Time to Survive

Here We Go Again

  They were awful.

Worse then awful, really.

Horrendous.

I let them practice in Felicias car so we wouldn't run down the gas in the coupe, and I thought at one point Chris was going to jerk the clutch out.

Ryan picked up on it pretty quick, so at least there was that, and he promised he would be able to teach the others when he got pretty good and didn't casually stall it out.

I hoped so.

Because at this rate we were all doomed.

Ryan finally got the foot/hand shifting down, so I was going to make him drive the car into the city so he would be completely comfortable with it.

So that's how I ended up in the coupe for four hours with Ryan on the way back to the highway, Balz, Chris, Devin and Kylie following in the SUV. We stopped along the few houses we could see from the road and checked them out, but there wasn't much left, so we were still going to have to make a visit to the city.

We had a total of a week to scavenge what we could and get our asses back to the house before Ricky started to worry, and I hoped he didn't get too lonely by himself.

And that no one tried to break in again, or deaders surrounded him or...

"Do you think Rickys gonna be okay on his own?" I asked, propping my feet on the dash as Ryan switched gears smoothly, warping easily around some parked cars, the SUV barely visible behind us. He had the windows down, and the air was whipping my hair everywhere, so I quickly tied it up behind me, sending him a glance when he didn't answer.

"Course he is," he grunted after a moment, looking pleased with his gear shifting abilities. "He's a tough little fuck."

"I hope so," I sighed, rubbing at a scrape on my knee; I was wearing skinny jeans, but the knees were ripped out and they were stained all to hell from my climbing and crawling through buildings.

I hadn't brought any of my good clothes; I didn't want them ruined.

"I can't believe your brother was gay, this car is great," Ryan said, and I sighed.

"You shouldve seen my parents faces. They never saw it coming. He was their only son, who would carry on the family name? The horror."

"I'm sure," he chuckled, swerving around a staggering deader and nearly throwing me out the open window.

"Ryan!" I hissed, and he laughed, tugging on the back of my blouse and pulling me back into the seat.

"Put your seat belt on then, tight ass! We got a lot of highway to cover and I don't have time to slow down."

"You're leaving the others behind!"

"They know where we're going, stop bitching!"

"I haven't even BEGUN to bitch!"

He stomped on the accelerator, forcing me back against the seat, and I sighed huffily.

This is why he wasn't going to drive along.

"Hey, asshole, slow down," Balz voice crackled over the walkie talkie sitting in the drink holder between us.

"Told you," I snorted, lifting it up.

"Guys, we're about a mile ahead of you. Speedy Gonzalez over here isn't slowing --- watch the fuck out, you asshole!" I yelped, he barely avoiding a crashed car. "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US?"

"Only you," he sighed.

"Ryan!" I heard Devin scold, and I chuckled.

I stuck my tongue out at him, and giggled when he flailed his hand at me, trying to flick my nose.

"Are they bonding? That's weird," Balz crackled over the walkie.

"Your button is still on," I told them, and sat the radio back down.

"Assholes," Ryan chuckled, and slowed the car down as we came to a roadblock.

"Can we walk from here and it be okay?" I asked, dropping my feet; I could see the city rising in front of us, some parts of it still smoking after all this time.

"Sure. The cars should be fine if the SUV blocks us in and we take the keys. There probably isn't enough survivors left to steal them," he shrugged casually.

So positive.

We crawled out of the car, pulling our packs out of the backseat and hefting them on.

We waited for the guys to catch up, and we pocketed the keys, all of us looking towards the city as the sun started to set.

"Well, here we go again," I sighed, seeing a deader ambling nearby.

"You said it," Balz grunted, and then bashed its head in.