𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 | 𝐜.𝐛

6

Isabella

Religious references.

When I wake up, my head is on Colby's shoulder. Groaning, I sit up and stretch out. 

"Morning," Colby rasps from next to me. It's one of the sexiest things I've heard.

"Morning," I groan back. Opening the door, I slip out of the seat. Colby follows and we walk to the back of the truck.

"Sleeping like that is not comfortable," he groans. He lifts his arms above his head to stretch. It pulls his shirt up and exposes his lower abdomen. I look away before he notices. We unhook the latch and lift up the door. Tara and Jake are still asleep but everyone else is awake. "We need to talk about where we want to go."

"I mean, has anyone heard or seen anything about any refugee camps?" Sam questions.

"We could see if we can find an abandoned town or a house," I suggest. "And pray people aren't already there."

"What about Sacramento?" Kat suggests.

"We could check," Colby nods. "Plus, it's not that long of a drive."

"We could go there and rest for a while and then keep going," I suggest.

"Yeah," a few people agree.

"Okay," Colby nods, "that's the plan then. Anyone want to drive?"

"Nope," everyone says. Colby sighs before going back to the front of the truck.

"Sam, you want to go back up?" I ask.

"Nah, you can stay up there," he smirks.

"Oh, so that's where you went last night," Devyn teases. Smiling, I roll my eyes and shut the door before locking it. When I get back in the truck, Colby starts it up and pulls off. We drive in silence for a while.

"Have you tried turning the radio on?" I ask.

"No, never really crossed my mind," he shrugs. Leaning over, I turn on the radio. Music begins blaring through the speakers, making us both jump. Laughing, I turn it down before looking at him. "That was quite the wake-up call."

"It really was," I laugh.

"How's your leg?" He asks, glancing at me.

"Better. A lot better."

"Shit," he groans.

"What?"

"I should have grabbed food from the back," he sighs.

"Pull over and I'll grab us something."

"No, it's fine."

"Colby, when was the last time you ate?"

"Before the raid yesterday."

"You need to eat. Let me go grab something." He sighs before pulling over. Quickly, I rush out of the truck and to the back. Everyone looks at me confused when I open the door.

"Is everything okay?" Tara asks. Nodding, I hop up into the truck and grab my backpack. I leave and close the door before going back up to the front. When I get in, I open my bag and give him a granola bar.

"It's not much, but it's something," I tell him. He takes it and I shove the bag down by my feet.

"You really didn't have to, Bella," he says and opens the bar. My eyebrows furrow.

"What'd you say?" I ask with a small smile.

"Bella?"

"No one's ever called me Bella."

"Really?" He questions, shocked.

"Yeah," I laugh, "my family wasn't really the 'nickname' kind of family. They always called their coworkers by their last name so it stuck and they called me Bennet."

"Hm," he hums. "I like Bella, it suits you. Also, you really didn't have to get me anything."

"It's fine. You're driving and you need to eat."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," I smile, pulling another granola bar and water out of my bag. "How far are we?"

"About four hours," he sighs as he begins driving again. "You should try to sleep."

"I'm good," I assure. 

"Okay," he chuckles.

Colby

The radio hums as I drive. She looks out the window and watches the world go by. Something about her makes me want to spend as much time with her as possible.

"Do you think everyone is going bad?" She asks. She doesn't look at me.

"What do you mean?" I ask, glancing at her.

"Do you think this whole thing is making people show their true selves. Like, everyone we've run into so far has tried to hurt us."

"I think that there are people who are taking advantage of this to get away with doing what they want. We'll find a refugee base and the military will keep everything in check."

"Do you believe in God?" She mumbles, picking at her fingers.

"I think everyone wants to believe in something. That's why we created religions. People needed someone or something to blame."

"My parents were super religious. It makes me think if God is real, how can he let this happen?" She asks. The pain in her voice is evident as she talks about her parents. Without thinking, I reach out and grab her hand with my free one. She smiles softly at the gesture.

"I think that everything does happen for a reason."

"Yeah, maybe this is to teach humanity a lesson. I mean we were destroying the Earth so it decided to fight back."

"Maybe," I smile at her train of thought. She bites the inside of her cheek.

"What was your family like?" She questions.

"Let me think," I ponder. "They were great. My mom was a stay at home mom and my dad was an engineer. They loved each other so much."

"Have you talked to them since then?"

"No," I sigh. She runs her thumb over my knuckles, calming me. 

"Where are you from?" She asks, changing the subject.

"Sam, Jake, and I are all from Kansas."

"So you all have known each other for a while then?"

"Yeah, it's nice to know people during this time. I pray that they don't turn against me."

"Why would they?" She rests my hand on her knee and traces over the back of my hand. The action calms me.

"I can be very overbearing and controlling," I sigh, rubbing my thumb on her knee.

"I'm sure it's just because of things from the past."

"This group has been through a lot of shit," I sigh.

"You want to tell me about it?" She questions softly.

"Back when this first started, we found a small refugee camp. They were a well put together group. Well, turns out, they beat their people. Then, they tried beating some of us. I said we're leaving and we grabbed our things and walked out."

"Damn," she sighs.

"Yeah, we've been through a lot," I sigh. She lays her head against the window.

"And we're going to go through a lot more," she whispers. Her hand squeezes mine and I return the gesture.