The driver’s door opened and two hands popped out followed by the body. The hands remained in the air until the person was in full view of us.
“Who are you?!” I almost yelled. A coughing fit came after that, but I muffled it as best I could into the sleeve of my pleather jacket.
The man stood in plain view, standing about five feet and ten inches with an average build and long blonde hair. He had an incomplete beard of reddish-blonde growing across his face in scattered patches. The rest of his body was hidden behind his hooded sweatshirt.
“You Daryl?” the stranger said nonchalantly. “Hello. I’m James.”
Chapter 26
I motioned James over, “How do we know that you are actually James and not someone claiming to be him?” I questioned. My caution for the situation had not left me even though my head was pounding from my sickness.
He shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know. My name on the forum was Contamin8r, spelled with the number eight. If you have an internet access, I’ll log in for you.”
I looked to Chelsea then to Zach. They each nodded and we lowered our weapons. “Alright, James. I guess that will have to do. There’s really no other way to identify you anyways. Just don’t do anything suspicious.”
“Woah, if I’m not mistaken, it was you guys who were asking for my help,” James said defensively. “I did need to leave the city, but I could have just gone ahead all by myself. There was no need to help you guys.”
I waived my hand, “Alright, alright. I get it.”
“Look, I’m just saying that a little bit of trust would be nice,” James said.
Zach approached him, hand stretched out. James took it, “I’m Zach, or Buffalant909. You’ve met Daryl, and that’s his girlfriend, Chelsea.” James nodded in greeting.
“Okay,” I said, ready to get down to business. “We’re going to have to siphon whatever gas is left in your car, James. That was the plan.”
He nodded, “Well, my car is at about three quarters of a tank. Why not just take mine and fill up on the way?”
“Well,” I began. I was trying to be delicate, not intending on driving him off. “We have all of the food and supplies in our cars already. You can throw your things with Zach’s as you will be in the car with him. It’s probably the safer of the two cars. Chelsea will be driving with-“
“Women drivers make Zach’s car safer?” He joked.
Chelsea held up the handgun, “Say that again!”
“Chelsea!” I said. She was only joking, but James did not know her well enough to understand her humor.
“I’m just kidding! Gosh, not going to shoot our guide,” She said, holstering the weapon. “I can take a joke, just don’t expect to be in the same car as me.”
I shook my head, “Anyways, we have about a ten hour drive tomorrow and we should be able to get there just before dark if we leave here around eight. Actually it is getting darker with the rapidly approaching winter season, so probably not, but I would like to be there as soon as possible.”
Everyone agreed with that statement. Nobody liked being camped out on the road in the freezing cold. Zach had the fire going nice and hot. Everyone quickly became huddled around it.
“Someone will have to keep watch,” I said to the group. “We can’t have a contaminated giving us the jump while we are sleeping.”
“I can do it,” Chelsea said to the group fire.
I shook my head, “No. You have been driving all day and need your rest. So does Zach.” I looked to James who had a surprised look on his face. “I’ll be staying up. Besides, I pretty much slept the day away, so there’s no reason that I can’t just do that again tomorrow.”
“You need your rest!” Chelsea said, almost forcing me down.
I waived her off, “No, I’ve had too much rest. Besides, I’m starting to be able to breathe out of my nose, and my headache hasn’t gotten worse. I should be fine.”
“Daryl!”
“No, Chelsea. I haven’t contributed since we left. The least I could do is give you guys a proper night to sleep without worry,” I raised my hand before Chelsea could reply. “That’s how it is happening. No arguments.” She would be mad at me, I think, for shutting her out, but the conversation would have gone on for too long if I didn’t.
She already had marks of heaviness in her eyes from the day’s ride. She would be asleep before she knew it.
“If you don’t mind,” Zach said. “I’m a paranoid shit. So I’ll be sleeping in my car tonight, or next to it.”
“Doesn’t matter to me,” I said.
“Good then,” he said, wrapping himself in a blanket and walking off. “Sweet dreams!” he said as he walked off, but stopped at his door handle. “Uh quick tip. You might want to keep the fire down to coals. The light from a decent fire would probably alert any nearby contaminated, though we are elevated enough, but why risk it?” he opened the door to his car and closed it behind him without waiting for a response.
“Lay down, Chels,” I said, kissing her on the forehead. She was stuffed inside of the sleeping bag wrapped tightly around her. She gave in to sleep and rested her head down on my lap. Shortly after, I could hear the faint rhythmic breathing coming from her sleep. “What about you, James?”
“Not too tired, yet. First time out today and for a while at that,” he said. “Figure I could keep you some company.”
“Thanks,” I replied, though I secretly wanted to
