Stranded

[CowboyBlonde]

Christian closed his eyes, waiting for the yellow jagged teeth to sink into his ankle.  He knew that within a short time after being bit he would be turned into one of them and Alex would have to shoot him with her double barrel.  This was it.  He had lived a short 11 years of life.  In a way he was glad to die, being alone on this earth, the way it is now is no way to live.  Finally he would be able to see his family again in another life, a better life. 

With the sound a loud crack Christian remembered he wasn’t alone.  His eyes popped open and Alex was there, his one true light in this world of darkness.  She screamed and drove a metal object into the skull of the demon.  Christian closed his eyes again but this time it wasn’t to except his death but to avoid the sprinkles of blood.  It seemed like it would never end.  Christian raised his arms now to deflect brain and skull from hitting his face.  Alex looked like she would keep going until she hit nothing but dirt.  Finally there was no more need to thrash or scream, the threat was gone and Christian opened his eyes.  He looked down only to find practically nothing left of the zombie’s head.  Christian inched away still lying in the dirt, breathing heavy.  He truly thought this would be his end.

He looked up at Alex, who was even bloodier than him.  She looked like she had just fought and won a whole war by herself.  The blood glistened in the moonlight.  At that moment Christian felt indebted to her.  She risked her life for someone she didn’t even know.  Never again would Christian give up that easily.  They were a team now and Christian would watch her back just as he knew now that she would watch his.  He saw her in a different light as well.  Now, she was a protector, a mother or sister type and Christian appreciated her more.

He stood up and wiped his hands on his shorts to try to get the dirt off.  They both looked like that had been through hell and back and it was only one zombie’s blood.  The boy couldn’t think of the right words to say to the woman who just saved his life.  He decided to keep it basic, “Thank you…”

He noticed that the Jeep was still turned on.  “Now can we get outta here?” Christian asked breathily in his small voice.  They still had work to do if they wanted to make it far enough away from this place.

[Black Philip]

Alex used her shirt to wipe the blood splatter from her face. She needed to clean herself a bit before they went on. Vanity wasn't what dictated this, it was fear of contamination. She nodded at Christen and slowly rose to her feat, still holding the crowbar. She went to where her double-barrel had fallen and picked it up. It was probably a good thing she bashed the zombie's skull in as opposed to shooting it. He was probably a lone ranger, while if she shot then every zombie within ten miles would slowly start moving towards the station. She decided to keep this crowbar, as more bashing would surely happen in the future. She went to her pack, not speaking to her companion just yet. She pulled out a clean bath towel. She began wiping blood from her face, arms, and legs.

"Don't look," she instructed Christen. Once she was sure he had turned away and wasn't peaking, she took of the blood stained clothes. Her underwear was fine, and so she left it on. She put on a new top and a new pair of pants. Her gloves were wiped, and her boots were cleaned with the towel. Her hair was another story. She picked the visible parts of chaos from her locks and decided the rest would be washed out in the station bathroom. Water still ran in this county.

"Let's get on with it," Alex said. She got into the front seat and began to move towards the front of the station, ready to answer any of Christen's questions.   

[CowboyBlonde]

Christian was still in shock.  He hadn’t expected any of this to happen.  Christian’s question was answered with a demand not to look.  Christian knew what that meant, what was coming.  Instead of turning around and standing there doing nothing he decided to jump into the passenger seat after noticing the door was still open.  He closed it shut, noticing some splatters of blood on the inside of the frame.  Alex’s reflection could be seen in the side passenger mirror but he still didn’t look. 

The boy opened the small hatch in the dashboard in front of him and pushed a few things around inside, finding a small packet of wet naps.  The packet was unopened so the sheets of paper were still moist.  Christian flipped down the visor and looked at himself in the mirror.  He didn’t recognize the reflection, with smears of red across his face.  He opened the package and started wiping his face down with the alcohol pad and continued to do so with his hands and arms.  The chunks in his hair were a little more difficult to get out.  He was afraid of the car beginning to smell so he wiped down the door panel as well,.  Who knew how long they would be in this car.

He rolled down the window and tossed out the dirty wet naps.  Alex had regained her position in the drivers seat and moved them forward.  The car’s back wheel lifted, crunching the lifeless body of the half-man underneath it.  Finally they were under light again as they came around the front of the building and under the flickering lights of the gas pumps.  Light scattered across the lot from the brightness of the market..  Christian had almost forgotten their objective in the heat of the attack.  He scratched his head.  “What do you need me to do?”  He asked looking over to her.  She looked so clean in a new set of clothes, like nothing had happened.  “Do you even know how to do this.?” Christian asked with a smirk, because he sure didn’t.

[Black Philip]

Alex's brow rose. This boy needed to learn to stop questioning her skills. Alex certainly knew how to drain the gas from a station. What self respecting Texas girl didn't? Alex didn't answer Christian at first. She was too busy pulling out to talk. When she finally pulled around to the front of the station it was almost pitch dark. The station still had some flickering electricity, and Alex was going to need all the electricity she could get to pump the gas from under the station. She pulled in front of the pumps and turned off the car. She would need to hot wire it again, but she couldn't fill it up with it running. That was a little too dangerous. She turned to the eager looking boy who stood ready to assist.

"Go into the station and grab as many gas canisters as you can find.  Bring them all!" These were her instructions, but as Christian was running towards the station she yelled, "Bring all the cash in the registrar."
 

[CowboyBlonde]

“I’m on it!” Christian said as he opened the door and jumped out, excited to do his part.  He ran across the lot, headed for the glass door of the market.  “Ok!” He yelled back to Alex’s request. The red headed boy ran around to the back of the counter and started clicking buttons on the register until it popped open with a ding.  He spent most of his time playing with the money since he’d started staying in the market.  He knew exactly how much money was in the drawer, $31.45.  He shoved the bills into his right side pocket and the coins into the other.  There was a grey door at the back of the market that Christian never walked through.  There was a round glass window towards the top of the door that Christian was too short to look through, but it always looked dark.  As much as he didn’t like thinking about going back there he knew that the gas cans would be past that door.  Christian thought about lieing to Alex, saying that he couldn’t find any, but they really needed this.  This is my job, I can’t go back with nothin.

Christian stepped to the grey door, which seemed to tower over him.  He twisted the knob, hoping it was locked.  He heard the latch click and he slowly pushed the door open.  It made a loud creaking noise the further he pushed.  There was a cold draft coming through that brought out a retched smell.  Christian covered his mouth and nose, surprised by the smell.  The door wouldn’t stay open by itself so Christian propped a gallon of milk in front of it to keep it open.  It also helped a pool of light seep into the dark room. 

Christian timidly stepped in the cold smelly room.  His heart was beating fast again.  Then he saw it, a metal rack that was strictly for holding all the red gas canisters.  Each one had a yellow hose looking nozzle coming out of the top right corner.  The light was just hitting the rack enough for Christian to feel comfortable walking over.  He started grabbing the biggest ones.  He held one in each hand by the handle and one cradled underneath his arm.  As he turned around he noticed something out of the corner of his eye and gasped, causing him to drop the cans.  Sticking out from behind the rack he saw a pair of legs lying there.  He slowly moved around to the back of the rack to see if this person was still alive.  The legs wore brown trousers and black shoes.  The smell was getting stronger the closer Christian stepped.  He peeked his head around the bend, preparing to run if the person started to growl.  To his surprise the legs weren’t attached to the rest of a body.  Entrails and rotted flesh took the place of the torso.  This was the obvious source of the smell.  Christian quickly realized that this must be the other half of the man that attacked him from under the car. 

Christian shook away his shock and once again collected the canisters and ran them to the car, dropping one on the way and fumbling to pick it up.  He ran them over to Alex on the driver’s side of the jeep and placed them at the pumps.  “There’s some more back there that I can get but here’s some to get stahted.” He said between breaths then started for the building again.