Your Revolution Is a Joke

With his arms firmly around his son, Matt's listens to the humming of the engine and the groaning from the bathroom. He knows he has to do something, but he can't bring himself to. No one can. He's been with Valary for over ten years. They have a beautiful son together and she's been very much like the mother of their little band of misfits from the beginning. Matt and Valary are man and wife, until death do them part. But their vows said nothing of one of them becoming a mindless, flesh eating zombie.

“Through sickness and in health,” Matt murmurs, his voice low and shaky. A single tear rolls down his temple, disappearing into his pathetic pillow.

River stirs in his arms, Matt realising he has to move. He needs to figure something out. He needs his son's safety and survival to be on the top of his list of priorities. He's vaguely overheard Brian and Zacky talking about checking their homes, seeing who has survived and who hasn't.

“Matt?” Michelle whispers, her voice soft and soothing. She sounds so much like Val. He slightly leans back, meeting her hazel eyes as they wrinkle, tears welling. “I can lay with him, if,” she pauses, her voice failing her.

Matt just nods, slipping his arm free and rolling from the bunk to the floor. He'd always hated these bunks. His heart sinks as he passes the bathroom, his head hanging as low as his heart. He knows everyone's watching him and despite not feeling up to facing everyone, he knows he has to. “Where are we?” He asks, flopping down between Zacky and the random girl from the concert.

Zacky frowns, flipping around to peer out the window at the deserted roads. “About an hour from home,” he shrugs, guessing.

Nodding slowly, Matt's fingers play with a loose thread on his shirt. Johnny sighs, leaning back against their make-shift kitchen. “We're gonna need supplies,” he begins, trying to keep some sort of conversation going. Two hours of silence is driving him insane. “If we can get some canned food, we can save that until we're desperate. Most food has months before it expires, so we can survive on that for now.”

From the front of the bus, Jimmy and Brian trade places, Jimmy walking over and offering Johnny a weak smile. “We'll hit a few supermarkets before we check our homes. Morgan and I are pretty fast, so we'll do most of the running. Zacky, keep your guitar handy. It's one of our only weapons right now.”

Zacky nods, shifting in his seat. Morgan sighs, meeting Matt's eyes as he stares quizzically. “So, I'm guessing you're Morgan?” The girl nods, her blue eyes twinkling as she looks him up and down, such sympathy in her eyes.

“What the fuck...” Brian mumbles, his eyes wide at the sight before him. A horde of dead shuffle forward, the chugging bus drawing them in as they come to a stop. “We need fuel, but these fuckers are everywhere.”

Zacky flies forward, Johnny hot on his heels. “Maybe we could ran them?”

Shaking his head, Johnny stares out through the windscreen. “We risk damage to the bus. We can go around them, but then when we get out, we risk our lives.”

Matt suddenly stands, marching to the front of the bus. “Ram them,” he orders, his knuckles turning white as he holds onto the drivers seat.

“But-”

“Ram them!”

Brian puts the accelerator to the floor, everyone stumbling backwards as the bus jerks forward. The dead don't know what hits them as their blood, guts and brains splatters over the front of the bus, droplets spraying over the windscreen. The bus bounces, running over the fallen bodies before Brian rolls the steering wheel, pulling into the gas station.

“Zacky, get your guitar. Everyone else get,” Matt fumbles, “something. Brian, get ready to start putting gas in.”

Taking the first solid object she can find, Morgan races from the bus right behind Jimmy, armed and ready to smash some dead skulls in. Brian pumps the gas as quickly as it flows, his heart pounding through his chest. It takes the dead a moment to realise where they'd gone, and once they do, they're all over them like flies. Everyone swings their weapons, knocking the beasts on the head and once again when they're down.

“There's too many!” Johnny bellows, his crowbar covered in blood and making it harder to hold. His eyes widen in panic as

“We're nearly full!” Matt screeches, swinging his fist into the side of some poor woman;s head. He watches her fall, her eyes twitching before she fully goes limp. He swallows the lump in his throat, his mind whirling straight back to Val. He takes a step back, the dead falling forward as Jimmy forces his knife right through the back of another poor woman's skull.

Zacky screams, kicking at one of the men coming for him. He swings his guitar, knocking the life out of one before three more bombard him. Suddenly, his fear cripples him. He could die right now. His fear of death and the unknown overwhelms him, his heat racing as he falls back.

Brian flies across the gas station, the pump for the gas firmly in his hand. He sprays the three men aiming for Zacky, ordering everyone in the bus. “Drive! I'll catch up!”

No one hesitates, each almost fighting to be the first back through the small door. Jimmy brings the bus to life once again, tearing away from the station as at least thirty dead surround Brian, the hose spurting the remaining fumes over them. Brian kicks his way through the dead, charging toward the open bus door as he flips open his lighter, tossing it behind him. Johnny and Matt grab each of Brian's hands, hauling him into the bus as the station lights up.

It takes a moment for the bus to reach a decent speed, everyone staring out the window as the gas station explodes, flaming body parts of every kind flying through the air.

Brian huffs, catching his breath. “That was close,” he laughs, grinning widely as Johnny chuckles beside him.



River stretches in his aunty's arms, his hazel eyes still bloodshot from his rough sleep. He climbs over Michelle, assuring she's still asleep before he tip-toes up the bus, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Matt sends his son a warm smile, adoring the creases along his face from the way he's slept. “Hey,” Matt sighs, allowing his son to wriggle onto his lap.

River curls in his father's arms, but their warm embrace is short lived. “Daddy?” River wonders, pulling away from his father. “Why is there blood on your hands?”

Matt frowns, following his sons gaze only to have his frown deepen. “Because,” he begins, looking to Johnny and Zacky for some help.

“Because,” Zacky buts in, his smile bright and wide. “Uncle Johnny is a silly-head and fell over. He had a blood nose.”

River chuckles to the insult, looking to Johnny with curious eyes. “Are you okay Shorty?” He wonders, Johnny's nickname catching on to the younger generation.

“Hey! You're shorter then I am!” He snaps playfully, picking River up and shaking the small boy.

River cackles. “I am now!” He defends, puffing his chest out. “But mommy says when I'm all grown up I'll be taller then uncle Jimmy!”

“Don't bet on it!” Jimmy bellows from the front of the bus, once again switching places with Brian. “I'm a giant!” He roars, stretching to his tip-toes and raising his arms, appearing taller then he really is.

“Hey guys!” Brian calls, everyone looking to the front of the bus. “We're nearly at Zacky's.”

Matt frowns, taking River firmly in his arms as Johnny places the boy back in his father's lap. “Little man,” Matt sighs, turning his son to face him. “When we get to uncle Zacky's, I need you to stay here until one of us comes to get you. Can you do that? Can you be brave and look over aunty 'Chelle?”

River nods, once again puffing out his chest. Matt smiles weakly to his son, though his eyes and heart are full of pride. His son is so strong, but he doesn't understand what's going on. If he was older and could truly comprehend that the world has gone to shit, he may not be so brave or willing.