Zombie Dream Chapter 7

I wake up and my neck hurts because my pillow ran away from me in the middle of the night. My alarm keeps going off and I let it ring to make sure everyone wakes up. Mitch yells, "turn that shit off!" and stuffs his head under his covers. I click it off and stretch out my neck trying to relieve to pain. I see Dawson pop up cocooned in his sleeping bag and I say Dean and Jon's name to see if they're awake. They don't say anything but pretend to spoon. I step out of my sleeping and yell out get up everyone then I kick my pillow that betrayed me in the middle of the night and now is a couple of feet away from my sleeping bag. How it got that far away while I was sleeping I do not know. Jon and Dean now both get up at the same time and sit in the same position. I guess thats what all that spooning does to a couple. Mitch rolls off the bed mumbling and takes the covers with him and uncovers Amanda. She rolls up into a ball to try and keep warm and has an irritated look on her sleeping face. I walk over and I set my sleeping bag over her and she opens her eyes. I smile and tell her that we should all get ready to leave. She nods. I tell her that she has some awesome morning hair too then she ducks into the sleeping bag. I look over at Mitch and he is all rolled up in the covers in the floor and I kick him gently and I say, "get your lazy ass up fag." We meet up with all the adults who are also getting ready to leave. They tell us what they are thinking and then we go back to our rooms to pack the rest of our stuff. After everyone finishes we meet out in front of our cars and make sure everyone understands what is going to happen. After we get the plan drilled into everyones head Connie says that we should go wake up the new people that came last night and tell them its time to leave. As she begins to walk toward the rooms I tell her that they aren't part of the plan. She looks back kind of confused and I tell that we can't just bring all these random people along that we don't know. She makes the argument that our group has a good plan and that we should bring everyone along that we meet. I tell her that its not a good idea and that we should bring some people along, but not everyone. I look back at the rest of the group and new Jim seems to agree. Connie walks back and joins the group and we all wish each other luck and hop in our cars. Mitch decides to ride with Me and Dawson and hops into the back of Dawson's Impala. Dawson turns the music up and I sit back and relax. We follow Jon's Tahoe and Jon and Katie look back and wave at us. A couple of hours into the ride we turn the music down and we just chat. Dawson lets me know that we might need to get some food soon and I agree. Mitch asks me why we left those new people back at the motel behind and I tell him I don't think its a good idea to just bring any one along and that I only want smart and good people in our group that don't ruin our chemistry. I ask him did he talk to any of them and he says he talked to some of them and that they seemed like good people. I just say oh well and that we probably will meet new people soon. Mitch says, "Ya, but there was this really hot chick!" I ask him, "for real?" only semi-interested and he says yes and begins to describe her to us. Then he stops and says, "do you know who else is kind of hot? Amanda." Dawson jumps in and agrees with Mitch and I think about it and tell them I never really looked at her like that but that she is really nice and pretty. After our conversation dies off we enjoy the emptiness of the road and continue our drive. Mitch's comment sticks with me and the more I think about it the more I think how special Amanda really is. We drive for a little more and the lead car exits and everyone follows. We get out in the parking lot of a pretty big gas station and huddle to talk things over. Dawson brings up to the group that we might need to get some more food soon and everyone agrees. Everyone grabs a gun and I tell them that we need to secure the area before we all go in and grab goods and refresh. I select a group to go in and secure the inside and I select some people to stay back and stand guard. I explain to the entry group how I want this to work out and we all run up to the door. The lights are off inside and the store looks messy. I ask everyone if their ready before I open the doors and everyone nods their head. I push the door open and a huge wave of humid and rancid air hits us. A couple of us cover our mouths as we cough and it sounds like some of us choke back puke. After we recover a couple of our guys criss cross in and secure the sides of the room then the rest of our team storms in. The store is super messy and I get a really bad feeling in the pit of my belly. We maneuver through a couple of aisles and reach the cash register. I look over and I find a pool of dried blood and the sight increases my heart rate. We sneak and check the rest of the building and we reach one last room. The employees only room. I can hear a buzzing that sounds like machines from the other side of the room. I get down on one knee and put my hand on the handle and I look back to see if everyone is focused before I open the door. I take a deep breath and it feels like everyone follows and it makes me feel like we are all on the same page. I fling the door open and there is a loud crash. A bunch of things fall off and creates a lot of noise and then I see a body flip over and jump to its feet. Its neck turns way to fast and its red eyes lock onto our group and it begins to charge with rapid speed. All of a sudden the creature gets hit and blood flies from its head and chest sprays all over the wall. The creature gets launched back, hits the floor and doesn't move. I'm in shock and I don't even remember hearing any shots. Then there is a loud bang to my left and it makes me jump quickly to my right and I look up and I see that Jim Franklin has shot one more shot off the make sure that the monster is dead. I gather myself and I look over at the rest of the group and I'm greeted with white faces and wide eyes. I look over to new Jim and I see that he is very calm and that his pistol is smoking. I am the first to speak and I ask if everyone is okay and I get no response from anyone. I ask if there are anymore in here and new Jim says, "probably not but be careful." I look up at Jim and I ask him if he was the one that shot the monster and he nods his head silently. I slowly close the door shut and I whisper a "holy shit." We carefully walk out to tell the rest of our group that the gas station is secure and that we should go grab some things quickly. My Mom grabs me and asks me if I'm alright in a loud and panicky voice and I say yes confused. I ask her whats wrong and she asks me why there is all this blood on me. I wipe my forehead with my hand and I look down at my palm and I see that it is indeed smeared with blood. I see everyone is staring at me silently worried and I kind of snap out of my shocked state and I yell, "ah fuck, thats gross!" This relieves the tension and I see everyone kind of relax. Jim Franklin looks over to new Jim and says, "us Jim's need to stick together more," and they get a good chuckle out of it. The people that were waiting outside all run over to the nearest person that was involved in the entry and begin to shoot out questions. My Mom and Dad help me wipe the blood off of my face and we have a family hug. I joke around and express how pissed I am that a good shirt is all messed up. Everyone walks into the gas station and I see new Jim stationed by the employees only corner sealing it off so no one walks by that area. I walk over to him and help him. We stand there for a little while and don't say anything but then I tell him thank you. He asks, "for what?" and I tell him, "for saving my life, duhh!" He laughs and says, "hey, I was saving my life too." Everyone makes the process quick and we all walk out together to jump back into our cars. Jim and I walk back next to each other and Amanda jumps in between us and playfully throws her arms around the both of us. She asks us if we are okay and Jim says, "yes we are sweetie," and kisses her gently on the forehead. She looks over at me and I smile and tell her yes. I run over to Dawson's Impala and I hop in.