"Now, remember, Jason. Push gently on the pedal, first. Don't stomp it." Mom said to me in the passenger seat.
I obliged and lowered my foot onto the pedal. The car me and my mom picked out slowly started to move around the test track.
"A little more." Mom said.
I pushed slightly harder and we started reaching the speed limit.
"Now keep an eye on the road, not just the bumper." Mom said.
I looked toward the next turn and made it.
"There you go! Nice." Mom said.
"Thanks." I said.
"Thank Rich, for letting us borrow his track." Mom said.
"Sure thing." I said as I exited the car and my mom started parking it.
I headed back up to the mansion where Applejack, Diamond, and Filthy Rich were waiting.
"Well, how did you do?" Diamond asked.
"Good. I didn't wreck it, at least." I joked.
Applejack chuckled and held me in an embrace.
"Yeah, thanks for letting us use your track, Rich." I said.
"Oh, please, don't mention it. I built that track when Diamond hit 15. I'm glad it's getting early use." He said.
"No kidding." Mom said, coming up behind me.
"Yeah, did you check the radio yet? I think I wanna start setting some presets." I said.
Mom nodded and we headed back to the car to pick out the stations.
But something else picked up.
"This is an Emergency Broadcast. News of a Rabies strain in Russia capable of regenerating dead brain cells have been confirmed by the President just hours ago. This virus is able to bring back the dead and cause them to attack. This is a prerecorded message, and will repeat."
We were awestruck. We ran back up to the others to tell them what we heard.
"What? What do you mean zombies?" Diamond asked.
"It just said on the radio, the President confirmed it." Mom said.
"Are we sure it just isn't a hoax? This sounds too much like the 'War of the Worlds Hoax'. How do we know this isn't fake?" Filthy asked.
I decided to try something.
"We should check the T.V. See for any news." I said.
We all agreed and we all paced inside to the nearest T.V screen.
"...Recent reports of a Rabies outbreak have been confirmed. Rumors are floating about over what caused this. ISIS, Bio-weapon, or random mutation. The CDC and WHO are currently conducting experiments with their Rabies samples to see what could've caused this pandemic. Meanwhile, all airports have shut down any reservations for anywhere in Russia." Some news reporter said.
"My God..." Filthy said.
"We'll... it'll be fine. I'm sure the government's planning something right now." I said.
What I said seemed to help, as the others started calming down.
"Me and AJ should go. Thanks for the help, Rich." I said.
We went out the door and into Applejack's truck.
"You sure that they got this?" AJ asked me.
"Yeah. But if not... Mom knows people." I said.
"Define 'people'. Those stories she told you?"
"That's all I have to go on, I need more information. But let's not worry about that now. Right now we need to prepare, just in case this fails." I said.
"So what so we need?" AJ asked.
"Knives, ammo for the shotgun, food, water, and clothes. Other gear here and there, but these are the most important. How much do we have to spend?" I asked Big Mac.
"Roughly $2,300. Maybe less, but it should do." He said.
"We'll also need wood. 2x4s, nails, a hammer, some metal sheeting... We'll need a lot." I said.
"We have some lumber on the farm, but we need scrap metal." AJ said as we drove to the nearest deparment store.
"First on the list, sturdy nails and metal sheeting. Next, shotgun shells." I said.
We also saw about 40 other visiters, possibly after the exact same thing we are.
"Shit..." I muttered.
"No-one said this would be easy." AJ said.
"Euyep." Mac agreed.
We decided to wait for an hour or two until most of the customers were gone. That's when we parked and headed inside.
The place was a wreck, barely anything left. We managed to grab a few boxes of nails and we decided to ask for scrap metal.
"Whatever's left is in the back... it was chaos. They flooded the stands, some just straight-up looted... I better get a raise for this." The clerk said.
"Thank you." I said as we headed for the back.
We found enough sheeting to cover the farm, paid, backed the truck up, loaded it, and headed to our next destination.
"What kind of rounds does it take?" I asked.
"Shells." Mac answered.
I nodded as we headed to the sporting goods department, which wasn't doing much good, either. In fact, we saw holes in the building.
"Stay close." Mac said as he grabbed the shotgun out of the back.
I opened my mouth in protest, but AJ gave me a silencing look.
"Open Carry." Mac implied.
We headed inside where we saw only one clerk left behind.
"Take what you want! Just don't shoot!" He begged.
"Relax, we're not... we're not here to steal." I said.
"We just need some shells. Are there any left?" AJ asked.
Upon hearing this, the clerk seemed to regain his nerves.
"Yeah, around back. I'll show you." He said as we all headed out back.
We headed to the back of the store where there were boxes upon boxes of ammo.
"What do you need?" The clerk asked.
"Just shells." Mac said as he grabbed a handful of boxes.
"I'll, um... Need to see your ID." The clerk said.
Mac nodded and reached out his driver's license. The clerk inspected it, nodded, and handed it back.
"You can pay upfront..." The clerk said, slightly shaking.
We went upfront, paid, and headed back to the farm.
"So there've been looters?" I asked.
"Sound's like it. The others wanna have a meetin' tonight about what we can do. Wanna join us?" She asked me.
"Wait, why me?" I asked.
"'Cause, like it or not, you're family." AJ said.
"Eyuep." Mac agreed.
I nodded and we went back to the farm. We started heading inside, when I saw Granny Smith look at an old picture again. I decided to ask her about it.
"Um, Granny Smith, you okay?" I asked nervously.
She looked back at me, only to glance at the picture again.
"You ever lost someone, Jason?" She asked me.
"Yeah, I've lost people. I've lost my dad, um..." I started.
"I mean someone you love, Jason, someone you knew." She said.
"Well... No." I sighed.
"Well, let me tell ya this. Nothin's worse than outliving your own child, Jason. Nothin'." She said.
I knew she wasn't going to say more, so I left to help Mac fortify the fence.
"Need a hand?" I asked.
"I could use help cutting those 2X4s to length. There's a hacksaw in the barn." Mac said.
I nodded and headed to the barn.
Only to be greeted by Applejack.
"Hey, AJ. You alright?" I asked.
She didn't say a word. She walked past me and shut the barn door.
"Applejack? What's wrong?" I asked nervously.
She went up in front of me, stared me dead in the eyes, and held me in an embrace.
But this one was more forceful.
She pinned me to the ground where she had her hands holding mine down as she lowered herself only centimeters away from my face.
"Shhh..." She whispered as she locked her lips onto mine.
All I did was embrace it. She removed her hands so she could hold my face. I used the freedom to wrap my arms around her waist. We held the kiss for several minutes until we both needed to breathe.
Only to kiss again. And this time, much, much harder.