feel a little soggy and my arm feels a little stiff, but there’s really nothing to complain about. I have to admit I look kind of gnarly though. There’s absolutely no way to come out of a fight with the undead looking like you recently stepped out of a fashion magazine.
“ Well, for the sake of both my nose and the upholstery, is there maybe something you could change into for the ride back?”
“ Right,” I say, letting out a chuckle.
I probably wouldn ’t want to sit in this for the whole ride back anyway. Thankfully, I left the clothes I picked out for myself right on the top of the pile. Going back into the store isn’t an option, so I turn my back to Liam and pull my t-shirt over my head without bothering to ask him to look away. Before wiggling out of my jeans, I look over my shoulder to see if he’s been watching. He’s staring right at me, looking more startled than sneaky. I clear my throat pointedly, catching his attention.
“ Do you mind?”
“ Not at all,” he responds with a wink but turns away without any further prompting.
I quickly throw on a new pair of pants and pop my shoes back on before letting Liam know it ’s safe to look at me again. My old, bloody clothes lie abandoned on the sidewalk.
“ Where to?” I ask once we’ve packed everything up and thrown it into the back of the van.
“ That’s it! We’re done for this trip. We have a few minutes before we have to meet up with the guys and then we’re on our way.”
“ Really?” We’ve filled up the pickup and the van to the point that they were both overflowing, but I assumed there would be more. “We’re not going to grab another van? Wouldn’t that take way more than the car?”
“ That car is Dooley’s baby. There’s no way he’s leaving it behind. And last I checked, you never got your driver’s license.”
“ Like that really means anything anymore,” I scoff.
“ Have you ever driven anything bigger than a car?”
“ Well, no.” In truth, I hadn’t had my learner’s permit for that long before the curfew went up, and teaching me to perfect my driving had been bumped right down to the bottom of my parents’ to-do list. It was yet another thing I’d had to learn on my own.
“ Then you’re not much good to us. Trucks aren’t so bad, but vans can be a little awkward to handle, and they’re pretty impossible to maneuver if you get them stuck somewhere. Some of the roads we cover are in pretty bad shape and getting worse.”
“ Yeah, yeah. I get it. Maybe you can show me the ropes at some point now that I’m not on house arrest anymore.”
“ I’ve never taught anyone to drive before, but I can give it a go.”
“ Awesome!” Learning to drive is one of those things I thought I’d never get the chance to do with the world the way it is now.
“ That’s a problem for another day. For now, it’s time to get back on the road.”
"Did you hear about Kansas?" Liam asks once the two of us are buckled in.
"No. I'm not exactly up to date on all the latest news and gossip." And now I'm curious. I used to spend time wondering how various states might have fared in all of this. I imagine Texas and California are kind of a mess—big populations and all that. Alaska is probably the nicest place to live in the U.S. now. Cold temperatures mean frozen Zs. New York City probably got the worst of everything—lots of people, cramped spaces, supplies that need to be imported from elsewhere. Kansas never even featured in to my train of thought. "What's up with Kansas?"
"Apparently they've got a militia of their own or something l ike that. And it's big."
"Hmm." I bite into a stale chip from the stray snack-sized bag I found in the department store. "Is this a ‘random rumor someone heard from a guy who talked to his neighbor who overheard from a mysterious hitchhiker kind’ of thing?"
"Maybe. But we've heard it from a few different places now and I think people are starting to take notice."
"Take
“ Well, for the sake of both my nose and the upholstery, is there maybe something you could change into for the ride back?”
“ Right,” I say, letting out a chuckle.
I probably wouldn ’t want to sit in this for the whole ride back anyway. Thankfully, I left the clothes I picked out for myself right on the top of the pile. Going back into the store isn’t an option, so I turn my back to Liam and pull my t-shirt over my head without bothering to ask him to look away. Before wiggling out of my jeans, I look over my shoulder to see if he’s been watching. He’s staring right at me, looking more startled than sneaky. I clear my throat pointedly, catching his attention.
“ Do you mind?”
“ Not at all,” he responds with a wink but turns away without any further prompting.
I quickly throw on a new pair of pants and pop my shoes back on before letting Liam know it ’s safe to look at me again. My old, bloody clothes lie abandoned on the sidewalk.
“ Where to?” I ask once we’ve packed everything up and thrown it into the back of the van.
“ That’s it! We’re done for this trip. We have a few minutes before we have to meet up with the guys and then we’re on our way.”
“ Really?” We’ve filled up the pickup and the van to the point that they were both overflowing, but I assumed there would be more. “We’re not going to grab another van? Wouldn’t that take way more than the car?”
“ That car is Dooley’s baby. There’s no way he’s leaving it behind. And last I checked, you never got your driver’s license.”
“ Like that really means anything anymore,” I scoff.
“ Have you ever driven anything bigger than a car?”
“ Well, no.” In truth, I hadn’t had my learner’s permit for that long before the curfew went up, and teaching me to perfect my driving had been bumped right down to the bottom of my parents’ to-do list. It was yet another thing I’d had to learn on my own.
“ Then you’re not much good to us. Trucks aren’t so bad, but vans can be a little awkward to handle, and they’re pretty impossible to maneuver if you get them stuck somewhere. Some of the roads we cover are in pretty bad shape and getting worse.”
“ Yeah, yeah. I get it. Maybe you can show me the ropes at some point now that I’m not on house arrest anymore.”
“ I’ve never taught anyone to drive before, but I can give it a go.”
“ Awesome!” Learning to drive is one of those things I thought I’d never get the chance to do with the world the way it is now.
“ That’s a problem for another day. For now, it’s time to get back on the road.”
"Did you hear about Kansas?" Liam asks once the two of us are buckled in.
"No. I'm not exactly up to date on all the latest news and gossip." And now I'm curious. I used to spend time wondering how various states might have fared in all of this. I imagine Texas and California are kind of a mess—big populations and all that. Alaska is probably the nicest place to live in the U.S. now. Cold temperatures mean frozen Zs. New York City probably got the worst of everything—lots of people, cramped spaces, supplies that need to be imported from elsewhere. Kansas never even featured in to my train of thought. "What's up with Kansas?"
"Apparently they've got a militia of their own or something l ike that. And it's big."
"Hmm." I bite into a stale chip from the stray snack-sized bag I found in the department store. "Is this a ‘random rumor someone heard from a guy who talked to his neighbor who overheard from a mysterious hitchhiker kind’ of thing?"
"Maybe. But we've heard it from a few different places now and I think people are starting to take notice."
"Take
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