Caz

When Adrian said they were going to love it, Caz had his doubts but listening to Adrian talk, he started to believe.

“So, I’ve been living in the junkyard which, yes it doesn’t sound good but it’s better than you think,” Adrian starts as Caz heats up some food for them to eat. “I’ve been working on a bus, which is mostly done beside some reinforcement, and maybe even some furniture, and with your help, we could fix it up and then go together towards Chicago,” Adrian said. Keith looked at him confused. “Why a bus?” he asked. Adrian nodded as he gave him a knowing smile.

“A bus can provide us with better protection, plus we can use it as refuge, if we make sure there are beds and a homemade kitchenette. It would be useful especially since we have a kid with us,” Adrian nodded in the direction of Heather who was sitting with Ella, trying to feed her some of food without much luck.

When Heather heard that Caz was leaving with Keith, she decided to join, which they were all against as she had Ella, but when they tried to convince her that they could go to a safe town, a different one from the one she came from, she looked almost scared and Caz realized that something bad had happened to her, so he gave up the fight and let her join, much to Adrian and Keith’s protest. It also meant that they had to plan accordingly, which was harder than expected.

“Well, to get to the junkyard, we need a vehicle, I mean, I can’t fit all of you on the back of my bike, and walking to it will take too long,” Adrian suggested. Caz looked at him in thoughts as he frowned.

“Where are we going to get a vehicle? And would we even be able to ride it all the way?” he asked.

“Well, the road is clear, so it should be easy to drive all the way, but finding a vehicle might be hard,” Adrian said as he crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side.

“What about that jeep?” Keith asked Caz. Caz stirred the can of food before taking it off the flame and handed it to Adrian who took it carefully, before placing it on the table to cool.

“We don’t know if the jeep is working, I mean, they could have abandoned it before entering the mall, or it might work but not have enough gas and then we have to find some,” Caz said as he placed another can over the fire, this time beans. Adrian picked up a spoon and started to eat as he watched Keith and Caz.

“Well, it’s the only option we got, I mean, sure we could probably find a different car, but how long with that take? Besides, it the only car we have seen work, and who knows how long the other cars had been at the mall,” Keith said. Caz chewed the inside of his cheek as he stirred the food, weighing their option. They could risk it and go back to see if the jeep work, or they could walk towards the junkyard and hope to come across a car that actually work, or risk not finding anything and just keep walking and run into zombies. Caz didn’t like any options, but Keith was right, the chance of the jeep working was better then risking it and he sighed.

“Fine, we will go to the jeep, but we will do it early tomorrow, as it’s getting late and I rather not risk having to drive in the dark,” Caz said as he took the can off the flames and turned it off.

“Fine,” Keith said and took the can from Caz. They had decided to share the food, as to save rations, so Keith would start first, then Caz would eat the rest.

“Then it’s settled,” Adrian said with a grin. Caz nodded but didn’t say anything as he packed the burner away, then settled to watch Keith and Adrian eat.

Heather had managed to feed Ella, but not without making a mess of it. She had somehow gotten some food on her face, in Ella’s hair and on the table, but Ella was chewing which meant she was eating. Having to travel with Ella was going to be a hassle, but he couldn’t leave Ella in a safe town, as he didn’t really trust them, and he knew Heather wouldn’t allow it, so they had to figure out a way to handle her. They did have the carrier, which made it easier to have Ella with them, but Heather couldn’t walk with Ella all the way back to the mall, but they couldn’t just leave them here alone.

“Say Adrian, will it be possible to have Heather and Ella on the back of your motorcycle?” Caz asked. Everyone turned their attention to Caz, a mixture between shock and confusion.

“Umm, it’s goin’ to be difficult, but I think so, why?” he asked as he glanced between Heather, who was frowning a bit in confusion, and Caz.

“Well traveling with Ella, will be difficult on foot, but we,” Caz gestured between him and Keith, “could head to the mall, to see if the jeep is still working and then you could take Heather with you to the junkyard. We could meet you guys there, if you mark it on the map,” Caz suggested. Keith frowned as he glanced at Adrian, clearly not liking the idea of leaving Heather with Ella alone.

“We could do that,” Adrian said and looked at Heather, who looked back, and flashed her a smile. “What do you say? A ride on the bike with me? It could be a fun adventure,” Adrian suggested. Heather frowned a little and looked at Caz.

“Can’t you guys just get the car and drive here to pick us up? I mean won’t it be difficult with both Ella and my things?” she asked. Caz shook his head in disagreement.

“It would be a waste of fuel, plus if you carry both the backpack and Ella, it should work,” Caz said, but Adrian shook his head.

“No can do, there wouldn’t be enough space for us. Heather has to be sitting close to me or she will end up falling off,” Adrian explained. Heather kept frowning as she contemplated the plan before she sighed.

“Then I guess I carry Ella on my back, and you carry my backpack in front of you,” she said to Adrian and looked at Ella, who was getting tired. Heather picked Ella up and carried her to an empty seat where she laid her down to sleep.

“Then I guess it’s settled,” Keith said and handed Caz the can. Caz took it and looked into it, frowning at the beans he had to reluctantly eat.

The rest of the evening, Keith had gotten himself a couple of small branches and was carving them, using Caz’s dagger. Heather had started to paint in her notebook, using her paint in the tiny veils, which Caz wondered what they were made of. Caz had decided to finish sketching out the zombies and writing information about them, while Adrian was spending time with Ella. Ella seemed to like him as he played with her with some of the toys they had managed to grab.

When it was time to sleep, Keith took first shift, allowing Caz and the others to get some rest. Heather slept with Ella on her stomach, Adrian picked a seat further back and sat down, his legs sprawled on the seat while his back was resting up against the wall. Caz did his best to curl up on his seat, hugging himself tightly as he slipped off into slumber.

Keith

Keith watched over the others as they slept while he kept an eye on their surroundings. Knowing that there were zombies out there, he was surprised with how quiet it was outside. He glanced at Caz who was sleeping on his back, his legs pulled up and resting against the back of the seat, with his arms crossed over his chest. Heather was sleeping on her back, holding around Ella who slept on her stomach. Keith couldn’t see Adrian that well but was sure he could see the top of his head stick up over the back of the seat.

Keith had been carving while keeping watch and had finished his first carving which was supposed to be a bear. He might have picked up carving as a hobby, but he wasn’t the best at it. He did managed to carve some okay figurines, but sometimes it didn’t go so well. He placed it on the table in front of him and picked up the next wooden piece to carve.

He wasn’t sure for how long he had been carving, but he heard movement coming from Adrian and noticed he was stirring. Not long after Adrian got up and stretched, then glancing at Keith and smile tiredly when he saw him before he made his way over to Keith, quietly. He looked at the bear in front of Keith and picked it up.

“Not bad,” he whispered as he inspected it. Keith rolled his eyes and took it from his hands then placed it on the table.

“It’s ugly,” Keith said. Adrian grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s better then what I would have been able to carve,” he said before he left the train car. Keith watched him go behind a tree probably to pee, before he turned his focus on what he was carving.

When Adrian came back he stood beside Keith. “Get some rest, I’ll take the next shift,” he said and waited for Keith to get up. They switched places, and Keith took his things with him to the back of the train where Adrian had been sleeping, but before going to bed he went to take a piss. It was creepy walking in the dark, but the moonlight provided enough light so Keith could see where he was walking. He decided to pee close by incase something would happen.

When he came back he went straight to his seat and laid down on his back, his one arm under his head while the other arm was draped over his chest. He had pulled his legs up, so his heels were on the edge of the seat and he slowly fell asleep. He woke again when he heard Caz and Adrian speak, as Caz switched shifts with Adrian, but slipped off to sleep again.

When Keith woke up again, he felt exhausted, but mostly because of the sleeping position. He groggily got up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before he yawned as he stretched his arms above his head. He looked over to where Caz was sitting with his notebooks in front of him, writing. Keith reached for his backpack to get some water and frowned when he noticed he only had one bottle full. He opened it and took a sip before closing it again and hide it away in his backpack. Then he got up and went over to Caz.

“Morning,” he said as he sat down. Caz looked up from his notebooks at Keith and smiled a little.

“Morning,” he replied then looked out at the window, his brow furrowed, like he hadn’t realized that it was morning. He then sighed and stretched before closing his notebooks. Keith couldn’t help but being curious as he looked at the notebooks.

“Say, how long have you been collecting information on the zombies?” Keith asked. Caz looked at Keith then at his notebooks and shrugged.

“Since the beginning, when I found out there were more then one type of zombie,” Caz said and smiled. “I like to keep track of zombies in case it’s needed, plus if they start to evolve some more, then I have it all written down,” he explained as he touched both of his notebooks. Keith nodded with a smile.

“Well you are pretty good at it, I’m sure it would be useful in the future. Just imagine all this being over, and humanity continues on with generation never knowing what it was like, then we have your book to show for it,” Keith said. Caz smiled and nodded.

“True, it’s going to be one hell of a story to tell my grandkids,” he joked, and chuckled. Keith laughed too then his eyes went to Ella, sleeping and he couldn’t help but wonder if he ever would live long enough to get kids of his own, or if the zombies are going to be the death of him. He looked back at Caz and their eyes met for a moment. Caz looked at him thoughtful before his eyes went to Heather and Ella, then at Adrian.

“We need to wake them up soon, we need to get going as early as possible,” Caz said while his focus turned back to Keith. Keith nodded then got up.

“Let’s give them a bit more time, in the meantime lets heat up some food,” Keith said and stretched. Caz nodded and packed his things away and together they cooked the food.

As Caz was stirring the food in the can, Keith had made note of what food they had left, which wasn’t much, especially with four people, not including Adrian, since Keith had a feeling he had his own stash of food.

“I’m curious, where were you when it all started?” Caz suddenly asked, which made Keith look at bit confused at Caz.

“What do you mean?” he asked as he placed the paper and pen on the table.

“I was in Pheonix when it started, high as a kite, along with my roommate,” Keith said as he leaned back in his seat, smiling a little sadly.

“Pheonix? Then why is it you are here, when you were heading to Chicago?” Caz asked surprised as he stared at Keith.

“I had to avoid some places along the way and honestly, I’m not that good at direction,” Keith said, frowning a little frustrated and sighed. “I honestly thought I was heading in the right direction, but yeah, I guess I wasn’t,” he crossed his arms.

“I was in Washington on a field trip with my school when it started,” Caz said, to continue their conversation. “We were forced to stay there for surprisingly a long time before we then had to move. But I didn’t want to go with them, so I left on my own and went towards Columbus, and stayed in the safe town for a while, until we heard about Chicago and then it became strange in Columbus and I left it, going downwards towards Georgia,” Caz explained as he kept stirring the can, until he stopped and took it off the heat.

“I tagged along a group for some time, but then zombies appeared and we split up, and then after being alone for some time, I ran into the zombies and then you,” Keith said and chuckled. Caz looked at him and smiled.

“Yeah,” he said, and they looked into each other’s eyes, both smiling. "You-" He started but got interrupted by a groaning noise of someone waking up, Caz looked over at Arian's seat as Arian stretches up his arms and legs, then sits up and crack his head from side to side. "Wow that does nothing good for your body. I'm glad we're going to the junkyard," He smiled sheepishly over in their direction, then his smile faltered a bit. "I'm sorry guys, did I interrupt something?" he asked, then smiled bright again.

“No, it’s nothing,” Keith said with a smile before looking at Caz, who was preparing the next can of food, his cheeks slightly pinkish.

“Ok, good, cause I’m starving and the food smells heckin’ good,” Adrian grinned and got up to join them. It didn’t take long before Heather woke up along with Ella and joined them by the table. Keith and Adrian had already devoured the one can, both of them arguing who should get most of the food, and ended up in an agreement that Keith needed it more then Adrian, for two reasons. One was that it belonged to Keith in the first place, the second was that they had to walk back to the mall, and it would be bad if Keith had to do it on an empty stomach. Adrian tried to argue against it, but Heather reminded Adrian that they would be at the junkyard before Keith and Caz would even get to the jeep, and then asked if he had food at his place which he reluctantly had to say yes to, which was the end of that discussion.

After eating, they packed up their stuff and got ready to leave. “We’ll see you guys at the junkyard,” Adrian said and gestured for Heather, who was wearing Adrian helmet, to hold on tight. She wrapped her arms around him as he starts it up, then Adrian waves before they sped off and out of sight.

“Well, shall we?” Keith asked, gesturing to the road, and they left for the mall.