Suzy’s Strange Saga
While you probably could talk Roger into staying if you turned on the charm again, you’ve done enough of that for quite some time and honestly he might be right as far as safety is concerned.
Despite the best efforts of the people here, this truck stop is still open enough that those things could get in. (Crawl under the trucks for one thing) Also while the owner seems cool, you don’t know everyone else and the last time you encountered a cool owner was the carnival and you know how that turned out. You also imagine that a military base might indeed survive an extended siege a lot better than this place.
“Suzy, I still think going to Timons is a better idea than staying here. I’m going, so if you want to stay…” Roger says before you interrupt him.
“No, I’ll go with you.”
“But I thought you thought it was a bad idea.”
“Well, I still sort of do, but I guess if this is a major crisis and the end of civilization, I’d rather be with you. So if you believe we’ll be safe there, then I believe we’ll be safe there.”
Roger smiles at that remark. He immediately goes to hug you, which you weren’t quite expecting, but you hug back. You suppose you are getting attached to him. Just a sucker for men who save your life you guess.
After this happy experience Roger goes over to gas up the truck and you wait nearby. You don’t even notice Henry come up to you.
“So you two decide on what to do yet?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah we’re going to try to make it to Timons.”
“Hm. Well I wish you luck on that. Too bad you’re not staying though, could use a few more people to guard this place and help out around here.”
“Yeah, well I wish we were staying too, but well he wants to go to Fort Timons so that means we’re both going.”
“Heh, well love for another always has a way of making you act out of character.”
“Y…eah something like that I guess.” You say reluctantly. Henry still hasn’t caught on that you aren’t really “with” Roger, but you don’t bother correcting him.
“Don’t worry, you got this big truck, so you should be safe as long as you don’t get out of the thing or stop for a long period of time to let those things swarm you. And despite my doom and gloom earlier, don’t take that as truth. I mean what do I know. I’m stuck here with a Ham Radio that I can barely get to work right at the best of times. Things might not be as bad as they seem. Who knows? Maybe this will all be over in a day or two.”
“Heh, one can only hope.” You say.
“Remember though, if Timons doesn’t work out, you’re welcome to come back here.”
“Thanks Henry that’s very generous of you.”
After your short talk with Henry, Roger is ready to get going again and you’ve got the fuel to get to your destination.
“We left you those MREs and the water. No need to leave you without the basics. Anyway, like I told your pretty girlfriend here, I wish you luck and if it doesn’t work out, you’re welcome to come back here.” Henry tells Roger
“Thank you and we’ll keep that in mind.” Roger replies and drives off towards the “truck gate” which is now opening up.
And with that you’re on the road again.
“Hey I just want you to know, I’m really glad you’re coming with me. I mean I know you didn’t want to and…look I think you know I really like you and it’s not just because you flirted with me and I saw you naked and all that. I really enjoy your company. Probably not the best time to be addressing all this shit, but I think its better I just tell you where I stand right now. Especially with everything that’s going on. Anyway that’s all I want to say and I’ll drop the subject.” Roger says.
You’re having a déjà vu moment like when Klepto admitted all his feelings for you, though with Roger it feels a little different. You get a little more sincerity with him. Klepto was always a little too sycophantic as far you were concerned.
Hell, maybe you didn’t just decide to go off with Roger out of survival. Here or even back at the carnival. Maybe somewhere you did have an attraction to him and you just denied it for some reason. It’s that damn “good girl” trait you never shook off from your mother drilling it into your head when you were growing up.
“I…I like and feel close to you too Roger.” You say and smile back at Roger.
With this acknowledgement of your feelings for each other, a good period of your drive is in silence, but not an awkward silence, a comfortable one.
The silence isn’t just going on in the truck, it’s also going on outside or least relatively speaking. Despite what Henry said, so far you haven’t encountered any hordes of those rabid things and you’re driving through suburbs by this point. You also haven’t seen many people walking about, but you assume most people are taking shelter somewhere.
Happily the streets aren’t clogged with abandoned vehicles. That was one thing that Roger was more worried about. A line of vehicles is a little harder to drive over even with a big truck.
Night comes and the rabid are a little bit more active though nothing that can’t be handled. Most of the time Roger just drives past them and they give chase for a while, but sometimes he runs them over.
“Sheesh, they are getting thicker. Glad we don’t actually have to go INTO Security. Pftt, Security. Now that’s an ironic name for the city. Anyway we should actually get to Fort Timons around two or three in the morning.” Roger says.
“Glad to hear it. I’m getting tired, but I’m too on edge to sleep.” You say.
“Eh, go ahead and close your eyes at least. I’ll try to keep the zombie smashing to a minimum.”
“They aren’t zombies, I think we established that they’re living right?”
‘Yeah, pretty sure they’re all alive, just rabid. Or whatever is wrong with them. Dunno if they infect anyone though, don’t want to ever find that out.”
“I agree.” You reply and then try to take Roger’s advice by closing your eyes.
You don’t really sleep so much as you rest and sort of drift in and out. You aren’t fully awake again until Roger calls your attention to your destination which isn’t far now.
“Ha ha! Suzy wake up! We’re here! We made it and look they even got the towers lit up! The fort still stands!” he exclaims in joy.
“Huh, yeah. That’s really…” before you can finish your groggy words Roger has stopped the truck, grabbed you and kisses you full on the lips. You’re too tired to resist, though you wouldn’t have bother anyway.
“Well was it everything you expected?” you ask after he’s done.
“Even better!” Roger says and then tries to kiss you again.
“Whoa, hold on there, let’s save the victory kissing until AFTER we get in this place. I mean how do we even know they’ll let us in?”
“Oh we’ll get in, I know we will.” Roger says and starts up the truck again.
You get within range and suddenly spotlights move in your direction and a loud speaker calls out for you slow your speed to a crawl and to stop at the gates and to prepare to be inspected. Roger complies and soon you’re sitting before the gates of Fort Timons.
You can imagine snipers from the towers are pointing their weapons on you and when the gates open a whole damn squad of soldiers comes out. A young man with glasses comes up to the driver’s side.
“Riley? Is that you? Holy shit, we thought your squad was dead.”
“It’s me Keller and I’m the only survivor. You’ll never believe what the hell happened.”
“Riley?” you think, but then you realize that must be his last name. In fact it’s right on his shirt. Funny how you never noticed before. Never noticed he was a corporal either.
“Well there’s been a lot going on here too, so probably won’t be too surprised. Anyway Captain Higgins will want to see you. Uh, he’s in charge now.” Keller says.
“Shit, I guess a lot has changed.”
“Yeah, who’s this in your passenger side?”
“This is Suzy. She actually saved my life out there. Don’t worry she’s not bit or infected or anything.”
“Guess you never had to suffer it first hand, but if you’re referring to those rabid, they don’t infect you if they bite. One good thing about all this I suppose. Saved your life eh? How’d that happen?”
“Oh I got something surprised when I first encountered one of those things and it was on top of me snarling and growling. Suzy here got a knife and stabbed it in the face. Just enough for me to put it down permanently with a few rounds to its head and body.”
“I’m also his girlfriend!” you add, hoping that by having a closer tie to Roger that they’ll let you in.
“Girlfriend? Hrm. I guess stressful situations really do cause close bonds. Well under normal circumstances we wouldn’t let a civvie in that isn’t blood related or your spouse, but I guess we can make an exception. All right come on in. Don’t want to risk having this gate open any longer than it needs to be.”
As you drive in you at last feel safer than you have been in a long while. Roger and you both exit the vehicle and Roger tells you that some people will probably take you to the barracks or some place with a bed. He says he’ll meet up with you later as he has to go report in.
“Okay, I’ll see you then.” You say and you move in to kiss him goodbye.
Well if you weren’t his girlfriend before, you certainly cemented it now.
You are escorted to a barracks area just as Roger said you would be, but it’s mostly empty. The two soldiers that escort you mention that most of people stationed here never came back after being sent to the city, so there’s a lot of room now. They don’t say much else and soon leave you to your own devices.
And for the first time in a long time during this hellish week, you’re alone. It’s almost a bit scary, but in a way you’ve missed it. You’re too tired though to really appreciate it and you collapse on one of the beds and start to drift off…
Despite the best efforts of the people here, this truck stop is still open enough that those things could get in. (Crawl under the trucks for one thing) Also while the owner seems cool, you don’t know everyone else and the last time you encountered a cool owner was the carnival and you know how that turned out. You also imagine that a military base might indeed survive an extended siege a lot better than this place.
“Suzy, I still think going to Timons is a better idea than staying here. I’m going, so if you want to stay…” Roger says before you interrupt him.
“No, I’ll go with you.”
“But I thought you thought it was a bad idea.”
“Well, I still sort of do, but I guess if this is a major crisis and the end of civilization, I’d rather be with you. So if you believe we’ll be safe there, then I believe we’ll be safe there.”
Roger smiles at that remark. He immediately goes to hug you, which you weren’t quite expecting, but you hug back. You suppose you are getting attached to him. Just a sucker for men who save your life you guess.
After this happy experience Roger goes over to gas up the truck and you wait nearby. You don’t even notice Henry come up to you.
“So you two decide on what to do yet?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah we’re going to try to make it to Timons.”
“Hm. Well I wish you luck on that. Too bad you’re not staying though, could use a few more people to guard this place and help out around here.”
“Yeah, well I wish we were staying too, but well he wants to go to Fort Timons so that means we’re both going.”
“Heh, well love for another always has a way of making you act out of character.”
“Y…eah something like that I guess.” You say reluctantly. Henry still hasn’t caught on that you aren’t really “with” Roger, but you don’t bother correcting him.
“Don’t worry, you got this big truck, so you should be safe as long as you don’t get out of the thing or stop for a long period of time to let those things swarm you. And despite my doom and gloom earlier, don’t take that as truth. I mean what do I know. I’m stuck here with a Ham Radio that I can barely get to work right at the best of times. Things might not be as bad as they seem. Who knows? Maybe this will all be over in a day or two.”
“Heh, one can only hope.” You say.
“Remember though, if Timons doesn’t work out, you’re welcome to come back here.”
“Thanks Henry that’s very generous of you.”
After your short talk with Henry, Roger is ready to get going again and you’ve got the fuel to get to your destination.
“We left you those MREs and the water. No need to leave you without the basics. Anyway, like I told your pretty girlfriend here, I wish you luck and if it doesn’t work out, you’re welcome to come back here.” Henry tells Roger
“Thank you and we’ll keep that in mind.” Roger replies and drives off towards the “truck gate” which is now opening up.
And with that you’re on the road again.
“Hey I just want you to know, I’m really glad you’re coming with me. I mean I know you didn’t want to and…look I think you know I really like you and it’s not just because you flirted with me and I saw you naked and all that. I really enjoy your company. Probably not the best time to be addressing all this shit, but I think its better I just tell you where I stand right now. Especially with everything that’s going on. Anyway that’s all I want to say and I’ll drop the subject.” Roger says.
You’re having a déjà vu moment like when Klepto admitted all his feelings for you, though with Roger it feels a little different. You get a little more sincerity with him. Klepto was always a little too sycophantic as far you were concerned.
Hell, maybe you didn’t just decide to go off with Roger out of survival. Here or even back at the carnival. Maybe somewhere you did have an attraction to him and you just denied it for some reason. It’s that damn “good girl” trait you never shook off from your mother drilling it into your head when you were growing up.
“I…I like and feel close to you too Roger.” You say and smile back at Roger.
With this acknowledgement of your feelings for each other, a good period of your drive is in silence, but not an awkward silence, a comfortable one.
The silence isn’t just going on in the truck, it’s also going on outside or least relatively speaking. Despite what Henry said, so far you haven’t encountered any hordes of those rabid things and you’re driving through suburbs by this point. You also haven’t seen many people walking about, but you assume most people are taking shelter somewhere.
Happily the streets aren’t clogged with abandoned vehicles. That was one thing that Roger was more worried about. A line of vehicles is a little harder to drive over even with a big truck.
Night comes and the rabid are a little bit more active though nothing that can’t be handled. Most of the time Roger just drives past them and they give chase for a while, but sometimes he runs them over.
“Sheesh, they are getting thicker. Glad we don’t actually have to go INTO Security. Pftt, Security. Now that’s an ironic name for the city. Anyway we should actually get to Fort Timons around two or three in the morning.” Roger says.
“Glad to hear it. I’m getting tired, but I’m too on edge to sleep.” You say.
“Eh, go ahead and close your eyes at least. I’ll try to keep the zombie smashing to a minimum.”
“They aren’t zombies, I think we established that they’re living right?”
‘Yeah, pretty sure they’re all alive, just rabid. Or whatever is wrong with them. Dunno if they infect anyone though, don’t want to ever find that out.”
“I agree.” You reply and then try to take Roger’s advice by closing your eyes.
You don’t really sleep so much as you rest and sort of drift in and out. You aren’t fully awake again until Roger calls your attention to your destination which isn’t far now.
“Ha ha! Suzy wake up! We’re here! We made it and look they even got the towers lit up! The fort still stands!” he exclaims in joy.
“Huh, yeah. That’s really…” before you can finish your groggy words Roger has stopped the truck, grabbed you and kisses you full on the lips. You’re too tired to resist, though you wouldn’t have bother anyway.
“Well was it everything you expected?” you ask after he’s done.
“Even better!” Roger says and then tries to kiss you again.
“Whoa, hold on there, let’s save the victory kissing until AFTER we get in this place. I mean how do we even know they’ll let us in?”
“Oh we’ll get in, I know we will.” Roger says and starts up the truck again.
You get within range and suddenly spotlights move in your direction and a loud speaker calls out for you slow your speed to a crawl and to stop at the gates and to prepare to be inspected. Roger complies and soon you’re sitting before the gates of Fort Timons.
You can imagine snipers from the towers are pointing their weapons on you and when the gates open a whole damn squad of soldiers comes out. A young man with glasses comes up to the driver’s side.
“Riley? Is that you? Holy shit, we thought your squad was dead.”
“It’s me Keller and I’m the only survivor. You’ll never believe what the hell happened.”
“Riley?” you think, but then you realize that must be his last name. In fact it’s right on his shirt. Funny how you never noticed before. Never noticed he was a corporal either.
“Well there’s been a lot going on here too, so probably won’t be too surprised. Anyway Captain Higgins will want to see you. Uh, he’s in charge now.” Keller says.
“Shit, I guess a lot has changed.”
“Yeah, who’s this in your passenger side?”
“This is Suzy. She actually saved my life out there. Don’t worry she’s not bit or infected or anything.”
“Guess you never had to suffer it first hand, but if you’re referring to those rabid, they don’t infect you if they bite. One good thing about all this I suppose. Saved your life eh? How’d that happen?”
“Oh I got something surprised when I first encountered one of those things and it was on top of me snarling and growling. Suzy here got a knife and stabbed it in the face. Just enough for me to put it down permanently with a few rounds to its head and body.”
“I’m also his girlfriend!” you add, hoping that by having a closer tie to Roger that they’ll let you in.
“Girlfriend? Hrm. I guess stressful situations really do cause close bonds. Well under normal circumstances we wouldn’t let a civvie in that isn’t blood related or your spouse, but I guess we can make an exception. All right come on in. Don’t want to risk having this gate open any longer than it needs to be.”
As you drive in you at last feel safer than you have been in a long while. Roger and you both exit the vehicle and Roger tells you that some people will probably take you to the barracks or some place with a bed. He says he’ll meet up with you later as he has to go report in.
“Okay, I’ll see you then.” You say and you move in to kiss him goodbye.
Well if you weren’t his girlfriend before, you certainly cemented it now.
You are escorted to a barracks area just as Roger said you would be, but it’s mostly empty. The two soldiers that escort you mention that most of people stationed here never came back after being sent to the city, so there’s a lot of room now. They don’t say much else and soon leave you to your own devices.
And for the first time in a long time during this hellish week, you’re alone. It’s almost a bit scary, but in a way you’ve missed it. You’re too tired though to really appreciate it and you collapse on one of the beds and start to drift off…