Click the link to catch up with ASAS: Consequence–Chapter Eleven.

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Since his escape from the safe zone all those months ago, Ryan had passively noticed that his path had been leading him north. He decided to stick with that mantra and kept the car heading along roads that took them in that general direction. He’d taken enough twists and turns along the way to ensure that any chasers would have little to no chance of knowing which way they’d gone.

For about twenty minutes they pressed forth when Jay started to make noises that suggested he might throw up.

“You alright?” Ryan asked. “Shall we stop?”

“No. It’s fine. Carry—” Jay was cut off by his own involuntary heaving.

“I think we’ve gone far enough to justify stopping for a quick breather. Looks like there’s a housing estate just over there. We might be able to snag a few supplies.”

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s probably best,” Jay breathlessly agreed.

Ryan pulled the Discovery left onto the housing estate and travelled deep into the bowels of it to ensure they were away from the main road. He rolled the car to a stop and Jay wasted no time in diving out to vomit on the pavement nearby.

Georgina opened the door and stepped out to stretch her legs. She looked warily at Ryan as he came near her.

“You stay here and make sure he’s okay. I’ll go and do a recce around some of these houses and see if I can’t scare up a few supplies.”

A simple nod from Georgina and she went over to Jay to check on him. Ryan heard him mutter something indecipherable to her before breaking into another spate of vomiting.

The 7 iron came with him as Ryan went to raid the nearby houses. The street itself appeared lurcher free; that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be any nasty surprises in some of the buildings.

As he went around looking for and retrieving any bits and pieces that could be conceived as even remotely useful, he thought about the last couple of months running with Sharkey. On the face of it, he couldn’t say it had been a bad experience. He’d proven very popular among the team he’d been placed with and had never wanted for a thing. Then there was Shaz. He felt something of an emptiness inside in knowing that he’d likely never see her again and that she now probably hated his guts for deserting her. His affection for her was something entirely different to that which he felt for Georgina. It was a genuine longing for her as a person as well as physically whereas with Georgina, as much as he hated to admit it to himself, it was more of a possessiveness.

The haul he managed to amass was somewhat pitiful, but it would at least keep them going for a couple of days if they were frugal. As he loaded the supplies into the back of the Discovery, he heard a click followed shortly by another. The noise was something he’d become very familiar with and he turned with his hands instinctively raised.

Jay had his SA-80 levelled and Georgina stood with a pistol confidently held out before her. There wasn’t a word spoken for several moments, though, predictably, it was Ryan to break the silence.

“Ah, I see. This was your plan all along, wasn’t it? Pull over somewhere and take your revenge. Well, you might as well get it over with, hadn’t you?”

“We’re not gonna kill you,” Jay responded.

“You’re not? Well what’s your game then?”

“We’re grateful that you got us outta there. It’s for that reason we aren’t gonna kill you. We can call it even.”

“Alright. Great, I suppose. So, what are you doing then if we’re apparently even?”

“You’re a traitorous bastard! We have no interest in staying with you, waiting for the next time you stab us in the back. We’re taking the car and going.”

“What?”

“Your weapons too,” Georgina added. “We’re taking those as well.”

Ryan guffawed ironically. “You have to be fucking joking!”

“Drop them on the floor in front of you.”

There was a moment of hesitation from Ryan.

“You heard her,” Jay growled. “Put them on the ground now or I’ll renege on the decision not to kill you where you stand.”

The tone of Jay’s voice gave Ryan chills. He threw his pistol on the floor and then unstrapped his SA-80 to do the same with that. Next came the ammo and bowie knife. With a sigh of deep regret, he removed his 7 iron from his belt.

“No; you can keep that. It’s been your closest friend since the start of all this—probably your ­only friend!”

“Your kindness knows no bounds!”

“I have no obligation whatsoever to show you kindness, Ryan Lloyd! Step away from the weapons and the car.”

With his hands raised again, Ryan moved back until he was on the pavement; Jay came forwards with each step, SA-80 still aimed threateningly. While Ryan was at gunpoint, Georgina retrieved his weapons and ammo and put them on the backseat of the Discovery. She then walked around to the passenger side and climbed into the car, but not before a long final look at Ryan that read guilt and regret.

Jay backed away with the rifle still pointed at Ryan. “It’s a shame it had to be this way. I honestly saw a friend in you. As it is, I hope our paths never cross again. For what it’s worth, I wish you luck.”

“I’m sure you’ll understand when I say the sentiment isn’t reciprocated!”

Jay got into the car and turned the key in the ignition. Mere seconds later, they were moving away. The Discovery rolled off down the street and Ryan watched until it reached the bottom and turned left. They were gone.

He pulled his 7 iron from his belt loop and looked at it with a wry smile. “Well, it’s just me and thee against the world.” The smile became more genuine and confident. “I like those fucking odds!”

With a cheery whistle, he started off towards one of the houses he hadn’t looted, twirling the 7 iron with flamboyance. Just as he was after he’d escaped the safe zone all those months ago, Ryan was alone and would have to fend for himself. The way he felt at that moment, that suited him just fine.

 

A SURVIVOR’S APOCALYPSE STORY WILL RETURN!