A shot rang out.

Amber and I jerked thinking that it was aimed at us. It was the sound of a buckshot. Probably from a shotgun.

"We got stinkers!" someone shouted. "What already? I thought we cleared this area a few days ago!" another bellowed.

"Get back to watching the goddamn highway Harvey! I don't want anything to block us on our way out!" a man screamed, probably their boss. ".. and IF. I. EVER. catch one of you taking a nap in the rooms while we top off the gas again. Telling that it's was just a routine patrol! You'll fucking end up like this yappy young man!" the man shouted again. He is probably talking about the corpse dragged by chains.

I wanted to peek again to see how they are equipped but once I saw Amber shaking her head slowly to me, I relented. She's right no point risking anything right now.

After a few cacophony of gunshots later then the lights coming from the gas station went off. "Alright boys! Let's go have some fun!" the same voice with a bossy attitude exclaimed. Then roar of men and engine resounded. They rode off, luring some of the unclean that were intrigued by the gunshots.

Even as we didn't hear the sounds of the engine anymore. We stood there frozen. Thinking that someone was left or just took a longer turn to drive off with the group, we listened intently.

After 20 minutes of waiting, hearing only the stillness of the night and the occasional moans of the unclean. We finally sighed a relief. "I think we a.." I whispered as a knock on the door dialed me and Amber back to 10. We stood there with our knives drawn.

"It's me. I'm coming in," Bennie whispered. As he came in with Amy and Abigail, he stared at us confused. "What?" he asked. "Nothing. We thought you were with those guys." I answered as I held onto my shaking knees. Fuck! Unclean I get, but facing other people to kill each other or ends up killing each other. I'm still not used to it. The unclean are like lifeless dolls if you don't think too much about it. It's like you're killing a moving mannequin with only the drive to devour you. No soul behind those eyes. People on the other hand, if you don't have the resolve to kill somebody just avoid killing altogether cause it will end badly. How does Bennie take it in stride though? Fuck. At least he's on my side.

"I guess my hunch was right," Bennie said as he ushered Amy and Abby. Oh, that's convenient to call them. I thought to myself just as a giant black mushroom ran towards Amber. Oh, it was just Amy. Amy ran to Amber's legs and Amber on her part smiled and carried her to her arms. " Now I can carry you without problems princess." she smiled as she looked at Amy, a bit cleaned up after being wiped by wet rags. Amy nodded furiously and nestled on Amber's neck.

"She is a feisty one. I was literally hugging her just to prevent her from running to this room when those bikers came." Abigail said as she closed the door. "Sorry and thank you," Amber replied.

"Let's take a sit for now and catch our breath. I don't think they'll come back for the night." I said to the group. "Yeah. We got some decisions to make too." Bennie said as he sat down on the bed. Abigail sat beside him while Amber sat on the sofa while cradling Amy, occasionally peeking through the blinders. I sat down on the floor beside the door. Why am I the one without a proper seat huh? Fuck.

"First things first. Where do we go?" I asked. Only the light of the moon as the source of light in this area. We can't see each other but our eyes would be able to adjust soon. We looked at each other clearly in a bind. "Did the uhm military have plans on where to go after all of this Amber?" I asked in a polite tone.

"As far as I know. The official military should have plans or none at all." Amber answered with a sigh. "We were just drafted in for the last two weeks. We didn't have contingencies set in. Captain Summers.. " she paused with a whimper. "Ehem.. he uhm.." she coughed. "..told us that the local authorities of the border town were in charge of contingencies before the hired armed forces were called in," she explained. "Emphasize on the hired armed forces, mercenaries. We were officially and unofficially designated as not part of the nation's military," she said.

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"What does that mean?" Abigail asked. "It means they are hired guns. The government has no obligation to tell them if they had contingencies for this kind of thing." Bennie explained.

"After the communication blackout. Everything just went dark. Short-wave radios were still working. But if this outbreak was nationwide or worldwide. I'm guessing the location of the servers got overrun or the like." Amber added.

"Why? They could've at least warned the public right?" Amy asked again clearly agitated.

"Okay, let's think about it later. There is no use in taking it out on something that isn't in our control." I exclaimed. "Let's all just focus on where to go, Don't get me wrong we can go somewhere, but I wanted to know where we can go somewhere safe," I added.

"Those people are bad news. We have to get out of here at dawn. We were probably safe for the night but who knows when they will be back. We only got lucky that they didn't find the pick-up." Bennie commented. "Good call on that one. They could've found us out if we parked it at the front." I explained.

"Okay. Bennie and I are gonna be on watch duty for the night and probably be thinking about where to go next. You two and a half ladies should get some rest. You're on driving and watch duty tomorrow." I said to them. "Oh before that. Body checks." I added.

"Body check?" Amber perked up clearly at what I said. "I thank you for saving mine and Amy's lives but are you telling me you're gonna perform a body check on a child!?" she said with ice ice-cold tone of disbelief.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Slow down, Elsa!" I furiously rejected the idea. "Build a snowman or something! Calm down! I was just talking about bites and open wounds. We don't want to get eaten while asleep don't we?" I exclaimed. Amber was going to argue but she shut her mouth again. "Who the fuck is Elsa?" Amber muttered silently.

"Bennie was struggling not to laugh beside Abigail. "How about this? Me and Amber will check on Amy while she's asleep then proceed to check on each other. Is that fine for you?" Abigail suggested.

"Fair enough." Bennie agreed, " but no one hides a bite. Even for us. For all our sakes." Bennie added.

~~~~~~

After we went out to the room beside the ladies. Ben and I proceeded to check ourselves for bites and any left open wounds. After a few minutes of checking and with only our boxers on, I was bored. So I jab Bennie like old times.

"Sad that you couldn't CHECK her body again?" I asked. "Yes," Bennie answered impassively, I paused my check on him. "I-I mean no! uhm. That's not what I wanted to check anyway." Bennie answered with a bit of panic.

I smirked. This guy. He he he. Oh boy. "What's this? The man! The myth! The legend! The person who was once called the hunk of the club and the devourer of pussies! is embarrassed about sweet ole Abby." I laughed while doing my best to imitate some puppy dog eyes. "Shut up! You know it's not like that." he laughed. "It's just. It's just.." Bennie said unsurely. "Just what?" I asked.

"You know having sex with some girls in the club is fine. That's all fun. One and done or repeat the next day. It was all for the pleasure. No connection." Bennie explained. "Go on." I teased.

" But having sex with Abby wasn't for fun or pleasure but the feeling of her being vulnerable. She wanted to be reassured about something. She wanted someone's warmth." Bennie explained.

"That's how gold diggers get yah by the way." I cut him off by saying it. I staggered with an oomph! Bennie pushed me because he thought I wasn't taking him seriously. "I tell you, bro. Ask her how many bodies she has and I bet you'll be surprised." I said to Bennie.

Bennie threw a jab and I dodged it. He was approaching me with a boxer stance. "Ho ho. You approaching me! ME! Richard Simmons of all people!" I taunted him. Bellowing him with an open palm. Bennie smirked as he shadow-boxed to intimidate me.

"What the fuck are you both doing! Can't you see we are still surrounded by the dead?" A voice rang by the open door near us.

Bennie and I perked and stood still with our poses. Guilty of playing like kids with our underwear for all to see.