Riley Murphy
2048
I was paired with Dakota for this inventory round.
Gage is a good wingman I guess. He winks at me when we get assigned out duties and I roll my eyes, subtly pulling the finger at him from behind his back.
"Now you have your walkie?" Dee nodded, "Your gun?" More nods, "You have water, food and extra bullets right?" Elle stressed, looking between me and Dakota a thousand times.
She checked the boot of the car at least 6 times and counted our bullets 4 times. I love this woman but man she stresses!
I reassure her, "We'll be fine. We'll signal if we need you okay? I promise. Love you."
Gage pulled me aside, "You're gone for 12 hours today bro. Make moves... kiss her, maybe try to be a man for once." He laughed. I punched him in the gut and he hunched over in pain, "I'll miss you too bro."
Elle kissed us goodbye, giving me a stern look. I gave Gage and everyone else a fist bump before jumping into the jeep. Starting the engine, I buckled in and waved through the window.
Before we started out 4 hour drive to Ottowa... Canada.
After the whole 'America is infested with zombies' thing, we decided it be best if we regroup in Canada, and here we are... in Canada!
It hate driving on hot summers day. Quebec gets the blazing sun so my ass sticks to the leather seats. But the sun was out and Dakota had her head out the window with her hair flailing back like some graceful dog. She looked so beautiful!
"Hey are we almost there?" She asked me, a half hour into the drive.
"Yes." I lied. Her eyes lit up and then she frowned when she saw my face, "Don't be mean. I'm bored."
I chucked her a book, "Read."
She chucked it into the backseat, "I would, but I get sick if I read in the car." I rolled my eyes, "It's not my fault, I inherited it from my mother." She smiled, her smile fading.
We were quiet for a while, then I realised she fell asleep after I had a whole conversation with her and she didn't reply! Then Dee woke up and offered to drive, and I don't say no to opportunities like that.
When I woke up again, we had passed the sign for Ottowa and I was happy to say, "Can we get out of the car?"
She looked startled by my voice, but stopped the engine.
We pulled onto the side of the road and I jumped out, stretching my muscles. My shirt rode up a bit and I felt the burning heat scold my skin. Once I had finished stretching, I noticed that Dakota was too... I promise I wasn't staring. But if she stretches like that I'll probably have a heart attack.
She's wearing denim shorts that go to her mid thigh, a plain grey top, white socks and some beaten up converse. She was casual, I like it.
I strapped my gun into my side and slid a knife in my pocket, shifting it so it rested comfortably and didn't freaking stab me while I walked!
"You ready?" Dakota asked, smiling at me. I nodded.
We scanned the area. Elle made us a list. We were on accessories and non-food items. So things like toilet paper, towels and conditioner.
"Man it is so hot." Dee panted, fanning herself with her hand. I shrugged, completely drenched only wearing my black shirt and khaki pants.
"I hate summer sometimes." She sighed.
Agreeing with her, I pushed open a shop. A bell dinged above it and I flinched. Sound always attracts something. I felt Dakota's hand on my shoulder and relaxed a little bit, "It's okay, we can handle it."
It was only a small shop, littered with things. It's an antique thrift shop. I picked up some dusty books, almost screaming when a spider crawls onto my hand.
There's old movie posters, cameras and even phones from a couple years ago! A shame we don't have power otherwise these would be really useful!
"Come check this out." I heard Dakota say. Her voice echoed down the hall and I followed it to a room. It was a vault.
A dark vault. The air seemed to thin and the temperature dropped a little.
"What is this?" I ask, looking around. My eyes finally adjusted to the dim lighting and I saw that it was a small movie theatre. The screen was dusty and filled with cobwebs, but the movie posters were still hung up on the walls, "This is so cool." I mumbled.
Running my fingers over the movie projector and flicking the on/off switch, we exited that place.
"I don't know why, but that place gave me the creeps."
* * *
After checking off half our checklist, the boot was already full, "I know this car looks cooler but it has tiny trunk space." Dakota sighed.
I smiled at her accent. She's from Kentucky so her accent changes. Since we've she's been with us, she's picked up our Cali accent, but every now and then it comes back.
Like when she says 'pop' instead of 'soda' or 'trunk' instead of 'boot'.
"Should we start heading back now?"
I nod my head at her, turning on my heel to open the door.
As a gust of wind whooshes past us... I start to shiver, feeling cold as the sweat sticks to my back. I turn to find Dakota feeling the same.
"This town is scaring me, can we go?" She asks. Without hesitating, we rush to the car, just as grey clouds begin to roll over the sky.
A short walk later, I see the car in the distance.
We've been silent, both of us trying to stay calm. I'm sure it's nothing though. Just a small storm, nothing to be too scared about right?
I felt Dakota slip her shaking hand into my own and I squeezed it once, that our families code word for 'safe'. Three squeezes is 'I love you'.
We arrive at the car finally. The rain seems to be pelting down harder. Dakota is waiting impatiently beside me, her hair whipping in all different directions as the weather changes.
Huge gusts of winds are pushing everything forward, making it harder for me to do anything.
Fumbling with keys as rain begins to splatter against the sidewalk. Clumsily, I drop the keys as wind pushes them out of my hand. Bending down the pick them up, I try to find the right key again.
"Riley!" Dakota demands, "I know, I'm trying."
I can barely hear myself think.
It's so noisy with all the air and thundering rain. The clouds look deadly.
Just as I insert the key into the door, I feel a pressure on my arm as I'm being shoved to the right, crashing on my sore shoulder.
Yelping in pain, I turn over and groan, seeing Dakota looking down on my worryingly, "I'm sorry, I had too-" She was cut off by the loudest crash I've ever heard. A car alarm begins to go off and I turn to see the car, a power line wrapped around it as it begins to make weird noises.
"We need to leave before that thing blows up." I say quickly. Barely making any tries to get up because of my shoulder, I see movement from my corner vision and sense that Dakota is on the move.
"Come on get up you lazy fuck." Wincing in pain, I get to my knees and pull myself up, dragging my body and Dakota's away. We're both soaked with rain and I'm glad I have the essentials on me because that car is not safe enough to go rescue anything from!
"WE NEED TO FIND SHELTER."
We run into random stores, finding nothing to protect us from the hazardous storm.
A rundown motel is our only option. Practically sprinting into the motel buildings, the creaky metal gates slams back and forth against the lock, causing me to jump. The sky is black and we need to find somewhere safe before we become worm food!
"Quick... in here!" I hear Dakota pant. She takes my hand and pulls me into a dark room, slamming the door behind us.
I can still hear the treacherous winds galloping outside, casting spooky shadows on the blank motel walls.
All I can hear is the stillness of breath, and feel the hotness of it on my cheek. We're pressed together in some small room, afraid to let go.
Slowly I release Dakota, absolutely killing me in the process. I want to hold her forever, make sure she's safe in my arms where nothing can hurt her. But we have to sort this out.
She rubs her hands together, blowing some hot air into them, "Well, what the hell do we do now?"
* * *