Clover's Utopia Chapter 2

The car began to move forward and Allie looked at Clover. “Buckle your seatbelt,” she insisted, seconds before sharply jolting the car into a U-turn on the narrow street. Clover hastily complied right as the car’s front wheel bounced over the curb at the side of the road. Up ahead Clover noticed something, her dad’s old friend was wandering about in nothing but a house coat and boxers.

“That’s my neighbour!” yelled Clover, “Let’s see if he’s got any idea what’s going on.”

“I’ve told you what’s going on,” Said Allie, “Everyone you, and I, know are ravenous blood-thirsty monsters, including your blasted neighbour.”

The zombie then turned and stared at the car, and without hesitation began to run towards it. The click of the doors locking alerted Clover. The sickly looking man then launched himself at the car window, causing it to crack. Clover jumped with fright.

“Shit”, muttered Allie, quickly backing up causing the monster to slide off of her hood and onto he ground. It instantly regained its footing as Allie slammed on the gas pedal. The zombie smashed back against the pavement and the girls continued on their way.

“Are there any others?” Clover questioned, “Are there any more like us, alive?”

“Not from what I’ve seen, it’s a bloody mess, and we’re the only ones that, to my knowledge, have survived it.”

Clover sank back into her chair pouting. The car moved onward, neither of the two girls spoke for a considerable amount of time. Outside the mindless corpses strolled aimlessly until spotting the car, then chasing it for a remarkable distance and fell out of sight. Abandoned cars made navigation difficult and more than once they had to drive off road to pass them. The car had been moving for an unmeasured amount of time, neither of the two were able to pay attention to such a mundane thing as time, with all that was happening.

Peering out the window flabbergasted the previously, nearly speechless Allie swore.

“What’s wrong,” her passenger asked.

“We’re low on fuel,” complained Allie

The duo was on the highway now, and the last pursuer had been lost a quarter of a mile back. The vehicle slowed down as it reached a green sign, stating that they were approaching a town. The sign had pictures depicting allsorts of businesses from restaurants to hotels, and as luck would have it, a gas station. The girls exchanged glances and regained their previous speed.

More speechless minutes passed and with them cars, some containing Zombies, trapped, unable to figure out how to escape. On the horizon the small town appeared, surrounding the distant highway. “Guess that’s it,” Allie pointed out before pulling over to the side of the road.

“Why’d you stop?” Asked the dreary Clover, as she undid her seatbelt hoping to stretch her legs.

“If we’re heading into an area of even a small population density, we’re going to want to be prepared,” responded Allie as the two adventurers left their vehicle.

The trunk popped open to reveal a mess of items hastily packed uncoordinatedly. From it Allie removed small over-the-shoulder backpack with a knife holstered onto the strap. She then withdrew a large frying pan. “It isn’t much,” She noted, “But it should work for the present.” She handed it to Clover and began to re-enter the car when was asked “What do you expect me to do with this?”

“I expect that, with that, you will do whatever is necessary with it,” was heard before the slamming of the driver’s side door, shortly followed by the passenger’s. The car started moving again, almost before both doors had been closed.

Allie began to smile. Until today she had never felt so free; always being bound to something, constant restraints had always held her back. She had attended a prestigious private school, enforcing uniforms, and uniformity. That’s how Allie had thought of it: as a prison constantly promoting conformity and destroying individuality. Her family was well-off, her father a higher-up employee of a popular fast food restaurant management branch. This allowed her mother to stay home and enjoy the luxuries of their existence. Luxuries which most would kill for, Allie however despised them.

And for her feelings of individuality she was ignored, by her family and colleagues. She had few, short-lived, friendships with school mates, but many with other‘s of less distinguished existences . Allie excelled in most things she’d attempter her marks were admirable and rivalled by few. She had declined being in the school musical, even though she had tried out and outshone every other contestant at every requirement.

“This is it,” Said Allie, “and just in time too.” The silver car began to pull into the parking lot of a largish strip mall, containing a department store along with several other, special service stores and in the middle; the gas station. “Be on your toes,” instructed Allie as she cautiously approached the station.

It was nearly night, and the sky had become yellow and orange from the sun dipping below the clouds. Both teens knew they had to hurry, because being alone in the dark would just exaggerate the nightmare they had been living. “You ready?” asked Allie, Clover just stared blankly. Before she had fully processed the question Allie blew the horn.

“Are you mad!?” exclaimed the infuriated Clover.

“ Lil’ bit,” was her answer from Allie in a thick accent as she jumped out of the car followed hesitantly by her partner. They both gripped their makeshift weaponry and waited. In the distance they saw movement. “They’ve already started sprinting, if they keep this up they’ll be exhausted once they reach us,” Reassured Allie, as she smirked. Within half a minute the first ghoul had reached the duo who had had more than enough time to prepare, and he, a greeter for the department store, was taken care of in a matter of seconds.

Next came a group of three, one being noticeably obese, wearing a too-small t-shirt saying “Welcome to the gun show.” He hobbled over to Clover who knocked him off his feet with her frying pan. The victorious dueller threw away her now dented innovated weapon and searched for another.

Allie had just finished off her two assailants and had moved onto fuelling the car. Clover cautiously walked into the convenience store. She surveyed the entire thing and slowly approached the black. On her way she stuffed her pockets with her favourite treats. The gas station was well lit, which made outside look even darker, she couldn’t see her comrade. Clover thought little of it, she knew that she was the one who had to worry about herself. Allie was independent she could take care of herself, she thought.

At that very moment a very peculiar thing happened, the obese man from before flew stumbled through the window, spreading shattered glass all over the floor. The frightened witness dropped the candy bar she had just picked up and took several steps back. The reanimated corpse was lying on the floor for only a second before it clumsily started to get back up. It paid no attention to the glass shards that had punctured it, leaving blood all over it’s clothes and skin.

Clover raced to the back of the store, searching for whatever could be used as a weapon. The predatory once-human stumbled after her. She picked up a mop that had been lying in a corner and swung it at the approaching monstrosity’s head. The blow didn’t have any intended affect and the zombie lunged at the girl who spun out of the way and ran out of the door without looking behind at her attacker.

Panting she reached her friend who was now drenched from the neck down in blood, her cricket bat and all. “Oh good, you’re okay,” said Allie brightly in her British accent. “And I see you brought company,” Clover ran towards the car and covered her head in her hands, and heard the all to familiar crack of the blunt, wood object against the head of an infected.

“Get in the car,” demanded Allie, even though her fellow survivor was already halfway in. Allie stuck the overweight previously living victim of the super flu over the head as she shouted. “Stay down, you mother loving piece of undead shit!”