Chapter Text
"Alright, who's ready for the road trip song?" Oli called out once they were all situated in the car. Oli was in the drivers seat, and Joel and Lizzie were sitting in the back.
"The what?!" Joel asked, giving Oli a harsh look that Oli didn't seem to notice.
"The road trip song, Joel! Don't you know that it's an instrumental part of every road trip? Now, do we want the lute or the banjo today?" He asked, turning to face them while holding up two instruments that had presumably been in the passenger seat.
"Neither." Joel said with a glare.
"Banjo?" Lizzie suggested at the same time, and Oli grinned.
"Banjo it is!" He exclaimed, setting the lute back onto the passenger seat and strumming a note on the banjo. "Going on a road trip with my best friends!" He started singing before pausing to start the car. "Going on a road trip with my best-!" He started singing again when Joel unbuckled his seatbelt.
"Oli, you're gonna crash the car! Get in the back, I'm driving." He exclaimed, getting out of the car and opening Oli's door.
"I wasn't going to crash the car! I'm the safest driver!" Oli complained as he unbuckled his seatbelt, retrieved the lute, and got out. "Lizzie, get in the passenger seat. You should sit by your husband!" He put his instruments onto one of the back seats as he spoke.
"If you're sure," Lizzie said, glancing at Oli as she unbuckled her own seatbelt.
"Quite sure!" Oli said, closing the door Joel had come out of and moving around the vehicle to hold the doors open for Lizzie. She thanked him and got into the car, buckling her seatbelt as Oli got into the back and did the same.
"Oli, where are we headed? You never told us that detail." Joel asked, putting his hand on the gear shift, ready to start driving.
"North! The zombies are south of us, and if we get far enough it'll be too cold for them to function." Oli explained, and Joel snorted as he started driving.
"What, are zombies cold blooded now?" He asked, and Lizzie joined in the conversation at this point. Joel was more likely to listen if she had a say in it.
"Well, the zombies are practically dead, aren't they? I would guess that they could essentially be almost cold blooded, since I don't think their systems function the same in the state they're in. We'd have to see how they act when we get to colder places to know for sure, though." She explained, and Oli nodded vigorously.
"Precisely!" He exclaimed, and Joel shrugged.
"If you say so. We'll start heading up through Sacramento then." He said, turning to head towards a highway.
"It's road trip time!" Oli called, and a moment later the strumming of the banjo was heard from the back seat. Joel sighed and rolled his eyes as the song that had gotten Oli kicked out of the drivers seat resumed, but thankfully he didn't say anything this time.
~ Later that day ~
They had been driving for about an hour, and eventually the car had quieted down besides Lizzie's music playing through the speakers. Oli would occasionally strum on an instrument and sing along, and there were a couple times where Lizzie joined in the singing, but the stress of the morning was starting to get to her.
There was still part of her that fully expected that she'd be back home in a couple of days, and back to normal life. But if the zombies really were real, that wouldn't be happening. For the present moment she was content to listen to the music for a while, trying not to think about the zombies as she watched the scenery go past.
The song currently playing was beginning to fade out when it suddenly stopped, and Lizzie jumped as emergency alarms started blaring from all three phones in unison.
"What in the heck is going on?" Joel asked as Lizzie looked at her phone and started reading aloud what it said.
"EMERGENCY ALERT: There is a mysterious disease that has been slowly killing people and sending them into a zombie like state. It is still spreading and has quickly become prevalent in Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and California. Instructions remain the same. STAY INSIDE. Do not panic. Barricade your windows and keep your doors locked. Officers and scientists are continuing their efforts, working on how to stop the spread of the disease."
"It's like the one from the news article!" Lizzie exclaimed. The government really had acknowledged it. More than acknowledgement, in fact. Even if Joel didn't believe in this, it seemed to Lizzie that everything was pointing to it being true.
"I told you! We just weren't close enough for the one last night!" Oli exclaimed from the back, and Joel glanced at his own phone when they got to a straight stretch of road.
"There's no way. There's no way! How could this even be possible?! These sorts of things only happen in fiction!" He exclaimed, glancing between Lizzie next to him and Oli in the rear view mirror with a bewildered expression.
"Well, they seem to have made their way into non-fiction! I'm not the one who started the apocalypse, I don't know!" Oli exclaimed.
"I mean, I've heard of zombie deer? So it's not entirely unthinkable, but I don't know enough about that." Lizzie said with only mild uncertainty, and Oli shook his head.
"The zombie deer are actually deer with chronic wasting disease, it's a sort of prion disease. But it has a sort of incubation period that takes anywhere from around 18 months to two years for them to start showing symptoms, and that one doesn't affect humans as far as we know. Elk, moose, deer, reindeer, but not humans. There are a bunch of specific kinds of prion diseases, and some do affect humans, but they're all really rare." He explained, and Lizzie looked back at him in surprise as Joel glanced at him through the rear view mirror with a skeptical expression.
"Since when did you know so much about zombie deer?" Joel asked, sounding unsure.
"I did my research! Plus, the internet was talking about possible causations for the zombie videos, and a couple people asked about it! I had to be prepared!" Oli said indignantly.
"Is there anything else you know?" Lizzie asked, and Oli grinned at her.
"I'm so glad you asked! When it comes to humans, one of the most well known versions is called CJD, I believe. Don't ask me what it stands for, I don't remember. But it's really rare, and the more common version is mostly just random cases of it developing for no good reason. Sometimes you get it from genetics, or there were a couple cases of it spreading from old unsanitary medical practices, but those ones haven't been seen in like fifty years, since they changed the rules about sanitizing equipment." Oli explained, and Lizzie nodded as he continued.
"But the thing is, the symptoms don't really look like the zombies. People who get it usually get dementia and things like trouble walking and jerky movements, but becoming cannibalistic isn't one of the symptoms. And they're still alive, they usually die within about a year of symptoms showing."
"That's very interesting. I have heard some things about prion diseases, but I mostly just know some basics. But based on your research this definitely doesn't sound like that." Lizzie thought out loud, and Oli nodded as Joel made a frustrated sound.
"So now we know what it's not, but that still doesn't explain what it is! Or what we're going to do about it! The government said to stay inside, didn't they?!" Joel exclaimed, and Oli shook his head.
"No, no! Remember the zombie movies, Joel! That would be a death trap! They would break in eventually, and then you would be dead! Plus, this alert went out to the people closer to the outbreak, and it's still spreading! How do you think that would be happening?!" Oli asked indignantly.
"I don't know, maybe some people went out of their houses anyway! People tend to be idiots sometimes, the videos sure aren't from people boarded up in their houses! Also, the zombie movies are fictional! Which you claim this isn't!" Joel answered, glaring at Oli through the rear view window, and Lizzie sighed.
"I don't know what it is. But it seems to be happening, and so far we seem to be ahead of it. I say we keep going, maybe we can manage to outrun them?" She asked, and Joel was quiet for a moment before he sighed.
"Fine, we'll keep going. But we're going to need to stop for gas and food soon. Oli's car is running low, and I don't know about Oli, but Lizzie and I never had breakfast! So if we want to keep doing anything we'll need to stop and eat." Joel said, and Lizzie nodded.
"That sounds good to me. I am getting hungry."
"I did have breakfast, but that was a long time ago." Oli added, and there was silence for a minute or two before Oli spoke again. "Do either of you have signal? I just tried to look for food places around here, but I can't get anything to load."
"We shouldn't be out of signal, let me check." Lizzie said, unlocking her phone and trying to put in a google search. She waited for a minute to no avail. She still had one bar of signal, which certainly wasn't great, but usually it would still load things even with that. "Nothing's coming up for me either?" She set her own phone in her lap and unlocked Joel's.
"Why do neither of you have signal? We should have fine service here." Joel asked, and Lizzie shrugged, confused.
"I can't get anything to load on yours, either. Let me try something…" She said, going back to her own phone and opening her texting app.
Lizzie: Joel, would you still love me if I was a fish?
After waiting for thirty seconds or so, she shook her head. "Texts don't seem to be going through either. Strange…"
"What, is this another zombie thing? Did the zombies sabotage the phone lines, too?" Joel asked, directing the question at Oli.
"Not that I'm aware of! I'm not sure that they're able to do that!" Oli exclaimed.
"Maybe we can ask someone at a gas station or a restaurant?" Lizzie suggested, and Joel shrugged.
"We can do that, but if they try to tell us that the zombies took over the phone lines, I'm leaving. Help me keep an eye out for food and gas signs?" He said, and Lizzie and Oli both agreed.
About twenty minutes later, they had made their way to a gas station in a smaller town. There was a bit of traffic, and a couple people could be seen scurrying about on the sidewalks, but it seemed quieter than Lizzie would expect for a town this size. The gas station parking lot was nearly empty as they pulled in.
Something about it felt eerie to Lizzie, but she opted to not bring it up. She would prefer to not incite another argument. She had listened to more than she would like already today, and it was only just before noon.
"Oli, what gas do you use?" Joel asked as he pulled up next to a gas pump.
"I can fill the car! You two didn't get breakfast, go see if this place has anything good. It doesn't look like there's much in terms of food here." Oli said, getting out of the car and walking up to the pump.
"Well? We can ask if any of the employees know anything, too." Lizzie said before opening her door and pausing to look at Joel.
"Yeah, let's go see what we can find." He said with a nod, and they both got out of the car. Oli waved at them as they walked off, and Lizzie waved back briefly before taking Joel's hand.
A bell dinged as they pushed open the front doors to the gas station building. The inside seemed to be just as empty as the outside, with only a few employees inside the building.
As Lizzie glanced around, Joel led her towards the food section. There were still several burritos, sandwiches, and other gas station meals available. It wasn't unusual for earlier in the day, but Lizzie still felt unsettled as they started looking at what kinds of things they had.
"So, anything good?" Oli asked as he walked up behind them, and Lizzie jumped.
"God, Oli! Don't do that!" She said, letting out her breath and learning against Joel who glanced at her with a concerned expression. She smiled at him, and he nodded slightly as Oli apologized to Lizzie.
"They've got a bunch still, it looks at least decent for gas station food." Joel said to Oli.
"Then what are we waiting for, let's get lunch!" Oli exclaimed, and a few minutes later they had all chosen what food they wanted, as well as getting some snacks and drinks for the road.
"Good morning! Find everything okay?" The cashier asked as the group walked up to set their items on the counter.
"We did! How's your day been?" Lizzie asked, and the cashier shook their head.
"It's been a day, that's for sure. Almost everyone's been in a frenzy, we've either been as busy as ever or basically dead like it is now. But I guess that's what happens when you wake up to news of some sort of zombie apocalypse. It's like we're in the movies!" They said as they began scanning the items.
"I still think this is some prank." Joel muttered, but Lizzie ignored his comment and kept speaking.
"It's been interesting for sure. Our friend here says that the best course of action is to try to outrun them, so we've been on the road for a while." She said, nodding at Oli as she mentioned him. Joel rolled his eyes, and she squeezed his hand. He glanced at her and squeezed back.
"Makes sense," the cashier said with a nod. "You think that'll work? I'm stuck here till my shifts over, but I'm trying to work out what to do after. Those things seem to be moving pretty fast. They've gotta catch up at some point, yeah?"
"Oh, at some point, definitely! But the further we can get before that happens the better. Evidently the warnings to board yourself indoors haven't done much to stop the spread of it." Oli pointed out, and the cashier nodded.
"You've got a good point. I should see what I can do about getting out of here, maybe pick up a couple of my friends on the way. Assuming they're still where they are. Not like I can text them or anything."
"Wait, you don't have service either?" Lizzie asked, refocusing on the conversation. The cashier shook their head.
"Not a single bit." They said, and an older looking person walked behind the counter, doing something on one of the other registers as they spoke.
"I'm pretty sure the freak out from everyone has overloaded the phone lines. Everyone's trying to reach their loved ones and search for things all at the same time, and the lines can't handle it. Maybe once things calm down a bit it'll start working again." They said, and the cashier glanced at them.
"Would things calming down mean that the situation gets better and a cure is found, or would it mean that the zombies just keep spreading and everyone dies? Cause I'm not sure there's anything calm about the deaths happening." The cashier said in a teasing voice, glancing at their coworker. The coworker chuckled as the cashier turned back to the group and told them their total.
"Well, hopefully things calm down soon. Preferably without much more death." Lizzie said as she tapped her card to pay.
"So everyone's thinking this is real?" Joel asked, and the older person shrugged.
"It really seems like we're in a science fiction movie. Some people are sure it's happening, some are sure it's not, some are just trying to play it safe rather than sorry." They said, and the cashier nodded.
"I definitely think it's better to be safe than sorry. Would you like your receipt?" They asked. Lizzie nodded, and they printed it and handed it to her.
"Well, good luck on your travels! Try to stay safe, hopefully we'll get service back soon." The cashier said, and Lizzie nodded at them.
"Thank you! You stay safe as well!" She said, and the group took their bags and walked out of the gas station. Somehow, the town felt even more empty and eerie than when they had gone inside, but Lizzie decided not to pay mind to it.
"Alright, Mister 'zombies are real let's go on a road trip', where'd you park?" Joel asked Oli. It didn't seem like the conversation inside the store had made Joel believe in zombies any more than he already did, but Lizzie didn't expect it to.
"Right there, Mister 'zombies aren't real and I refuse to believe otherwise'!" Oli responded, gesturing to the car, and Lizzie rolled her eyes at them as they made their way to the car.
This was going to be a long trip.