Sometimes We Ran (Book 1) by Stephen Drivick Page A

“Okay, Tiger.”
    “I’m not too crazy about ‘Tiger’, either. By the way, if we are going to travel together, I have a few more rules.” I looked down at her upturned face. She was listening.
    “First, we need to stay together. No going off by yourself to look at stuff or go into any buildings. Me and you have to be together at all times. I mean it. You are not going to able to even take a pee without me being nearby.”
    Claire made a face. “Man, that’s pretty gross. I don’t know if I like that.”
    “It’s a reality. Sorry. The same goes for me as well. We have to watch out for each other. Understand?”
    “Okay. I guess.”
    “We also don’t trust anybody or anything. If we meet anybody or anything, we assume they are bad guys, living or dead. This especially goes for dogs. Dogs are bad news.”
    “Yeah. That’s a rule I can get behind. There’s a few mean things out here.”
    “Also, I take care of the zombie exterminations. If we meet any, and we probably will, I’ll take care of them, at least until we find you a decent weapon.”
    “Okay. Maybe we can find me a pistol or something down the road.”
    My next rule was a little harsh but it was necessary. “My next rule may be a little difficult to follow. If anything happens to me, you run and you keep on running till you find a safe place. Understand?”
    Claire’s face went a little pale. “What could happen to you?”
    “I could get hurt, killed, or bitten. If I get bitten, I will turn into one of those things, and I could hurt you. If that happens, run like hell.”
    “I don’t want to think about that.” She was silent for a moment. “If that happens, do you want me to shoot you first before I run?”
    I hadn’t thought of that. Pretty gruesome thought. “No, just run. It’ll be safer. Besides, you’ll probably miss and shoot me in the ass or something.”
    Claire giggled a little bit. “Okay. Just run. I understand.”
    We walked in silence for a little bit. “John?”
    “Yes Claire?”
    “I have thought it out. If I get bit, I want you to shoot me. I don’t think I want to be one of those things”
    We stopped walking, and I looked down at her. This poor girl has suffered so much. She has seen so much death and destruction in her young life. What kind of world is this for her where she has to ask someone to shoot her if she’s bitten by some zombie? “I’ll take care of you, don’t worry. Let’s try and make sure it doesn’t come to that.”
    “Okay.” She brightened up, and we begin to walk again.
    We walked for a little while longer. The terrain around us was changing a little bit. There were more curves in the road and a few less buildings. Looks like we were headed into the country. We hadn’t seen any bad guys. So far, so good. “Beautiful day,” said Claire, as she looked up into the sky. Claire was right. It was a spectacular morning. The air was fresh and clear. It smelled like a great fall day. No smell of death for a change.
    The road was getting a little more curved. So curvy, in fact, that my long range vision down the road was compromised. In some cases, I jogged ahead a few steps leaving Claire a few feet behind me to check things out down the road. All we found were a couple of empty abandoned cars. They’d provide nice shady areas for quick water breaks …if nothing bad was strapped inside.
    We stopped at one, I took out two water bottles and handed on to Claire. It was good to stay hydrated. You never knew when you were going to have to run for you life. Claire took a swig from her water and looked around. She pointed to a house to our right. “Hey, John, should we check out some of these houses? We might find some supplies.”
    “No houses. Houses can be bad news. You see what’s painted on the door?”
    She squinted her eyes and stared at the house. “Oh, yeah. The famous orange skull. That means zombies inside.”
    “Yeah. Bad news.”
    Claire stared at the ground. “I remember when