We've been driving for a while now roughly 10 hours. The sky has grown dark and I don't necessarily know what the plans are for sleeping arrangements. Kai can't drive because he doesn't know where we're going but Mom and Dad can take shifts.
I grab the radio and press the button, "I'm getting sleepy, " I report. I watch as the SUV in front of me slows down and pulls to the side of the road. I follow and stop the car behind them. There was still some light in the sky it was about 10:00 pm. Dad opens the door to the SUV and walks towards my car. I roll down the window. "So...what are you thinking? Do you think we should sleep in the cars for the night?" he asked looking quite tired himself. "We got about a half-day worth of driving if we stop now and sleep till around 5 am." I recounted doing the math. "Ok then, you got your gun on you, right?" he questions leaning onto the car. I nod my head, taking my gun out of my waistband showing him. He nods his head with approval and walks back to his car gets in and closes the door. I roll the window back up and let out a heavy sigh. I relax in my chair a bit looking over to Kaito. My eyes roaming his face. I turn my head to look back out the window slow drifting to sleep.
I'm awakened by my Dad banging at the window. I pry my eyes open to be blinded by the sun. "Wake up, Let's go," he said before going back to his car. I rub my eyes. I look over to Kai and push him awake.
"Ok, I'm awake!" I [Kaito] assured sitting up in my chair feeling dazed. Arbus starts the car and follows his Dad onto the road. We had been driving for about a day. I couldn't help but wonder where exactly we're going I know at least I know it was somewhere safe. I don't know where my parents are something tells me that we weren't going back for them anytime soon. I know it wouldn't hurt to ask but I don't want to feel stupid for asking something I already know the answer to.
When had Arbus's parents have enough time to prepare. Did they know this was going to happen? Did Arbus know this was going to happen? I knew his dad made them do drills but i thought it was like a ...school fire drill type of thing.
I turn my head looking at him. He didn't seem that bothered by our situation. And back at the house, he rode past a dead dude as if nothing happened. As if they were nothing but road kill. It kind of scares me, if I'm being honest. I don't know what's gonna happen, but maybe being here with them is better than being on the streets looking for my parents.
"You ok?" Arbus asks bringing out of my thoughts. I was still staring at him like a creep. I shake my head. "I was just...thinking," I say looking down at my hands that we're nervously gripping onto my baggy cargo pants. I let out a shaky breath. "That's ok you can talk to any of us whenever you feel like it," he says I turn to look at him but his face held a blank expression. I turn my head back to look down. "Yeah...ok," I say quietly.
The drive was quiet and long but I wasn't feeling as shaky as before. Though his face was blank is words were reassuring to some extent.
I [Arbus] hear my phone go off. "Kai, answer it," I say focusing on the road. He picks up the phone and answers it. "It's your mom." He says putting it on speakerphone. "I got to pee." She says loudly. "Ok let's pull to the side of the road." I say back "What do you mean 'side of the road'? I'm not peeing on the side of the road! I'm a lady." She exclaims I roll my eyes. You got to be kidding me. "We were planning on going to a store to let her pee." I hear my dad say. "Noo! Hold it!" I yell back "We're going." She says Where in the fuck is she going to find a bathroom were on a highway in the middle of nowhere. " I'll leave you." I threaten. "No, you won't." She says calling my bluff. "Were almost there we have one more town to pass through. Can't you just hold it?"I plead. "No I gotta go now," she yells back. I sigh loudly and hit the steering wheel. "Got dammit! Fine. You better make it quick." I yell towards the phone. "Hang up." I mouthed to Kaito "Why she can't pee outside?" Kaito asked. "She can't aim she doesn't have a dick though, she might as well she keeps acting like one. I mean she could have squatted." I retort
"Oh, sometimes I forget she's a woman," Kai says with a chuckle scratching his head. I nod in agreement. We have quite some time until we reach the next town.
After about 20 mins of speeding, we reach the next town. We slowed our cars rolling through the streets. The all the buildings either had broken windows or were boarded with wooden planks. "Damn they made it here already, "I say lowly. I can't believe her she'd rather go use the bathroom in a coffin of a town than a comparably safe road. Fucking Stupidity.
There's nothing but silence on the streets as we roll up to a store. That can never be good. Now that I was looking at he a little closer at the buildings this town seemed to have been like this for years.
"Ok You, her, and Kai go in I got to watch the cars for looters." I hear my dad, through the radio static. "Ok" I retort unbuckling my seatbelt. "Wait... I got to go?" Kaito questions. I nodded my head and open my door stepping out of the car. I can see the scared look on his face as he closes his door behind him walking around the car.
" Let's go! A Ms.gotta piss!" She says loudly walking toward us as we walked toward the store.
"She's gonna get us killed." I [Kaito] hear Arbus sigh.
The boarded doors were knocked down as soon as his foot came in contact with it.
I thought we were going to be quiet. His mother simply walks past the broken entryway glass crunching under her boots. She walks to the back of the store looking for the bathroom. "Over here," Arbus says lowly pointing to a bathroom sign. She lets out a released sigh and jogs over quickly entering.
As she uses the bathroom we walk around the store not too far away from her there were stacked carts against this door. And there was also another door on the opposite side of the hallway. It looked like an office. I crept toward the door turning the knob slowly and silently. I open the door just enough to see through the crack. There were an abandoned desk and a computer. Nothing much. I opened the door a little more resulting in a creaking noise. I look through the now bigger crack to see a red-colored liquid that could only be blood on the floor. And along with the blood came this sloshing sound. What is that?
I opened the door a bit more to see the back of a person covered in blood sitting on the floor. The person was moving... I think they were eating something.
"What the-," I say absently gaining their attention. As the person turned around only thing I felt was pure horror. The man had a piece of flesh hanging in his teeth. He got up from the floor and started charging towards me. Shit! I dash away from the door as he's right behind me. I run towards where Arbus is by the bathroom. "Arbus!" I yell as we make eye contact. His hand swoops into his pocket as his other pushes me aside. He grabs the man by his head and stabs him in the side of his head. Everything happens so fast. The man drops to the ground with a greyish glaze over his eyes. What the hell.
"Why-" I say shakingly holding my chest as my heart hammered.
"You ok? You didn't get bit did you?" He said his hands on my shoulders. "No, he didn't even touch me." I breathe still looking down at the body.
"I fucking knew something like this would happen." he huffed wiping the blood off his knife. What just happened? He walked to the bathroom door knocking on it "Hurry up." He says quickly. "Yeah yeah I'm wiping." I give him an 'Eww' face as he turns to me rolling his eyes at her toilet status.
We wait a while but she still didn't come out but she was whistling and I could hear the water running. "Come on!" He yells banging on the door.
The whistling stops for a bit then there's this groaning sound coming from somewhere. I look around until I hear a banging noise against a door and a crates falls by our feet. I look up to Arbus to see him grab for his gun. Now the groaning noise was growing louder as the banging against the door became more violent. I look up at him and he signals me to go into the bathroom to check for his mom. I rush into the bathroom. There she was with her ear against the wall. "This is weird I can hear a groaning noise coming from this wall." She said I hear a few more crates tumble. "Oh shit," I say looking back at the bathroom door. I pull her from the wall before hearing a loud crashing sound followed by some gunshots. I jump "We gotta go." I say pulling her to the door. When we get into the hallway it had blood and drag marks. "Well, shit." she snickers "Looks like that one gave you trouble." She snickers I turn my head to follow where she was looking. Arbus was huffing wiping down his gun. He was standing over a body of a buff man who was lying on his face with a bullet in his skull.
I feel the panic rise in my chest. "Did you just kill him?"I question my hands shaking a bit. He looked at me with this confused look. "Why do you keep doing this?" I ask I was fuming.
"What is wrong with you?" I exclaimed stepping back from the puddle of the man's blood-creeping towards my feet. "Kaito, that wasn't human. But when he was; looks like he was a butcher," he said moving the man's arm with his foot. He walks from the body to me resting his hand on my shoulder. His other hand holds my chin he looks at me with pity. I turn my head yanking my arm away from him and walk out of the store.
"What's your problem?" he scoffs as he pulls the car out of the parking lot following his dad's car.
"You are!" I yell turning away from him in my seat. "What did I do now, Kai?" he asked I ignore his question and stay silent.
He huffs and slides a CD into the radio. He tries to drown out my obvious signs of anger as he turns up the radio. I can't believe this! You don't just kill people. Is this normal for him? I look over at him with fear and disgust edged onto my face. With his head still facing forward his eye glances at me. He sighs and turns the radio off. "Come on, don't look at me like that," he says keeping his eyes on the road. "Like what? Like you killed a man?!" I cry my eyebrows furrowed as I glared at him. He just sighs in response. The car goes silent and not the one filled with comfort like the days prior. I kept my head against the window as I turned away from him.
The ride took just a few more hours before the cars stopped. I looked up through the windows very confused. There was nothing here. Besides the dense undisturbed forest area. I look over at Arbus who was unbuckling his seatbelt. "Where are we?" I ask as I unbuckle mine. He glances over to me before turning towards his door. He doesn't answer as he opens his door and gets out of the car. I open my door and the smells of the forest enter my nose. The air in the forest is fresh it smells good for the most part with an occasional musk of some animal wafting past my nostrils. I slam the car door shut behind me. I walk towards one of the trees in view. The tree was caked with this furry-looking moss. I reach my hand out to touch it. "Kai come and help!" I hear Arbus's mother shouts pulling me from whatever I was doing. I walk over to the cars where they were unloading the bags. I feel a duffel bag hit my chest I stagger back. "Pick it up," Arbus says as he slams the trunk close. I bend down and pick up the bag raised the strap over my head. I walk to Arbus's mother "So where are we again?" I ask as she opened the trunk of her car. "You'll see," she said as she grabbed two duffel bags out of the trunk. Why is no one answering my questions? Are we gonna live in a treehouse? Her husband closes the trunk and locks the cars. "David, do you remember where it is?" Arbus's mother whispers. "How could I forget." he grins as he walks into the forest.