Dallen laughed a bit as he rested his eyes. "Don't worry kid, once we get out of here, you're on your own," the man said. He wasn't one for groups anyway, and the thought of babysitting a couple of twins nerved him. His plan was just to get out of the city, wherever that led him next he didn't know.
When he opened his eyes next, he realized he actually had slept from pure exhaustion. Whether it was hours or only a few minutes, he felt fresh enough to continue on. He got up in the dark and stretched a bit, then opened the door. "Come on."
The sounds from above had seemed to stop, as they continuously walked for hours on end. At the next subway entrance he decided to try his luck by going up. Maybe it was better now, though he really had no idea where exactly they were. He led the way up the stairs cautiously, only to be blinded by the beaming light of the sun. He waited a moment to let his eyes adjust, then went up.
They were just outside of the city, at one of the last stops before it turned into the countryside. The view of it all was a lot to take in, as a few buildings were toppled over one another. Fires and smoke filled the skyline, but all seemed relatively quiet. Where they currently were, there were numerous abandoned vehicles with no signs of the owners. All piled up and empty. Dallen checked a few until he found the keys still inside a jeep. He fired it up and began pushing a few cars out of the way to make a clearing.
Suddenly a sound could be heard from above, and he looked up to see it was a military helicopter with a trail of black smoke following behind it. It swerved out of control and soon went down somewhere beyond the treeline. This told him the military was still somewhere in the area, and if wanted to loot the chopper he had to get there first.
"Follow the I-15 until you get to the 215," Dallen told them. "That'll take you to the rural areas leading out of the city. Same area that helicopter just went down. Goodluck."
He slammed his foot on the gas and headed for the helicopter.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I'm Ethan," the former history teacher told the new face he saw. "That girl sleeping is Raven, and that's Johnny." He sat down next to her and immediately felt his body lump into the soft cushions. "Don't worry, we're good people. Just trying to make it out of this thing alive."
Johnny got a sense of relief from what Reena had shown him. He knew she was stocked, but it was far better to see it as such. Before he could say anything else, he heard a line of gunfire that didn't seem to stop. It was coming in the direction of the entrance, where all the cars were backed up. It kept on, though it was far enough away for now.
"Some bad people might get in," Johnny told her. "Some desperate people. We might have to fight for this place to stand, sooner rather than later. I'll take up watch, you and the others should get some rest if you can. We're gonna need all our energy tomorrow, I feel."
With that, Johnny went up and posted himself on the second floor of the barn. He could see just over the trees in all directions, so he nestled next to a slab of hay and waited. Nothing ever came as the rise of the morning sun showered over the grass. The gunfire had eventually stopped in the night, and all was back to silence again, save for the crickets. Johnny found himself taking five minute breaks with resting his eyes, all night, and somehow, he still felt fresh in the morning.
The musician hopped down and went back into the farm house, wondering how everyone else had fared the night. Everyone seemed to be up, or just waking up. Ethan walked over to him. "I need to go try to find my wife," he said.
"I don't think that's the best idea right now," Johnny told him. "There was a gun fight out there all night. We could be walking into a warzone. We should eat, gather our weapons, then come up with a plan. We need some of us to stay here and protect this place, who knows what's out there."
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Spiffy