3 | We Who Survive the Apocalypse | ✅

Chapter 21 - Crazy

The silence is heavy, only interrupted once in a while by a distant gunshot or echoed scream. I hold Doyle in my arms, his head resting on my shoulder, his hands on my back. He stopped crying a while ago, but we still hold on to each other.

Again, another death and I haven't cried. Is there something wrong with me? Or have I just become numb to death by now? I mean, I see dead bodies walking around almost every day. But it's probably because I didn't know her very well. Sure, she was with us for a little while, but...I don't know.

I just feel like I should cry. Hudson shed a few tears, and Kat tried to murder him. Kat never did a thing to me, and I can't even cry one single tear.

My thoughts are broken when Izzy stands up from crouching beside Seth and states, "I'm going to steal one of their trucks."

"What? Are you crazy?" Hudson asks from behind me.

Izzy shrugs. "Yeah. That's why I've lived this long. There's a road not far from here, y'all can make your way there, and I'll meet you there with the truck."

Seth groans softly and Izzy tells him not to argue with her.

Doyle slowly breaks our embrace, sitting back and shaking his head. "No, Izzy, we need to stay together."

She rolls her eyes. "If I don't go get a truck, how in the hell are we supposed to get out of here? I mean, neither Seth nor Mara can walk. I'll make it back. Seriously, I just stuffed a guy - that I killed - into a washing machine. I'm good."

"What?!" Hudson sounds shocked, and I have to remind myself that he hasn't known Izzy as long as we have.

"Yeah, I stuffed a body in a washing machine! It's the fucking end of the world, get over it!" Izzy snaps at him before turning back to Doyle. "Look, I'm getting a truck, and that's the end of it. If you wanna come with me or something, that's fine, but you'll probably just hold me back."

"Do you even know how to drive?" I ask.

"It can't be that hard! Gas pedal, break pedal, steering wheel. Now get to that road and wait for me, I won't be more than an hour."

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Sure enough, not long after we drag ourselves to side of the road, a truck comes rumbling into view. And we can tell by the way it's being driven that it's Izzy. Choppy, lurching. But surprisingly well for someone who has presumably never driven before.

She comes to a stop just as Doyle and I step out of our makeshift hiding place in some thick bushes. The driver's side door is thrown open, and she hops out, an expression of pride upon her face.

"Told you!" She says, "and I didn't even have to kill anyone!"

"Great, now where do we go from here?" I ask.

"There's a trailer park not far from here," she says, "now let's hurry up before those people clean up the mess we made."

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"Even if we could move her, we couldn't take her to Finley, anyway," Doyle tells Izzy and I in a hushed voice.

"I'll go. If they decide to try anything, I'll get out quick," Izzy suggests, but Doyle shakes his head.

"No, it's too much of a risk."

"But so is not doing anything!" Izzy retorts, "I mean, you're risking two lives by not sending me, when you would only risk one by sending me!"

"You can't just risk yourself like that though," he replies. His brow is furrowed with the weight of the decision before him. I can't help but slide my hand into his.

"Oh come on! I can take care of myself - I've more than proved that. And if I do die, I'll go out in a blaze of glory, which is fine with me, and anyway, we can't just stand by and risk Mara and the kid, either. She's getting worse, and if she dies, Rogan's gonna go over the edge, and you don't wanna see that. Trust me."

"Izzy —" Doyle cuts off when Izzy turns away, heading for the door.

Doyle and I go to follow her, but Hudson calls for Doyle from Mara's room.

"Go, I'll try to reason with her," I tell him. He nods, and we go our separate ways.

I rush out the door, calling Izzy's name, only to see her headed for the truck.

"Izzy, stop!" I manage to grab her arm, and try to keep her from moving away, but she jerks free of my grasp.

"You stop, Wynne!" She spits, "I have to do this, and you know it! You know it's the only option!"

She starts stomping off toward the truck, but I chase after her again. "Then let Hudson go! They don't know his face."

She scoffs. "Yeah, and he doesn't know the way there, and he won't make them do what we need them to. I will."

"But it's dumb to send anyone in the first place! They could follow you back, attack us!"

"It's either go get someone and possibly be followed and then they take pity on us when they see the condition we're all in, or let Mara die. And if she dies, the kid dies, and then Rogan goes nuts, and then I would have to kill him! And the last part I wouldn't mind so much, but it's the rest of it that I don't like! So shut up, I'm going!" Izzy shouts, yanking open the driver's door of the truck and climbing into the cab. 

She reaches out to slam the door shut, but I grab it and keep her from closing it. "Let me go with you," I say, but she groans.

"No, you have to stay here and help keep the peace, okay? You have to keep Hudson from freaking out, you gotta help Seth, help Mara, you need to take care of your boyfriend. And if anything happens, you need to be here to help fight Rogan if he goes nuts. Now let go of the damn door."

I sigh, letting go of the door and watching as she closes it, cranks the truck, and lurches away, managing not to hit anything. She appears so young, yet acts like a grumpy thirty-year-old man. I really don't understand it.

Reluctantly, I turn back to the crappy mobile home we're holed up in. I know I need to go back inside, and do exactly what Izzy told me to, but I...don't want to. I don't do well with stress.

I want to stay out here, where I can breathe, where I don't have to face reality, where I can watch the sun break the horizon and pretend everything is fine.

But I take a deep breath and head back inside.

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Woohoo!!! At long last, I updated!!