Chapter 5 - Morals, Values, Conflict

How long had they been driving for? MG didn’t bother to look at the time; doing that would only make the night feel even longer. Wild chose to do the same; he had already told himself that this would be a long night. As they drove slowly, attempting to avoid detection, the slow feeling of insanity began to grow.

“Guys...” Mandew mumbled amidst the silence. “I’m getting in your way...”

“Oh, please, not this again.” WildGamer groaned.

“No, seriously...you guys should just leave me...I must be hitting all your nerves.”

“You’re getting on my nerves right now, with this constant self-pity! Why would we leave you? This is your car!”

“For all I know, you guys could hate my presence right now! I don’t want to be the kind of person who's secretly disliked! You know I can’t tell, so I’m asking now!”

WildGamer gave a distasteful look. “You’re our friend; I don’t think that anyone here has grown to hate you in the last five minutes! Give it a rest! We don’t think you’re a nuisance, or a burden, or a troublesome person. You’re our friend and you’re in it with the rest of us.”

Mandew stared for a fleeting moment. “All right,” he answered.

“You guys are being loud again...” Dorko said nonchalantly while playing his DS. Mandew calmed himself down, but Wild just directed his frustration to the gamer.

“You’re almost as bad, Dorko; you aren’t even paying attention to this ordeal. It’s just you and your video games, all the time. No wonder you've become so distanced from the rest of us.”

The vehicle became quiet.

“Playing games is how I deal with the stress of it all,” he mumbled quietly. “It keeps me calm.”

“And because of it, you started hanging out less with the rest of us,” Mandew said with a bit of bitterness. Dorko gave Mandew a dirty look, and then returned to his playing.

MG saw a zombie idling near the car’s pathway. He turned the window down with a button press, and gripped his bat. Before anyone could ask, he unbuckled himself – who needs seat belts, anyway? Putting his torso through the window, he winded up for a swing, and cracked his wooden weapon across the dead man’s head. His cranium snapped to the side and the body crumpled to the floor, blood seeping from the blunt trauma. The reckless survivor smoothly slid back into the seat and rolled up the window.

“Whew,” he said, to the group’s unease. “Had to get that outta’ my system. This boredom is killing me!”

Wild threw his hands up in the air. “I’m stuck with the worst possible people for a zombie epidemic! A wimp, an apathetic gamer who can’t focus on anything else, and a stupid, rash daredevil who acts like this is all some kind of adventure!” He gave a long, disappointed sigh. “You’re all going to die, and you’re going to take me with you.”

“Stop acting like the leader,” MasterGodzilla snapped. “I’ll do whatever I want.”

“As hard-headed as usual...” Dorko said frustratingly. The atmosphere of the car was starting to turn grimmer every moment. “Wait, Mandew...you’re a cook, right?”

“One of the best, if I may say so myself,” the orange-clad man said with pride. If there was one thing he wouldn’t take, it was an insult to his abilities in the kitchen.

“Then you own a set of knives, right?”

“Only the sharpest,” was the happy reply.

“Then why didn’t we bring any along before we left? Wouldn’t they make great weapons?”

Silence. Then the sound of MG’s facepalm.

“Not that I could use them, anyway...” Mandew muttered to himself. “I couldn’t imagine stabbing a knife into a human being.”

WG’s answer was solemn. “They’re not human anymore.”

Mandew opened his mouth for protest, but a sound stole his attention.

“Wait,” Mandew sharply said, hushing his peers. “Do you hear that?”

WildGamer stopped the car and, after scanning the area, turned it off. As it became completely quiet, they could hear something echo in the distance.

“Is that…crying?” Dorko asked.

“I can’t tell,” MG replied. “It’s so faint.”

“Drive up slowly,” Mandew instructed with a stern voice, slightly surprising Wild. He followed his instructions and slowly moved the car into a slow rev, following the sound as it became louder and more distinctive.

“It is crying…” Dorko mumbled as they heard the whining much more clearly.

“Turn here,” Mandew said once they hit an intersection. WG took one look at the debris-and carnage-filled road, full of destroyed cars, property, and small fires littered.

Wild’s reply was stern. “I don’t think so.”

“There’s a child out there, Wild. Are you so cold that you’re willing to leave it to die?”

“Think of the possibilities, Mandew. We can barely see down the street. Zombies could be around every car, every corner. For all we know, that child could be a zombie. Even if it isn’t, his or her cries are loud – it’ll attract unwanted attention.”

“That’s an innocent child out there. If zombies already got to him or her, they’d most likely be dead. And even if it survived, I doubt it could do more than moan. It’s a chance we have to take.”

“The baby could already have someone tending to it.”

“All the more reason to go check it out, and save them.”

“Dew. Even if there is a perfectly healthy baby in there, and we rescue him, think of how disadvantaged we’d be? His crying, giggling, and general naivety would get us surrounded and killed before the end of the hour. Let’s keep going while we have the chance.”

“Heartless!” Mandew shouted.

“Realistic,” was WildGamer’s cold response.

“Like a sociopath…”

A vein popped in WG’s forehead. “You know damn well that I’m just trying to keep us alive. I don’t think you should be lecturing me on how to see emotions, Mr. Asperge-”

“Let’s do it,” MasterGodzilla cut in suddenly, after some hard thinking.

“What?” Both Mandew and WG sputtered in unison.

“Let’s do it. We’ll save the baby.” He grinned. The perfect chance to get in some action, he thought.

“Well, then. Assuming that Dorko is neutral, as always,” Mandew concluded - unable to hide the smirk from his face - “then majority wins. Me and MG will head out and look for the baby. Move the car in closer-”

“No.” WildGamer answered.

“…Then stay here while we go scout out the area. Keep a lookout for us for when we return.” Mandew put on his gloves, grabbed his shovel, and opened the car door. MG followed with his trusty baseball bat. They started to walk towards the incessant crying, lost amongst the carnage of the streets.

“Wait!”

They froze in their tracks to see WG scurrying up after them, with an iron bar.

“I thought you didn’t care,” Mandew said dryly.

“Shut up,” WildGamer said in a flat voice. “If I leave you two alone, you’ll both be killed. After your little freak out at the house, I doubt that you’d be able to act if the undead strike. MG will be too preoccupied with his adventure fetish to help you.” He gave a haughty smirk at the two. “You’ll need me if you want to come back alive.”

“What about Dorko?” MasterGodzilla asked.

“He’s watching the car. As long as he’s quiet and keeps to himself, no one will notice him. I didn’t see any zombies on that street, anyway.” He paused, and then remembered one last fact. “Oh, and the doors are unlocked so we can quickly get back in.” 

Dew frowned. “But can’t they open the door?”

“From what I’ve seen,” MG piped up, “They’re much too stupid for that.”

“All right, then,” Mandew said in a quiet but strong voice. “Let’s go.”

---

Dorko watched WildGamer leave the vehicle and join the others in their rescue operation.

“Watch for our return,” were his parting words. “The zombies aren’t smart enough to open the car door. Keep it unlocked so we can get inside quickly.”

He removed his sunglasses and cleaned the sides. All that running coated them with sweat and grime, something undesirable for one who always wore them. Even now, with the night sky looming overhead, Dorko bore the dark rims with pride. He looked outside. Nothing but carnage and darkness littered the streets. The occasional flames didn’t do anything to comfort him, but reinforced the chilling atmosphere around him. Now that he thought about it, he was alone...and it was deathly quiet.

The light of his DS drew his attention once again, calming him. If he just focused on playing his game, and ignored the despair around him, he would be fine. He would be in control of his emotions. As he moved the stylus according to the beats of the game’s music, his eyes began to droop. He remembered that he had played Team Fortress 2 all of last night with relentless vigour, and now, his body demanded rest. He struggled to keep his eyes open, but even the bright light of his handheld couldn’t stop his eyes from closing, and his brain from wandering into a blissful sleep.

Unbeknownst to him, an unknown shadow began to walk towards the car.

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