89.4 Zombie Radio

"Look... Trevor... I don't know what you heard but..."

Trevor wasn't in the business of letting me finish what I had to say. I was just trying my best to stall so I could think of something to tell him. I could tell by the look in his eyes he was a different person right now. He was a person that would pull the trigger, and he might not stop with me afterwords.

"I heard enough to know somethings going on. If you think I'm afraid to shoot you fuckers, you're dead fucking wrong my friend. So I suggest you get real fucking honest, real fucking quick," Trevor said. I looked over his shoulder, and seen Jack standing there, his gun already drawn and aimed at Trevor.

"Drop the fucking gun Trevor!" Jack shouted.

"You drop the fucking gun! I'm not dropping shit until I get some fucking answers!" Trevor yelled back.

"Alright!... You're in control here," Jack said. "I'm putting the gun down alright? You want answers? Fuck it, I'll give you answers, but you're gonna have to give me the gun before you get them."

"No deal asshole. You give me answers, and I'll think about letting this fucking pussy go," Trevor threatened. "And that all depends on what fucking answers I get too."

"Okay Trevor, if its like that, then let's talk with guns. Before I go off telling you anything though, what sort of answers are you even looking for?" Jack asked.

"I want to know why you motherfuckers are sitting around watching me! That's what I want to fucking know!" Trevor shouted. He was wiping his nose with the sleeve of his free hand as he continued the shouting match.

"Alright... If you really want to know Trevor I'll tell you. I swear on my life this is the truth. We have a suspicion that you may be infected. There, now you know."

"Are you fucking kidding me!?" Trevor screamed.

"No I'm not. You're exhibiting a lot of the opening signs and..."

"It's my fucking allergies you fucking dick!"

"And we seen you were bitten by a mosquito."

"This is the stupidest fucking bullshit I've ever heard! Now we're gonna flip the fuck out when someone gets bitten by a mosquito!?"

"Yes Trevor, we are. We don't know very much about this stuff. All we know is, its a possibility. We can't be too careful. So yes, we are watching you, and we're all hoping that nothing's wrong. Now, put the gun down, and let's just act like this never happened."

"Fuck! Why out of all these fucking people did I have to find the biggest group of dumb asses around!? I should shoot you all on principle!"

"You're not gonna do that Trevor. You shoot him, and I shoot you. Even if you get me, there's a group of people in the other room who will be after you. And even if you kill all of them, there's still the whole revenge on Bob mission. You kill us, you'll never find him. He's not gonna come looking for you. He's looking for us. You want to kick his ass in front of Layla, you'll drop that gun."

Trevor snickered and set the gun down on the floor. I slowly made some distance from Trevor, not one hundred percent sure his little tyrant was over. Jack dropped his gun to his side and started to make his way over to Trevor. He offered his hand as a truce, but as soon as Trevor took the bait, Jack pistol whipped him, and had him in handcuffs quicker than I could even realize what was going on.

"What the fuck!?" Trevor shouted in pain.

"I can't trust you anymore Trevor. You're gonna be a dick, so am I. I'll watch you like this from now on. I'll let you out when I think I can trust you," Jack told him as he turned to face me. "Are you okay?"

"Yea, I'm fine," I told him. Roxy and Kwame were up now, and I could tell it was all the noise that woke them.

"Holy fucking shit!" Roxy yelled. "What the fuck happened in here!?"

"Well, Trevor held Aiden here up at gunpoint, and tried to find out why we're all watching him," Jack informed them.

"Damn, I can see old dude got fucked up too! You tell him we think his ass is turnin' all zombie-like and shit?" Kwame asked.

"Yea, but even if I wouldn't have, he would know now Kwame," Jack joked.

"Oh yea... Shit, my bad," Kwame apologized.

"You're all fucking dead to me!" Trevor shouted. "I swear once I kick Bob's ass I'm fucking leaving! And if I see you fucker's again, I'll shoot every last one of you!"

"Dude, shut the fuck up," Roxy said, laughing at Trevor's threat. "Anybody willing to bet Bob kicks this little prick's ass again?"

"Shit, I'll bet fifty on that shit right the fuck now!" Kwame answered.

"Fuck you! Fuck all of you!" Trevor screamed.

"Fuck me mothahfuckah!? Fuck me!? Mothahfuckah! Fuck your little bitch ass! Just mad cause old dude got the girl, and your bitch ass ain't get shit!" Kwame shouted back.

"You haven't gotten anything but slapped as far as I've seen!" Trevor replied.

"Oh shit, fuck that bitch! I'm over Riley's bitch ass. She ain't for me anyways. I leave that ho ass trick to mothahfuckin Dean or some shit," Kwame said.

"Who are you leaving to me?" Dean asked as he walked in half asleep.

"Riley's all you playah," Kwame informed him.

"Okay... Whatever," Dean replied. "Why is he in..."

"Long story Dean, don't worry about it," Jack said. "Did our little shouting match wake everyone up?"

"Yea, pretty much. I think we'll all be ready to take off here in a little bit," Roxy answered. We all gathered up our stuff once more, and got ready to go. It was something we were all getting rather used to. The nomadic lifestyle was becoming our regular routine. Stay a night, leave in the morning. When we were all in the bus, we shoved Trevor into the back, and Kwame guarded him, just to make sure nothing happened. The entire bus ride was entertaining for that reason. It was filled with both of them talking trash to each other. Kwame always seemed a step ahead of Trevor in that department.

"Should we maybe kind of take it easy today on the traveling? Maybe let them catch up to us?" Roxy asked Jack.

"If you want to Roxy, we'll get through Kentucky to Tennessee. Then we'll stop somewhere on the state line and call into the radio station. We'll let them know where we're at, and maybe even how to get there. I've been keeping track of the roads in my head," Jack explained.

"Yea, I like that plan Jack... We shouldn't have left them. We should've fucking went with Dalton and Bob. Fuck... I'll never forgive myself if they don't come back. What the fuck was I thinking?" Roxy asked, blaming herself for everything.

"Hey, we all agreed to it Roxy. We're all to blame if they don't come back. Its not just you. Don't beat yourself up over this," Brock said.

"Yea, but I came up with that stupid fucking rule. What a good fucking family we are right? We don't even take care of our own... I want a vote... I say we veto that no rescue mission bull shit. We're a fucking family God damn it! We need to start acting like it! I say from now on we take care of each other! Its one for all and all for one! If this shit has taught me anything, its that we need to stick together, and I say anyone who isn't for that shit can go straight to fucking hell and do their own thing."

"Roxy... I'm with you here. I was with you before, after we seen Randle die... But Randle did that to protect us. Sure, maybe if we had never went, he would have never died, but who's to say? If we would have never went into that mall Raven would still be alive, and... Did we ever find out what happened to Gabe?" Jack asked.

"You know what... They never fucking told us! I'm assuming he's dead... But shit, the motherfucker was so quiet, that I don't know. He could be chillin' with them right now! Next time I call the station I'll ask, but I see your point Jack. We're all in this together, and some of us aren't going to make it. We need to stick together. We need each other, and if one of us is in trouble, we need to help them. I want all of you on that fucking island when we get there! So... Who's in? If you're down with the family policy, then raise your hands now... Or you can seriously get the fuck off my bus."

Everybody but Dylan and Trevor raised their hand. Roxy looked Dylan in the face, and I could tell by the look on her face, something was going to be said.

"Dylan, I understand we don't know each other too well, and you've only been here for a little while. But dude... Please, just be part of this shit," Roxy pleaded.

"Well... I'm not sure Roxy. I mean... You guys are alright, but I'm sort of a loner. I'm gonna do what the fuck I want. If it goes with what you guys are doing, than great, but if not, I'm gonna do shit on my own. Right now, our paths are the same, but that could change. Please don't be pissed at me, I'm just being honest right now. You guys are a family or whatever. I get that, and its fine, but I'm just not sure I can be part of that... But I promise I'll never fuck you guys over. I give you my word on that, and that's something I don't usually do," Riley explained.

"...Alright Dylan. If that's how you feel, I understand, but if shit gets bad for you, don't count on our help," Roxy replied.

"That's a deal," Dylan said. After all of that was settled, we drove to the border of Tennessee, and stopped at the first house we seen. It was unusual to stop there in broad daylight. It was kind of nice though, and for once I felt like we were doing the right thing. Hopefully the rest of our little makeshift family could catch up, and we could become whole again. We sat around the house, listening to the radio and waiting for Bob to call the station. We left Trevor in the bus, just in case he did turn. He claimed it was allergies, but none of us were convinced at all. If anything, maybe he'd cool down a little.

It wasn't too long before we heard the call from Jessie, filled with interesting news about them almost being robbed, a zombie army, and a child they had found named Nolan. Jack waited a little while before giving the call back, and told DJ Double Tap everything they needed to know on how to find us. DJ Double Tap assured us that he would announce it every fifteen minutes, until he was sure they had heard it. We told him we'd be waiting for them here, and we were sorry for ever have left them. We also asked about the fate of Gabe, who we had almost totally forgotten about. This new attitude in the group was... Sort of relieving. I was proud to be in this group. A group that actually cared about the people in it. Afterwords things calmed down, and Celeste and I found ourselves left alone outside on the front porch, watching the sun set.

"Baby... You've been so quiet this whole time... What's on your mind?" I asked her.

"Nothing really... I'm just... Well... You know how I am around new people Aiden. I've never been good at it," Celeste answered.

"I know... But these people are good Celeste... Well most of them are anyways. You don't have to stay in that shell of yours forever. I'm like you, I'm quiet too. You and I are just like that. But don't shut yourself out from these people. Its like they were talking about, this is as close to family as it gets now."

"I know that Aiden... But you and I both know we have to leave at some point. Can you live with yourself knowing you had a hand in causing all of this? These people would be living normal lives right now if it weren't for us. In fact, we should leave right now!"

"We're not leaving Celeste. Dr.Grant knows all about us. I told him everything. He wasn't even mad. It wasn't our fault Celeste! We didn't know what we were doing! We were tricked by him!"

"Tricked by who Aiden!? You don't even know! You just know him by a screen name! How are we supposed to find this guy!? That's what you want right!? To find this guy and take your revenge!? Well how are we supposed to do that!? We don't even know where to start Aiden! These people are just trying to go somewhere they can stay, and not have to worry about something trying to eat them in their sleep! We're fucking using them Aiden! Don't you feel just a little bad about it!?"

"Yes I do okay! I sure as hell do! Every day I wake up and that thought crosses my mind! I know what we did okay!? I fucking know! I know what we're doing, and I feel the same fucking way as you do about it! We're going to leave! We're going to!... But... Fuck!... I just don't know what the fuck to do!"

"Aiden... I love you. We're in this together. Its just you and I alright? So forgive me if I don't want to get to know these people. I just... Don't want to make it any harder when its time to leave."

I held Celeste in my arms as she broke into tears. The sun went down behind the mountain and Celeste and I made a deal. We would see this family of ours to safety, and then we would make things right. It was a deal we both could live with. A few more hours of staring at the stars, and we went inside to find a spot to sleep. I couldn't help myself. I was never a person to really believe in God. Half the reason I said I'd go gay for Jesus is because I don't believe I'd ever meet him, but tonight, even I was saying my prayers. All I wanted was for them to show up here by the time I woke up. God... If you're up there... Please, just give me this one thing.