towards Nick, but Miller, who was standing beside her, stuck his arm in her way.
"Leave him be," Miller whispered.
With that, Miller and the rest headed back to the bus to finish fixing it. All Alana did was stand where she was and kept her eyes fixed on Nick, who continued to mourn for his brother’s loss.
Chapter 12
The bus was fixed, and the group of survivors were back on the road again. Everyone on the bus was silent, especially Nick. Jake's group, who were leading the pack in their supplies truck, were also silent.
Ten miles later, the bus broke down again. The engine was heated up. Jake looked out though the rear view mirror to see the broken bus.
"This day just can't get any worse," he whispered.
While Matthew was pulling over in the supplies truck, the axle snapped.
I just had to say something!
The group would not be able to drive any more. There were a lot of cars blocking the road, so driving was out of the question regardless. Everyone got out of the bus and the truck.
"Well, this isn’t good!" Sean replied. He turned to Jake. "What are we supposed to do now? We're in the middle of nowhere with two broke down vehicles! Fort Benning is still a ways away, and it's almost dark!"
Tension started rising in the group and many were losing their faith in Jake.
"Okay, everyone just calm down," Jake asserted. "Sean makes a good point. It is almost dark, so the best thing we need to do is find a place to camp for the night. There's plenty of trees right beside us, which can hide us from any undead."
"Who's gonna stand guard?" Alana asked.
"Well," Jake answered. "Me and my team brought you along. We'll stand guard while you get some rest."
"I'll stand guard."
"Your choice," Miller replied.
"I am too," Nick added.
Jake walked over to Nick. "Are you sure? You've already been through enough today. You don't have to if you don't want to. Let us handle this."
"I'm standing guard," Nick asserted.
Jake just nodded, then helped the rest of the group unpack for the night.
The sun was setting over the horizon. Everyone laid down some blankets over the dry leaves and pine straw and got some rest, all but those that stood watching over those that slept. Sean started a small fire to cook some of the canned goods. Jake walked over to Nick, who was leaning against a tree with a shotgun in his hand.
Jake took a deep breath. "Listen, Nick," he started. "About what happened to your little brother... I just want you to know that I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I know words won’t bring him back, but I wanted you to know that. If you need anything, you are more than welcome to let me know."
Nick just stared in silence for a moment. "You know what's funny, Jake?" he sighed. "I never asked to be no leader, especially to a group as big as the one I had. It just turned out to be that way."
Nick took a swig of his bottled water that was sitting in the dirt beside him.
"I mean, hell. You're