The Railroad

Chapter 9

"We should go," George said, finding himself uncomfortable being so close to Dream all of a sudden.

He stood up abruptly, shoving all the trash into his bag and collecting any remaining items lying around. The last thing he grabbed was his jacket, which he tied around his waist because it wasn't cold enough for it. But the cold was coming, and the pair could feel it in the air.

Almost as if on cue, a gust of wind blew past, ruffling George's hair and causing a shiver to crawl down his spine. The shiver wasn't from the cold itself, but from the thought of being out in the cold, even that of the southeast U.S., and having to walk six hundred miles. At the rate they'd already gone, it would take double the amount of time Dream had initially said. Hence why the brunet was so eager to get on the move now.

He didn't even wait for Dream, he just began walking in the opposite direction of whence they came. It didn't take long for Dream to catch up to him, what with having longer legs and taking longer strides.

"You up for another day of walking, princess?" the blond asked, throwing his left arm over George's shoulders lazily.

The brunet scoffed and rolled his eyes, shrugging the arm off. He wasn't exactly ready, but he knew he could do it. He was doing this for Wilbur, and he could do anything for Wilbur. Going through this now meant that Wilbur would get just what he'd always wanted, his life back, his family back, his girlfriend back.

He smiled slightly, knowing he'd do that for Wilbur. He wanted to be the one to do it, to give him the cure, so he could really feel complete in knowing what he'd done for his best friend. The look on his face would be all George needed, he'd be so happy. He couldn't wait for that to happen, which is why he picked up his pace slightly. It didn't matter that his calves were on fire, Wilbur was waiting.

"Slow down. At this rate you're gonna be too tired to keep going," Dream complained.

"No, at this rate we'll be lucky to get to Raleigh by November."

"Don't be so dramatic. It's October, it's not gonna take us a whole month to get there, even at this rate, so please just slow down. For the sake of my calves."

"Yeah kid, slow down," a deep voice chimed in. It was raspy and low, clearly male, and sounded menacing in a strange way.

George whipped around and Dream did the same. There, leaning against the wall of an old building in Decatur, Georgia, was a man who looked to be in his mid twenties. He had pitch black hair, was wearing all black clothes, and was also pretty tall. Like Dream, he had a mask covering a good deal of his face, only showing his left eye, which was a dark brown like George's own eyes.

As soon as the man and Dream locked eyes, the blond grabbed George's arm and pulled the brunet behind him. The ravenette shrugged off the wall, taking a hesitant step towards where the blond was standing in front of George protectively.

"Hiya, Dream. Long time no see," he greeted in the same menacing tone. "I see you've brought a friend along this time."

"What do you want, Corpse?" Dream said angrily, moving to block Corpse's view of the shorter boy who was even more confused. Was this man another smuggler? If so, how did Dream know him?

"What, can an old friend not say hi?" Corpse said, voice flat.

"Sure they can, but not when it's you."

"Whatever. You still haven't introduced me to your friend." He got on his toes to see George over Dream's shoulder. "Lemme guess, annoying rich kid, going to meet his lover in another walled city?"

"Incorrect," Dream stated blatantly. "He is a scientist working towards a cure for zombie-ism in order to help the greater good. What have you done to help the greater good, Corpse? I mean, other than act like a smart ass all the time."