bottom bunk, and Connor claimed the top bunk happily. Tired, I collapsed on the bed, resting back on the slightly stiff pillow.

 

I couldn’t sleep for the past hour, and I already heard Jasper softly snoring. I stared at the bottom of the top bunk, gathering thoughts. No matter how long my eyes where shut, I couldn’t sleep, and my thoughts clouded my mind. “Alex?” Connor whispered from above, almost so quiet I wasn’t sure if he actually called my name or if it was just my mind. “Connor?” I whisper back a little bit louder, making sure he can hear me. For a few seconds there’s silence, until I hear Connor say, “Can you come up here?” I sit up and glance at Jasper, splayed on the couch, obviously deep asleep. “Sure.” The bed creaks a little as I crawl up the built in ladder, trying to be as quiet as possible. When I get up, Connor’s sitting up, leaning on the wall and clutching a pillow tightly. In the dark he seemed sort of like a child, eyes big and round, with his body pressed tightly against his chest. “Hey.” He greets, looking like he wasn’t sure that I was actually going to go up onto his bunk. “Hi,” I respond as I sit inches away from him. “You okay?” Connor sadly smiles back. “Yeah, I’m fine, just- it’s, I don’t know, hard to sleep…” I nod, understanding. “Same here.” We sit in silence for a while, until I feel myself yearning to get closer to Connor. I scoot closer, and rest my head on his shoulder. I feel his body loosen up a little bit, and he relaxes, placing his head on top of mine. My eyes began to grow heavy, and I was dosing off. I fell asleep to his quiet snores, that where musical and rhythmic like a lullaby.

 

I wake up still on Connor’s shoulder, constantly bobbing up and down. The car was moving. I crawl down the bunk bed and sit in shotgun, looking straight outside the overhead window. We sit in complete silence until a smile stretches from ear to ear on Jasper’s face, and he begins to laugh quietly. Before I can question the unorthodox laughing, he blurts, “I so knew you and Connor where an item.” I face him, slightly shocked that he saw us cuddling. I scoff, unable to say anything. “Connor and Alex, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G”

“Jasper, stop, you’re being so childish.” I say, smiling. He begins laughing, and cracks up even harder when Connor comes up near the front seats, confused and dazed from the bright sun that seeped in through the windows. “What’s going on?” He asks, observing both of our behaviour. Instead of responding I huff a breath of air, and wait for Jasper to say something obnoxious. I wasn’t disappointed. “-First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage.” Connor’s face turns a light shade of red, and he drags himself back into the living room area of the trailer. Jasper starts laughing again, occasionally driving off the edge of the road from the repetitive laughter.

We stop at a gas station, where Jasper physically attacks the machine, forcing it to dispense gas into the trailer. Connor and I explore the gift shop, looking for anything we can use. The store is dead quiet, and only sometimes we can hear the faint curses Jasper lets out while he pounds the machine with his fists. Connor and I split up, he goes into the drink aisle ( that doesn’t exactly have that many drinks ) and I venture to the cash register. I force it open and feel surprised when I see the cash register is full of money and coins. “Connor,” I call out. “Come check this out.” He comes jogging over, but doesn’t seem as surprised as I was. “This place was cleaned out by paranoid people, they took everything but the money.” Connor shrugs and eyes the register. “I mean, what’s money going to do for you if you’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse?” He was right. “But still,” I say. “There’s like, I don’t know how many states that aren’t infected yet. This money could do us some good if we’re heading to a civilized state, right?” He smiles, and gestures to the cash. “Go ahead, take it.”