now, and bloody maimed bodies on the ground. Noah has to swerve many times to keep us on the road, to avoid hitting things. There is constant movement on either side of us now, and I have to hold my breath afraid that they will be alerted of our presence.
They only glance in our direction though, and just slowly shuffle along in the abandoned parking lots.
It’s so quiet out there, that when we near the end of the road, a scream pierces around us and causes all to jump in alarm. Noah slows us down even more, and we all pear around us waiting to see if someone is out there. All I can see though is the mindless movements of the dead in the distance. The scream comes again though, and much closer now too, but still we don’t see anything.
“Shouldn’t we go and try to help whoever that is?” Gabe asks, as the car idles in the same spot.
Sam leans around the front seat and fixes Gabe with wide eyes.
“Are you out of your mind? We can’t go out there.”
“We’re not the monsters, Sam.” Gabe retorts.
Sam turns back to sit in his seat and glances nervously at Noah.
“We’re not going out there right?” Sam asks Noah, with a high pitch squeak to his voice.
“Gabe is right we should help anyone that needs it, if we can.” I say as I also look toward Noah.
He is still gripping the steering wheel, and I can see that his knuckles are bone white. I look up and find his reflection in the rearview mirror, and he’s watching Gabe. He looks haunted for a second, before he glances back to the road in front of him.
“Sam is right Gabe, we can’t go out there. The screaming has already stopped, so I’m assuming they might already be dead. Who knows, they might have already been hurt anyways.”
“What if there are more people out there though, we can’t just abandon people if they need help.” Gabe says, but he’s doesn’t sound as adamant as before.
Noah pulls the car back into a steady pace, and we near the end of the road again.
“If there were people alive, I think they would have seen us by now. And if they saw us, I would think that they would come out to the road.
Besides, we would only waste weapons if we went out there. Later after we hit the armory at my base, we can come back alright?” Noah says, and tries to sound convincing.
From my right, Claire snorts in disbelief. None of us really believe him though, it’s hard enough to know what we can do from here on out, let alone make a plan to go backwards.
I just hope that the military base he’s taking us too, has some pretty useful stuff.
Chapter Thirty Five
Finally making it to Washington Street, the business’s drift off and we’re left with nothing but trees and grassy fields on either side of us. The dead dwindle down to nothing and we’re left alone for the next two miles. There aren’t even any cars or bodies anywhere now, and it should make me feel better, but it doesn’t. If anything, it makes me and possibly the others, very afraid of what is coming.
“You’re sure there will still be weapons at the armory right?” Gabe asks, and I almost jump out of the seat as his voice breaks the silence.
I glance at him, and he has his handgun in his lap. He keeps checking to make sure the safety is on, and it gives me a sense of familiarity. I lightly touch his arm, and he stills his movements and tries to give me a smile. It doesn’t quit reach his eyes though, and I can’t help wishing again that everything was normal.
“If anything there will be reserves with plenty of ammo, so I’m almost positive.” Noah replies, not even glancing from the road.
“We’re going all the way out here, and there might not even be weapons, how is that reasonable?” Claire says, and I realize this is the first time she has said anything since getting inside the car.
“It’s better than nothing, that’s why. It’s better to be safe than sorry. That has been my experience anyway.” Noah says.
“I just wish we would get to the place where there should be people hiding out is all. I know having extra ammo is important, it just sucks having to go so far for it.” Claire says, as she finally looks away from