Page 10 of Desiderium
Super Awesome Exodus Packing List
-Clothing-
(I just got a new wardrobe. I’m not giving it up already.)
-Toiletries and Hygiene Necessities-
(It’s a LONG trip. Ifwestink, how are we going to sniff out the zombies? Besides, have you ever smelled a guy who didn’t bathe in a while? Fucking ick.)
-Toilet Paper-
(I think it’s self-explanatory. If I need to give up a toilet, I refuse to give up the toilet paper too, dammit.)
-Water Bottle-
(I filled itandbrought it without Cole needing to ask me. Booyah. *Finger guns*)
-My Cute Little Pink Gun-
(Thank you, Jax)
-The Motherfucking Smore’s Kit-
(Hell-to-the-yeah, we saved it)
That’s it! That’s all I was tasked to load up with but, holy shit, it feels like I’m carrying a damn elephant on my back. Scratch that. A pregnant elephant… with twins!
Ok, so maybe I didn’t need to bring along twelve rolls of toilet paper. AndmaybeI could have left the shampoo and conditioner behind and just found some wherever we stopped. But there was no way in Hell I was going to abandon my smore’s kit. I mean… come on. It’s me we’re talking about here.
I heave out a sigh and lift my pack higher on my shoulders in a fool’s attempt to redistribute the weight more evenly or some other nonsense bullshit since it doesn’t help in the least. Hawk must hear my struggle and decides to bump his hip into mine.
“Doing ok there, sweetheart?” He looks to my pack and back to me, noticing how hunched over I’m getting. “Want me to take that from you for a little bit?”
I sigh again. “No, I’ve got it. I was the dumbass who chose to bring all of this stuff, plus you’re already carrying a pack that weighs more than you. I’ll be ok,” I say. The exaggerated breath I let out, however, says quite the opposite. Then there’s the embarrassing groan that follows, combined with an obvious wedgie pick that totally doesn’t do anything for my overall sexiness rating.
But, let’s face it, Hawk’s pack is huge. I could probably fit my entire body in it and still have room to stretch out a bit. When we decided to leave the cabin, Jax pulled out his old military grade ‘luggage’ that he took overseas all those years ago. The termduffel bagcomes to mind butdoesn’t even cover the sheer enormity they actually are in size.
Between the three of them, they were able to pack clothing for each of them, a first aid kit, lighters, the box of cookies thanks to Hawk, blankets, extra boots, ponchos, Jax’s knife set, a cast iron set along with utensils and minor dish set, water purifiers, the remainder of the food, a fucking tent and a bunch of other stuff. Not to mention, their bodies are absolutely covered with holsters carrying various weapons and ammunition. Jax even has a compound bow and a quiver filled with arrows strapped across his back while a fishing rod is jutting out of the top of Hawk’s bag.
Come on Aly, get it together. I have nothing to complain about. Just need to woman the fuck up. I can do this. It’s walking for crying out loud. Babies do it! We could be run—
“Let’s pick it up a bit….”
Son of a bitch!
Jax turns his head back to look at the rest of us trailing behind him. “The weather was clear earlier but it looks like some clouds might be rolling in.” He points to the dark, ominous, poofy bits of doom just ahead of us. “We need to find a place to hunker down for a bit. There’s a farmhouse just up ahead that we might be able to get to before the bottom drops out. We good to go?” Hawk and Cole both nod their reassurance but I hesitate, not fully confident in mygood to gostatus.
“I, uh…thatfarmhouse? Like the little, tiny onewayover there? That one?” I ask with a wince but am interruptedby a disturbingly low groan followed by repetitive gravelly scrapes across the blacktop. The sound draws my attention to the far side of the road.
Fucking hell...
The Lieutenant Dan of zombies is clawing his way into the lead, pulling and scraping its mangled body along the asphalt. I lift my hand to its helpless determination, utterly appalled at myself.
“He has no Goddamn legs and he’s faster than me!”
“It’s, maybe, two blocks away. You ran three miles this morning. This is nothing compared to that. You can do this,” Jax responds. “Don’t give up on yourself. We’ll carry you if we have to.”
Oh, sweet Jesus, please don’t do that. I’m already embarrassed enough at my lack of strength. I don’t need them manhandling me on top of that.
