Fire: Happy Fourth!
Five hard years of sparse homeruns, a hand full of hits, and heaps of near misses and it seemed it was all over. Over the years the zombies had rotted to the point that they could no longer move, or live in anyway. For the last two, every where they went was abnormally quiet. Once there was sound of rushing cars, laughing and screaming children, then there were groans and moans of the undead, and then… there was nothing but silence. All the quietude unnerved Columbus, silence wasn't something he was very accustomed to, but it suited his other three companions just fine, though Tallahassee had to find a new way to vent his frustration. Columbus, however, couldn't acclimate, not even with two years to do it.
With Wichita, Little Rock, and Tallahassee's complacence, it was no wonder that they didn't see the changes. Columbus did see the differences as they drove, fewer carcasses littered the roads and cars no longer dotted the highways. Every now and then while they traveled closer and closer toward the east coast, the curly haired young man could swear he'd seen lights.
Though even with all the serenity that their little group shared, there was still a sort of tension, like somehow, even though they were constantly moving, they weren't getting anywhere. Columbus found he couldn't go all the way with Wichita, and Little Rock was just an outright NO. Tallahassee and Wichita were too much alike for anything to happen.
Every now and then the four of them liked to settle down for a bit, and it was during one of these down times that Columbus decided that they were missing something that they sorely needed—re: bodywash—so decided that he would go into town to deliver them from this stench. And it was there, in that quaint quiet little town, that he saw the lights. His heart beat fast at the implications, his breathing quickened. This town was alive; Alive enough that the lights in the market store were still on. He walked into the store and saw a bored cashier. Columbus' heart nearly stopped then and there.
Slowly the once shut-in, shy young man made his way over to the other young man. His dark eyes were careful and cautious under unruly bangs. When the other saw Columbus he gave a soft smile. Columbus knew then that the young cashier man was real, was alive, was here.
"Umm, I need some bodywash." His voice was nearly inaudible to himself.
It seemed as though the man had heard no matter how quiet Columbus was, as he replied, "All I need to see is your ration card." He had a thick brogue.
That one comment made Columbus physically start. "I… We… We don't have one. Just this time yesterday we were in eastern Iowa. We haven't been out this far east for nearly three years."
This time it was the cashier's turn to start. "Survivors? We didna think there were any."
"Ah, yeah," Columbus didn't have anything to say to that. "Most live up in the Rockies. Places like Black Hawk, Buena Vista, and Silverthorn."
Suddenly, Columbus' soft voice seemed to hit the other man. The curly haired man was out of his depth, there was a difference between a city full of refugees just trying to get by and a living, thriving city. Quickly the man ran to the back to grab what Columbus the bodywash. Quickly, Columbus was sent on his way with the information that the Survivor Aid Station would be open the next day and that they were free to go there for counseling on what they're futures could be. There was little Columbus could do but take in all of what the other was saying without really grasping. Just before he left the store he turned around to ask one thing.
"What's the date?"
"It's July fourth." The cashier told him with a genuine smile.
On his drive back to the little house outside town there was silence; The same silence that just thirty minutes ago had him on edge listening to. His past hour was so surreal that he didn't know what to make of it. So he just blanked his mind, until a though hit him. It was July Fourth. It was his day if Independence. Independence from the United States of Zombieland.
When he walked into the house all three of his companions noticed immediately his distracted state. Oddly enough, they were quiet as he gathered his composure. It was hard to piece together all that he had learned, but he did his best, from the beginning.
Later he sat on the couch in the darkness, in the silence he hated so much. Tallahassee came in and sat next to the younger man, quietly wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Not one word escaped the older man as Columbus processed. A burning sensation built up behind the younger's eyes, but no tears escaped. Five years of this abnormal lifestyle caused by patient zero, and the thought of normal society scared him to death. Almost as if reading the younger's mind, Tallahassee spoke.
"We've managed this long in not getting our bodies eaten up by cannibals, we can sure as hell manage to keep our minds from being eaten by modern socialism." Columbus couldn't keep an amused half smile on his face at that comment.
"Yeah." The young man agreed. "It's our Independence Day, July Fourth now has more meaning than ever."
A deep chuckle left the older man at that. "Our Independence Day… I like that."
And from that moment on, they were free.
Ice: We're near dead right now as we wrote this, so please excuse our mistakes.
Wonton: We've really wanted to do a Zland fic for a while now, but out of all our ideas this is the one that got completed.
Randa: Tell us what you think.
Fire: And if your interested we have some challenges for you Zlanders out there, just ask if your interested.