Day 02: Bound by Night

Group 2: Katrina, Troy, Dominic, Mathew, Ryan, Aisha
Location: Police Station

Dominic drove, passing over the dry dirt of the desert towards the heavily used trail they’d trekked on numerous occasions before. Katrina kept his company while Troy snored in the backseat. They’d been driving for nearly an hour, stopping only once to refuel the truck before continuing on to their destination. For most of the trip the scenery was pretty peaceful, aside from the occasional zombie, they hadn’t encountered anything rather unusual. Still, Katrina remained on guard just to be sure.

“Those people. They came out of nowhere. But the way they moved…all together like that, that was planned. They organized that hit on the compound and for what? A couple extra bottles of water? Has it really gotten that bad out here?” Katrina asked, staring wearily out the window. Dominic sighed, glancing over at her just briefly before turning his gaze back to the open road ahead of him. “We had plenty of room. We could have shared. I just don’t get it.”

“Those people didn’t seem like the ‘sharing’ type, Kat.”

“No. They seemed like the shoot first, ask questions never,” Troy said, stirring from slumber. “But like Katrina said, they were organized. They must have been watching us. They knew the exact moment to hit us. We never saw it coming.”

Several thoughts were going through their minds but no one spoke another word. The meeting place was just ahead and Dominic veered to the side of the road, pulling into an abandoned rest stop before shutting off the engine. He checked the time on the dashboard clock and cracked his door for air. They hadn’t seen anyone. And with communications shot to hell there was no way of contacting them either. They were completely in the dark about the status of everyone at that compound. But, they remained hopeful that they weren’t the only ones to survive.

“Where is everybody? We can’t wait around here all night. We’ll need to find shelter soon.” Katrina sighed, leaning back into her seat. Rubbing the back of her neck, she unbuckled her seat belt and hopped out of the door to stretch her legs.

Troy soon followed, stepping out into the brisk night air. Rubbing his arms for warmth, he took a few steps away from the truck and relieved himself beside a tree. Headlights from an oncoming vehicle bounced around the boundless dark and he peered over his shoulder, watching the approach.

“Who’s that?” Katrina asked, moving around the back of the truck to stand beside Dominic. She hadn’t seen anyone else on the drive up for this vehicle to appear so suddenly. A nervous sensation wrenched her gut as she wondered if they had been lying in wait for them here just like at the compound. The bright beams continued towards them and she squinted her eyes to see if she could identify the driver. The engine roared louder the closer they came and from the sound of it, it was a heavy vehicle. 

“That’s…not one of ours,” Dominic replied, slowly backing up towards the others. The grill of the military vehicle came more into focus and his eyes widened with fear. “No…no that’s definitely not one of us! Get back in the truck! NOW!”

“Let’s go! Let’s go! Move it!” Troy shouted, hopping into the passenger seat at the same time Katrina finished buckling herself into the back. Dominic started the engine and pulled out of his spot just as the large military vehicle stopped beside their truck, cornering them.

“Shit…” Katrina held her breath as she watched the passenger door open and dark, leather boots hit the dirt. Her eyes closed and she squeezed the handle of her weapon as she waited for the man to draw near.

Fingers tapped on the glass of the driver’s window and Dominic hesitated before rolling it down. “Hey, you folks alright out here?” a man with dark hair and hazel eyes asked, taking in the faces of everyone. He smiled at Katrina in the backseat before turning his attention back to Dominic and Troy.

“We’re fine. We were just on our way out of here if not for your front wheel,” Troy said, indicating the proximity of his vehicle.

“Sorry about that. My friend can be a little…childish.” The man waved over his shoulder and the large truck pulled away a few feet. “He thinks it’s funny.”

“Yeah? Well it’s not. And you should tell your friend to be more careful,” Katrina said, taking her hand off her weapon, making sure the stranger heard the safety click. “These days you never know who’s on the butt end of a joke.”

“You’re right, Ma’am, and I apologize if he startled anyone. I’m Mathew, by the way. I’m a Staff Sergeant with the U.S. Army,” he said, extending a hand to Dominic who ignored the gesture. “Corporal Crawfield and I just got to town. I don’t suppose you folks could point us in the direction of the police station? Ryan and I were kinda hoping to get acquainted with the local authorities and offer our services.”

“Your services?” Troy asked behind a watery laugh. “Do you have any idea what’s going on around here? There are no ‘local authorities’ hell there’s barely even a town left. Everyone and everything has been infected by that fucking plague.”

“Are you kidding me?” Mat asked, looking over their faces as if searching them for the truth. “What about the news report?”

“What news report?” Dominic asked, glancing over Mathew’s shoulder towards the driver of the large transport. He’d hopped down from the cab and was making his way over.

“We heard a report instructing anyone who could to get to Fairhaven. BioCore was supposedly working on a cure to prevent further spread of the disease.”

“That’s all a lie,” Katrina replied, leaning back into her seat. “Fairhaven is gone. If you’re smart you’ll stay as far away from that disease ridden hell hole as possible. The only thing BioCore has done is make sure those of us who survived have to look over our shoulders for the rest of our lives.”

“Then why would it be on the radio?” Ryan chimed in, folding his arms into his chest as he stared towards Katrina. She shrugged and he scoffed, backing towards the driver’s door again. “Come on, Mat, let’s get out of here. These people aren’t being straight with us.”

“Fine. You do what you want. But if I were you, I’d keep my gun locked and loaded.” Dominic added before putting the truck in drive. “Now if you’ll excuse us. We have to find shelter before those things find us.”

Mathew took his hand off the door and backed up enough for Dominic to move. “So what’s the plan?” Ryan asked as his senior officer moved towards him.

“We follow them. Until we know what’s what.”

“They’re still back there,” Katrina said, watching the headlights of the military truck pulse behind them.

Dominic pulled over and he and Troy hopped out. Katrina held their cover from her position in the backseat as they made their approach to the vehicle. Mathew jumped down from the transport and started forward, hands in the air to show he presented no threat. “Why are you following us?”

“As I said, we’re new in town and are just trying to collect our bearings.”

“What does that have to do with us?” Troy asked, keeping his weapon pinned on the man while Dominic kept Ryan in his sights.

“You seemed to know this town and what’s going on. My friend and I just want the same thing. We mean no harm. We just want answers.”

“Forgive us for being a little skeptical,” Dominic started, “We’re having a hard time trusting strangers these days.”

“Completely understandable but again we’re not a threat.”

“Everyone’s a threat these days,” Troy said, motioning towards his truck. “You got weapons back there?”

“It’s a military vehicle. What do you think?” Mathew asked sarcastically. 

“I think that makes you a threat,” he replied, squeezing the grip of his weapon tighter. Movement caught Dominic’s attention out of the corner of his eye and he quickly aimed his weapon in its general direction. Three zombies soon came into view, shuffling and dragging their dead limbs. Troy watched as Mathew’s hand moved to his weapon but he never retrieved his sidearm.

For a moment no one dared make a sound. The silence was only broken with the rasping hum of the undead. “You want to get to the police station?” Troy asked. Mathew nodded, keeping his eyes on the stragglers heading their way. “Fine. We’ll take you there.”

Dominic glanced at him briefly, wondering what was going through his mind before moving back to the driver’s side and hopping behind the wheel. “What was that about? ‘We’ll take you there’? We have problems of our own to worry about, Troy, without inviting more. What were you thinking?”

“I’m thinking I’d like to get a look at what they have in the back of that truck,” Troy said, glancing at their new friends through the side view mirror. “Who knows? They may have everything we need to make it through this nightmare.”

“We can’t trust them,” Ryan sighed, slowing his speed as he moved closer to the group.

“I don’t intend to,” Mathew said, keeping his eye on the bumper of the truck in front of them. “But if anything they may prove useful for the days ahead.”

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