Leeds

We decided to take the Hummer, because it was the most durable vehicle that could fit everyone. I sat in the passenger seat, and Cliff drove. Sterling and James had decided to stay, since everyone with proper fighting skills had gone to Leeds with us. We decided the easiest and fastest way to get there would be to take I15. We went slow, since there were wrecked vehicles everywhere, and the occasion zombie limping along the road. Shane, one of the other kids who had decided to go with us made it a point to dispose of every zombie he came upon. Every time he killed one he would cut a notch in a wooden baseball bat he carried with him. At one point we had to get out and move an SUV that was blocking the road. Lucky for us, in a zombie apocalypse, no one thinks to take their keys with them.
It took us 2 hours to get through Cedar City. During that time, I attempted to make conversation with Cliff, but he was shy, so it was mostly me talking. That was okay, but I felt like maybe I had misjudged the electric pulse I felt everytime we touched. After telling him about how I had met James, and with no reply as to how he had come to be in my father's basement I fell silent. I started to study my shoes, I didn't want him to see the disappointment in my eyes. We rode in silence for about 15 minutes, then he broke the silence with a long exhale, and said "I miss when zombies were only in video games." I looked up at him, our eyes met for a moment, but he looked away quickly. Shane started to laugh in the backseat, "Zombies are the best thing to ever happen to this country, did you know before all this I was on parole? The best thing is killing cop zombies!" I was studying Cliff's face I watched how his eyebrows raised slightly as Shane said this, then he started to laugh and said "You are right, I did enjoy going piggy hunting with you." I looked between both Shane and Cliff, then started to laugh at the look of complete contentment on Shane's face.
Cliff was able to speed up as soon as we got away from what was left of Cedar City, there were less vehicles on the side of the road. Shane was curled up in the back seat snoring softly. I leaned my head against the window, drifting slowly into a troubled slumber. I was dreaming about what I still consider the worst day of my life. I didn't feel the tears rolling down my face until Cliff gently wiped them off my cheek. My eyes fluttered open in surprise. He was looking deep into my eyes with his piercing green eyes. His eyebrows were pushed together with concern. He glanced back at the road for a moment, but our eyes locked again and for a moment I felt like I knew him from somewhere. I pushed the thought out of my head and quickly rubbed my eyes embarrassed he had seen me cry, even if it was in my sleep.
"You were saying something, all I caught was the name Roy." He said gently as he pushed my tangled hair behind my ear. I exhaled looking down, and shrugged "He's nobody anymore." He cupped my face in his palm, eyes softening for a moment as he said "If he was nobody, why were you crying?" I looked down again, tears welling up in my eyes again, as I said "He's an ex boyfriend that didn't end well." Cliff nodded and said "Yea I have heard his side of the story a million times, what's yours?" I looked up at him in surprise, "You knew Roy?" He nodded and shrugged "He is one of my brothers best friends, personally I thought he was an asshole." He was gazing out the windshield, I could tell he had a great distaste for the man I once called love. I studied my shoe as I said "He hates me, and I should be over it but sometimes it still hurts." I looked up at him in time to see him staring at me out the corner of his eye. I blushed slightly, "He's probably a mindless zombie now anyway, so it really doesn't matter what happened, I need to move on." He smiled sideways at me, reached over and brushed a rogue tear off my cheek. "So your brother is Gus?" I asked looked up at him, I was trying so hard not to enjoy the warmth of his hand against my cheek. He nodded, then shrugged "I didn't really know Gus, I lived with them for a while, but I wasn't raised around them, so I didn't fit in." He ran his hands through his mohawk as he said this. I turned in my seat so I could face him "How did you survive?" He looked surprised and laughed "Amy? I just gave her, her way."  I laughed at this as well recalling how crazy Gus's wife could be. "No I mean this." I gazed out at the dying world around us, we were near a small town. There were wrecked cars littering the highway, and offramp. A few limping zombies turned their blank eyes on our vehicle as we passed. "Well, I didn't know anything was happening until I found your video on youtube." He shrugged slightly, swerving around a limping zombie with outstretched arms. I must have looked surprised, because he started to laugh. "I worked for a website, and didn't get out much. I heard the screaming from the apartment above me, but I thought it was his crazy girlfriend. I looked for the most recently viewed videos and yours popped up. I thought it was a joke, so I went outside to prove it to myself, and decided to go to you, since everyone else was dead." He laughed again "I was playing Left 4 Dead the during the real zombie apocalypse." I started to laugh, half wishing this were all a dream, and we were playing video games. We talked video games for the last 20 miles before we reached the offramp for Leeds.
There was a blockade at the offramp, with armed soldiers standing guard. We pulled up slowly, ready for anything. The soldier tapped the barrel of his gun against my window, I rolled it down to talk to him. "How many?" He asked looking around through my open window. "Three of us, but there are more in Enoch." I replied looking past him at the other guards, who were watching us suspiciously. The soldier squinted at me for a moment, then asked "Are you Amber? The chick with the safe house?" I smiled and nodded. He yelled some orders at the other guards, they opened the barricade for us and we edged our way through. We followed the cement barriers built around a makeshift compound. "This is the refugee center?" Shane had woke up, and was looking around us. The blocks opened up into an area filled with tents, and military vehicles. There were a few survivors, but they were mostly wounded. "I'm not so sure about this." Cliff was frowning at a group of bandaged children playing with charred toys. We found a place to park our vehicle, Cliff nudged me and showed me he put the keys in his pocket. I nodded and pulled my Shotgun off the floor. Shane popped his neck, and grabbed his baseball bat up off the floor. "Ready?" He asked tapping it against his window. We both nodded and stepped out into the refugee camp.