Decimation (Ianthony Apocalypse AU)

day fifty-six

chompers seen: i'd say about a thousand

chompers killed: 6

near-death experiences: 7

human deaths witnessed: 5

friends left behind: 6

camps infiltrated: 2

dead friends: 2

Saying goodbye to Jonah was harder than I'd ever imagined.

Soon after waking up and eating a quick breakfast, he'd told us him and Michaela were staying with her parents. Which I'd expected, but it still sent a pang of hurt through my chest. But at the same time, it made me believe things really were looking up; maybe soon, we'd all be in our respectful homes and meet up at a bar every few weeks to drink beer and talk about work and our families and our lives. Or maybe, a massive wave of chompers would destroy the city once and for all.

"You know, I'm not trying to put myself on a pedestal, but Ken wasn't gonna stop the truck."

I looked behind me, from where I zipped my backpack up in the bedroom Anthony and I had slept in. I looked at Anthony, then Jonah as he entered the room.

"The first night, I mean," he continued, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Martha saw you guys, and told him to stop, and I remember him saying something like 'we don't have time' or something. But I was like, 'listen, get your head out of your ass and stop the truck. We are not gonna be the people that don't help others when they're about to die.'"

"So," Anthony said, smiling a little, "what you're trying to say is you saved our lives?"

"Well, no." Jonah chuckled. "You two don't give yourselves enough credit. You would've gotten yourselves out of that mess somehow. I've seen what you can do." He stood up. "Thanks for everything, guys. Seriously."

"Thank you." I smiled. "Seriously."

"Make sure we get wedding invitations," Anthony said.

"Are you kidding?" Jonah laughed. "You guys are my two best men!"

~

Anthony stared off ahead as he walked. I could tell how panicked he was, but of course, he didn't want everyone to know. 

I squeezed his hand, and he glanced down, his face slackening a little.

"She's gonna be there," I reassured him, smiling. "We're just a minute away."

He took a deep breath, nodding. "Yeah. I know."

"What street is it on? If we're where I think we are, we live pretty close," Henry asked, glancing over his shoulder at us.

"It's on Friedman," Anthony said.

"Oh, yeah! Friedman. We're over on Blackstone. We could probably make it there by tomorrow."

"Really?" Aaron looked at us. "Where are you guys?"

"Still a while east," Anthony responded. "His parents' house is on the way, though, so we can probably spend a night there and make it there by sundown the next day."

"Have any suggestions on where we could crash for a while?" Aaron asked, his arm around Jenna. "We'll probably go back to L.A. eventually, but this place seems a little more held together."

"You could always stay with us," I chimed in. "It's not very big, but we could make it work. And there's been a house for sale across the street for years now. You could always move in there for a while."