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Music. A steady, rhythmic thump of bass, woofers, sub woofers, you'd be surprised what you can stick into a car to modify it. Or in this case a jeep, a standard army issue jeep. Mostly. Josh'd only added on the sound system and besides, he'd gotten permission for it.

Mostly.

But that was besides the fact.

He was on an important mission, wheels kicking up dust as he passed through an abandoned corn field. Sure it was a bumpy ride and there were those crazy zombie ******** but it was a short cut, and he had his co-pilot, shotgun rider, lookout. Nothing would go bad unless he ran into a rut, blew a tire, or they got short on bullets. Not that any of those would happen, as ammunition was part of the supplies he carried along with some meager rations of food and clean bottled water.

He tilted his head to the side slightly and shouted over the wind as he stomped down further on the gas and made a curve around a shuffling, rotting corpse, hair whipping back over his face, slightly obscuring his vision, which was already hampered by the bandage that ran over his right one.

"How'sit goin', Saw?"

Josh gave a particularly reckless swerve around another zombie to rebuke Sasha for his remark - not that he didn't want to hit them full on, it just wasn't smart. He'd done it once and only once... the thing had latched onto the hood and crawled up onto it, Josh had nearly flipped in his crazy attempt to throw the thing off before shooting it in the face. He'd spent hours in the shower scrubbing his skin.

He cracked a smirk and snorted lightly, the sound whipped away by the wind. "I'll have you know I've had my license for a good five months, six month celebration is in a few weeks, want an invite? There'll be beer."

Of course there wouldn't really be beer unless he could find a way to convince the big Russian to stop at a liquor store and keep watch while he raided. That was as likely as all these zombies dropping where they stood and the war ending.

He too spotted the buildings ahead, shifting gears as they hit pavement so the tires would squeal and rubber burn, leaving an acrid scent in the air and a permanent mark that said 'Joshua K. Kingsbury was here.'

"Make sure they don't grab the fender, I hate it when they do that."

Josh risked a flick of his eyes upwards.

Sure enough... there was a person trapped at the top of a wall, a thin space to be but able to be done. He gave a low whistle. "********, are you nuts?" The mass of zombies surrounding the high wall was alarming, all with their heads craned backwards, hands held skyward, fingers hooked into claws as they groaned in confusion.

And then the figure moved, and there was the flash of well endowed curves and short, cute hair.

Keeping in constant movement he zipped past the wall, reaching down to grab his L98A1 rifle that was wedged between the seats and holding it back to the other man. "Alright, let's show these things what a drive-by is. We'll thin em' out before getting closer. Shoot me and I'll kick your a**."

The jeep made a wide U-Turn and headed back toward the wall.

Fanning a spray of hurt in an arc against the wall, Sasha tagged everything moving. They didn't always stay down, but at least they didn't stand back up. Growling to himself as the wall hurtled closer, Saw wished...not for the first time...that he was a better shot.

At least he missed Josh.

Finally raising his eyes to the figure upon the wall, Sasha opened his mouth to bellow...but his voice died before it was summoned. Swept hair, round hips, such a delicate stature...

It was a girl?

Dropping his gaze back to the staggering corpses, Sasha narrowed his eyes in agitation. Had they fallen, so fast? "I get her, yes? Joo wait."

Oh Hell she thought. Does this yahoo know what the hell he's asking? She looked down at the considerable distance between herself and the nearly parked jeep below. "Well, what the hell, not like my other option is a bed of roses."

True, a bed of roses might provide a softer landing than a hard jeep or a large metal-head with a shovel. In fact it was quite possible she'd break a leg. She flung her slingbag over her shoulder, secured her treasured specs, and made a leap of faith over a stack of zombies toward the jeep.

Her eyes snapped shut, as she descended toward the vehicle. She'd already screwed up once today, would this be her last big mistake? Had she missed an option?

Dammit Morgan! This wasn't a time for strategy, this was a time for action. She sure hoped she'd live through it, and she'd give her all or die trying.

Someone elbowed him in the back of the head but at Sasha's thick, urgent command he floored the gas pedal, most likely slamming the two roughly together in the cramped back area.

Gears screamed as he moved as fast as he could to switch them, cranking hard on the wheel to rocket them forward onto the street once more, the bounce of the vehicle as it went over the curb enough to bring the back tires off the ground for a moment.

The jeep wasn't going as fast as it should though and seemed to be almost labouring. "God damnit, we've got hitchhikers again. I hate it when they grab on." He proceeded to drive over another curb in an attempt to smear them off.

"Hey, you two okay? Nothing broken?"

He gave a grimaced smile as he heard a few low groans and a wet thud as he drove over the curb, his little jeep moved forward freely again and he zipped down the road, making easy curves to avoid the shambling dead.

Finally upright, Sasha spared a moment to look over the girl...scanning her for injury. She seemed healthy, if a bit shaken...no blood, no bandages. Grunting, Sasha slammed the shovel down along the side of the Jeep...wrenching off a tagalong just as Josh skimmed the curb.

"Free, yes? Road is clear." Settling back against the bar of the roll cage, never really sitting, Saw continued to glare across the dotted fields. After a few moments, he let his gaze drop to the girl...the back of one hand rising to rub at the piercings across his eyebrow.

"Welcome." One hand gripped the handle of his shovel as though he wished to wring her neck...in reality, Sasha was trying to keep himself from pulling her into a comforting hug.

Women rarely took that gesture for what it was.

Fighting the wave of worry that rose within him, Saw stared back out at the road ahead...only watching her vaguely from the corner of her eye. He didn't need to ask the obvious questions...Josh would do that. Besides, the lad got more joy out of it than Sasha did. Saw was a little distracted, anyway...guts twisting at thoughts of Nadya. Was she safe? At peace? Or one of these shambling horrors as well?

Muscles shaking now that the adrenaline wore low, Sasha set his jaw and tipped up his chin...the verdant spikes of his hair tugged and lashed by the wind. No time for worry. No time.

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