Survival or Struggle?

"Now CC, mind telling us what's up with you?" Jinxx asked. CC said nothing, his dark eyes on the road. He obviously wasn't up to telling anyone what was wrong with him.

Andy and Jake weren't about to push, looking at each other from where they were sitting. CC had been through a lot, but they did need answers. They were all worried about him. But at the same time, they felt selfish for asking. Jinxx seemed to be the only one wanting to push though. And it probably wasn't such a good idea with CC driving and all. Andy looked at CC now, noticing the white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel and shook his head slightly at Jinxx. The journey continued with tension so thick, Andy could cut it with a knife. The drive didn't last too much longer in silence though. Suddenly, the car jolted and CC had to swerve quite dangerously before slamming the car to a halt on the side of the road.

"What the hell just happened?!" Jake exclaimed.

Andy turning in his seat to see that Jinxx and Jake had a hold on Ashley that would have been a death grip if they hadn't known about his head injury. CC got out without a word and shut the door, going around to Jinxx's side of the car(back passenger side door) and let out a growl that almost sounded similar to a big cat. With a shrug, Andy went to join CC outside the car and looked down at the problem that made their ride give out like it had. It was the tire, and it was shredded. Andy wasn't too sure what could have caused it, but it seems CC did.

"Someone shot out the tire." CC said, letting out another cat-like growl. It made Andy take a couple of steps back.

"Wait...who would shoot out a tire?" Andy asked, pointing to the shredded remains of it. CC shrugged, more tense than he was before.

"I don't know, but they stopped us for a reason. Which only means one thing." CC said, going back to the car and opening Jinxx's door, who protested a little. He shut up after CC glared at him though.

"Which is?" Andy asked.

"We're walking. Let's go." CC said tersely, grabbing Ashley gently in a bridal style-like fashion and started to walk ahead of them. The others looked at each other, grabbed all their weapons and left the remains of the car. They had a time catching up with CC, seeing as his long strides put him ahead quite quickly.

They walked a ways, seeing other cars with a similar situation: tire shot out and left to rot. It wasn't a good sign for them. Then again, nothing was. All their good signs and everything pleasant left after...chaos started. If you want to call it that. They walked for hours, using the cars for cover when one or two zombies were around. No use in killing them when they could stealthily move away. That was until they got to a turn in the road. Rounding the turn, CC stopped short and backed up a little. The others followed suit quickly, seeing as CC's reflexes seemed more heightened than theirs.

"What's wrong?" Jinxx asked CC, his brow furrowing in confusion.

They hadn't exactly seen what made CC back up so quickly. But the noises that were around grew loud enough for the rest of them to hear. There were zombies around, and not enough cover from where they were rounding the corner. They'd be seen, be driven back the other way, or trapped. Or both, which was a scary thought as any. Jinxx closed his eyes and took a deep breath. They had to come up with another plan, he didn't think they had to. But someone seemed to like shooting out car tires and make the people stranded on the road to be turned into monsters.

"Anyone got any ideas?" Andy asked. No one said anything.

"How about we just wing it?" Jake asked, shrugging.

They didn't have anywhere to hide. The others seemed to agree, so Andy went along with it. Even if it was a dangerous plan, it was the only one they had at this point. It was either wing or just stand here and wait for something to come kill/eat them. So they made their way around the turn in the road, walking towards the zombies milling around the cars. The idea came to Andy suddenly, looking at the others.

"What about we climb on the cars? It'll be some sort of barrier between these things." Andy whispered.

The others nodded pretty easily, the only one to really worry about was Ashley. He hadn't woken up yet, which was concerning. They readied themselves as they walked closer to the zombies and to their makeshift bridge made of different sets of cars and trucks. CC was the first one to climb on top of a car, only because the others let him go ahead. He had Ashley, so CC needed to get to safety first. A zombie tried to attack Jinxx and Jake was able to kill it before hoisting himself up on the car and helped Jinxx up, Andy being last and helped up as well.

The zombies, who were drawn to the presence of gunfire, were all around them as they walked and climbed across the bridge of cars ahead of them. At one point while they were trying to climb into a bed of a truck, a zombie attacked, swiping at Jake. Andy was able to save him from falling and being eaten, Jake giving him a tense smile before continuing to traverse the path of cars they bad before them. It was working until there was a two to three car gap before them. They just looked at each other, jumped off, and ran like hell. If there were zombies in the way, they'd deal with them. They had no choice. As zombies came from all around them, CC's stride was able to carry him to a car to get to him to safety.

Andy, Jake, and Jinxx fought every zombie they came towards them. Some came pretty close to trying to chew on their necks. But they made it, barely. Who knew so little a gap could hold so much danger. Andy swiped some blood and gore off his cheek and flung it to the ground, grimacing. The only ones that hadn't been covered in gore was CC and Ashley(who was still unconscious). They then ran across the cars, sometimes leaping from one to another in a haste to put some distance between them and the zombies. Once the line of cars ended, they all landed on the ground, they took off. They heard the zombies running after them, making them run faster. If they didn't have energy then, they did now. They rounded another turn and CC led them to a tunnel, They had their weapons at the ready, and CC, somehow, was able to tell them where to shoot.

Once getting out of the dark tunnel, more cars lined the sides of the roads. They thought they wouldn't be able to outrun the zombies this time. But one zombie, tripped(or was clumsy before becoming a zombie, whose to know), and knocked itself into a car and set off an alarm. They stopped only when they were able to round another bend in the road. Jake was the one that stopped and looked. Jinxx heard the sigh of relief and went to look quickly before sighing in relief himself.

"What?" Andy asked curiously and out of breath.

"The zombies are attacking the car with the alarm." Jinxx stated.

Andy's shoulders sagged in relief and CC looked pretty relieved himself. Another noise made their heads snap to police cruiser, its radio crackling to life. It was almost drowned out by the car alarm not too far from them. Andy led the way this time to the car and leaned his head in to listen to whatever was on the other end. The radio crackled and Andy stuck his head back out. The others waited, wondering what Andy heard.

"It's a broadcast. There's a safe zone about ten miles from the next town we come to. Food, water, rooms to sleep in, medical attention." Andy listed, looking at Ashley as he said the last one.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" Jake said.

CC seemed tense, but Andy left it alone for now. They had a plan, now they had somewhere to go. And Ashley could get some medical attention. And maybe, some answers on what happened to CC.

Notes