We Are Risen

Chapter Nine

When we departed, I took a large piece of cardboard and wrote on it, before slipping it in between the bars on the window. I had written in large, black letters:

TAKE WHAT YOU NEED, AND TRY AND SURVIVE. SOMEHOW.

~D

I handed Dirk the keys to my truck, and he chuckled at my little cat pendant. We made our way down to the garage, and Toby took his helmet off his motorcycle handlebars and handed it to me. I took it, and then we all went over to my truck and piled our bags into the back seat. Dirk got in the driver's seat, Bryson slid into the middle beside him, and Ally climbed in the passenger seat. Toby climbed onto his motorcycle, and I threw my leg over the seat behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist. We peeled out of the garage and out onto the street. We went south, away from the city. There were three more small towns, Wellton, Kingsgate, and South Lancaster. I lived right outside of Wellton. We had to take the back roads again because the highway was still backed up from everyone trying to get out of the city. Most of the cars have been abandoned by now, anyway.

We had to go way deep into the back roads just to be able to get the cars out of town. By now we were surrounded by woods. Trees were on both sides, and the branches were hanging over the road, blocking out some of the light. My braid flew behind me as we drove down the road. Every once in a while, we'd see a biter or two wandering the road. At one point I saw a little girl, and she was so fresh that I thought she was alive, but I was sorely mistaken. After about two hours of driving the back roads, the truck sputtered to a stop in front of us. Toby slowed the bike to a stop behind it, and we climbed off. I turned in a full circle, a sinking feeling settling in the pit of my stomach. There was nothing but trees on either side of us, and they were so dense you couldn't even see ten feet through the foliage.

"I have a bad feeling about this place," I warned Toby, grabbing him by the sleeve.

I instinctively looked down at the tomahawk attached to my belt.

"What the hell happened, Dad?" Toby asked as his father stepped out of my truck, followed by Ally and Bryson.

"I swear to God, if something happened to my truck," I warned, scanning the area again. 

Dirk chuckled, running his fingers through his mustache. 

"Nothin's wrong with the truck, Dee," he promised me. "It just ran out of gas. We've been runnin' on fumes for the past hour."

I groaned, running a hand over my face while I tried to think of a solution. 

"Okay," I said in a tired voice. 

I walked over to my truck and jumped into the back, going over to a large toolbox that was there. I undid the latches and opened it, taking out a large gas can and a clear plastic hose. 

"We look for a car," I told them. "And we siphon some gas."

Bryson raised an eyebrow. "How in the hell do you know how to siphon gas?"

I looked down. 

"My stepdad made me steal gas for his car a couple of times," I mumbled. "Uh, but I think three people should stay here with our supplies, and two of us will go look for gas."

Toby was the first to step up. "I'll go with you."

He reached into his boot and pulled out his switchblade. I was glad he stepped up because I was still mad at Ally. We haven't spoken a word since I snapped at her last night. Toby took the gas can out of my hand, pausing to brush his fingers over my knuckles.

"If we're not back in thirty minutes, fire a shot into the sky," Toby told them. "Do the same thing if you run into trouble."

Dirk, Ally, and Bryson nodded, and Toby and I decided to set off. I felt anxious, and that feeling grew when I turned and realized I couldn't see the truck or my friends anymore. We were walking down a fairly large hill, and I found myself looking into the trees, and jumping when I heard any sort of noise. At one point Toby stepped on a dry branch and snapped it, and I panicked and nearly started to cry. Toby grabbed my hand and comforted me, asking me what was wrong.