"Sweetwater." Johnny said aloud, almost to himself.
"What about it?" Roosevelt asked, not looking up.
"I feel bad. You?" Johnny asked.
"About the zombies? Yea it sucks what happened. They were good people." Roosevelt replied.
"Well yea, but it was basically our fault, right?"
Roosevelt looked up at Johnny, still holding the can upright as the liquid poured into the truck's tank.
"How so?" He asked.
"I mean, Bud wouldn't have been where he was if we hadn't found ourselves in Sweetwater, he wouldn't have needed help, they wouldn't have had to leave the town unprotected. If we hadn't shown up, they might all still be okay." Johnny said
Roosevelt shook his head, as the last contents of the can poured into the tank. He quickly dropped it to the ground and replaced it with the red can.
"Horde would have found them eventually. Pretty quick too. If we weren't there it may have been worse. You can't put that on us," he said.
"I guess." Johnny replied, clearly not convinced.
They stood in silence for a few moments as Roosevelt finished pouring the last of the gas. Leaves rustling and branches snapping interrupted the silence.
"Zed!" Johnny exclaimed as a single zombie stumbled from the trees about fifty yards away. The zed turned directly toward them and took off in a dead sprint. Johnny lifted the pistol with his good arm and took aim, waiting for the thing to get close enough.
"No need for that, let's just go." Roosevelt said, screwing the cap back in place and closing the hatch. He grabbed up the two cans and tossed them into the back before slamming the tailgate closed. Johnny holstered his weapon and jumped into the passenger seat. Roosevelt took his seat behind the wheel, started the engine, and quickly guided the vehicle back into the road. He pressed the gas pedal and watched as the zed in the mirror grew smaller and smaller until finally disappearing in the distance. Roosevelt kept up the fast pace for a few miles until he was sure that they were far enough away from the zed and any of its possible friends before he lifted his right foot and let the truck slow to forty-five miles per hour.
“What are you doing? Why did you slow down so much?” Johnny asked, adjusting himself in his seat to take the pressure off his wounded shoulder.
“Conserving gas. Don’t know when we’ll be able to get more.” Roosevelt answered.
“We should find an auto parts store somewhere and grab one of those hand pump siphoning tools. Then we can just fill up from other cars right on the spot without having to use the cans.” Johnny said.
“You don’t think all of these cars are dead empty? I bet they ran out of gas sitting here running when people started turning into mindless killing machines.” Roosevelt said.
“Yeah. Maybe you’re right.” Johnny shrugged his one good shoulder.
“Can I ask you a personal question?” Roosevelt asked, looking over at his friend out of the corner of his eye.
“Johnny spread his hands out to his sides, wincing as his shoulder started to burn.
“I’m an open book. Shoot.” He said through gritted teeth. Roosevelt eyed him again and then cleared his throat.
“Do you ever think about Tracy?” Johnny squirmed uncomfortably in his seat at the question.
“I’m sorry man. I shouldn’t ha...” Roosevelt started to say but Johnny cut in.
“I have dreams about her getting eaten just about every night.” Johnny said in a low tone, not telling him that Ruby was the one attacking his beautiful wife in his dreams.
“Damn Johnny. I didn’t know that. I couldn’t imagine how hard that is.” Roosevelt said.
“What about you? Do you think about Ruby?” Johnny asked, lifting his head and looking over at him.
“To be honest, last night was the first time I thought about her since that day. We’ve just been running so hard these past two weeks that I haven't had time to really think about anything else.” Roosevelt answered, shame dripping from his words. Johnny slowly nodded.
“I know man. I haven’t actually thought about Trace besides in my dreams in a while either. You’re right about running too hard though. Problem is that's probably going to be the new normal in most of the country. Hell, maybe even the world. People running in high gear trying to get away from zeds or trying to find food and water.” Johnny said as he watched a large green sign streak past.
“You think it’s spread around the planet already?” Roosevelt asked, glad the subject was moving in a different direction. It was easier to not think about Ruby at least while they were on the road trying to get across the country.
“I think there is no way it hasn’t spread around the globe already. I mean you saw how fast it spread from Houston to the rest of the country in a matter of days. Hell, it was in Florida by the time we made it there less than twenty-four hours later.” Johnny said, wishing he was wrong. Roosevelt seemed to consider this for a few moments before speaking again.
“Yeah it did spread like wildfire. I wonder what the rest of the world is doing to stop it or deal with it.” Roosevelt said.
“Who knows, man, who knows.” Johnny replied as he watched the world through the passenger side window. Both men grew silent as they drove until a couple of hours later when Roosevelt brought the truck to a stop at a rest area that was under construction. There was a single car parked in the taped off lot as they pushed through the barricades. They didn’t see a single person anywhere around so they each climbed out to use the bathroom. They walked
