89.4 Zombie Radio

I knew Lucky was bad news as soon as I talked to him. I think I was one of the first to actually introduce myself, and I remember it being rather awkward. I could tell he was merely acting interested in what I had to say, and was more focused on Celeste. It was the type of thing that if I were not a pacifist, I might have said something, but I decided to keep the peace and take the passive route. There was something in his eyes that just read trouble though, and I wished I would have made mention of it to the rest of the girls in the group. This whole situation could have been avoided if I had. Now we're short five people in our group, and it would probably be a miracle if we saw all five of them alive and well again.

Morale was low in the camp as we readied ourselves to leave. I knew there would be maybe a few arguments on who should be the leader of the group now. I think it was assumed Bob was the leader, even though it was something that went unsaid. One could also make a strong case for Jessie being the leader as well. She was usually the only one who ever questioned what Bob did, and I feel it gave the group good balance. I never would have thought the little scene girl from the cafe would have turned out to be like this, which then struck a question, where was Nimel? Jessie and Nimel were an inseparable duo at the cafe, and I knew when we arrived at the camp he was with us. I started to search the campsite and finally found him sniffing around the lake. I called for him to come, but he didn't seem to want to leave. I could tell he was looking for Jessie, but he finally gave in and followed Celeste and I back to the bus.

Nimel left my side once we had arrived and immediately made his way over to where Dean was standing. Dean looked down at Nimel and tried to scare him with a mean face. Nimel just licked the side of his cheek and I laughed as Dean started to cuss at the dog. Nimel just sat and looked at him like he was some sort of crazy person, and when Dean had finished his rant, Nimel started to bark at him. It was like Nimel was giving him hell right back. He truly was Jessie's dog.

"Great Jessie leaves and I get stuck with her fucking dog!" Dean shouted.

"Dean, stop being such a bitch. You should be glad, I fucking love dogs!" Roxy exclaimed. She then tried to call Nimel over to her, but he wouldn't move from Dean's side.

"See the puppy likes you Dean! Dogs always fucking hate me for some reason. I love them, but they hate me," Roxy explained. I found it interesting that this girl who seemed so rough around the edges, had such a soft spot for four legged creatures. Roxy was an interesting girl to say the least. She was as tough as they come, but there was also a very caring side of her as well and I don't think any of us would have a problem following her lead.

"Roxy, I think you're being too aggressive. Just let the dog come to you," Jack said, extending his hand to Nimel. Nimel still didn't budge from Dean's side. He just continued to look at both of them like they were insane. Jack was another person who I think we all trusted. He was probably the oldest member of the group, and we all looked up to him in many ways. His police training was a clear advantage in combat situations. He and Roxy were at the top of the food chain to be leader. Nobody here would ever admit we needed a leader, but I knew we did. We couldn't have a group this big, and not have someone calling the shots.

"Ha! He's not coming to you either ass! Look's like you've got a new sidekick Dean, and hes so cute too," Roxy said in her high pitched dog voice.

"Well I wish he'd fucking go to one of you! I can't stand dogs!" Dean replied. "God damn it! Can we just go?"

"Yea! I'm feelin' old dude right here, let's get the fuck outta here," Kwame said.

"I would like to leave this place and never come back to it," Trevor added. "The sooner, the better."

"Why? Cause you got yo ass whooped by Bob's crazy ass?" Kwame replied. "Man, he straight fucked you up! I think your nose is still crooked from that shit mothahfuckah!"

"Fuck you! It was a cheap shot! If I see that punk ass bitch again, I swear to God I'll..." Roxy cut Trevor off in mid sentence.

"Probably get your ass kicked again motherfucker! And if you don't shut the fuck up soon, I'm gonna be helping in that ass beating!" she yelled. "You fucked with the man's girl! You deserved what happened to you!"

"Wait! Layla was never with Bob, alright!? All this bull shit came out of fucking nowhere! What did I do to deserve this!?" Trevor shouted. "Nothing! I just was trying to..." Roxy cut him off once more.

"You were trying to get in her fucking pants! No shit! We all fucking know! Now shut the fuck up and stop talking!" Roxy replied.

"Fuck you! I can talk if I want! Its a free fucking country!" Trevor shouted. I could see in Roxy's face that she was mad. She started to make a beeline for Trevor and Jack cut her off. He held her back by both arms as she continued to go off.

"Motherfucker! You got your fucking wish! Bob! My good fucking friend Bob, is out there hunting this bitch down, because he's in fucking love! You were never in love! You just wanted to fuck her and be done with it! Well you know what!? If it weren't for you, none of this shit would have ever happened! I almost guaran-fucking-tee they would have hooked up that night! And if they would have, I know Bob wouldn't have let this shit happen! Jessie saw you two fucking making out or whatever, and she came and told us! I have a feeling that if she wouldn't have been running around trying to make things right, she'd still be here right now too! So just shut the fuck up! Because you're fucking dead to me!"

"Fuck you! You're fucking stupid! If we would have let the motherfucker come with us, he'd still be here waiting to get one of us! Shit, it could have been you! And who the fuck would have come and gotten you out of trouble!?" Trevor screamed.

"Jack, just let me go! I swear to God I'll make sure the motherfucker doesn't get up this time!" Roxy yelled.

"Alright, enough!" Dr.Grant shouted. "You're both right! Whoever that guy was, he got Jessie and Layla. If he would have been here still, we'd all just be waiting for him to get one of us! Nobody is to blame here! I'm tired of having to break everyone up! We can't keep fighting like this!"

"Motherfucker I can keep fighting like this all God damn day!" Roxy replied.

"Roxy, I'm about two seconds from handcuffing you to a tree," Jack said. "Calm down, okay?"

Roxy didn't say anything after Jack let her go. She just stared Jack down and slowly backed away. Dr.Grant was right though, we did need to stop all the bickering. It was getting us nowhere. We needed some direction, and some sort of hope, but nobody seemed to be providing it at this point. I had been fairly quiet since joining up with this group, and I knew they were the key to finding the man I was looking for. It was time to speak up, and try to take charge.

"Do we even know where we're going?" I asked. "The doctor's right, we need to stop fighting and start figuring out what we're doing. In fact, I think we need to appoint somebody the leader of this group. If we stand around and argue with each other about what to do and where to go, we'll get nowhere."

"Hey! Fuck you! This argument has nothing to do with any of that!" Roxy yelled.

"Roxy, calm down, he didn't mean it like that. He makes a good point. We need a leader," Dr.Grant said. "We need someone who's word is final. So... Aiden was it? Did you have anyone in mind?"

"Well, not exactly. I think before it was mainly Bob and Jessie leading the charge. Maybe we should take a vote," I replied.

"Excellent plan. A true act of democracy is the only way to solve this," Dr.Grant said. "So first off, does anyone want to volunteer for the job?"

"Shit I'm down for that shit!" Kwame shouted. "Shit I want to lead and shit! Be all like, we need to do this shit mothahfuckahs! Straight up! Mothahfuckin' zombies be attackin', and I'd be like fuck ya'll mothahfuckahs! And shit, ya'll know how I do. Let me tell ya'll mothafuckahs what's up, and we'll fuck some shit up."

"Kwame I don't want to offend you, but I think we need a leader we can actually understand most of the time," Jack said. "You just said an entire speech, and all I made out of it was motherfucker and shit."

"Can't stand ya'll mothahfuckahs anyway! Swear to God man, fuckin' crackahs don't know shit!" Kwame yelled.

"Jack, why don't you lead?" Dr.Grant asked.

"Look, I really don't want to be the leader. I couldn't stand having that kind of responsibility," Jack replied.

"Fuck it, I'll volunteer!" Roxy said. "Since nobody else here is going to fuckin' do it! Motherfuckers need to grow some God damn balls!"

"Does anyone else want to volunteer?" Dr. Grant. Nobody looked like they were going to raise their hand. It looked like Roxy was going to win this makeshift election by default.

"God damn it!" Jack shouted. "Its not that I think Roxy can't lead, but she's a hothead. Someone has to balance her out. Why can't we have like a co-leader or something?"

"Well, that's sort of what Jessie and Bob were doing before. I don't see the problem with it," Dr.Grant said. "Is anyone opposed to that? If so, speak now or forever hold your peace." Everyone in the group just looked around at each other. Nobody seemed to be opposed to the plan.

"This sort of fucking pisses me off, but whatever," Roxy said.

"We're a good balance Roxy," Jack replied. "I think we'll do just fine you and I."

"I have one question, what do we do if the others really do come back? We keep talking about Bob and Jessie like they were the leaders. What if they make it back?" Lucas asked.

"Good question Lucas," Dr.Grant said. "Should we have another election if and when they return?"

"I'm like Jack, I don't want to lead. So if Bob and Jessie come back, and they're down to do the shit, I say we make them co-leaders or whatever the fuck me and Jack are," Roxy replied.

"Then its settled. If Jessie and Bob return, they'll be the leaders. Anyone opposed to that, speak up now," Dr.Grant said.

"I'm opposed to all of this shit!" Kwame exclaimed. "I still think ya'll mothahfuckahs should just let me handle this shit! Shit, ya'll know I'd be like Barrack Obama up in this mothahfuckah! Straight up runnin' shit, you know how I do! Instead ya'll gonna let the little crazy white girl and the mothahfuckin' cop run the bull shit. Ya'll mothahfuckahs crazy!"

"I'd like to point out I've never heard Barrack Obama once drop an F bomb," Jack said.

"Fuck ya'll anyway," Kwame replied. "Swear to God ya'll mothahfuckahs fuck up one time! I'ma be like told ya'll mothafuckahs!"

"Alright... Anyways, where are we going Roxy?" Jack asked.

"As far as I know, we're still going south right? So let's just look at the atlas and figure out where we are. Then we'll just go south," Roxy replied.

"Okay sounds good to me," Jack said. "Where's the atlas? Let's figure this all out."

"Oh fuck my life! Bob took the fucking atlas! Son of a bitch!" Roxy screamed.

"Calm down, it shouldn't be hard to figure out where to go. We'll just head South and we should get to Florida eventually," Jack said. We all piled into the bus and figured out how to use the little compass accessory on the dashboard to direct ourselves south. Celeste and I huddled in the seat by the back window, and watched as the road passed underneath of us. I held her hand and couldn't help but listen in on the conversations going on around us. Kwame was still busy hitting on Riley. He never gave up on it, and a part of me thought it was actually starting to work. That was until Riley slapped him hard across the face.

The slap would have been a bigger deal if anyone had actually heard it. Roxy was busy going through Bob and Jessie's CD's and picking out the saddest songs she could find, playing them as loud as the volume allowed. Brock sat and watched her go through the cases and just sighed every time the songs came on. Everyone could tell the whole incident was still bothering her. Dean was busy trying to keep Nimel away from him. It wasn't working though, and eventually Dean gave in, and Nimel fell asleep with his head rested on Dean's lap. Trevor was in his own little corner nursing his face on occasion and cussing under his breath at his luck. Lucas was showing Carter how to play a game on the Playstation and Dr.Grant spent his time with his hands folded staring out of the window. Jack was at the wheel, and was trying to act like he knew where we were. The more he said that, the less I believed him.

"We're going to have to stop for gas soon," Jack said. "I think there's a little town up ahead where we can stop."

"Are you saying that because you know where we are? Or because you seen the signs for it a little ways back there?" I asked.

"A little bit of both actually," Jack replied. I knew Jack didn't have a clue really, but it turned out he was right, and we came to a little town that nobody had ever heard of. We stopped at a little gas station, that doubled as a grocery store, and we all got out of the bus to walk around and stretch our legs.

"God, I'm starving," Riley said.

"You're always something aren't you?" Roxy asked. Riley didn't reply verbally, but the roll of her eyes said it all.

"Remember, nothing perishable," Dr.Grant said.

"No chicken and avoid anything that would have eggs as well," I said. I noticed Dr.Grant shoot me an awkward look immediately afterwords, and I realized what exactly I had said. I had just given something away about myself. Something I was definitely trying to hide from the others. How did Dr.Grant know anything anyways? There's no way any of these people had the parasite figured out. They knew it was a parasite, but I know the doctor gave them that information. Hell, I didn't even know what it was until he explained it, but there's no way they knew how it spread... Right?

"You dumb ass! Watch what you're saying!" Celeste whispered. I whispered back my apology and we followed the rest of the group into the store. Everyone took their time in the store, and we stocked up on supplies. There was one lone zombie hiding behind the meat counter, but Jack found it and handled it with ease. We left the store with a cart load of groceries and were ready to hit the road again. Just when I started to think the whole incident was over with Dr.Grant, he started to make his way over to Celeste and I.

"I'd like to talk to you in private a little later if I could," he said. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck standing up, and I started to wonder if he had already figured me out. This was not good.

"S-s-sure," I managed to stutter back. He walked away as if nothing had even happened and Celeste elbowed me in the ribs. Well, it was nice to travel with company for a while I thought to myself, but it was probably all going to come to an end rather soon. Roxy was still inside the store getting the gas pump to work, and we were all about to start loading up the bus, when it started moving on its own. It started to pick up speed, and before we knew it, it was traveling down the road. Someone had stolen our bus. Jack and Carter took off down the road after it, but it was out of sight before we even had a chance. Roxy rushed out of the store and charged her way to where everyone was standing.

"What the fucking fuck!?" she screamed. "You have got to be fucking kidding me!"

"Yep, this is a big joke Roxy. The bus is going to come back in just a second here, and we're all going to have a big laugh," Jack said.

"Fuck you! This is not funny!" Roxy replied. "Everyone's here right?"

"Yea, nobody's missing as far as I can tell," Lucas answered.

"Told ya'll mothahfuckahs," Kwame said. This was not good at all. We were stranded, in a place we didn't know, with most of our belongings on the bus. Suddenly the whole situation with Dr.Grant didn't seem as threatening.