Low on Time/Issue 42

This is issue forty-two of Low on Time, entitled: Flipped.

Issue 42; Flipped
The Humvee drives quickly down the empty highway, the big black Toyota close behind it. Ike drives the Humvee, Kelly sleeping silently in the passenger seat, and Olivia and Jake in the back seats chatting away. Ike looked over from the sleeping Kelly to the road sign, which points in the way of a rest stop.

"We gonna stop?" Ike asks, looking at Olivia and Jake through the rearview mirror.

"Yes please, I gotta fucking pee." Olivia said, yawning as she said so.

Ike quickly got off the highway, following the road to the small food court and gas station, the Toyota following them. The cars pulled up in front of the gas station, and Ike, Jake, & Olivia got out, leaving Kelly in the car.

Behind them, Manning along with Trevin, Ryker, & Julia exited the car too, the four quickly making their way toward them.

"Hurry up, we can't be here for too long." Jake said, loading up a shotgun.

"I'll stay with Kelly," Ike said, looking at the group. "Everyone go do what you gotta do ok? And while we're here someone go check the food court, see if there's anything to find, and someone try and extract any gas from the cars."

"Alright, you heard the man." Jake said, his voice ten times louder than Ike's. "I'll take a group inside to look for food-- should be some bathrooms in there too."

The group quickly disbanded, leaving Ike, Manning, and Ryker at the cars. Ike looked over at the two, who were just there staring at their guns, unsure of what to do.

"Hey, can you two go check ahead? See if we're clear to drive ahead?" Ike asked, catching their attention.

The two looked at each other, and both nodded their heads.

"Alright, good. Don't be too long though, alright?"

"We got it." Manning quickly said, before walking off, Ryker close behind him.

As they left, Ike leaned back against the car, taking a pack of cigarettes out of his back pocket. He quickly took one out, put it in his mouth and lit it.

"Leadership, huh?" the drowsy voice of Kelly asked from the window.

Ike turned around, carefully taking the cigarette out of his mouth. "Didn't see you were up." he nonchalantly said.

"Not feeling too good..." she said, opening the door and stumbling out of the car. She was obviously still exhausted as she yawned as she leaned back next to Ike.

Ike put his hand over her forehead, which she quickly pushed away. "I'm fine," she muttered.

"Nah, Kelly, you're burning up a little, need anything?"

"I'm good, thanks though."

"You sure 'bout that? I know how stubborn you can be..."

"I'm fine, seriously." she said, forcing a smile. "I appreciate the concern though." Kelly then looks as Ike's pack of cigarettes, which were leaning out of his pocket, motioning to them.

"You want one?" he asked, taking them out. "I thought you quit," he said as he handed her one.

"I did," she said, putting the cigarette in her mouth and taking Ike's lighter. "But it helps so goddamn much."

"I know how you feel... how you holding up?"

Kelly looked toward the ground remembering Paul. In the moment she didn't mind taking his life but looking back on it she keeps wondering whether she could've tried to help him.

"You did the right thing." Ike assured. "He was a good guy-- just shows what this world can do to some people. But us..." he started, pointing at her and then himself. "We're not going to let it control us. We'll beat it."

"Yeah, yeah..." Kelly said, skeptical. "Sooner or later we're going to have to change that, or we'll end up dead, or someone we care about will end up dead."

"Hey," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Don't think like that, we'll make it, you'll see."

"Sure..." she said, starting to walk away. "I'll be back, gonna check on the others."

Jake and Trevin stood in a Starbucks, packing their bags with water bottles. Both of them had wild smiles on their faces as they threw them in.

"Man, when was the last time we saw this much water?" Jake asked, laughing like crazy.

"Too long!" Trevin responded, smiling big and brightly.

Olivia walked into the bathroom, Julia close behind her, keeping her hand on Olivia's shoulder for leverage. Olivia, flashlight in hand, looked around the empty bathroom, blood splattered on all the walls and puddles of blood all over the floor.

"Fuckin' nasty..." Olivia muttered, to which Julia only nodded in agreement.

Ryker and Manning walked along the street, their weapons readied in case of needed combat. As they turned the bend, they both stopped suddenly, looking at the street ahead. Up ahead, there were tons of crashed cars, all broken down and rusted.

"What the fuck..." Manning muttered, continuing to walk toward them.

"Man, I don't like this..." Ryker said, following him hesitantly.

"Then you can turn around." he simply said. "Or, you can stop being such a pussy and shut up."

Ryker sighed, and Manning quickly picked up his pace, jogging to the first crashed car they got to. He looked in the passenger seat, and the first thing he noticed was a zombie who's eyes were pierced open, staring at him. Manning smirked when he noticed that the zombie was unable to move, thanks to two missing legs.

Manning looked back at Ryker who was silently watching him.

"Come look at this," he said. Ryker slowly walked over to him, looking into the window too. "Could be the next Julia..."

"Not funny," he simply said, backing away from the window.

"Man, what the fuck is your problem?" Manning asked, looking back at Ryker.

"Dude, she lost her fucking leg." Ryker said, getting visibly annoyed. "That's not funny or anything to joke about."

"Man, just shut the fuck up..." Manning said, walking toward the next car.

Ryker sighed and turned around, starting to make his way toward the others as Manning examined the next car. Manning turned back toward Ryker, who was now walking away, and sighed.

Manning walked to the next car, seeing another zombie with missing legs. He looked up ahead at the other cars, and noticed something metal in the road. Manning carefully looked around at his surroundings, seeing nothing but crashed cars, and jogged toward it. He quickly looked at it, realizing it was only a broken beer bottle.

Jake sat in the Toyota, Olivia next to him, drinking out of a bottle of Whiskey. Olivia looked at him uncomfortably, but nonetheless, she wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder. He looked at her, before kissing her on her cheek, then continued to drink.

"Jake," she said, kissing him on the forehead. "Wanna talk about it?"

"No, no, no... I'm good." he said, forcing a smile.

"Please talk to me." she pleaded, as he rolled his eyes. "You've been distancing yourself ever since..."

"Stop," he said, interrupting her. "I don't want to talk... at all."

As he opened the car door and made his way outside of the car, Olivia quickly followed him. "Jake, just, please talk to me."

"No." he simply said, pushing his way past Ike and Kelly, who just watched as he made his way back inside the food court.

Olivia sighed, and sat back against the car, throwing her face into her hands.

Ryker sat with Julia outside on one of the benches. The two sat in mostly silence, but the talking of Kelly and Ike was loud enough to where they could make out exactly what they were saying.

As Ryker looked around, he sees Manning coming back around, walking toward the group. Ryker rolled his eyes, and Julia immediately catches the hostility in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking from Ryker to Manning.

"Nothing," he said, as Manning quickly passed them walking toward Ike and Kelly. Julia knows Ryker's lying, she's known him too long to know when something isn't ok, but she let's it go. They've all been a bit... on edge recently, Ryker more than the others.

"I know you don't like to talk about-- your feelings, Ry, but if you need to talk, I'm here." she said, to which he just shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, Julia, I just-- I just wanna get a little bit of rest."

"So, the car's right there." she said, motioning to the Humvee. "Go get some rest."

"That's not what I meant." he said, rubbing his temples. "I mean-- all I want is to be able to sleep at night without having to worry about getting eaten alive or worry about getting stabbed while I'm sleeping."

"And we'll find a place where you can do that." she said.

"I highly doubt that." he said, looking from Julia to Manning, who is watching the two. "And if we do... how long will it stay like that?"

Julia just forced a smile, patting Ryker on the back. "We'll be fine, just watch."

Jake stormed through the small food court, whiskey bottle still in hand. He was just so sick of--of everything. He just wanted anything to make him feel better, so he jumped over the Wendy's counter, sitting on the other side of it, and rose the bottle, triumphantly.

"Jake?" he heard the all-too familiar voice call.

"You're not here." he muttered, shutting his eyes closed. "You're dead."

"Maybe so," the voice said, getting closer. "But you have to get over yourself."

As Jake re-opened his eyes, in front of him stood Amanda, long-brown hair, clean shirt and jeans... seemed like she was doing a lot better off then him.

"I'm sorry," he said, shutting his eyes closed again. "I'm so sorry..."

"Why do you get to live-- why not me?" she asked, her voice starting to quiver. "Because you matter more?"

"No, no, no..."

"Because you have the opportunity to do something bigger and better, Jayme. Let's be honest, I wouldn't have survived out here with the rest of you for as long as you have, definitely not. At least you get to protect everybody I've cared about-- that's more than anything I could've asked for..."

As Jake opened his eyes again, she was gone. He quickly looked around, not seeing her in sight, and sighed. He looked back down at the bottle, and placed it down next to him.

"Holy shit..." he hears a hushed voice say. Jake quickly looks over his shoulder, and out of the corner of his eye he saw two unfamiliar people, a guy and a girl, both staring at him.

"Yo, man, we know you see us." the man says, crowbar in hand.

"We aren't going to hurt you," the girl assured, who had a calm, soothing voice.

Jake sighed, and stood up, looking at the two. They weren't much younger than him, both skinny, pale skin. They seemed harmless enough, but Jake knew that looks could be deceiving.

"Hey, man, you okay? We saw you run in here like Jackie fuckin' Chan-- thought you might've needed some help." the man said.

"Are you alone?" the girl asked.

Jake looked at the two for a moment, thinking about his answer. "Yes," he finally said.

"Well, shit man. How'd you survive out there then?" the guy said.

"Long story." Jake simply said. "What about you two?"

"Ah, forgot to introduce ourselves." the man said, reaching his hand out for Jake to shake. "Name's Tony, this is my sister Mandy."

Jake shook it instantly, "Jake," he said.

"Man, nice to meet somebody new, y'know?" Tony asked. "Surviving with your sister for-- how long? Five months? Not easy, man."

"Did you guys just hole up in here?" asked Jake.

"Not immediately. Had to pick her ass up from school, we decided to head west, had family there. Got here-- there was a surplus of supplies so we just kinda camped out here.

Jake simply nodded. "Well come on," Mandy said, grabbing Jake by the hand. "IT's not safe down here-- we haven't exactly cleared it out yet."

Tony and Mandy led Jake into the attic of the food court. Jake looked around, the broken down walls, the crates of food and water. These two are stacked to the brink. As Tony set down his crowbar, and Mandy sat down on the air mattress in the corner of the room, Jake reached into his back pocket, where he feels his pistol sitting there. He looks back at the brother and sister, who aren't paying much attention, and he smiles to himself.

"So, you got any family out there?" Tony asks, looking at Jake. "Any alive family, that is?"

"Nope," Jake said, sounding too nonchalant for their liking. "Got a girlfriend out there somewhere, just got to find her."

"Metaphorically or...?"

"Nope, real girlfriend. I was with her earlier this morning, we got separated, I ended up here."

Tony simply looked at Mandy who looked toward the ground, not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry, man." Tony said. "I'm sure she's alive and out there."

"It's cool, man." Jake said, forcing a smile. "It's cool..."

Jake quickly took his pistol out of his back pocket pointing it in the direction of Tony, who jumps back in fear. Jake quickly fires off two shots, only one which actually hits Tony in the arm, but the force was enough to make him fall back. He turns toward the young Mandy, who is just staring at her brother in fear, and Jake quickly shoots at her a few times, hitting her in the chest.

Jake walks over to Tony, who is just staring in shock at his little sister who lies dead on the air mattress, grasping onto his own shoulder. Jake quickly raised his gun and shot Tony in the head, he then made his way toward the deceased Mandy, and shot her in the head for good measure.

Olivia, Kelly, and Trevin quickly made their way inside the food court, Kelly and Trevin both armed, while Olivia frantically ran inside.

"Jake?!?" she called out, visibly panicked.

"Olivia, be quiet." Trevin quickly said.

"It's cool," Jake said, turning the corner, two big crates of supplies over his shoulder. "Took out a couple of walkers that took me by surprise... we should get going."

Olivia quickly ran up to him, hugging him tightly. He let out a faint smile, as he wrapped his free arm around her.

Ryker helped Julia into the Humvee, as Jake loaded the two crates in between the two. Kelly quickly hopped into the passenger seat, and Ike jumped into the front seat.

Jake quickly got into the passenger seat, and Trevin hopped into the front. Manning hesitantly got into the back with Olivia, who smiled at Jake as she got in.

"Everyone's good?" Trevin asked, looking back at Manning and Olivia, who both nodded their heads.

"Jake, where did you find all that stuff?" Olivia asked.

Jake looked back at her through the rearview mirror, and sighed. He wanted to tell her the truth, she deserved to know-- but he couldn't bring himself to do it. "In a supply closet-- my best guess was that a couple of people tried to hide in their, last there with all their food, but one of them turned somehow."

Olivia nodded, as Trevin turned on the ignition, and put the car into drive.

As the Toyota drove down the road, turning the bend that Manning and Ryker had scouted earlier, Trevin, Jake, and Olivia just looked at all the cars, in shock. Trevin looked through the rearview mirror at the Humvee which were close behind them.

As Trevin turned his attention back to the road, Olivia put her seatbelt on, smiling to herself. Manning looked up ahead, not taking his eyes off all of the cars, before noticing their slashed tires. As he looked ahead of the road, barely noticing the road spikes set up ahead, he could only try and grab Trevin's attention before they ran them over.

Ike quickly slammed on his breaks, making the Humvee come to a screeching halt as Ike, Kelly, Ryker, and Julia watched in horror as the Toyota which was driving ahead of them randomly started to spin out of control.

"What are they doing?" Ryker asked, nervously.

The four only watched as the Toyota flipped, landing upside down on the grass.

Credits

 * Kelly Gay
 * Olivia Bell
 * Jake Munoz
 * Ike Dennis
 * Julia Riley
 * Ryker Daniels
 * Trevin
 * Manning
 * Tony
 * Mandy

Deaths

 * Tony
 * Mandy