I slept most of the way in the back of Seth's truck, as did Abbie. I'm not convinced Callum even blinked, afraid to close his eyes for a millisecond incase Seth tried any funny business. Abbie slept like a brick, yet another surprise. She acting so different after my little pep talk. She was like a new person.
A while later, I finally woke up, having had the only decent sleep I'd had during this whole thing. I blinked away the sunlight in my eyes, and focused them on the landscape outside of the car. I noticed an upcoming sign stating 'California', telling me we were almost there.
I turned my attention to the interior of the car, and noticed Abbie was still asleep. She looked so peaceful for once.
What really surprised me was in the front. Seth and Callum had switched places, because Seth was zonked out in the passengers seat, mouth wide open, bandana over his eyes like an eye mask.
I yawned on purpose, alerting Callum.
"Who's up?" Callum asked, not taking his eyes off the road despite the serious lack of cars around us.
"Me," I answered, yawning again. I noticed he was driving inside the correct lane, wearing his seatbelt.
"Dude," I said. His eyes flicked up to me for a second through the rear view mirror.
"Hm?"
"You know you don't have to drive so... Correctly, right? There are no other cars around."
"Well," He said. "Excuse me for not wanting to die today."
I rolled my eyes and tousled my hair up a bit, slouching back down in the seat.
Moments later, Seth woke up. He yawned louder than I had, which then made Abbie wake up.
She groaned. "Ughhh... I was having the best dream. Taylor Launter-"
She caught Callum eyes in the mirror.
"Umm.. It wasnt that good a dream.." She mumbled, as her face flushed pink.
I laughed a little, and looked over at Seth, who was tying his bandana back around his head. He stretched a best as he could, and yawned again.
"I slept pretty good too."
The scenery outside changed from an empty motorway to a dense city, with twists and turns like no other, tall buildings that were surely filled with Reapers. I didn't particularly want to leave the truck for that thought.
"Copsyn, I need your directions here." Callum prompted, his eyes darting from doorway to doorway.
"Sure," I yawned again. "Next left."
------------------------------
About 5million turns later, we had reached the orphanage. The place looked even worse, which I didn't know was possible. The windows had been barricaded, then recklessly torn down again. Smashed glass, doors hanging off of their hinges... Not particularly the place you would expect to find someone living in. Dead or alive.
"Do you want me to clear it out first?" Seth offered. He was actually being nice to me for once, but I refused.
"No." I said. "This shouldn't take too long."
"Okay," Seth said. "Heres a tip - if you happen to come in close range with one, knife them instead of shooting. Noise can attract more. Not all Reapers can hear, but the majority of them can. Do you all have knives?"
We all nodded solemnly.
"Copsyn," Abbie started. "Do you know where we can find information in here?"
I thought.
"Im pretty sure the file room behind the office would stock those kinda things. We should look there first."
"Okay," Callum said. "Lets get going then."
We entered the place somewhat unwillingly, not necessarily excited to see zombie orphans. I was half hoping Cassie would be here, hiding out. But not all of me.
Seth and I entered first, Callum and Abbie behind us. We didn't need to open any doors, they were all bust from their hinges anyway.
We stepped through the doorway, and all four of us jumped out of our skin as a sickly looking pigeon fluttered out of the building, bringing up dust in our faces. The interior of the building was worse than the exterior.
The office glass had smashed, filing cabinets tipped over, and disturbing black/red liquids oozing everywhere.
I went first, blowing my short fringe out of my face. I held a dagger in my hand, as did the rest of us, but my hand kept flickering to rest on my holster. I felt uneasy.
I motioned for everyone to follow, making my way across the wreckage of the waiting room to the file room. It was a clear path, and no one was in sight, so it was easy enough for us to barricade ourselves in there.
Once we were in, we could all breathe properly. We made sure to pile plenty of chairs under the doorknob, so nothing unwanted could make an appearance, without our permission. When we got over the shock of the fact that we were still alive, we set to work.
"What exactly are we looking for?" Seth asked, pushing his bandana up his head.
"I don't know exactly..." I confessed. "Newspaper clippings, case files, police documents... Anything that might help. Remember, his name is-"
My sentence was interrupted by a small shuffling sound coming from the other side of the door, along with a small groan. And another. The orphans were here.
"His name is Liam Roberts. Quick, we don't have a lot of time." I warned, and rushed to work.
Some of the cabinets had fallen over, but most were intact. I ruffled through a few labelled "Contacts, and family members." And "relatives in emergency" But nothing stood out.
"Here!" Abby whisper-shouted, thrusting a hand clenching police documents and newspaper clippings into the air.
"Go Abbie," Callum congratulated.
The noise outside got denser and louder, they had obviously heard us. I noticed shadows looming under the frame of the door, and decided it was time to leave.
"Bring the entire file." I said. "We have to get out of here."
We opted for the easier way out, and shimmied through the broken window in the file room.
By the time we were in the truck and starting the engine, the children began to spill out of the building, three by three. The worst part was that they were all familiar faces to me, and I recognised every one of them, despite their terrible condition. Little Jack, the teeny 5 year old that always spilled his cornflakes down his T-shirt. Ellie, the pranker of a 7 year old, who drew a moustache on Cassie in permanent marker, when she was asleep. And even Sarah-May, the shyest little 4 year old you would ever lay eyes on.
They were once so normal to see around, and now... Now they were disembowelled shadows of a human. A human that hadn't even had the chance to live its life yet.
I felt my throat swell as we drove away, me in the passengers seat while Seth drove. The buildings began to zoom by again, and the children were yet but another familiar memory, which would surely be recalled again.
I was in deep thought while we drove, but Seth soon broke me out of it.
"I think I saw a market just before we entered in here," He said, driving faster and faster. "Looked like it could have good loot in it."
"Sounds good." Callum commented, rifling through Liam's files.
I saw Abbie nod, and did the same. "Cool." I breathed.
Seth's dark eyes darted momentarily to mine, then back to the empty road. "You okay?" He asked, slightly under his breath. I nodded, tousling my hair again.
"Yeah,"I sighed. "It was just... Hard, seeing people I had known... You know?"
He sighed solemnly, saddened. "Yeah... I know."
I didn't think making any more conversation would be a good idea for either of us, so I just left it at that. He didn't say anything either.
We drove and drove, deciding to leave the files for when we had rested up. Seth seemed to remember exactly where we were headed, and we got there in no time, the truck filled with no noise but occasional mumbles from Abbie and Callum.
I sat my feet on the dashboard and stretched, trying to loosen some muscles. I was as tight as rope, and felt all stiff.
We turned in on a deserted kind of road, leading to a large field, which seemed to be untouched. No wonder, it was well hidden in plain sight, in a field just away from the highway. You wouldn't notice it was there if you hadn't seen it in the first place.
The truck purred to a halt, in front of a stall that had once sold tribal jewellery. We all stepped out, guns raised, ready to shoot.
But there was nothing in sight.
"Okay," Callum said. "Lets split up, grab anything-"
"No way!" Abbie protested. "No way are we splitting up in unfamiliar surroundings. We're staying together."
Everyone fell silent as Abbie flounced off, unsure how to react to her new found confidence.
"Are you guys coming or not?" She asked.
Callum jogged up beside her. "Coming."
Seth and I exchanged a confused look, and followed them too.
We traced our way through plenty of stalls, and came across some with bottled water for sale. We took it all, and made several trips back to the truck, which ended stocked up with cereal bars, fruit and water, all from the stalls. Not all of it would last, but we could use anything.
We came across collectors stall, for geeky games none of us had heard of, with playing cards and statues on display.
There were still no Reapers.
I wandered off on my own, keeping the others in sight, coming across some more geeky stuff.
Armour, (useless to us, since it only fit half of Abbie), Cards, ritual kits...
"Ugh," I said, trying to pass by all the nerdy gear. There was nothing useful!
Or so, I thought...
I ducked behind a counter, looking to see it there was any more water hidden. But, what I found was much, much more useful than water.
Sealed, in a glass case with a bronze lock, was a sheathed Samurai sword. A sleek, black hold, concealing the blade from the outside.
There was a gold plaque screwed into the bottom, which read:
Senshi
Warrior
The first word was Japanese, I guessed, from the spelling, and the second was the translation.
I desperately wanted to get into the case, to see the sword, but for some reason I didn't want to damage it. It was so beautiful, even though the real treasure was inside. There were various Japanese symbols dotted around the border of the case, I had no idea what they meant, but they looked gorgeous.
I stood up and walked to the cash register, and banged my fist on the keys. The tray popped out with a satisfying ding, causing everyone to turn around in alarm.
"Sorry!" I apologised, holding a hand up in defence.
They shook their heads, laughing, and continued rifling through drawers.
I looked back down at the tray and, sure enough, there was a little bronze key. I picked it up, and squatted under the counter again eagerly, fitting the key into the lock perfectly, and turning it with a click.
I lifted the case slowly, my breathing slow, and lifted the sword out gently, scared to touch it.
It was a sleek, black sheath with a strap, the blackest black I had ever seen, and the lightest weapon I had ever handled. At one end of the sheath, there was a flat end. It was another plaque, in scripted with the same message on the case. Senshi.
With cold breath, I unsheathed the weapon, which was about a metre in total. The blade was polished to perfection, and as sharp as a diamond's edge.
The blade terrified me, but intrigued me, as did most things those days. I couldn't stop staring at it, glinting in the sun, shining in a deadly fashion.
I smiled, as I thought how much I had changed recently, how my mother and father would look at me. Holding a sword, and prepared to use it.
I slung the sheath over my shoulder, and a piece of parchment paper fluttered out.
I picked it up, and it read:
Handle with care. Can slice human bone.
I gulped to myself. I was holding a weapon capable of that? Good god...
"Copsyn!" Abbie shouted.
I snapped my head up in alarm, but she was fine.
"We gotta get going." She said. "Its getting dark."
"Sure thing." I said, swinging the sword over my shoulder and perfectly into the sheath on my back. Hm, I thought. Im good at this already.
I jogged up to them, and we all began walking back to the truck. Seth was the first to notice Senshi.
"New blade?" Seth asked, curious.
"Yep." I said, producing the blade.
Seth caught everyone else's attention as he whistled, impressed.
"Nice find." He complimented. "Senshi?" He asked.
"Yeah," I said, sheathing it again. "It means Warrior. At least, thats what it said on the display case." I chuckled.
He grinned, and Callum looked impressed, as did Abbie.
"Cool." Callum said.
"We have water to last for at least a month, so we're doing pretty good." Abbie told me.
"Good," I said. "Water is our best friend now."
Everyone agreed. We reached the truck and Seth drove. I was shotgun, Callum and Abbie in the back.
I got in and sat Senshi upright, by my leg, and leaned into my seat, feeling the engine roar to life. We speeded out of there fast, deciding to find a place to stay for the night, and find out where Liam was in the morning.
I felt like that was the best idea, as I fell into a deep sleep, which was much needed, listening to Seth hum a little tune under his breath.
It felt great to have half of a plan for once, a new weapon, and good supplies. We were doing well, so far.
I just hoped our luck would last.