Infection Runs Deep

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: BANDAIDS AND BULLET HOLES

Static blasted through the radio, making Warner flinch. He hit the steering wheel.

"Jesus, Falls. Do you want to make me crash the car?" He jerked the wheel for emphasis, sending the front tires rolling toward the other side of the highway.

Normally, I would have flipped, having the car drive on the wrong side of a crowded highway. But it was empty, the road barren, not a hint of oncoming traffic in sight.

Strange, but tragic. I didn't know whether people were laying low and taking cover or if the casualty count was so high that there was no one left to drive. The dark part of my mind was certain it was the latter. I didn't have enough optimism left to hope for the former. More people still kickin' just mean that there were more left to die.

"You don't need my help with that. You're almost as bad as Elizabeth," I retorted, leaning back in my seat. The old pickup was worse for wear after Elizabeth crashed into it, but it was still workin'. Barely, but enough to get by. I didn't have the heart to get rid of this old gal.

Warner sent me a sly look, one I knew meant a prying question was impending. "Speaking of that devil, what's the deal with you and Elizabeth?"

Many people think that it's the girls that gossip a lot. Obviously they've never been in the barracks. More drama happens there than any chick flick. In the end, the banter made us closer. There was no room for bad blood on the battlefield.

I sighed. "Why do you want to know? Searching for someone to warm your empty bed?"

He laughed, rolling his eyes before taking an exit towards the city. "Just asking." But his look said differently. "Besides, I have Tara."

Tara was Warner's girlfriend. A year or two younger than us, still getting her doctorate so she didn't live on the base with Warner. With long dark curls, brown eyes and skin, she was gorgeous by anyone's definition. While Warner joked often, he tended to be pretty quiet about his personal life. I'd only met her a few times.

Warner and I had known each other for ages. We enlisted around the same time and went through basic training together before serving in the same squadron in Afghanistan. That experience, for better or for worse, made us who we are. Sometimes, it was only your men that really could understand.

He knew my tells, just as I knew his. Knew the tense set of his shoulders meant that aloof this was just a deflection. That he had doubts about this run.

"This run..." I started, unsure of how to say what I wanted to.

Warner knew, picking up my train of thought easily. "Yeah, it's gonna land us in some deep shit. Hitting the city is a terrible idea."

"Damn straight. But it's necessary. It's the only place we're going to be able to get everything we need in one go. If we don't get the things on our list, the base is screwed, us with it." I rapped my knuckles on the window in thought. "No other place within 4 hours is going to get us what we need. Sure, it's a hike, but Charlotte is still our best bet."

Warner revved the accelerator. "Our best bet to get killed."

"Then, let's get in and out. Quick, no detours, only getting what's on the list."

"Easier said than done." Warner flicked on his turn signal despite the road being empty. Old habits die hard, I guess. "What are we hitting first? Right now, I'm taking the most direct path of the city."

"Probably the hospital," I suggested. "We need the medicine more than anything else, and this is the only place to get it. Food and clothes, yeah we need them. But we can go anywhere for that. It'll be easier to find those places as we leave."