Pathogen, Ch. 11

While Marnie was still reeling from shock, Julian leaned over the center console and took a peek out her window. A second later, he threw himself violently in the other direction, kicking open the passenger side door in the process. Marnie grimaced at the sound of him tossing his cookies onto the asphalt, but she couldn't blame him for it a bit. Honestly, it was all she could do to keep from tossing her own cookies. Tossing cookies felt like a very appropriate response to seeing a gore-covered zombie sitting in a pile of what used to be a person.

She wanted to help Julian, but there didn't seem to be much she could do. After a few moments' hesitation, she awkwardly reached over and patted him on the back. "You good?" she asked lamely.

Julian spat twice before sitting up, nodding and wiping the corner of his mouth on his jacket sleeve's cuff. "Aces," he panted. "We should... probably get moving. If we hang around, someone might see us with..." he gestured vaguely to Marnie's window, swallowing hard a few times, as he seemed to be having trouble finding the right word. "...that," he finally mumbled.

Marnie was in total agreement, but there was no way she could let Zombie Trevor back in the car like that. "Gimme a minute," she said quietly.

For the first time, she was glad her mom treated the car like an extension of her purse. It didn't take long at all to find a pack of wet wipes in the center console and a towel stashed in the trunk. After sponging as much of the ick off Zombie Trevor's face and hands - which took every wipe she had - she spread the towel across the back seat. Satisfied with her work, Marnie grabbed a beef stick that had fallen by Julian's feet, unwrapping it halfway before tossing it onto the towel.

"C'mon, Trev," she called gently. "It's time to go. Look: I've got you a snack, and there's plenty more where that came from."

Zombie Trevor stared at the open back seat with his head tilted to the side, his nose twitching inquisitively. To Marnie's relief, he crawled back into the car on all fours, even closing the door behind him.

"Good boy," Marnie breathed, patting his mussed brown curls once he was settled. "Alright: let's blow this popsicle stand."

"Ditto," Julian grumped, tossing the rest of the jerky and beef sticks into the back seat. "Woof: we should probably try to give him a bath soon, and find him some fresh clothes. That 'Eau de Graveyard' funk is starting to get to me."

Once his lap was dried meat free, Julian seemed to notice the sweatpants they were wrapped up in for the first time. "...and once again, you're way ahead of me," he said, flashing a confident if tired grin at Marnie. After examining the pants, though, his grin morphed into a confused frown. "Man... I thought girls were supposed to be good at guessing sizes. These are way too small for Trev."

"They're not for him," Marnie muttered, keeping her eyes on the road as she steered out of the gas station's lot. "I just... thought you might... y'know... want to change. Not here, though, obviously!"

In her peripheral vision, Marnie saw Julian's head turn sharply toward her. "You got these for me?" he said, his voice tinged heavily with surprise and not a small amount of appreciation. "Wow," he murmured. "Pistol, I... I dunno what to say. Thanks, I guess."

"Don't mention it," Marnie shrugged. "That's what friends are supposed to do, right? Look out for each other and stuff? Not that I'd know. I've never... done this whole 'friend' thing before. Feels kinda... weird."

"Well, you're doing a pretty great job," Julian said, a small laugh punctuating his sentence. "Um... I know we just started moving again and everything, but if you could find some place to pull over for a sec, that would be great. Preferably a place with lockable doors and heavy curtains on the windows."

Marnie nodded, scanning the highway for possible places to stop. "No problem; I'll see what I can do... but realistically, you might have to make do with a few shrubs."

Once they were a comfortable distance away from the gas station, Marnie pulled the car into an empty lot. The building attached to it looked like it had been a diner at one time, but the dark, dusty windows told her it hadn't been in operation for a long while. As an extra precaution, she drove around to the back of the building, parking where they wouldn't be seen from the road. Julian cast her an anxious glance when the car stopped, his eyes flicking from the abandoned building to the woods behind it.

"Hey, I did my best," she said bluntly. "Take it or leave it, Dude."

Julian rubbed his face, barely covering a groan, then popped his door open with a heavy sigh. "Woods it is," he muttered. "Just... don't look. Okay?"

Marnie cringed hardcore, shivering in revulsion. "Ew! Why the hell would I want to?! Hurry up and change already! And if you see any poison ivy, don't touch it!"

"Duh, of course not," Julian scoffed, but he hesitated before getting out of the car. "Uh... poison ivy has three leaves, right? Or is it five?"

"Julian!?"

"Okay, I'm going! Ay, Mami... don't bite my head off!"

Marnie leaned back in her seat with a heavy sigh once Julian was out of view. She kept her eyes on the carpeted ceiling just in case he decided to come streaking out of the woods, until Zombie Trevor kicked her seat with a loud snarl. Immediately, she sat up straight and looked over her shoulder, panic oozing from every pore. The Zombie was growling and thrashing back there like a caged animal, which didn't make any sense. He'd just had a huge meal, and he was fine two seconds ago, so he should have been chill. Based on the wild, angry look in his filmy eyes, Marnie had to figure out what was wrong and fast.

"What is it, Trevvie?" she asked, trying to sound calm and upbeat and not scared out of her wits. "Y-You don't like your snacks? Or is the towel scratchy? I... don't suppose you need to potty, do you?"

With a growl that sounded frustrated, Zombie Trevor threw something into the front seat. Marnie ducked and covered with a small yelp instinctively, following the object's trajectory with her eyes once she was sure it was safe to look. To her confusion, she saw her phone on Julian's seat. After tapping the screen a few times - and noticing that it stayed dark - she finally understood the problem.

"Dead battery," she groaned. "Your music is gone. Okay... it's okay. I can fix it, Trev. Just calm down. I've got it."

As quickly as she could, she turned the car back on, flipping through the radio as fast as her fingers would allow. Within ten seconds, she found a smooth Jazz station and cranked the volume dial up. Zombie Trevor's snarling and kicking stopped almost immediately, replaced by soft, shallow breathing. When his head poked between the seats, every muscle in Marnie's body went rigid, until his cheek softly lowered onto her shoulder. She couldn't help but laugh in relief as his quiet grunts rumbled in her ear, growling along tunelessly to the music.

"Yeah," she panted. "That's better, right? Told you I could fix it. We're all good now, aren't we?" Zombie Trevor didn't answer, so Marnie nodded and answered for him, scratching his curls with a sigh. "Sure we are," she murmured. "We're alright... We're okay."

As much as she hated to admit it, though, there was nothing okay about their situation. Marnie was alone, running from her mother and the government with an unstable, flesh-hungry zombie to care for. She just had the clothes on her back and three-quarters of a tank of gas, with no money and no one to turn to. Worst of all, she'd managed to get Julian tangled up in this mess. He wasn't like her: Julian was smart and outgoing; he had other friends, a promising future, and a loving father who was probably worried sick about him. If they managed to get out of this alive, his life would most likely be ruined... and it was all Marnie's fault.

She glanced toward the woods, biting her lower lip, while her fingernails drummed nervously on the wheel. It wasn't too late. She could leave him, right here right now, if she wanted. They weren't too far from his dad's apartment complex. He could say she'd kidnapped him at knifepoint, giving him no choice but to go with her. She was sure he'd come up with something clever, getting him off the hook for all this. He was good at that, thinking on his feet. Maybe, if they ever saw each other again in the future, he'd be able to forgive her.

Maybe.

Marnie sighed and pushed her hair out of her face. She couldn't get that look he gave her last night out of her head, when he talked about the incident with her mom in the basement. She'd never seen him so scared and angry... so vulnerable. Marnie'd put Julian through enough. He was too good a person to endure any more suffering. Marnie was the lifelong screw-up; the black sheep. She could handle things just fine on her own... but she couldn't do it and worry about Julian at the same time.

When someone knocked on the passenger side window, Marnie's soul leapt from her bones. She looked toward the noise right away, one hand keeping her heart from shooting out of her chest, then sighed with relief. It was only Julian, modeling his new sweatpants after scaring her out of three years' growth.

"Whaddaya think?" he grinned, turning, posing, and pouting like a Vogue model. "You were right on with the size, Pistol. They fit like a glove!"

Marnie started to tell him off, but the snippy reply died in her throat. After all the horrors they'd seen, he was still so annoyingly upbeat. She had no clue how that was possible, and part of her hated him for being able to crack stupid jokes at a time like this. The rest of her was more glad for the distraction than she cared to admit. In retrospect, maybe it was a good thing he'd gotten swept up into this crazy, dangerous adventure with her. Having Julian around made it all feel less insane. Less scary.

"They look nice," she said softly, unlocking his door for him. "Get in, Loser; next stop is Bianca's."