Aurora sat in the passenger seat as they drove over the Tappan Zee Bridge, watching Roberta run over any Z in their path
"She's crazy" Aurora laughed, looking over to Doc, who had an amused look as they watched Warren plow through the Z's. It hadn't lasted long before she watched the truck in front of her sputter to a stop in front of them. The three vehicles pulled over to the side of the road.
Aurora hopped out of the truck, making her way to the other side of the truck where it started smoking.
"Looks like you got a flat," Warren said, kicking the tire a couple of times.
"And some crazy smoke, but sure the flat." Aurora shrugged, moving to where her sister stood, leaning against the car.
"Heads up, look like we have some company" Mack spoke as they could hear the sound of motorcycle engines getting closer. Everyone reached for their weapons in case things had gone south. Aurora watched Cassandra hide behind the truck as the Motorcycles got closer. Aurora thought it was a weird reaction, but she could also understand the reaction; lone men were scary. The two men stared them down as they passed on their bikes.
"That's it, keep moving," Warren warned quietly. Doc moved to the back quickly, grabbing out what Aurora thought was a jack
"Alright, let's do this quick." Warren said, removing the lug nuts of the tire.
"It doesn't look flat" Addy said from where she stood. "Yeah but it won't turn" Warren countered.
"We ran over some fun stuff" Doc sighed
"Okay well, help me get it off and let's see what's going on." Warren asked, grabbing onto the wheel with Doc. As they removed the wheel growls filled the air, everyone taking a small step and making noises of disgust. The wheel whale had been filled with zombie guts and gross-looking, bloody zombies who were reaching out trying to eat the two closest to it.
"Well that explains the pull to the left" Doc joked as Warren shot him a look that could kill.
"What are you waiting for?! Kill it!" Murphy yelled, freaking out, and walked in the opposite direction of the truck.
"Alright, you, Time to go home." Warren frowned, shoving the bar in her hands into the zombie's head, then dropping back on the ground.
"That's disgusting," Aurora said, shaking her body out as she moved towards Cassandra, offering her the water bottle that Aurora held in her hands. Cassandra had gratefully taken a drink and handed it back. Cassandra was a very pretty girl with long raven hair and beautiful tawny skin. She and Aurora stood about the same height, and her beautiful brown eyes shone in the sun. Addy grabbed Aurora's hand, dragging her to where the rest of the group stood overlooking the city. Aurora's eyes stayed on Cassandra for a moment longer before letting her sister drag her along
"Even after all this, this is still beautiful," Warren Said in admiration. Addy held her camcorder up, recording the cityscape and the group. Aurora had to agree that no matter how many times she saw the city, she always thought it was beautiful. Wondered what lives were taking place inside the buildings of the city, now the city was just mindless zombies.
"Take a good look, we probably won't be back for a while" Garnett frowned
"So long, New York." Addy said, sadness lacing her tone
"Is it weird to be sad over a city?" Aurora asked, squeezing Addy's hand. Aurora had never left the city besides the one family trip to Chicago to see a musical, which Aurora more or less slept through.
"See ya in the next life," Murphy said, annoyed at the whole thing.
"I don't think it's sad to be leaving your home," Cassandra smiled, moving to stand next to the blonde girl. Aurora gave her a grateful smile. The girl was right, it wasn't about the city itself, it was about everything else, with all the memories with her siblings, her parents, and her friends, most of them were dead now.
"Okay, load up" Garnett said, ending the sad moment. Everyone made their way to their respective trucks. With Warren and Garnett's truck having died– kicking Aurora out of the passenger seat– so she moved to the bed of the truck
"Hey" Aurora smiled as she climbed into the bed. The boy that she still hadn't learned the name of.
"Hi" The boy said quietly, shyly looking down at his gun like it was the coolest thing to see
"I'm Aurora, by the way" She smiled sitting down on the side of the truck
"10K" he said quickly, his eyes flicking up to her, then immediately away
"Like that's your name?" Aurora said, shooting him a confused look. The boy just nodded picking his gun back up to look through the scope as they started driving down the road
"What kinda name is that?" Aurora spoke again
"What kinda name is Aurora?" 10K asked, looking down the barrel of his gun
"A normal one" The girl mumbled, grabbing out her Walkman and putting her headphones on. Aurora had wondered who would name their kid or even themselves 10 Thousand. It seemed stupid. Though who was she to judge? Aurora's mother had named her after a Disney princess because she had little blonde hair. Aurora put her Abba cassette in, leaning her head against the side of the truck, hoping to get some sleep before she couldn't anymore
Aurora jolted awake when she felt a hand on her shoulder, her eyes searching for the person who touched calming down a bit when she saw it had just been 10k.
"S-sorry we stopped" He said, putting his hands up in defens.e "We need gas" The boy gave a flat lipped smile and jumped off the bed of the truck.
"How was your nap, sleepyhead?" Addy smiled, helping her sister down from the truck. Aurora rolled her eyes, shrugging her shoulders. Addison just laughed, pulling her sister towards some cars to find some gas. It didn't take long for the two to go in different directions. Aurora had been searching a dark blue Kia's trunk for a new shirt; her current one had originally been a light gray but now looked dark gray and had holes in the bottom of it. Aurora heard the growls before she saw the Z reaching for her, too occupied in looking at a Dark blue t-shirt. The blonde girl started looking around for where the growling was coming from, but she hadn't been able to see it. She figured the Z had been trapped, so she went on, not caring about it. When she reached for a t-shirt at the back of the van, the growls got louder and a hand grabbed her wrist. Aurora let out a scream in alarm as it pulled her further down towards its teeth. To keep herself up from the zombie's teeth, she had her other arm out holding her up, which made it impossible for her to get to her sword.
"Help!" Aurora screamed out, not seeing anyone around her. She prayed she hadn't wandered too far away from Addy and Mack, but based on the lack of help, she assumed she had.
"I got you!" Cassandra yelled, squeezing in next to her. The raven-haired girl stabbed the zombie's head, causing the zombie to drop her hand. Aurora let out a breath of relief, backing away from the trunk as if that would keep her safer. "Thank you."
"Anytime, that was a close one." Cassandra gave the girl a reassuring smile, searching her exposed arms for bites. Being satisfied in her search that nothing had happened to the girl, she met Aurora's eyes. "Glad you're okay."
"We should get back to the group" Aurora smiled, moving past the girl towards where their group had stood in a circle. Aurora nodded towards her siste,r who had her camcorder out and was videoing the piles of wrecked cars.
"Where did everybody go?" Warren questioned, walking up to Charlie. Aurora hadn't originally noticed the lack of people, but Warren was right, there were only a couple of zs left and zero living people besides the one she was with. "I haven't seen a survivor except for those two bikers."
"Black summer, everyone starved to death." Garnette stated, fidgeting with a trinket he had found.
"I was in philly for black summer." Cassandra had focused on tying the bag in her hands, sadness evident in her voice. "It was bad. I lost 30 pounds, thought I was dead." Aurora tried to forget black summer as best as she could. It was the darkest time for all survivors when all the food ran out, and people got meaner and more scared than before.
"How did you survive?" Addy questioned. The whole group was looking to Cassandra for her answer.
"I did what I had to." Cassandra shrugged, her voice clipped in indication she didn't want to elaborate.
"Whoa Whoa whoa whoa whoa" Murphy screamed as a door opened from a car no one had bothered to check. The man put his hands up in fear, trying to show he wasn't a threat.
"Hold on, It's not a Z." Warren warned, holding her gun up to the guy. "Peace!" the man cried out. Aurora could feel Cassandra tensing beside her, but figured it was her tensing because she was scared of a stranger.
"No bites here 100% Alive" He reasoned
"What happened to your friend?" Garnett asked, feeling skeptical of the man. Aurora wasn't sure if it was just her, but she didn't feel right about the man; it had felt nothing like when Cassandra or 10K joined them, it just felt off.
"Turns out he had other friends of low morals, took my ride. Horse thieves should be shot." He explained getting a pat down from Warren to make sure he didn't have any weapons on him.
"You should choose better friends." Cassandra spoke from beside Aurora
"That's Good...advice" The man looked shocked when he saw it was Cassandra who was speaking. It seemed Aurora was the only one who noticed this, looking back and forth between the two people like she was looking for the context of the weirdness that would jump out at her.
"What can we do for you? One peaceful group of humans to a lone traveler?" Warren asked with a warning underlying her tone.
"Could use a lift?" The man asked, "Sure don't want to spend the night out here alone."
"Sorry, we ain't runnin a taxi service." Murphy jumped in from where he stood behind Warren as if she were his bodyguard.
"Which way are you headed?" Garnette asked the man
"Any direction but back" the Man stated, frowning. "Word is there's a horde on the move south, on the New York side. I see you're scrounging for gas. You know, like we used to say, ass, gas, or grass." The man smiled at his joke "Nobody rides for free. I know where you could fill up."
"Now would be the time for you to share this information" Garnette demanded.
"Place called Jersey Devil Refinery, maybe five miles off,Just off the turnpike" He explained
"How do you know there's gas there?" Warren asked, her gun still pointed at the man's head.
"Got overrun day number one. All the tanks are still full, just rusting away." He shrugged, hands still raised in the air. It was silent for a moment as the group thought about what this stranger said.
"Alright take us to this refinery and if there's gas there like you say, you can ride with us to the next outpost." Garnette offered.
"You won't be sorry," he smiled, reaching down for the bag at his feet. The rest of the group raised their guns at the man, making sure he didn't try anything. "You got that right," Warren nodded, grabbing his bag before he could.
As the group stood outside looking at the refinery in front of them, a loud banging sound filled Aurora's ears. Zombies milled around, walking up the stairs towards the sound, trying to find food.
Aurora looked at her sister in disbelief. There was no way they would get gas from here without someone dying.
'Hey, you know about this?" Warren's voice cut through Aurora's thoughts.
"Hey, all the easy gas is gone." The man just shrugged.
"So what's the brilliant plan?" Murphy asked, "Die, get eaten, go home early?" the man asked, earning a glare from Aurora
"What's that smell?" Addy asked, looking around.
"The undead and gasoline, so no firearms." Garnett spoke, earning a groan from the boy in the bed of the truck.
"How do you want to handle this?" Warren asked, looking to Garnett.
"We first got to shut off whatever's making that noise." Charlie spoke
"Okay. It's probably some kind of pump. But where?" Warren asked.
"Follow the zombies" Garnett spoke as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.
"They all seam to be headed to the top of the cat walk" Mack Added
"Thanks, genius." Aurora rolled her eyes, watching the Zs wander up to the top.
"We'll get up there and check it out," Addy smiled, looking at Mack.
"We got to have a sound that draws the Zs away from the pump, so we can get the gas," Charlie spoke, nodding to the top of the catwalk.
"Sorry, I left my guitar back at Camp Blue Sky," Doc joked, causing Aurora to cackle out loud before covering her mouth with her hand.
"Car Horns?" Addy suggested
"No, they'll all just head this way."
"Yeah, and so will every dead around." Warren sighed.
Cassandra piped up, "I have something, Zs liked high-pitched sounds. The more musical the better." The girl spoke, holding up a music box, gaining the attention of the nearby zombies. Aurora's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Wow." The girl mumbled under her breath.
"That's great! You're our decoy." Garnett said, pointing towards the girl.
"I'll go with her." Aurora smiled, raising her hand slightly. Charlie nodded at the girls, "I'll go with them." The new guy spoke from behind the girls, causing Aurora's stomach to knot.
"We don't need his help!" Cassandra spoke quickly
"No, you guys need more cover. Take him," Charlie spoke his heart in the right place. "Start the music when you get to the top of the cat walk" he spoke, pointing at the catwalk next to the one the noise was coming.
Cassandra grabbed Aurora's hand, forcing her to run ahead of the boy named Travis. Travis menacingly walked behind them, Aurora glancing at Cassandra, worry evident in the other girl's face. The Girls had been a good distance when Aurora finally spoke.
"Why are we running?" The blonde asked as she ran, Cassandra gripping her hand like a lifeline. Though the girl didn't give Rory an answer, she trusted her enough to keep running with her.
"Sunshine!" Travis called from behind the girl. Aurora gave Cass a look of confusion, the latter girl shaking her head as they continued to run up the stairs.
"You're gonna get us all killed" the man yelled as they rounded the corner.
"Actually just you!" Cassandra yelled back pulling Aurora along and around through the zombies.
"I know what you're trying to do! Its not going to work!"
"You dont know anything about me!"
"I know Tobias," Travis called after them. Aurora whipped her head to the side to see a look of horror on Cassandra's face as their eyes met. "The rest of the family is never gonna let you leave, sunshin.e" The grip on Aurora's hand tightened every time Travis called her sunshine, and though Aurora didn't understand it, she also knew that Cass was far more trustworthy than that boy was.
"Im never going back! And my name isn't sunshine! It's cassandra!" She screamed as the girls jumped over pipes and swerved around zombies. "That girl died a long time ago."
"Sunshine?" Aurora mumbled to herself, the name rolling around in her head.
"You dont understand! I can't go back without you." he spoke much calmer as they climbed another set of stairs. As they ducked around a zombie, Cassandra stopped above it, kicking it down at the boy, before pulling Aurora up the stairs again. Aurora had to admit she hoped the man would die soon because she wanted nothing more than to stop running upstairs.
The girls made it to the megaphone at the top of the catwalk walk Cassandra holding up her music box to distract the Zs
"Who is that? What is he talking about?!?!" Aurora spoke in a hushed panic, grabbing onto the other girl's arm.
"This is great, your friends tank up, and we steal it from them." Travis said as he walked in front of the girls. This statement made Aurora's blood boil, if she had anything to say about it– and she did– Aurora would kill him– and Cassandra– before she let that happen.
"There is no we! I'm not going back." Cassandra grabbed Aurora's arm, squeezing it lightly. "Not alive." the raven-haired girl added.
"Why do you keep fighting this?" the man questioned getting closer to the girls "We can even bring your friend along" Travis said gesturing to Aurora. The blonde grimaced and though she didn't mean to she took a small step behind Cassandra as if the girl could protect Aurora.
"I will do whatever I have to do!" Cassandra spoke angrily
"You'll do what?!" Travis grabbed the back of Cassandra's hair. "tell your new friends who I am?" the boy asked. "What happens when I tell them who you are?" he asked, gripping her hair tighter. Aurora had enough, grabbing her pistol that she rarely used, pointing it at the man.
"Let her go!" Aurora screamed at him. The boy just laughed, putting his hands up in a surrender as the sound of zombies grew louder. The three snapped their attention to the noises. Aurora took this as an opportunity, grabbing Cassandra's hand and bolting in the opposite direction of the boy. There wasn't a good option on where to go as Travis had been blocking the way back down, so the girls ran in a lost pattern. Cassandra pulled them down a path that looked like it led down, but only led to a dead end. Worry overtook Aurora, her anxiety balling in a pit in her stomach, making her want to vomit. She didn't want to die because of this man or go wherever this family he spoke of was. Aurora wished for a second that she had gone with her sister.
"Get out of our way Travis" Aurora said, worry in her voice. "I don't want to have to kill you!" Cassandra added. The girls hung onto the side of the path as Travis pulled out a taser, switching it on. Aurora's eyes widened as she looked at Cassandra, who just shook her head.
"It's time to go home, Sunshine." Travis spoke, the way he said it almost made him sound like a worried older brother just wanting what was best for his sister. Though Aurora knew that whatever he wanted from Cassandra, it was not because he was worried. He stepped closer to the girls, grabbing Cass by the shoulders shoving her up against the side of the railing. Aurora screamed, trying to pull him off, but he shoved her aside, landing a nice blow to the side of her face, pushing her into the opposite railing. He clicked the taser on, shoving it into Cassandra's neck. Aurora let out a strangled cry, pleading with him to stop as she reached for her sword.
"You forget. I'm used to it." Cassandra spoke, kneeing the boy in the crotch. Travis doubled over in pain, backing up towards the edge. Aurora had stood up, moving towards her friend, as they looked at each other before looking back at the boy, raising their legs and pushing the man over the side. He screamed as he fell, splattering on the ground, zombies immediately eating him. Aurora watched as Cassandra dropped her music box on the boy, the musical sound attracting more Zs to him.
"Are you okay?" Aurora turned to the girl who stood there with a blank stare on her face.
"I'm sorry." Cassandra spoke, a tear falling down her face. Aurora shook her head, pulling the girl in for a hug. Aurora thought the girl smelled of gun powder, dirt, and a hint of cinnamon. "Don't be." Aurora muttered, pulling away from the girl.
As the girls made their way back to the group, Aurora pulled Cassandra along faster towards what Aurora always thought of as safety. A small smile on the blondes face despite the events of the day.
"What the hell was that explosion?" Aurora asked, running up to the group, noting Murphy panting on the ground. Mack sighed, pointing to the man shaking his head quietly, holding onto Addy's hand.
"So did we get the gas?" Murphy asked as everyone sighed disappointedly. "Who screwed that up?" he asked, earning a look from everyone
"You can't be serious." Aurora mumbled to herself.
"Oh, sorry..." the man said disappointedly.
"So, where's your friend?" Warren asked, walking towards the girls to check over Aurora for any signs of injury.
"He didn't make it. And he wasn't my friend." Cassandra spoke pointedly
The pay phone that had been attached to the wall started ringing, interrupting whatever conversations had been going on. Aurora looked up, confused, tilting her to the side a little as she looked at the phone. Aurora hadn't heard a phone ring in nearly three years, and she had to admit it was kind of an annoying sound. Garnett moved to answer it, speaking to whoever was on the other end.
"What happened to the man?" Warren asked the blonde girl. Aurora just shrugged, "Shit happens sometimes." she spoke moving to stand with her sister.
It hadn't taken long for Addy to notice the nice bruise forming on her sister's face. Addy reached up, grabbing the girl's chin and turning Aurora's face to the side to get a better look at the bruise.
"What the hell happened?" Addy asked panic evident in her voice "I told you shit happens sometimes" The blonde shrugged again, Addy didn't like this answer and kept pressing for more answers but Aurora wouldn't really answer them.
"Puppies and Kittens!" Warren yelled. Aurora grabbed the sword strapped to her back, moving to mercy a couple of the faster Zs. Aurora jumped into the back of the truck, watching Addy's Z whacker fly threw the air and mercy a Z.
"I'd pay money to see that again" Aurora laughed, speaking to no one in particular. Aurora sat in the back of the truck, leaning her head against the truck. Cassandra sat down beside the girl a smile on her face.
"Hey Cassie," Rory smiled, pulling out her Walkman. Cassandra grinned, leaning her head against the truck.
"Excuse ma'am" The boy spoke to Cassandra. "You have a finger in your hair." He said, giving another flat-lipped smile. Aurora laughed as Cassandra picked the finger out of her hair and threw it out of the truck. The raven-haired girl glared at Aurora before laying her head on the girl's shoulder.
