The next morning, Marcus pokes his head into the tent.
Luke and Shawn are still asleep, wrapped in Marcus’s tarp.
Marcus
Hey! Get up, you guys.
Luke
Wake me when it’s 11.
Marcus
We gotta hit the road.
Luke and Shawn come out of the tent.
Marcus starts to break it down and pack up.
Gabi redistributes their supplies over four backpacks.
Marcus
There’s your breakfast — half a protein bar.
Gabi
If you don’t like it, let’s have some of the food you brought.
Gabi
Oh wait, I forgot, you didn’t bring a thing except that stupid gun.
Marcus
Where’d you get the gun, anyway?
Luke
That’s on a need to know basis.
Marcus
All right. Hold up.
Marcus
Last night Shawn said you wanted to team up with us.
Shawn
We really do! Right Luke?
Marcus
If you two are just here to mooch off our food and water, we’ll just give you some and you can go your own way.
Marcus
But if we’re really gonna be a team, then we can’t be having secrets and shit.
At first Luke folds his arms.
But then he lets out a big breath and his whole posture softens.
Luke
I stole it, all right?
Luke
Out of a truck. We were in the parking lot at the Home Depot, following you guys.
Luke
We were looking to see if any cars had keys in them.
Gabi
You were going to steal a car?
Luke
Yeah, if we could find one with the keys.
Luke
But we couldn’t find keys. All we found was the gun.
Shawn
After that’s when we started following you guys.
Marcus
And have you shot a gun before? Either of you?
Luke
Yeah. At my uncle’s house upstate.
Shawn shakes his head no, sadly.
Marcus
Well, my uncle can teach you when we get there. If we get there.
Gabi
Guys, we have 20 miles to walk today and then 20 tomorrow, to get to the border.
Gabi
We better get moving.
The group hikes for several hours.
Taking Leon’s advice, they stay in the woods, following along the highway.
Shawn
Hey, do you smell smoke?
Gabi
Look! You guys, it’s an ambulance!
The kids run forward through the trees.
Someone has driven an ambulance off the highway, down an embankment and into the forest.
It has crashed into a tree.
Smoke billows from the engine.
Gabi
We have to check if anyone is trapped inside!
Luke
I see the driver! He’s passed out
Marcus
I’ll look in the back—
Marcus goes to open the doors at the back of the ambulance, but they spring open.
BAM! A crazed woman jumps out.
Her eyes are wild and she’s bleeding from a gash on her forehead.
Her mouth is strangely dark inside — as if dyed black.
She launches herself at Marcus, clawing at his face.
Luke pulls the woman off Marcus. She circles back, wary.
Shawn
Don’t be scared. We’re not gonna hurt you.
The woman runs off into the woods.
Shawn
Come back! We can help you!
Luke
Guys, look at the driver.
Gabi
Oh my god. He’s been attacked.
Marcus
Looks like that crazy lady stabbed him — man, that’s sick.
Gabi
Why would she stab the ambulance driver?
Gabi
That just doesn’t make any sense.
The ambulance driver has been stabbed in the neck with a scalpel.
Everything in the inside of the ambulance is covered with a thin layer of dust.
Shawn takes the knit cap off the ambulance driver’s head.
Gabi
Shawn! That’s so disrespectful.
Shawn
I’m cold, Gabi. I’m sorry, but it’s like Leon says.
Shawn
We gotta think about survival.
Shawn
And…the driver doesn’t need it.
Marcus
Did you guys see her mouth?
Luke
Yeah. What was up with that?
Shawn
What? I didn’t see anything.
Luke
It was dark, like she had ink in her mouth.
Gabi
Maybe we should use the radio. Try to call for help.
Gabi
Please don’t shush me, Marcus.
Marcus
No. Sorry — just, listen—
They hear strange sounds coming from the highway.
The text alert on Marcus’ phone beep and they all jump.
Leon
Marcus! You guys need to get a move on.
Marcus
Something really weird just happened, Uncle Leon.
Marcus
An injured woman came out of an ambulance and attacked us.
Marcus
Her mouth was stained black like ink. Seems like—
Leon
She was probably one of the infected.
Leon
We are finding our more about the bomb.
Leon
Scientists believe it released a biological warfare compound that alters people’s brains.
Leon
It affects a part called the amygdala.
Leon
That’s the part that controls human emotion and empathy — and decision-making.
Leon
Anyone within the blast range may become irrational and dangerous.
Leon
They’re saying that a black mouth is a telltale sign of the infected.
Marcus
Do you…do you think I am infected?
Leon
No. No. You and your friends were well out of the blast zone. You’re fine. But be careful around the survivors.
Gabi
Marcus, put down your phone. You have to see this.
Marcus scrambles up the embankment to the highway
The other kids are standing there.
There are dozens of deranged-looking people on foot, weaving their way through the cars.
Some are bleeding and some are limping from wounds.
Others are uninjured — but all have black mouths.
They are pulling people out of their cars, beating them up, and taking whatever they want.
Shawn
Uh, I think we better get a move on.
Luke
This is some zombie apocalypse bullshit.
Marcus
Back into the woods! Come on!
