2. No, you need to keep moving.
You decide now is not the best time. You help Jesse finish up loading down the car with supplies.
"Looks like we're going to be eating a lot of jerky and canned ravioli for awhile," Jesse notes, dumping some final cans and packages into the backseat.
"Are you kidding? In college I survived on nothing but ramen and macaroni for months on end. This is a cake walk," you reply.
Jesse smiles and heads around to the driver's side. "Mind if I drive?"
You shrug. "OK with me. You have your license, right?"
Jesse smirks. "What if I said no? Would you ground me?"
"Nah, I'd just be sure to buckle up," you say.
Smooth, you think as you duck into the passenger seat. Sure to buckle up. Real funny guy.
Jesse turns the key in the ignition, adjusts her mirrors, and slides the seat forward a bit. "Looks like we're gonna need some more gas pretty quick," she notes, glancing at the fuel gauge.
"There's an extra can in the trunk," you say, "but I don't know about finding a working gas station. We might just have to switch vehicles once this one goes dry. Keep your eyes peeled."
Jesse nods and pulls out and away from the store, back onto the road. "Well, here we go," she says.
Another five minutes of driving brings you up out of the canyon and onto a small side road that connects with the main highway, about two miles past the bridge, according to Jesse. As you pull back onto the highway, you look behind you, but see only empty road until it turns.
"So what were you before the world ended? A student?" Jesse asks.
"Yeah. I worked part time at a grocery outlet, stocking shelves late at night."
"You know anything useful?"
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"You know," Jesse says, "first aid, cars, shooting, anything like that."
"Not really," you confess. "Though I do seem to have a knack with guns, at least so far."
"My dad took me out for lessons," Jesse says. "A few times to a range, but mostly just out into the woods. Rifles, shotguns, pistols. My mom didn't know. He'd borrow weapons from his friend. Said he didn't want his daughter living her life without knowing how to defend herself. Always seemed pointless to me since we didn't have any guns anyway, but it turns out it was a good thing, I guess."
"You any good?"
She shrugs in her seat. "I guess I'm not bad. I can hit the broad side of a barn, if that's what you mean."
"What's the biggest gun you've ever fired?"
"Probably an AK," she replies. "Or maybe a double-barreled shotgun. It depends on what you mean by 'biggest.'"
"An AK-47?"
"Yeah."
"Aren't those, like, illegal?"
She glances at you. "I guess?"
"Er, sorry. Sometimes it slips, you know, the whole zombies thing. Anyway, how'd you guys get ahold of an AK?"
Jesse turns back to the road. On one side, a gentle green slope rolls by, spotting with brush, oaks, and sycamores, as well as some other trees you're don't recognize. On the left, past Jesse's head, the ground slopes down until it hits the base of another hill, then veers steeply up. At the base there's what looks to be a dry creek bed.
"Dunno. My dad probably got it from his friend. Guy was in Vietnam, I think."
"Hmmm," you say. "You know where this guy lives? Might be nice if we could 'borrow' some things too."
"Yeah, I do," Jesse says, "but my dad said he was dead, remember?"
"Point. Still might be worth checking out, once we get to Limestone. This friend lived in the city, right?"
"On the outskirts," Jesse replies.
"Near side, or far?"
"Far," she says. "House with a vineyard. They grow 'em all around here."
You nod. The scenery flashes by. Jesse is driving pretty fast, around 75 mph. It makes you a bit nervous with how windy the road is, though the highway itself looks well maintained.
"Could you slow down a bit?" you ask.
Jesse glances over at you and smirks a bit. "Sure, mom."
You grin ruefully. "Sorry."
The car drops to about 60 and you stare out at the hills. Really, it's quite pretty. Out here in the middle of nowhere, it's hard to tell the apocalypse has occurred. The car is starting to get pretty warm in the sun, so you roll your window down and hang your arm out the side. The wind feels good. Hell, if you close your eyes, it almost feels like you're on a road trip.
Ten or so minutes pass in relative silence. You pass an overturned car off the side of the road, skid marks leading into a nearby tree. Otherwise the trip is unmarked by anything out of the ordinary.
Until, that is, you round a bend and a stench of rotting meat comes to your nostrils. You wrinkle your nose and peer ahead, rolling up the window.
A white fence borders a large, closed off area on a hillside. You can see several large piles of dead animal. As you come closer, see you see the flies, buzzing around and on the piles.
"Are those... buffalo?" you ask incredulously.
"Yeah," Jesse says. She points past the yard to a large white sign by the side of the highway.
Green Hills Buffalo Ranch
"I wonder what killed them," you say.
"Who knows?" Jesse shrugs. "Does it matter?"
"I guess not," you reply, but something inside you thinks it might.
***********************************
1. "Pull over. I want to check it out."
2. There's nothing for you here. Keep heading to Limestone.
***********************************
Poll
4 (66.7%)
Author
Topic: The Ends (Read 59226 times)