Dead USA (DrTrollinski and Elwin)

[DrTrollinski]

"Yeah, let's." Greg said as he filled the car up with the gas that he collected at the gas station. He went back to the driver's side after helping the boys into the back; he waited for Luna to get in and then sped off. It was only five minutes in when Greg felt a little hand pat his shoulder.


".. Dad... I'm hungry..." He muttered. Greg sighed.

 

[Elwin]

Luna had got into the car, in the front seat beside Greg. It took her a minute or so to fall asleep. Luna had been shattered from her bad night in her own bed and she couldn't keep her eyes open much longer. Her mind recollected the past 24 hours, the scene in the hotel and the last moments where she saw the red faced man run away with such urgency in his movement. It hurt a lot to think that he was dead and her mind conjured up a picture of him being ripped apart by the infected and his faceless family screaming. Luna flinched in her dream, breaking out into a sweat.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Greg reached over and tapped her shoulder to wake her up. ".. Hey, you alright?" He asked her. They were coming out of the city now. "You were sweating in your sleep... You sick, or something?" He asked in worry, sighing a little as he looked in his rear-view mirror at the two boys in the back.

 

[Elwin]

Luna jumped a little, raising her eyebrows. "Yeah I'm fine, just bad thoughts." She uttered, looking out the window. "Everything looks so dead." Luna paused and felt bad. She kept forgetting that morbid comments weren't really called for with two kids in the bag. "Hey do either of you two want something to eat? I have some candy bars I think." She said, turning to face them. Luna fumbled in her backpack and produced two Hershey's bars which she passed to the boys. She was yet to worry about food, as she had packed enough to keep herself going for about a week. "This is quite fun, I'd say." She said to the boys smiling. "I know you guys don't know me, but we are going on a road trip together!" Her voice was as perky as faking perky could possibly be.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Jackson smiled and took one of the bars and instantly tucked into it. ".. We've always wanted to go on a road-trip, but mom and dad never had time because they were always working." He said softly, Clayton nodded in agreement.


"Yeah, I'm a surgeon and my wife was--" He paused and cleared his throat. "My wife's a radiotherapist." He said, forcing a shaky smile once he'd given his input. Jackson frowned for a moment and then looked at Greg.


"Dad... When are we goin' back for mom?" He asked. Greg didn't say anything at first and gulped.


"Later, son..." He choked.

 

[Elwin]

"Well, Jackson I'm pretty sure Mom and Dad had their reasons!" Luna smiled. She felt like she was doing okay at talking to the boys. "It's not easy being an adult, I'm always doing boring busy things!" She had lied through her teeth. Luna was the most inactive person she knew, she had nothing to show for her years other than the occasional human rights protest she could attend. Luna turned to Greg. "Oh wow, that is so impressive. I haven't really, I mean I helped in my Mom's shop for a few years." Luna hesitated at thinking of her Mom. She was however grateful that her Mother had died before this had started. She had been ill for many years and needed to pass away.


Luna noticed the hesitation in Greg's voice. His voice was merely a choke. Her mind ached to know what had happened, but it was none of her business and asking would be ridiculous. She assumed the worst, however. The world seemed like a pretty brutal place to be surviving right now.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Yeah... We lived in a nice house, though... so it was okay." Jackson smiled at her.


"That we did." Greg finally cracked a smile and then looked at Luna for a moment. "Never went to college or anything like that?" He asked softly, watching the road once again. The road was dead. The only thing they saw was an occasional rabbit or deer hop across the road to get to safety within the trees. It was eerie, and Greg hoped to be out of this sort of area before nightfall or he could tell this sort of place would freak him out way too much.

 

[Elwin]

"I dropped out of college in less than a year of being there. Since then I've helped in Mom's store and been in and out of random jobs. I can't really make my mind up on what I want." Luna felt slightly embarrassed. She felt like one of the kids, talking to a married educated man with a brilliant job. Not like any of it mattered anymore. Luna looked out the window and noticed the unusually dead road. It was like they were on the set of a slasher movie, but instead it was a lot worse than that. To hunt is normal, to be hunted was something Luna would never have anticipated as part of her life. Who would?


"Hey, how much longer is this ride going to be? I hate to sound irritating but we should make sure we have somewhere to stay before the evening kicks in. I don't know how those things operate."

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Dad... will mom be okay tonight?" Jackson urged.


"Son. I said we'll talk about that later." Greg replied sternly. Jackson sighed sadly and leaned up against Clayton and hugged him. He was worried, and Clayton looked worried as well, but they didn't say anything more.


Greg looked at Luna and sighed again. ".. It took me a while to decide as well, don't worry." He smiled softly at her and then looked at the road again. ".. You got any other family anywhere in the states?" He asked.

 

[Elwin]

"No, unfortunately. All of my family are in Hong Kong, my Mom moved to the states alone when she was a younger woman." Luna noticed Greg's hostility towards his son and flinched. Something had definitely happened and he was trying to cover it up. If Clayton was any older he surely would have clicked straight away, but Luna was thankful he wasn't. "I'm grateful for the car ride though, Mr...Greg." Luna forgot she wasn't a stumbling teenager and that she was actually a 26 year old woman.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. Greg Parker, but Greg's fine." He smiled at her and continued driving on. "Hong Kong, eh? Interesting... I spent some time over there in a University course. Trained over there, pretty interesting place." He chuckled a little and looked around outside at the natural environment. It was too quiet for him to like. He just sped up a little more and kept going onward towards Georgia. Presumably. "What did you study at college before you dropped out?" He asked.

 

[Elwin]

"Wow, eh... I've never been. My Mom was pregnant when she moved to the states so I was born here and have stayed here." Luna felt the speed hit her stomach a little. Greg was on edge, she could tell. "I studied Politics, but I was confused as to where I was actually going with it. So I dropped out and actively protested for a few years after. Boring stuff, I know." Luna turned to the boys and the littlest, Jackson, had fallen asleep. She couldn't help but think how sweet he looked. This hurt her; these boys didn't deserve to see the world like this. Was this really the life they would have from now on? It wasn't fair.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Politics... Not bad." He smiled at her and looked in the rear-view mirror. Both boys had fallen asleep in each other's arms - when he saw them something happened. Something clicked and the world started to go back. He was still driving and gradually getting faster, but he blacked out, completely unaware of what was going on around him. He just kept driving, and the speed slowly went up. 

"Politics... Not bad." He smiled at her and looked in the rear-view mirror. Both boys had fallen asleep in each other's arms - when he saw them something happened. Something clicked and the world started to go black. He was still driving and gradually getting faster, but he blacked out, completely unaware of what was going on around him. He just kept driving, and the speed slowly went up.

 

[Elwin]

Luna laid back in her seat, taking a deep breath. She felt safer than before and saner. She imagined if she had spent the second night alone and it frightened her. After ten minutes or so, Luna noticed the speed of the car had gotten a lot quicker and it was making her feel a bit sick. "Um, are you okay?" She mumbled under her breath, placing a hand gingerly on Greg's shoulder. "Maybe you should slow down." The man looked so blank, it was scaring Luna.

 

[DrTrollinski]

He didn't say anything at first. He kept speeding onward until the car literally slid on the road when they took the slightest turn. After a minute or so he gasped and his eyes went wide as he shot his head around and instantly slowed the car down to a normal speed. ".. Jesus--.." He felt sick and dizzy. He didn't know what just happened, and quite frankly, it terrified him. He looked around and then looked at Luna. ".. I'm sorry, I--.. I sort of slipped away there..." He took a surprised deep breath and looked back to the road and at an approaching intersection.

 

[Elwin]

Luna blinked rapidly, raising her eyebrows. "It's..It's fine, don't worry. I just got scared you would wake up your little boys." She said, smiling with relief that he had snapped back. "Whilst they are asleep, I was wondering where we are going tonight? I suppose I should leave you guys when we get to Georgia, so we aren't walking around in groups. It's more dangerous that way I think." Luna looked her feet, feeling unusual. She had never really spent more than a few hours with anyone other than her Mom.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. I'd prefer if you stuck with us. Strength in numbers, and--.. You managed to get those two to smile for the first time since yesterday evening... Morale's nice to have." He said, shrugging. He continued driving onward to the intersection and decided to speed right across it. This was a bad idea seeing as as soon as they got out onto it, there was a horn from a large hauling truck. His heart jumped into his mouth as he attempted to swerve out of the way, but the truck clipped the back of the car and they instantly spun off towards some trees - as the car fell off the road it flipped, rolled twice, and then came to a stop on its side. Greg fell unconscious, and so did the boys in the back after being awake for only a few seconds.

 

[Elwin]

"I guess so." Luna didn't really know how she felt about sticking with a group. She could see the logical side, but a part of her wanted to just be alone. Before Luna began to realize what was going on, she felt herself being hauled around the car. Her head smashed into the side of the window and she was knocked clean out. A cut starting oozing blood from the side of her head, but she was still alive.

 

[DrTrollinski]

A few minutes later Greg awoke, blood gushing down his forehead and every joint in his body was hurting. He instantly looked to the back and his neck hurt when he did so, but he saw his children lying there unconscious. They looked unharmed, and he could only pray that they weren't dead, but he was crying already - a fire was rising from the engine block and he knew one thing - he needed to get them out of here. Luna had been completely flushed from his mind, and, in a bout of desperation he fumbled with his seatbelt to unstrap it, and then crawled into the back. He lied down and supported himself above the two children and then sent his leg into the window above them, shattering it - the glass rained down but he had them both covered. Once that was done he got hold of Jackson and lifted him up, followed by slowly climbing out of the window above him. It was a struggle, but once that was done he went and lied him down on the cold ground among the leaves before diving back into the car and dragging Clayton up as well.


".. Dad--..." He choked.


".. Son... Thank God... get out of there..." He said softly, Clayton helped and pulled himself out with the help of his father and then collapsed onto the ground.


".. Dad..." He coughed. "What about Luna...?" He asked with wide eyes. It snapped in his mind, he ran back over to the driver's side and climbed in through the door that thankfully wasn't too damaged - he hung inside and unclipped her belt, the brightness of the fire in the engine hurting his eyes in the slightest. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled on it until she came out, then he slung her over his shoulder and feebly carried her back to the boys and set her down on the ground, his legs buckling away after he did so. He noticed that Jackson still wasn't awake. Oh no. No, no, no... He couldn't be. He burst into tears and crawled to him, hugging his loose body in his arms.


".. Please wake up, son... Please..." He choked. He calmed down after a minute when he heard his weak breathing.

 

[Elwin]

Luna felt a horrific pain in the side of her head, pounding at her skull. She could taste that familiar metal taste on her tongue. Blood dripped into her mouth and down her neck. "Urgh..." She opened her eyes, struggling to focus on her environment. It was a forest area, as trees surrounded them. I don't know how much more of this I can take. Luna wasn't sure if this situation was a god's send compared to being stuck in the city at night with thousands of infected citizens roaming the streets. She lifted her head, rubbing at her wound with a frown. Greg was knelt over his youngest son, cuddling him. Luna panicked for a split second, but then noticed the little boy's chest moving slightly. "Oh thank god..." She said out loud, staring at the little boy.


She had managed to keep her backpack on her back through-out the accident; which provided a couple of bandages. "I have...I have a small first aid kit if you need it." She struggled to get words out of her mouth, every natural movement hurt.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Jackson coughed as he woke up and looked up at Greg and instantly burst out into tears.


"It's okay, son... daddy's here." Greg whimpered to him and lifted him up into a sitting position and hugged him tight again. Greg looked around the forest. It was getting dark, and they were stuck out here. He couldn't see where the truck was, but judging by the distinct glow in the distance of orange and red, he could tell that the trucker had come to the same sort of fate, perhaps worse.


".. I feel sick, daddy--.. I feel sick..." He blurted out with a sob, Greg sighed and lifted him up a little more and allowed him to kneel down on the ground; he began rubbing his back, but Jackson kept on crying, his head was bowed and he was taking deep breaths. Greg slowly looked back up at Luna to reveal a large cut on his forehead that was oozing blood which trickled down his face.


".. It's only me and you that needs the kid." He choked out.

 

[Elwin]

"Oh, wow. Well you definitely do. I'm fine I think, just a bit of a head bump. And...and a bit of blood." Luna, wiped a trickle of blood from her forehead and rubbed it on her trousers. She crawled over to Greg, pulling out cloth. She placed it on Greg's forehead, pulling his hand to where it was. "Here hold this tightly on your forehead. We can clean your cut with some of my bottle water, bandage it up and its as good as new. Well, I think that is what you should do, I don't have much experience." She shrugged, a bit embarrassed as she remembered he was very advanced medically.


Luna poured some water onto another cloth, being quite careful about how much she used. She then placed it on his head and rubbed the wound gingerly.

 

[DrTrollinski]

He smiled at her. ".. Some antibiotic gel would be better, but this is just fine..." He said softly; he was interrupted as Jackson turned away and vomited the contents of his stomach onto the woodland floor in front of him; he was at this for about a minute before he stopped and collapsed backwards onto the floor where he curled up into a ball and covered his head with his arms; he carried on sobbing and crying. He thought that he was dying, or that something in his stomach had gone wrong and some sort of monster was going to jump out of him - you know how kids are. Luna noticed that the boy had been coughing quite a lot since they met, so it was obvious that he was sick before all of this started as well. ".. Jesus--.. Hang in there, buddy... We'll be with you in a minute." Greg said soothingly, he kept on crying and didn't move, whereas Clayton looked calm as ever but also very dizzy as he laid his head down on the cool ground that was made up of mostly wood chippings and grass.

 

[Elwin]

"Oh..right. I don't have any, my medical kit is lacking." Luna looked at the spluttering little boy and frowned. "Is he okay, Greg?" She asked, pausing what she was doing. She wiped more blood from her head, starting to become frustrated with the sight of it. Luna stood up and walked over to the little boy who was curled up in a ball. "Hey little man, does your stomach hurt?" She asked him, kneeling down to his height. She passed the little boy the bottled water, gently putting a hand on his back. She rubbed her hand up and down hoping to make him feel slightly better. "It's not fun being ill, I know." She said passively, half to herself and half to Jackson. "But you'll be okay soon, you're brave and I have seen that already! You gotta be brave for your Mommy and Daddy." Luna put her hand over mouth, forgetting the stigma around their Mother and shut her mouth.

 

[DrTrollinski]

He shakily took the water and gulped some of it down, letting out a quiet sob as he sat back down but quickly slumped back down, this time onto her. He set his head down on her thigh and curled up again. He looked cold, but that was most likely because he'd just thrown up. Greg shuffled back over to them both so that he could gently caress the top of Jackson's head, and also allow Luna to continue treating his injury. He looked around and noticed that it was getting darker by the minute - Christ. He couldn't believe that they were going to be walking in this place in the middle of the night - there were no cars, the truck and their own vehicle had been destroyed, and they didn't even have thick enough coats to last them the night. They were going to need to find a place to set up and make a fire, seeing as it didn't look like there were any buildings or gas stations nearby either.