Free Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 4): April by Dave Rowlands Page B

she had to look after the two of them.  Several of Guide's friends attempted to talk the man out of coming with us, but he had made up his mind.  None of Viking's men questioned their mighty leader,  though some expressed a desire to come along with us.
     
    Sister, at the wheel of The Nightmare, honked the horn in an attempt to hurry us up, and the rest of us piled on inside.  She reversed us out from the street the furniture shop occupied, then turned to smile at Apocalypse Girl and I, sitting up front with her.  “Here we go again, huh?”
     
    evening
    Sister found the highway easily enough, but our progress was slow, impeded by blockades, chokepoints and overturned vehicles.  Many of these could be driven around, in time, but some of course needed some of us to get out of The Nightmare and fucking push.  I was instantly grateful that Viking and his hulking one-eyed companion had come along.  With Archer's arm in bad shape it would have likely been Apocalypse Girl and I pushing together out there without them.
     
    In any event, we had come in the end, towards dusk, to what appeared to be a small town, centred around a motel, that had a take-away chicken shop across the road from it.  There was also a service station next to the chicken shop and a couple of houses on either side of the road.  And a pub, of course.  That was all.  Nothing unusual about that  The same scene no doubt existed in thousands of other tiny little towns scattered all about this vast country.  There was something different about this place, however.  Something that would have made little difference at all several months ago, but now...
     
    The lights were on.  From the chicken shop to the houses to the service station to the pub.  All the lights were on.  We were noticed, obviously, as The Nightmare is hardly an inconspicuous vehicle and we had to use the headlights to see where the fuck we were going, and somebody came out of the pub, got into a car that had been parked out front, and drove out to greet us.
     
    “G'day!  Haven't seen anyone Living in a while!  Come on in, grab a beer with us, stay the night!”  The man told us after Valkyrie opened up the side door, allowing him entry.  “We've got food, booze, smokes, beds, hot water and best of all, no flaming Dead fuckers! ”

April 17Year 1 A.Z.
    morning
    Last night was the best night's sleep I have had in a long time.  Apocalypse Girl stirred as I arose, lifting up her head, shaking it slightly, reached out and pulled me back into bed.  The second time I arose she was more lenient, and I was able to go downstairs to the front bar, and breakfast.  Porridge, warm and thick, with plenty of honey.  Normally not my thing, but now...
     
    Barkeep, who had come out to greet The Nightmare last night, started off with the questions, though thankfully he waited until after we had had a good night's sleep.  First off was, naturally enough, where had we come from.  Apocalypse Girl and I answered with “Adelaide” at the exact moment Viking, Cyclops and Sister said “Melbourne” which confused him a little.  Valkyrie's “Sweden” threw him, though.  Archer smiled, wincing in pain as he did so.  He then explained that we were already a mixed mob, and they would likely see many more as the year went on.
     
    For once, I was able to just listen as Archer told our tale, from the moment a blood-soaked pair of refugees arrived at the commune that was once his sometime home to the exploding bus that had separated us.  Apocalypse Girl took over at that point, describing the first helicopter ride to The Think Tank and the expedition to Melbourne to rescue Sister, who continued the tale.  She told of the battles with The Family, the destruction of The Think Tank and all the rest, leading up to our return from Canberra with the army, the way The Colonel had taken charge of the situation.  Viking finished off the story with the events of the last couple of days.
     
    When