9 Chapter 9

Four weeks later

We were leaving the house.

There had been a military broadcast on the radio two days ago. We had decided to go to the location mentioned, Goldcrest, because it would be extremely difficult, maybe even impossible, to make it on our own any longer. There was also the amount of infected showing up on a daily basis. We had already lost two of our neighbours staying at Faye's house, reducing our number from twenty three to twenty one. We hadnt seen any other dog-like infected after that night.

Goldcrest was a gated residential in a place called Westwilde. Cassandra deemed that we should get there in a couple of hours by driving after she studied a map. We had packed our things into the cars and were now leaving the house. It was excruciating to leave the house without knowing when we would be back or if we would be back. I felt my lungs tighten with incredible force as the emotion washed over me like a tidal wave but I didn't cry. It wouldn't make sense if I did. We're all leaving home and if anyone should cry, it should be Alison and she was already doing that.

She bawled as Zeke carried her to the car while some of the neighbours killed the infected that got too close to the four cars we were taking. Debbie was also crying but that was not surprising. Her reason for crying was that we were all going to die and hearing her chant it like it was her fucking mantra was starting to get on my nerves.

"You can stay if you want to Debbie," I said as I walked to the car.

She paused for a moment before her brows furrowed. "My name's not Debbie."

Yeah, right.

Zeke turned back, confusion written all over his face as he looked at Debbie. "It's not?"

He wasn't faking the confusion and that was enough to make me laugh. I grip the back of his shirt as he gets to the car door to stop him and get in first. Cassandra and Daniel were going to be in the front while Ezra, Zeke, Alison and I were going to be in the back and I didn't want to be trapped in the middle.

After a while, the rest of them got in and Cassandra turned in the driver's seat, holding out something. It was a keychain, the house key attached to it, and I immediately collect it. Alison stops crying after I wear it around my neck, probably hoping we would come back someday. It was the same thing I hoped.

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It was night already. Most of the roads had been clogged with cars, requiring us to look for other roads and prolonging our trip. Hae In was in the car with us since the one she was in had overheated while the others had gotten into the other cars. I could hear she and Zeke talking about what they thought Goldcrest would be like. Ezra was the one driving now with Cassandra and Alison in the passenger's seat.

It was calming, curled up on Daniel's lap with my head on his shoulder and looking out the window to see trees only. It felt like we were on a road trip.

"We're stopping for the night," Cassandra said.

"I want to sleep like this." I snuggle closer to Daniel as he locks his hands around me.

Zeke makes a gagging sound after the car stops and Cassandra gets out.

"I'm cuddly bitch. Deal with it," Daniel said, earning a raised eyebrow from Zeke as the pickup truck stops next to us.

"Language," Ezra states and I narrow my eyes at him.

"Language?" I ask the same time Zeke says, "Daniel broke dad's TV."

Pretty sure no one cares.

"So..." Alison drawls. "You know no one cares about that, right?"

We all laughed except for Zeke who shot Alison a disapproving look.

"I thought I was your favourite," he whines.

Alison kneels on the seat and places her head on the headrest. "Ezekiel..." she gives him a blank look. "Come on."

We all laugh again and Jack begins to bark outside the door.

"Then who is your favourite?" Hae In asked.

"Enny," she said and I couldn't stop myself from smirking and nodding at the same time.

"Oh, come on," Zeke said. "That's because she gave you all her chocolate."

I gave it to her because she had nightmares sometimes and wouldn't be able to fall back asleep.

She stuck her tongue out at him as she opened the door and Jack climbed in. I saw most of our neighbours out of their cars through the rear windshield. I opened the door and got down to stretch my legs.

"Language?" Hae In inquired and Ezra let out an exasperated sigh.

I stretch my arms above my head as I let out a yawn. The night air was a bit chilly so I was more than grateful when Daniel wrapped his arms around me. I leaned into him and let out another yawn.

"What are you trying to swallow?" Clareta asked as she climbed into the bed of the pickup truck before she laughed. "That's what she said."

Zeke, Hae In and five of our neighbours were on first watch. Alison had propped her legs onto the dashboard and leaned her seat back while Faye, Roshni and Debbie joined Clareta in the bed of the truck. After we all ate the sandwich we made before leaving home, Daniel and I got back in the car. The backseat wasn't a very comfortable place to sleep in but we made it work and it didn't take long for me to fall asleep.

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It was predawn when we woke up. We ate the spaghetti and sauce which Roshni's mum had made before we got back on the road. Daniel had showed me the basics of loading a gun and I repeated the process till I became bored. The car was quiet since we had run out of things to talk about and games to play.

Thrill surged through my body when I saw the sign on the road. Westwilde 5 Miles, Belmont 1 Mile. Alison squealed when she saw it too and conversation started again. Zeke pulled his phone out of his jacket and after a few seconds 'Fuck Tha Police' filled the car. My mouth fell open before he ended it but Cassandra was already staring at him with a bewildered look on her face.

Alison buried her face in her hands as her body shook with laughter while Ezra tried and failed to stifle a laugh. Zeke shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Cassandra kept staring at him before she burst into laughter. He frowned as everyone joined and looked out the window. Three armed men suddenly appeared on the road and we stopped laughing.

"Get down!" Cassandra yelled when they raised their weapons.

The terrifying sound of gunfire began and Daniel wrapped his hands around me, pushing me down. I heard the window shatter and shards rained on me as the car swerved to the left. More gun shots went off and I realized they were now shooting the other cars.

Ezra barrelled down the road and didnt stop till we saw a sign that read Welcome to Belmont, pop. 2,548. I let out a shuddering exhale and clung onto Daniel as I struggled to calm my pounding heart. The realization of how close we'd come to dying, finally started to sink in and I found myself fighting back tears.