Chapter 5

"Li, I found us a car!" Fred burst onto the beach, bouncing on his heels, covered in grease. I paused mid scrub, Wolf Girl squirming in my grip. Our cheerful idiot made a face at the sight of us. "You're giving her another bath?"

I glared at him. Of course I was taking advantage of this glorious body of water before we continued our trek along the desolate highway. I had no idea when I'd see water like this again. "Yeah, it looks like I have to give you one too."

Fred grinned. "As appealing as that is, I don't think you'd deliver." He crossed to the water, yelling at the Muppets to get out of his way. Apparently he was a little cross with them for pushing him into the lake last night. I doubt they would trouble him again, not after he tossed Bert clear into the trees. Fred knelt in the water, using sand to scrub grease, eyeing me as I dunked Wolf Girl under the water for a final rinse off.

"Hey, I think I can tell what color her hair is now."

"You think that's impressive, I brushed her teeth this morning." I swiped her hair out of her eyes as she sputtered, growling at me. She hadn't taken a swing at me or tried to bite, so I figured there was a modicum of a bond between us. "You found a car, a working car?"

"It's not the most impressive machine but I think it will run long enough to get us to a city. I think we're in New York."

New York. New York City was huge, a sprawling metropolis with multiple boroughs, a grid layout of streets, subway tunnels, and millions of citizens. Fred's warning whispered through my thoughts. If his theory was right, New York City would be crawling with the undead.

"Not near the city," he said quietly, reading my thoughts. "I think we're closer to the other side of the state, up by Rochester and Buffalo."

"What are we closest to?"

He shrugged. "Not sure, once we are on the road and see some signs, we'll get a better idea of what direction to go."

I towed Wolf Girl to shore, throwing a spare shirt on her. Short as I was, my shirt went to her thighs. It was mostly black, better to hide any blood stains she might acquire. Cleaned up, wearing a fresh shirt, Wolf Girl looked human again. Until she opened her mouth. Fred had our bags ready to go, so I rounded up the Muppets and followed him through the woods.

We emerged at a cabin in an obvious state of disuse. Its windows were boarded up; the door smashed in. I didn't have the urge to explore this house, sure what I would find. You see one decrepit house over run by the undead you've seen them all. Beside the house was a station wagon. Unlike the house, the car was in decent shape, a little rusted around the rims, but otherwise intact. A little too intact. We were surrounded by trees, the moldering roof of the house was coated in leaves and pine needles, but nary a one on the car.

"Did you clean it too?"

"Didn't have to," Fred practically skipped to the front of the car, brandishing a blue tarp from the ground. "Its previous thoughtful owners protected this bad boy from the elements. They even put blocks under the tires."

I frowned at it. "It looks like it fell out of the seventies." It had faux wood paneling, cracked vinyl seats, and a pair of fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror.

"Beggars can't be choosers. Your carriage awaits, milady." The door hinge squealed in protest as he opened it. "I'll oil that later."

To our great surprise, the Muppets clambered in. "Wow, they really are like dogs." I muttered, turning to Wolf Girl. Her eyes were slits as she approached the car in a crouch, prodding a tire with her toe. Bert and Ernie shuffled around on the seats, making little squeaking noise I didn't want to think too hard about.

"Do you think she trusts me?" Fred asked.

"Nope."

"This won't help either." He lifted her off her feet, tossed her into the back seat with the Muppets and slammed the door before she got her bearings. "Get in before she figures out the latch." Fred threw himself into the drivers seat, grunting as Wolf Girl kicked his seat with a snarl.

I eased myself into the passenger side, placing our bags between my knees. It was about then I noticed a small problem with this venture. "There's no keys."

Fred looked me in the eye. "Where we're going, we don't need keys," he said before ripping away the plastic covering of the steering column. I couldn't follow what he did but in less than a minute he teased two stripped wires together. The engine sputtered to life.

 I gawked at him, amazed Captain Porn Mag actually had some useable skills. "You were a full on delinquent in life, weren't you?"

"Careful, I might consider that flattery." Fred smirked, shifting the wagon into gear and making a three point turn for the road. I watched him manipulate the gears as we gained speed.

"You can remember how to drive standard but you don't remember your name?" I sighed, slumping against the window as the scenery blurred by. "Why are we like this?"

Fred glanced at me, his expression difficult to read. "I don't know. It's a lot to figure out. I'm kind of grateful I can't remember too much of my life, my family, who I loved, who I lost. I would probably have a big existential crisis if I did."

That was a lovely thought to consider. I glanced into the back. The Muppets sat on either side of Wolf Girl, leaning their faces into the wind coming from the open windows. The little girl was curled up between them, hugging her knees, eyes wide as she took everything in. The only living person in this car.

I hoped we could keep her that way.

The sun shone through the low cloud cover. The light flared across my bare arms. My skin was blindingly white, threaded through with black veins so dark they looked like tattoos. Freaky, but hey, I was clean, somewhat alive, and I was not walking this incredibly boring strip of highway. The ride was smooth except for the few occasions Fred had to maneuver the wagon around abandoned cars. Wolf Girl eventually fell asleep, slumping against Bert, softly snoring. I envied her, though I imagine her head rest didn't smell too pretty.

Come to think of it, I didn't smell Bert.

"Do you smell them?" I poked Fred's bandaged shoulder.

"Fishing for conversation? We've only been on the road for an hour, Li."

I glared at him, which was not very effective since he kept his eyes on the road. "I'm serious, can you smell the Muppets?"

He rolled his eyes but made a show of sniffing. "I don't smell anything."

I leaned around the seat, closer to them, giving a sniff. The windows were rolled down, but I expected a lingering order, something. They looked like they should smell. Their bodies were a bit roughed up on top of the imperfect regeneration a taste of my blood gave them. Were they continuing to change?

"Ah ha!" Fred shouted, pointing to a tilted sign, the green faded so the letters were hard to read until we were close. "Huh, it says Rochester is off the next exit. Didn't think we were that close." He pushed the engine into a faster gear; the car shuddered in response. "This wagon was not built for speed."

"We don't need to get there fast." Those were the words out of my mouth, but I was eager to see a city. The endless forests and rotted out farmhouses were equal parts unnerving and boring. The ten minutes it took to reach the exit ticked by with nothing to do but fidget in the seat. Fred put on his blinker to take the exit.

"Who are you signaling?"

"Habit," he grunted, braking at the end of the ramp. The highway was in bad shape, the roads off the highway were worse. "This is going to be fun, might want to put on a seatbelt in case we hit a sinkhole or something."

It would be funny if the street didn't look like a T-Rex stomped over it. The pavement crumbled at the edges; pitted with furrows so deep they split the road apart. Fred eased the wagon onto it, the car's suspension creaking ominously with each craggy dip. It slowed our pace to a crawl since we didn't want to push the old tires. It was a miracle they didn't blow. Wolf Girl jolted awake shortly into the bumpy ride, growling softly the whole time as the Muppets bobbed with the movement of the car. The city skyline rose in the distance.

Both of us saw it. The car rolled to a stop, Fred's mouth hanging open. He turned to me, the sun making his faceted eyes glow. "What do we do?"

As if I had the answer. The shattered city of Rochester stretched out before us, the broken buildings like jagged teeth biting into the sky. Hovering above it was another spaceship.

***Spaceships over the city? Sounds like a party. Don't forget to vote!***