Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 1): January by Dave Rowlands Page A

returned.  He let us know that he had found a truck stop a short way out of town, that had clearly seen better days.  He reported that there was definitely still petrol in the tanks, the pumps were not only still functional but actually still turned on, and there were several empty cans we could fill with petrol for emergencies.  He was starting to look very thin and pale indeed now.  Butcher offered him some mutton, which he refused.  Instead, he walked off in the direction of the truck stop, saying that he would fill up some empty cans for us.  The moment he was out of earshot Biker asked what was up with him.  The expression of horror on her face grew as we told her of his bite and subsequent infection.  She clearly disbelieved us when we told her that he had recovered from it, more so when his ability to spread contagion had been revealed, and the horror returned once more upon learning that he had neither ate nor drank, urinated nor defecated, in a week.  The fact that the Dead think of him as one of their own we kept to ourselves for now.  No point in scaring the poor girl unnecessarily!
     
 
     
We reassured her that we were keeping an eye on him, and that he was valuable.  She said that was fair enough, but she will be keeping her own eyes on him as well.
     
 
     
To redirect attention I asked Archer where we would be likely to get to if we followed the road, to which he replied by silently taking out and unfolding the map he had found.  Junior was rolling a joint for us to indulge in while we found our location on the map, a tiny little blink-and-miss-it town called Melrose Park.  We followed the road north with a finger, and found that this road intersected with another in a while.  Apocalypse Girl insisted that we travel east along that road.  I wondered, idly, exactly why she wanted to head east, but didn't bother to ask.  As it was, it was as good a direction as any, so we all agreed.
     
 
     
afternoon
     
The Kid was right, the truck stop had definitely seen better days.  The interior was gutted, as had been the town, one wall sagged inwards.  One window still had a small sliver of glass remaining in the frame, all but one of the petrol pumps had rusted onto their bowsers.  We filled the Valiant and Ute when we arrived, then assisted The Kid with the remaining cans.
     
 
     
When we were done we hit the road, continuing north until we hit the intersection Archer had mentioned.  Due to an overturned truck blocking the entire roadway we had no choice but to head west, to Apocalypse Girl's intense distaste.  It didn't really bother me that much, as the overturned truck was blocking the path of a rather large group of Dead.
     
 
     
Heading west lasted until we once again discovered an intersection at which Apocalypse Girl immediately turned to the north.  She said nothing, but I felt it was time to ask exactly why, and I am resolved to do so after we have stopped for the day.  We decided that travelling during the day was a much safer idea, as visibility was a factor.  We both wanted to see if any Dead were around while we were travelling, and wanted our headlights to not give our position away, in case there were any survivors of the bandits that had overrun the commune, or the group that Biker had escaped from.  Not to mention any other potential threats.  As a group we were reasonably self-sufficient, and the last thing we needed was to lose one of us.
     
 
     
night
     
Archer and Junior just took over watch from Apocalypse Girl and I, so far so good, no sign of anything moving in the night.  The temperature remained consistent throughout the night, as well as the day.  The clouds remained overhead, the only real difference between night and day being simply whether or not we were able to see.  The Kid was sleeping off the road in a bare paddock, so Biker was comfortably able to sleep herself.  She snored away softly in the back seat, curled up with The Twin.