Restless

Chapter 8

Neri occupied herself with the loose hem on her jean shorts as they were driving, knowing that it would be at least 9 hours. They hoped the jerrycans were enough to fill it, and agreed to stop at another gas station to fill up again if it was necessary. Eleni got bored within the first twenty minutes, and began to sing under her breath once again. It wasn't long before Neri joined it, singing softly as they sped down the road.

They also knew that it was getting notably cooler, with the warm breeze of Florida far behind their tailgate. From 11 a.m. that day to the early evening, they continued the trend of switching off every now and then to make sure that neither of them felt stressed or contracted a headache. It was three shifts that they got to before the sun started to set to the left of them, and Neri pulled over to the side of the road.

"We haven't gotten any sleep for the past three days," she stated. "Maybe now that we're mostly safe, we can."

Eleni nodded. "I'll go out back to push down the rear seats."

She opened the door and walked around back, like she had so often with her jade-green Jeep. Eleni sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. She still missed her Jeep, and wondered who had it now. Whomever did have it was going to have their faces bashed in when Eleni got her hands on them...and that was after Neri managed to scare them shitless. She had to admit, Neri could definitely be intimidating if she wanted to. If they did start an argument with a passing group, Eleni would leave it to Neri to make the opposing side back down.

The hatch opened, which had some dirt smears along the crimson exterior. The leather seats folded back when she pulled the lever and pushed, and by then Neri had already walked to her side. Under the seats was an emergency package, which contained a fire blanket among other supplies; such as a shovel and a first aid kit.

"Do you think that'll keep us warm?" Eleni inquired.

"Worth a shot. I think it'll keep the heat in."

Neri walked back around, shutting off the engine and lights so no Restless would be drawn to it when the sun did set. She came back around, to see Eleni bundled up in the blanket on her gym bag to make sure she didn't lose any body heat to the flooring. She was already fast asleep. Without further ado, Neri crawled in, shut the hatch, and wrapped herself up in the fire blanket next to Eleni.

That next morning, Neri woke up to Eleni munching on the dried apples from the gas station days before. She helped herself to a bag, and while neither of them said it, both felt refreshed from the one night of sleep they had gotten. Breakfast was short and sweet, but they managed to salvage the water bottles to have for later.

Neri offered to drive first, and Eleni sat in the passenger's seat, asleep once again.

"This girl can never get enough sleep," Neri whispered, and gave a glance to her sleeping friend. "Just another few hours, then we'll be in New York."

For another hour or so, only the humming of the engine filled the air as Neri drove down the highway. It seemed that the area around them was becoming more populated, because some wandering Restless were spotted near the roadside. When more and more dotted the area that Neri navigated through, she finally shook Eleni's shoulder.

"Wake up," she said. Eleni groaned. "There's more Restless than before."

With that, Eleni woke up almost immediately. She sighed as she looked out the window, and frowned. "Why is there more?"

"Because we're near New York. I bet DED hit here the hardest."

The tall skyscrapers and ruins of New York City's districts began to grow as they came closer, and the grassy parks were burnt and dead. The giant screens that were hung on buildings had fallen, others still suspended by one or two remaining cables. The billboards that used to be filled with ads were now covered in a layer of dust, and some had blood smears. Some of the stone sculptures had toppled over, leaving rubble on the roads or on the lawns. There was the everlasting touch of bodies on the ground, some mutilated, and others beyond deformed. Eleni wouldn't have been surprised if people had jumped from the windows of office buildings and call centers to take their own lives, all to avoid the apocalypse. While both of them knew very well that they shouldn't have entered New York because of how many Restless there would be, the detour around the colossal city would have cost them hours more; enough that could cause them to run out of gas.