Stranded

Stranded - Chapter 31

Chapter 31

He turned away and sat against the wall, leaving me upset and speechless. I wiped my face on my threadbare blazer and looked around the group. They all looked distraught. I had to turn away, I couldn't bear to watch Lewis die. Faye rushed over to me and helped me turn on my crutches. "I guess we better go," Bradley said.

We headed to the exit, but no one was in a rush. It was like we didn't care about anything anymore. Josh was dead, Lewis was dying, who was next? I limped with my crutches, Tom and Faye standing behind me.

Bradley opened the door and we saw a huge car park containing only a few cars. "What now?" Faye asked quietly. There were no zombies in sight but we couldn't be certain. It was deathly quiet.

"Look at all these cars," Lauren said, hinting at an idea.

"If we took one, where would we go?" Bradley replied, answering Lauren's theoretical suggestion.

"My house is near school," I said, "we could go there, providing its not infested with zombies," I said, my stomach turning. I wished I hadn't said that. Maybe it was a bad idea going home, my family, my neighbours - they could all be dead.

Bradley nodded, thoughtfully. He lead us to a land rover. "Tom, give me your dagger," he ordered. Tom cautiously gave it to Bradley.

Without warning, Bradley smashed the dagger through the front window. It made us all jump. He reached his hand into the car and unlocked the door. We watched, impressed. "Everyone get in the car, I just need to reconnect the wires to get the engine working," he said.

Faye hopped in the front, whilst Tom, Lauren and I sat in the back. I put my crutches on my lap.

We watched out the windows, making sure nothing was coming. It was surprising how deserted the car park was. "Wait, Brad, you're driving?" Tom asked.

"I guess so, it can't be that hard. And it's not like the police are going to come after me, they're probably all dead," we stayed silent, not arguing. It made me think about how much had changed in the past few weeks. We'd gone from having everything we could ever want, to having to scavenge for food, steal cars and hope our families are still alive. Not to mention the fear of having dead people murder you.

Suddenly the engine roared, "Yes! It's working!" Bradley announced, getting into the drivers seat. He looked at us all and smiled. I'd never seen him smile before.

"So that's it then? We're getting away from here?" Faye asked, excitedly.

"I guess," Bradley replied.

I sat in the back, thinking, my head resting against the car window. I was glad I was going home, getting away from school, but that didn't mean my parents were still alive.

And that didn't mean we were safe...