We're Still Alive(Book1)BEING REWRITTEN

Forty-Four

   They split up almost right away, with both groups taking opposite turns out of the large parking lot. Bill was driving the white pickup truck, while the second group had taken the jeep. They drove through town, maneuvering around other cars and trucks and anything else that lay in the road, or sometimes even on the sidewalks. Food and supplies wasn't their main objective, but they picked up what they could find.
More than once they were attacked by the zombies, but never large groups. They weren't too smart, either. The things ran right in front of their guns, almost asking to be shot.
   After about three hours later, Gavin stood on the roof of a gas station store with Jack. The inside had already been checked, and Bill and Allison were trying to see if they could get anything out of it.
"I bet I could make it to that canopy." He challenged, trying to guess the distance between it and the roof.
   "Do you really think so?" Jack asked. He'd seemed quiet when Gavin first saw him, but he learned that the more he talked, the more he opened up. "I've got a 9mm clip that says you can't."
   "Oh, we betting now? Okay then, fine, one full mag." Gavin pulled out a full magazine and set it on the roof, and Jack did the same.  He watched with an amused look on his face as Gavin walked across the
roof farthest from the canopy above the pumps. He took a running head start, and right before he could run off the edge, he dug one foot into the concrete and turned in a wide circle, trying to slow himself
down while avoiding falling off the edge.
   "Shut up, let me try again!" He yelled over Jack's laughing. He walked back to his starting point and sprinted forward again. And again, right before he ran himself over the edge, he dug one foot into
the concrete. Instead of using it to slow down, though, he pushed off of the foot, and a second later he hit the canopy. He landed on his feet, then stumbled to his knees, and managed to catch himself with
his arms before he could fall on his face. He stood up to face Jack, who had stopped laughing and was now glaring.
   "I made it! Hand 'em over!" Suddenly he fell back to his knees to avoid the two flying magazines. "I said hand them, not throw 'em!" He called and picked up the magazines and stuffed them in his pockets. "Was that because you know you can't make the jump? I mean, you are starting to get older." Jack smiled at that.
   "Move over, kid." With that he took a running start and jumped to the canopy. He landed next to Gavin and stayed on his feet, then held out a hand.
   "What?"
   "I jumped."
   "So?"
   "So give me my mag back."
   "What?" Gavin repeated. "We didn't agree on that!"
   "What ever. You probably need it more anyway." Jack said, waving it off.
   "What's that supposed to mean?"
   "I'm a good shot; I hit more than I miss, so I don't need as many rounds."
   "Is that a challenge?" Gavin asked.
   "Would you two shut up and get down here!"Bill yelled from below them.
   "Maybe another time." Jack said before jumping off the edge. A loud crash followed.
   "Jack!" Gavin ran over to where he'd disappeared. Jack was laying on the top of a car. The windshield was cracked and the back was dented in. Gavin guessed it wasn't like that originally. "I think you're too fat for it!" He called down. Jack slowly sat up.
   "Just get down here."  He replied as he climbed off the top of the car. Gavin didn't see any other cars besides the one destroyed by Jack, so he walked along the edge and found a tall truck on the opposite side of Jack's car. He sat on the edge of the canopy, ready to jump, but was distracted by what he saw when he decided to take a last look around. He stood up to give himself a better view.  He could now see the three of them perfectly. Two men and a woman, stepping out of a truck. It was a large pickup, filled with only the driver and the two in the back, who jumped out to meet him. Gavin could tell they hadn't
seen him, and he ducked down to keep it that way. There was a chance that they might be good people. But they also might be bad. He remembered Jared talking about a group of people that laid down a spike strip and took out their van with the people inside.
   The three walked underneath the canopy to where Gavin's group was waiting. He tried to peek his head over the edge, but when he did he almost fell and had to dig his nails into the metal to keep himself up. He heard them talking, but he couldn't make out any words. Despite trying to avoid being seen, he crept back to the big truck and dropped as quietly as he could onto its roof. The others seemed so caught up
in their conversation that they didn't notice him. He climbed down and snuck over to a car near them. He crouched behind the car and listened.
   "Yeah, well, we could really use a good place to stay." The driver was talking. Although no one was pointing guns, Gavin could feel the tension in the air.
   "Where are you staying now?" Allison asked.
   The guy from the back answered. "We're in an old apartment building a little ways away from here. We've got 23 people there." He had a short black beard that was just more than stubble. "What about
you?"
   "We're at..." Allison started, but was interrupted by Bill.
   "We're staying in a warehouse, about 45 minutes away." He said. He didn't trust them. Gavin didn't blame him. All three looked jumpy and ready to shoot at any second.
   "You know, we are telling you the truth. That means that we're trusting you. So for you to lie to us so soon after meeting, that makes you seem suspicious. Don't you trust us?" The woman replied, and Gavin noticed the grip on her gun tighten. Gavin pulled out his own pistol along with the ammo that Jack had given him and started to line up his sights when Allison answered.
   "Look, we can help each other. There doesn't need to be any issues or anything, right?" She must have noticed their reaction to Bill's comment.
   "Why don't you tell your friend that?" The driver asked.
   "Okay, you're right. We're not staying at a warehouse, but like you said, we've only just met." She said carefully.
   "You don't trust us?" It was the woman again.
   "I didn't mean..."
   "Well that's too bad, isn't it?" The words had barely come out of her mouth before her two companions started shooting, and she joined them. Gavin threw out a few shots, but the three were now ducked behind cars, out of sight of their opponents. He made his way back up to the canopy and laid flat on his stomach. He fired three shots before hitting the driver, who was closest. Next was the guy from the back. Between shots he heard the click of an empty magazine, then a shot from the other group and a grunt. Allison screamed, then emptied her own magazine into the car of the driver. The bullets blasted through the windows and tires and Gavin watched as he collapsed onto the ground. The flat tires had lowered the car enough that a large stray shard of glass had found its way into his neck. The woman, who Gavin guessed was probably the group's leader, was now the only one alive. She was behind a car that was farther away than the ones her friends had hidden behind. Gavin couldn't see him except for the few seconds he took to aim and fire a shot or two. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get her at this rate, but he didn't have to. He heard a howling sound, which he thought might be a dog until he realized that the dog would have to be a hellhound with torn vocal cords. A few seconds later, Gavin watched a zombie clear the car and tear into the last attacker.