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“Clearly.”
“So exactly like that situation. Well, only the part about having a flat tire. So it’s like any other situation,” Max adds, and I notice the growing frustration in Griffin.
I motion with my good arm at all the cars in front of ours. “There are literally dozens, if not hundreds, of cars right here. Take one of those.”
“You did this on purpose, so I can’t leave, didn’t you?” Emily asks, her voice muffled from where she’s buried halfway in the trunk, rummaging through the supplies. Griffin packed them in tight so she struggles. Max uses his hands to hold up the top of the wall of supplies so it doesn’t topple and crush her.
“What are you doing? I spent all morning organizing that.” Griffin rounds the car to see that Emily has made a mess of the trunk. What was once a carefully organized tetris of luggage and supplies is now chaos, courtesy of Emily and her sidekick Max.
“Looking for the first aid kit. I don’t know why you didn’t put it in a place that’s easier to grab, like in front.”
Griffin silently reaches around her and pulls out the kit that’s tucked in the corner right in front. “You mean like this?”
“Oh.” Emily looks over at me and I think it’s to see how I’m doing, but then her eyes widen and all she says is “Oh” again.
“What are you doing?” Griffin growls.
“Stopped the bleeding. I didn’t want to see how long I had to wait for your bickering to end before passing out from blood loss.” I wave my arm that’s covered in a makeshift bandage made from my shirt. While it wasn’t my intention, I enjoy the way Emily’s eyes move up and down my body.
She’s so distracted that she doesn’t notice the pile of partially carved wooden pieces that she knocks out of the trunk.
“Watch what you’re doing. You’re knocking everything out.”
“Shit, sorry. Wait—Griffin, what are these?” Emily holds up two pieces I recognize as some of the failed attempts from the early days of the dead rising. I look at Griffin, waiting to see what kind of response he gives her, and whether he’ll tell her the truth.
Griffin snatches them out of her hands and tosses them haphazardly into the trunk with a grunt. “It’s nothing. An old hobby that I don’t do anymore.”
“Why not?” Emily asks, looking genuinely curious.
“Because wood carving isn’t fun anymore. All it does is bring me stress rather than relieve it. Because hobbies died along with the rest of the world, and because I don’t need to explain myself to you.”
“That last one isn’t an actual reason, but I get the sentiment,” Emily says.
“I’m not sure we’ll be able to get through, but there are enough cars here that I’ll be shocked if we can’t find a decent tire. Worst case, we hot wire a car,” Max calls back to us.
“Do you know how to hot wire a car?” Emily asks, pulling the first aid kit from Griffin’s hand.
“Not at all, but what better time to learn than this?” Max bends down and starts inspecting the tires.
“Why not take a car with a key in it? Few people took their keys when they abandoned them. Or died,” Emily points out. “Find a car with a rotter in the driver’s seat, and we’re good to go.”
Griffin lets out a sigh. “If we switch cars, I’ll have to reorganize all of this all over again.”
“That shouldn’t be an issue, considering Emily already messed up your beautiful work,” Max says.
Ignoring them, I move to a nearby van and climb on top of it. They’ll find a tire in no time, but it’ll be a waste to try moving forward if the path is too blocked off to get through.
“What are you doing? I haven’t patched you up yet,” Emily says, holding up the first aid kit.
“In a minute. Something isn’t right.” I squint my eyes and hold my hand against my forehead to block out the sun. The highway graveyard is larger than I realized. We might squeeze through or get around, but it wouldn’t be easy.
“Found one. Hand me that jack,” Max exclaims from below.
“Will you get down here and let me fix you up?”
I tune everyone out and focus on the small movement I thought I saw up ahead. Maybe it was a bird that’s long gone. Maybe it wasn’t anything. Still, I wait.
Then I see it. The sullen, rotting face. It creeps through the wreckage. It wouldn’t be a big deal if it weren’t for the one following. And then the one after that. Shit. “Everyone needs to get somewhere safe. Now.”
