"East Java?"
"You will see. It's still so far away," The driver answered calmly. "Get some sleep."
As we reach the outskirts of the city, the situation goes less intense. There are passing vehicles, like usual. But, there's something different; people are doing anything at a brisk pace. The driving cars are hasty and often disturb the traffic, and long honks occasionally sounded on the roadway. People walk fast, sometimes running, even though it seems like the zombies haven't seized this area.
In the intersection, we can see a convoy of armored cars and military trucks heading north. Traffic lights are no longer a concept. Numerous motorcycles flow through the slower-moving cars and busses like a turbulent stream through the rocks.
My chest felt more relieved as we pass through the bridge that connected the city to the regency. I have ever been through this road several times before, so I know that it would take us to a place in the foot of the mountain
"Are you sure that everyone is safe back there?" Serx asked, doubtfully.
"The vaccine shot we got several months ago may help. Plus if so, there would be some weird noises."
"This mutation is the most significant of any other variants. Don't you remember?"
"Ah, that doesn't matter anymore. Now, what will be the best weapon to fight with? That's our vaccine."
"Wooden clubs, or stone? High availability kinds of stuff are better," He replied.
Time flies quickly. From around ten, now it's noon. And the travel has gone farther. The view of the suburban environment changes to a scenic natural panorama seen from afar. There are five signature mountains in the boundary of Mabangle. Coniferous forests and thick growths of bamboo are laid on both sides of the road. The roads curve, the extreme ones made a semi-circle around the hills. Some of them are steep. It's the staple sight of the regency. It's the town among mountains.
It made a whole new relaxation. An escape from turmoil suddenly shifted to the vibe of a holiday trip. The shock had disappeared for a moment. Somehow I'm feeling the very freedom; the most of every moment I have ever had and I don't understand why. I'm feeling that the burden of responsibility and duty had been left behind in the mass panic.
We've been miles away from the city. I eventually saw another evac vehicle overtaking ours, and the driver honked two short horns as a sort of casual notice.
Everything looked safe and sound. There are several remote settlements and villages untouched by the chaos. People doing things with no concerns. Farmlands and rice paddies laid on the expanse of hillside became a frequent sight.
--
We are just several minutes into the twilight.
"Oh. The fuel's damn low." The driver said.
"There should be some kind of shops, can we go further?" Serx said, convincingly.
"Yeah, it's down the way so I might be able to save some gas."
The vehicle goes hundreds of meters away in a downway glide until it completely stops, with a now empty tank. We still have not found any means of refueling nearby. The driver tried to adjust the headlight to search for anything that got fuels for sale. A mini gas station, or real gas station, or just a grocery store would be handy.
To our luck, I got a glimpse of a rack with several green-colored glass bottles, placed outside a sort of small minimarket on the across road, more or less a hundred meters from our position.
"Now how?"
"Dave, let's go. You wanna knock some zombies out, don't you?"
"Here, this piece of wood may help. But there wouldn't be any zombies here, right? This place seems isolated." Said the driver while showing the piece of wood that saved me from the monster.
"Thanks by the way." I took the weapon, and Serx was given a flashlight. I open the car door.
Serx swings his flashlight around, spraying random objects with the illuminating ray. Everything seemed normal except for one thing; the homes in the neighborhood are lit with lamps, but all the streetlights placed by the community are off, so it would be quite dark without a flashlight. Supposedly, no one dared to come out and activate them. So Serx stopped at one of the lamp-pole, then pressed its switch.
It turned on. He chuckled in pride at being able to revive a lamp.
The shop is now near.
"Heck. You got money? I didn't bring any in my pocket."
Into the store, there doesn't seem to be anybody here, not even the clerk. But the owner might be inside. Serx knocked on the door, calling and greeting, while I'm walking along the cookware in search of some knives.
"Hello? Excuse me?" Serx calls the clerk, with a loud voice that should be hearable from inside the house.
No one came out even after minutes worth of waiting. He started thinking that this shop may be closed because of the sudden turmoils. There is no other buyer except us.
"Maybe just take a bottle away," I said in a whisper.
"No, that's a crime."
Something stole our attention. A rough sound of a truck engine is heard coming down, breaking the quiet into pieces with its shrieking braking sound. The vehicle must be really old. It's getting closer.
"What's that?"
"A truck, probably."
Just right at the time, the door that connected the store with the inner house opened. The clerk comes out.
"May I buy some gas? Two bottles." Serx asked.
"Fine, but where is your vehicle?"
"We left it several meters from here. The engine stops just right there."
"Hmm."
I can hear the rushing step of another person coming into this shop. But this doesn't seem to be fine at all. He was running in the clamor as if danger is after him.
"The truck, the-," He said, gasping breath.
Everyone is shocked when that rolling truck crashed a road sign right in front of the shop. The wheels are caught in the broken-down metal pole, stuck. But it remains spinning, and spinning. The harsh sound rose to the air, and white smoke plumes out of the engine, and then the noise begin to recede. The panicked man yelled us to run.
Then, strangely, despite the hard crash, two people bailed out of the wrecked cabin. The men rushed to the shop, with intense breathing and stuttering arms accompanying their movements. They flustered for a second after entering, then scrambled around savagely. They're infected.
"Go, just take it with the bottle!" The clerk gave it away and immediately takes the money, then she rushed back inside.
"Dave, I got it!"
One of the zombies got the runner and the other one is sprinting towards me. In a hurry, I grabbed a knife from the rack, which is still packaged, and slip it into my pants pocket. Quickly afterward, I take a stance with my wooden bat towards the charging zombie.
The wood collided with his head. He instantly plummets to the floor. His body went on some horrifying shakes and tremors, and his breaths got harsher and louder in a wheeze.
"Get out, get out!"
We're running our way back to the car. Seen from afar, a dozen infected people were about to storm our vehicle. The driver abruptly thrust the door open as they come closer. He pulled it back, then strongly yank it open again - now right as a zombie jumped towards him. The hard metal surface of the car door hit the infected with force.
I tried to go faster, but it was still quite a distance. I can see that the van's back door abruptly opened, and the people went out to help him as more infected started to swarm the vehicle. A guy tried to use his big bottle of water as a club, and some used umbrellas to guard themselves. They are using everything they can get to ward the zombies off.
"Annent!"
"Get this! Use your backpack as a shield."
The fight ensued. It bought me and Serx a couple of minutes to refuel the vehicle.
"Start the engine!" Serx ordered. All of the gas inside the bottles has been dumped into the tank. Not full, but enough for some distance as there were only two bottles we could carry. The engine fires up.
"Guys, come back in!"
"Ugghh! Help me there!" Ann grunted. An infected have caught Ann off guard and flanked him.
I'm back into the vehicle. My mind can't stop thinking about the infecteds and tried to figure out how it works. I think despite that they are technically ill, they still possess human strength and even increased at some level. It seems like they're so high in adrenaline. That zombie wrestles him, again and again, while attempting to use their cough.
The brawl ensued until someone heel-kicked the zombie off. The driver stood by while looking to the back of the car where Annent is trying to stand up. He's ready to hit the gas. The car started to drive the moment Ann enters. The mob of infected tried to chase us, but their effort did nothing to catch up with the speeding vehicle.
As we get farther, we turned the radio on, looking for some information.