Welcome to Atlanta

Class Three Outbreak: June 19th at 3:13 pm

Current Location: Highway 27, Cusseta, GA
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John finally convinced dad to let him drive after what happened. Me and mom was forced to wrap dad's neck up with a towel to try and stop the blood. I wondered if he'd turn like the others have.

"I don't think I'll turn. I believe those are only normal zombies," Dad said, but I didn't want to be convinced quite yet.

"Are you sure?" John asked, swerving around another car.

"I believe so."

He believes so. That's why I'm not convinced. I had to keep my mouth shut for Braxton and Olivia's sake at least.

"Columbus isn't too far from here. We need to find a way around it to avoid any more gangs and...stuff like that," John said, biting his tongue to avoid cursing.

"I don't think there is a direct way around it," I said.

"He's right. Columbus isn't big enough to have a detour route. We have to go through," Dad said, still in pain and holding the towel up to his neck.

John cursed under his breath and sped up to fifty miles per hour, which had to be a new record for speed.

Once we reached Columbus' city limits, all of us tended up. I kept looking out of the window and behind us to check to see if anyone was too threatening.

"Christ, they're everywhere," mom mumbled under her breath.

She was right. Normal zombies roamed nearby houses, and I even saw a man running for his life. We seemed to lock eyes as he was grabbed and killed immediately. He was gone, just like that.

I shook the fear off of my chest and sighed deeply. John slowed down to about forty due to the littered cars on the road.

"We're almost out of the downtown area. We'll get through this," John said. I could tell that he was also trying to convince himself too.

Then an explosion shook the ground a good distance away, and I knew that was a grenade.

"Christ..." I mumbled.

Uptown Columbus was a wasteland, and I don't mean that lightly. It was filled with burning houses, dead bodies, and a lot of other stuff that I didn't want to say.

Eventually, we made it out of the main part of the city, but there was still tons of zombies and clickers surrounding the area. For a second I thought that we'd have to stop and get our hands bloody again. I didn't want to have to get my shoes bloody. That was not a good experience...

"There, take that exit," Dad said, pointing to a road that looked safer.

John ran over a zombie, which made a disgusting sound. Olivia gagged while holding her hand to her mouth. I almost did the same.

"Hang on. We're almost there," Mom said, trying to comfort us, with little success.

John sped off and began to head east, and we cleared the giant horde without any of us dead, for now. I knew this wasn't the right exit, but it was safer than the main highway. Nobody wanted to protest, thankfully.

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"I'm hungry!" Braxton said, waking me up from my nap.

I must've slept for a pretty long while, since I felt a lot better from this morning. My stomach growled shortly after I opened my eyes.

"See? Jeremy's hungry too!" Braxton exclaimed.

I didn't argue, since I actually was, and I bet everyone else had to be as well.

"There's small sandwiches in the cooler. Don't eat too much, or we'll run out," Mom said.

I turned around and groaned a little bit, due to being so sore from moving a lot. I found a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a ham and cheese. I went for the PB&J and handed the ham and turkey to Braxton.

"Is there any more?" Olivia asked in a sweet manner.

I turned back around and saw a bag of chips that she didn't usually like. I showed them to her, and she surprisingly took them.

"What? Food is food. I know some people don't have any at all."

I shrugged and let her take them. I ate slowly, but not quickly either. Braxton ate half of it and offered it to mom.

"Are you done?" She asked.

"No, but you should eat too," He said, handing it to her.

Mom frowned, debating on if she should take it. She did, and devoured it quickly. Braxton's thought process surprises me often. Sometimes he'd be really selfish and not share with anybody, and then five minutes late he'd give everything up.

"Atlanta isn't far from here. I'd buckle up if I were you. This won't be pretty," John said, sounding a bit nervous.

I took a deep breath and made sure the two kids were buckled in, and they were. I looked ahead at the road and I saw an orange cloud rise up in the distance. My stomach did a few somersaults at that.

"This place is going to be filled with blood and clickers, isn't it?" I asked.

John sighed and nodded. "I believe so. Get the gas masks ready if you don't mind."

I did as I was told, and I handed them out to everybody. Braxton whimpered, so I hugged him tightly. "It'll be okay. Just do as your told and nobody will hurt you."

John was the only one who didn't get one, and  I frowned. "What about you, John?"

He sighed, shaking his head while glancing over at dad, who was doing better than before.

"If it comes down to it, I'll have to stay back to fight and help you guys. Candice was the one who kept me going, and she's gone. So, I'm just here to get you guys to Atlanta, mainly," He said, tearing up again. Dad rested a hand on his shoulder.

"But if I happen to make it through without spores crawling up my nose, that's great. But looking at that city, that's highly unlikely."
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