𝙀ugene was dressed in the riot gear and he honestly looked pretty damn proud of himself. Glenn was still heading the group. They were nearing a tunnel. Glenn ran ahead at the sight of another note on the entrance of it. He touched the writing, drawing away fresh blood. "We're gaining on 'em," he said. "Still wet."
"We sure as Shinola can't go up and over," Eugene said.
Adalyn stared down the tunnel, a shiver going through her spine. The sound of biters growling echoed from the tunnel's depths. "This a bad time to mention I'm scared of the dark?" she asked, only half-joking.
"How about around?" Abraham offered.
Glenn shook his head. "No. That'll take a day, maybe more. If Maggie went through, I'm going through. We're close."
"Shut up a second," Abraham did, and Glenn did as told. The biters sounded so much louder in the quiet. "You hear that? That there is a long, dark tunnel full of reanimated corpses. I don't have full-on certainty that I can get Eugene through there alive. My recommendation would be take the day, make the detour and play it safe, but I know you're not gonna do that. So this is where we've got to part ways. I'm sorry."
Abraham shrugged off his bag, starting to dig through its contents. "You're on your own," he said.
Tara moved to Glenn's side. "No, you're not," she said.
Glenn offered a small nod.
Abraham pulled two cans of food from his bag, holding them out to Glenn. "No, no, no," Glenn said. "Those are yours. You guys will need them for your trip."
"You will, too," Abraham said.
When Glenn didn't move, Tara sighed, taking the cans from Abraham's outstretched hands. She offered a smile. "Thank you," Glenn said.
From his bag, Abraham produced a flashlight, handing it over to Glenn. Glenn hesitated. "Sorry I... hit you in the face," he said.
"I'm not," Abraham said with a chuckle. "I like to fight."
Adalyn rolled her eyes at that, holding back a chuckle. Rosita stepped toward Glenn and Tara, offering a smile. "Good luck," she said, and she pulled Glenn into a hug. "Try not to be an ass." She hugged Tara next.
Eugene's turn. "You're both good people," he said. He seemed to be thinking over his words. "I have to say that you are seriously hot, Tara."
Adalyn very nearly burst out laughing as Tara replied, "Yeah, I like girls."
Eugene nodded slowly, processing. "I'm well aware of that."
Tara smiled at that, shaking her head. Glenn chuckled despite himself.
Adalyn stepped forward, shaking hands with Glenn. "Hope you find your wife," she said.
Next, Tara. She smiled as she offered, "And I hope you can pay back whatever you think you owe him."
Abraham looked back at them. "Say you get into trouble in there," he said. "You turn around. We're doubling back to the first road we crossed. Maybe you find us before we find the right ride."
Glenn nodded. "Thanks," he said.
And off they went. Adalyn walked in the middle of her little group, head down. A part of her was saddened to separate from Glenn and Tara. She'd been with Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita for so long, it had been nice to meet new people.
They made it back to the stretch where they'd moved aside cars. Adalyn kept quiet as she scanned over vehicles, trying to find one that, one, worked, and two, fit all of them and their gear. Her hopes were set on a minivan. It would have enough room, and be a pretty comfortable ride, opposed to hanging out in the back of the military truck. She and Abraham ventured toward it when a biter sprang up from the inside, pounding at the windows. "Holy shit," she stated, taking a second to catch her breath.
Abraham glanced back at Rosita. "You got him?" he asked, nodding toward Eugene, who was checking over a car. She nodded her answer.
He looked to Adalyn next. "I got her," he said, and so she took a step back. He enjoyed killing the biters more than she ever would.
He slid the door halfway, letting the biter fall before he closed it, pinning the snarling creature to the side of the van. He stabbed upward, his knife entering through the biter's cheek and leaving through its brain.
He opened the door again, letting it fall to the ground. Its legs remained, but he took hold of them and tossed the biter out fully.
Adalyn was the one to climb into the front seat. Thankfully, there were keys. And even more thankfully, the van actually started. Abraham was smiling outside the driver-side door. "Gonna need to air this baby out," he said. He leaned around the open door to roll down the window, clearing away the thick layer of dust.
"Good, it'll give us some time to figure out how to get back on track," Rosita said.
Adalyn nodded in agreement. And then her eyes drifted to the windshield, where something was written in the layer of dirt across it. "Abe, you want to read that for me?" she said, squinting to try and decipher the backward letters.
Abraham did as told. She saw his smile fall. "Turn on the wipers, Addy," he instructed, and so she did, not really caring to know what it said, because something told her she'd just feel bad about it.
It took a second for the writing to clear away, but it did, in the end.
Outside, Adalyn saw Rosita pulling the map from her back. She saw Eugene grab at it. "Yo, no, no," Rosita stated, pulling it toward herself.
"I'm the navigator," Eugene said.
"Then learn to navigate," she retorted. "Remember Thompson?"
Eugene sighed. "I'm formally requesting a straight-up do-over on that one. I guided us here from Houston to northern Georgia without incident."
"I wouldn't say without incident," Abraham joined.
"Minimal incident," Eugene corrected. "Navigation-wise, at least."
Rosita was caving. "Please?" Eugene said. "I cannot abide a reality where you are the chosen navigator over a son of South who has successfully negotiated the travails and vagaries of journys both real and virtual."
Rosita chuckled. "All right," she said, handing over the map. "We're going north. Got it?"
Eugene nodded.
