Citizen Z

Chapter 5

472 days since the virus spread

A very early morning.

I've been driving all night, again.

Frank has fallen asleep in his seat, he's exhausted. After all, all of the medication weakened him quite a bit.

He needs time to heal.

Looking forward onto the dark road, I can see the sun starting to come up behind the old dead and ruined trees in the distance.

That's not good, the zombies will start coming out of their nests soon.

I blink my tired eyes a few times. I couldn't help myself not to yawn. I'm exhausted.

I need to take a break, I've been driving for hours without end. I hoped we would be able to get half way to Kentucky by today, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.

There's been a lot of obstructions in the roads which I didn't take into consideration.

I sigh and take a deep breath.

I need a break.

I pull over the car onto the side of the destroyed gravel road. I lay back into my seat for a few seconds, closing my eyes while taking deep breaths.

After a while, I quietly close the door and lean against the car, pulling out an old cigarette pack I've been carrying around for a while.

I've been saving it  for a while now.

I light it and puff a cloud of smoke into the dark atmosphere.

The taste of the cigarette is awful and feels like it's blocking my lungs up. I start coughing, I haven't smoked in a long time. Since I found Frank, I haven't had the urge to smoke at all. I've been too busy taking care of him.

"That's not good for you." Frank whispers sleepily, trying to open his eyes to look at me coughing non-stop.

"It's the last thing I've got to worry about right now." I say, taking another puff and then spit the terrible taste out.

"I don't like it when you smoke." He says grumpily, crossing his arms over his chest.

I sigh and throw it on the floor, crushing the whole cigarette. My mouth tastes like something burnt and leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, almost making me nauseous.

How did I ever like this before?

"How are you feeling?" I say, leaning back towards Frank through the car's window.

"I'm okay, just tired." He says, laying his head back.

"I promise you will get better soon, okay?" I whisper and look at his pale complexion, "We should get going."

I climb back into the car and roll up all of the windows again, just in case.

I quickly kiss Frank on his forehead and start the car again. He puts his hand on my thigh and gently caresses it with his thumb, making me relax.