Zomb-Pocalypse 4

Chapter Eleven

We leave at dawn, taking our faithful Ford down the mountain. Regg accompanies us as far as the first car dealership we come to where we each select a new pick-up truck to drive. The batteries need to be boosted and the tanks filled, but we still have the alternate fuel tank in the back of the F-150.

I run around the inside of the building spiking any zombie I find in the head with my big hunting knife. I don't want these bastards coming back when it warms up. I also like to imagine that every zombie I take out is a potential life saved.

Our new ride is a half-ton Silverado and I can't help but notice that it's a little bit more luxurious. I cringe wondering what shape the pretty little truck will be in the next time we pass through this way­- or what shape we will be in for that matter! I finally give up trying to imagine anything because nothing is ever predictable.

Ryan hops into the F 150 with Jack, we need it for the extra fuel it can haul, while Silas, Dad and I take the new truck.

Silas drives and my Dad sits in the passenger seat with the map spread out in his lap. I sit in the backseat staring at the DVD players in the head rests and wishing I had a DVD.

"How far is it to Atlanta?" I ask, leaning forwards so I can poke my head into the front, between Silas and my Dad.

"Ten hours." My Dad answers automatically, just like he used to do when I was a kid and we'd go on road trips and I would hound him unmercifully about the time.

"We won't be getting there today though." Silas interrupts to say. "We don't want to find ourselves in the middle of Atlanta with the sun going down. I'm not saying this to scare you, but that place is going to be crawling with the dead."

He might not have been trying to scare me, but he succeeds anyway and I swallow hard, trying to block out the image of what a city with a population of half a million people, would look like post-apocalypse. "Hopefully they didn't bomb it like New York." I say and Silas nods his head.

"There is no way to know until we get there...but it doesn't seem as likely. New York and Atlanta are not even in the same category population-wise." I pray he's right, or else I've just dragged everyone away from the safety of the cabin for nothing.

We try to stay on the main roads as much as possible, but sometimes due to deep snow, or vehicle pile ups tangled on the road we have to back track and find an alternate route. After a few hours the snow disappears and the temperature gauge starts to climb. It's amazing to be able to see the grass again after the weather we've had up on the mountain, but the lack of snow and cold also means zombies.

We slowly start to see more and more of them, but they aren't moving very fast. "They must not be cold enough to freeze, but still cold enough they don't have all of their mobility." Silas says leaning forwards with interest as we pass a slow moving herd along the side of the Interstate. The zombies stop and gawk at us, and then very slowly start to raise their arms in our direction, but their feet don't quite follow. It would almost be comical if they weren't still zombies!

I have no idea how I manage to fall asleep, but I'm woken up with a start when the truck slams on its brakes. "What was that?" I yell louder than I intended as I bolt awake and look wildly around, expecting a hoard to be pounding on the windows. I take a deep breath and turn to the front to find Silas and my Dad staring at me with big eyes.

"The bridge is out." Silas explains, slowly like he thinks I'm slow after my performance.

I stare past his head and see the crumbled remains of a bridge. "What happened to that thing?" I ask in surprise. The bridge isn't just broken, it's totally annihilated.