Buzzkill (A Lesbian Story)

18: I Hate Highways

  All six of us were just sitting in the silent atmosphere as Steve drove North. That was a very intense and shit moment. I reached up and grabbed my stubby ponytail. I took it out of the hair tie and watched as it fell right at my shoulders. Sighing, I fingered the frayed edges, twirling it around my fingers sadly at all of my wasted years of wanting to grow it down to my waist since my terrifying bob incident in the fifth grade.

  Another hand found itself to my hair and I looked over at Ashley, who still had tear tracks on her cheeks. "Your hair, Max... Damn, you were still working on growing it out, weren't you?"

  I nodded, "I was, but oh well. Shit happens." I put a hand on her knee, "I'm sorry about Ricky, Ash. I really am."

  Ashley looked down, another tear rolling down her cheek. I reached up to wipe the tear off of her cheek before she talked, "I knew it was going to happen some time. I mean, he was the one who ran back to attack the horde. I think he was trying to protect us in some way."

  "He was a brave little idiot." I rubbed her arm as she put her head on my shoulder. I guess she found comfort in me even after everything. At least we weren't trying to tear each other a new one anymore. I'm glad we're being civil.

  "Speaking of brave little idiots," Steve said, looking at me through the rear view mirror. He grinned at me, "Little miss track star over here with the smart idea of leading the zomboes away to save our asses!"

  I rolled my eyes, "Yeah yeah. I mean, I almost lost more than my hair, at least I'm still breathing."

  Chase laughed, "Dude, I was so surprised at how confident you were while running. I was scared shitless, but you looked like you had your shit together."

  "Not to ruin the whole mood," I but a hand up, "But I think all of us need to address something just real quick." I got their attention and looked to Blake, "Honestly, I don't like you. For good reason. However, Chase and Andrew keep vouching for you and I trust Chase. You guys are already in the car with us. Do you already have a plan where you need to go?"

  Chase just kind of looks to the other two, "Not necessarily. We were just trying to find a place."

  This was going to be hard for me to say, "Do you guys want to go with us? We're driving north on this highway to a refugee camp."

  "How do you know about the camp?" Andrew asked quietly.

  "Her mother called the landline using a satellite phone." Steve informed them, "As far as we know, there's a camp if we keep driving this way."

  Andrew, Chase, and Blake shared a look with each other. I raised an eyebrow, "What?"

  "Nothing." Chase shook his head with a slight smile, "We will be happy to join you north. We've got nothing else to do."

  There was a poke to my side and I turned my head to Ashley. She put her mouth close to my ear and whispered, "How do we know we can trust them? Did you forget that one of them stabbed you and another beat up Steve?"

  I kept my voice low as Steve turned up the music, "They wont try anything. If Chase wanted me gone, he would've tripped me while we were running a marathon." I nodded to her, "Just trust me on this."

  Ashley moved her face to look at me. Our faces were inches from each other and I felt her breath fan out on my face. Her eyes searched my face, "I do trust you, Max."

  My breath didn't want to come out as I just stayed there, inches from her. I swallowed hard and pulled back a bit to look to Steve. "Tell me when you want to switch out with driving."