by Radke, K. E.
Strong hands wrapped around Noah’s head while his fingers tugged for the knife on his belt. He stabbed blindly as his skull was smashed against the canvas pack that had no impact on his head. With blurry vision, he reached up in between the arms attached to his head.
The knife sliced across its face, and he thrusted it forward tearing at the grey flesh until the grip on his head weakened. His head fell against his bag one last time and he gazed at the knife protruding from the ghoul’s forehead. The body collapsed on top of him and he laid there for a moment catching his breath.
Warm liquid started to seep into his clothes and he slid from underneath the body. Turning on his side he clutched his chest and tried to stop his heart from breaking out of his ribcage. He collected the knife and patted his bag, “I will never complain about your weight again.”
There wasn’t a handle to get back inside. Gloria cursed about to pound on the emergency door when it shook all by itself. Automatically, her foot took a step back and her fingers wrapped around the gun. She let her eyes adjust to the dark and surveyed her surroundings.
Fast footsteps broke the silence outside in the alley Gloria stepped into. A girl with black hair passed her before she had time to lift the 1911 to threaten her. Skidding to a stop the girl seized Gloria’s arm and pulled her along gasping the word, “Run.”
Another set of footsteps echoed in the alley. The girl pulled Gloria around a bend and they sprinted between two building until Gloria wheezed out, “Stop. I can’t.” Her lungs were on fire trying to take in oxygen.
Something bulldozed into her side and she shifted slightly so she’d land against her pack instead of the brick wall. Hands rose to her throat and red eyes glowed back at her. It headbutted her, then the body wavered on its feet. It fell forward and leaned against her before dropping in a heap on the ground. The girl pulled a knife out of the back of its head and then she cut the straps on Gloria’s pack.
“Leave it,” she rasped and tugged on Gloria’s arm to lead her out of the alley to get to the next block. They lingered at the opening and hid for a few seconds to catch their breath, “Where are you going?”
“Who are you?” Gloria inquired without any conviction in her voice. The girl had saved her, and she honestly didn’t care who she was. She recognized her from the hospital, but the girl was not in the car with them when they were attacked.
“Someone who should have stayed home,” she answered in an exhausted tone. Her shoulders drooped with weariness and her clothes were filthy. The pack she took from the Jeep felt even heavier.
“You and me both,” Gloria agreed and then continued, “To the beaver gas station on the main road. Come on, we don’t want to be left behind.”
Jule perked up at the word we.
Out in the open, they quickly crossed the road in a crouch and hid under awnings or in the shadows of business stoops. They dodged the few cannibals milling around that weren’t attracted to all the gunfire down the road and came out near the car pile up to get out of town.
Abandoned cars stretched in both directions but they spotted the beaver gas station and started toward it. They weaved in between the vehicles and avoided the few lingering corpses until they reached the giant, plastic rodent statue that was a tourist attraction. Right in front of it they searched for a lamppost.
They set off for the closet one and found the scratched and dented Land Cruiser.
“Are you sure this is the one?” Jule asked skeptically. She dropped the pack on the ground and rolled her shoulders. “It doesn’t look like it’ll last very long.”
To be sure they checked several other light poles. Only one had a Land Cruiser near it. They settled in next to the SUV hidden in the dark.
“When he comes, don’t go too far,” Gloria said cryptically. She knew the girl had been through hell following them.
“Thank you,” she said, the words barely above a whisper.
A few minutes later Gloria sat up straight and scrambled to her feet when she heard a car ignition turn over. She squinted in the dark wondering if she’d picked the wrong car. Surveying the massive pileup, her eyes narrowed on a spot in the distance with an orange glow. It didn’t take long for the fire to spread, and she ducked behind the Land Cruiser.
Jule squatted next to her and they listened to the unmistakably sound of a car crashing into others until an explosion deafened it and the ground rumbled beneath them. Fire ignited the sky illuminating everything in the vicinity. Gloria wondered if it was Noah. If he was trying to escape, or possibly Lincoln and Wyatt. And then she realized it could be the enemy, the person bent on killing them.
With no way to tell if it was friend or foe they decided to stay hidden.
“Should we run?” Jule asked exhausted. She was tired of running, but too anxious to sit still. The last thing she wanted to be was captured.
“If we’re not here, they’ll leave us,” Gloria whispered.
“What if they never show up?” The thoughts they’d both been thinking were finally said out loud.
“We go back to the hospital,” Gloria told her. “Or find an unlocked car and get the hell out of dodge.”
Another explosion erupted down the road and Gloria couldn’t help taking another look. It lit up the area crawling with cannibals in pursuit. The flesh eaters were like moths to a flame. Hundreds of them would show up, it was only a matter of time before they were found.
Tires squealed, and they watched a little car race along the road between the vehicles that were knocked out the way from the explosions. The little four-door sedan didn’t slow down when new obstacles were in its way, it just smashed right into them like a bumper car. The reckless driver shimmied in between gaps until they finally made it to the sidewalk with a clear path out of town.
Even with the massive fire, Gloria couldn’t see who was behind the wheel. The revving engine eventually slid back onto the road in order to get on the highway and the lights faded in the distance.
“We should go, before they find us,” Jule whispered anxiously. Her eyes roamed among the rotters and their growing numbers.
“Gloria?” Noah’s voice filtered through the dark and Gloria pushed Jule on the ground.
She could hear every heavy breath and his dragging footsteps. He leaned against the front of the Land Cruiser. She met him there and said lowly, “You going to stand there all night or are we going to get the hell out of here?”
He unlatched his pack and fell in a heap on top of it gasping for air. Catching his breath, he managed to pluck the keys from his pocket and hand them to Gloria. She unlocked the SUV and helped Noah into the backseat.
Exhausted and thirsty, she pulled out a water bottle and then began to take all the provisions out of both bags. If they were all up front no one would need to rummage through the trunk where she’d hidden Jule the best she could.
After tucking the girl in, she tiptoed to the driver’s seat and placed all the provisions on the front seat. She sat quietly until Noah’s gasps were under control. He finally sat up and drank from a water bottle.
She asked, “What happens now?”
“We catch up to them,” Noah answered ominously.
TWENTY FOUR
C rawling along the pavement Wyatt was ahead of Lincoln when the heavy gunfire poured from above. Both men flattened themselves against the road. Lincoln used all his ammo trying to save his mother and Noah. Shooting and praying she was still alive and not bleeding to death—or worse.
Now they were stuck at a slow pace with someone trying to kill them from above and playing hide and seek with the flesh eaters surrounding them. Lincoln had no idea how they’d survive. He just pushed forward every chance he got.
The only advantage was Wyatt could move as slowly as he wanted, and it gave Lincoln a chance to scour the ground for fresh blood and bodies. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to find evidence of Noah and his mother’s trail.
Soon, it was obvious the gunmen had no idea where they we
re. Bullets rained in nearby areas and killed chompers stuck in the line of fire. The noise and damage the gunman caused to the vehicles also distracted the parasites away from Lincoln and Wyatt.
It was the only advantage they had.
After five minutes of silence, raw hands and hurting knees came to a stop when Wyatt peered over his shoulder and whispered, “Did they stop shooting?”
“They definitely lost track of us.”
“Maybe they ran out of bullets.”
They both hoped for the latter.
There was only one way to find out. He peered over a car at the rooftops but saw nothing without the muzzle flash to direct him. If he couldn’t see them with the night vision goggles than they couldn’t see him either. He stood up and helped Wyatt lean against the car so he could unattached the crutches from the pack.
Ahead of them, the moonlight bounced off the beaver statue in front of the gas station. Lincoln wondered if the Land Cruiser was still parked where he left it.
Metal squealed close by, like a garage lifting. The noise echoed over the dark city and hisses and groans roared in reply to the new curious sound. Without saying a word, they both picked up their pace.
Suddenly stopping, Lincoln tried to listen for the strange noise he heard below the chompers nonstop warble. It became louder, like a constant beat. Pebbles raked across the concrete and footsteps were louder than ever before. Lincoln shifted around trying to pinpoint the sound.
Something was moving fast. Faster than the cannibals—and him.
Croaks and groans ensued with a different ferocity than the ones they’d been surrounded with. He inhaled slightly and yanked the crutch from Wyatt’s side to take its place and quickly dragged him in between the vehicles.
The pounding feet slowed down and red eyes emerged in front of them. Lincoln turned to the left and found another pair staring straight at them. He turned in a slow circle counting four ghouls, one in each direction.
He suddenly dropped Wyatt on the ground like a sack of potatoes, his yelp lost among the croaks and growls filtering though the dark. The red eyes glowed and pierced them with hungry stares. Jaws snapped in excitement as the four monsters twisted around the vehicles and converged on their prey.
Muscles tensed every time Lincoln’s eyes fled from one monster to the next. He flicked off the straps of his pack and let it fall to the ground. Without ammo, the useless AK was tossed on top of it. The only thing left in his hand was Wyatt’s crutch.
On the ground Wyatt quickly shed his shirt and unzipped the side pocket on Lincoln’s bag. He unsheathed the knife from his belt and crawled to the nearest car.
“Getting naked is only going to excite them,” Lincoln mumbled, unsure if Wyatt was still mentally stable. Lincoln held the crutch out like a weapon feeling ridiculous. He missed his spear he left at home. “I will never leave Stella behind ever again.” In a defeated voice he added, “I’m sorry Wyatt.” His voice betrayed the thoughts spinning around in his head, but his demeanor refused to give up.
“I’m not,” Wyatt replied lighting a match and holding it up to his shirt that hung from an open gas tank. “It’s time to go!” He scrambled for purchase and used his crutch and the tire to lift himself up. Lincoln felt the heat against his back and glanced over his shoulder shouting, “I’d prefer not to be fried before they eat my leftover body parts!”
“Move your ass before they have a chance to!”
“Exactly where are we going to go when we’re surrounded?”
Wyatt never answered him. The last thing he was concerned about were the red eyed monsters encroaching upon them.
Lincoln glanced down at his shirt and took it off. He wrapped it around the crutch and held it up to the blazing fire. Following Wyatt, he charged at the monster in their way to clear a path for them. He whacked the nearest ghoul and when it didn’t budge, he held the torch against its skin.
Charred flesh permeated the air and its filthy clothes caught on fire. The flames wrapped around its head scorching everything it touched. It croaked trying to catch the flames in its hands to stop it from engulfing him.
Wyatt swung his crutch across the creature’s face and both men managed to shove the creature backward. Lincoln kept up the momentum and Wyatt fell, scrambling on the ground before another cannibal caught him from behind.
“They’re regrouping!” Lincoln yelled and glanced at the other three circling around several vehicles to get ahead of them. The closest one lunged and Lincoln swung the crutch in an arc and burned the side of its face. It landed on the hood of a Honda. The second ghoul tried to use the distraction as an advantage, but Lincoln swung the crutch around knocking it on the ground.
The torch ended up on the cannibal’s chest and he leaned on it and listened to the bones crack beneath his weight until the crutch ripped through the ribcage. Its entire torso was engulfed in flames and Lincoln had to back up before he caught on fire.
Wyatt seized Lincoln’s arm almost getting knocked out. They were only three cars away from the one about to explode. He realized they’d never get far enough and started trying the car doors.
“Who locks a car they’re not coming back to?!” Wyatt growled frustrated. The next car still had someone in it. Bloody smears where fingers clawed at the window distorted the view inside.
Wyatt tried the door and found it unlocked. He counted to three before wrenching it open, the smell making him gag. Skin hung off the bony, black hands and Wyatt pushed them out of the way and ducked into the car. He wedged the knife into its skull and pulled the body out taking its place.
“This isn’t the time for a joy ride!” Lincoln shouted.
“Get in the fucking car!”
Lincoln threw the crutch at his foe and lunged for the back door, but it was locked.
“Whoops,” Wyatt said fumbling to unlock it.
Lincoln jerked the door open and tried to slam it shut behind him. It bounced off an arm and red eyes glared at him from the window. He pulled on the door to keep it from opening. Wyatt automatically locked all the doors then turned in his seat and slashed at the wriggling arm.
The bone splintered ripping holes in the skin, bending at a grotesque angle. The door finally clicked shut with an arm jammed in it. Red liquid dripped from above staining the backseat.
Lincoln took the middle seat and asked sarcastically, “Where do you plan to go with all these cars in front of you?”
“I’d rather be in here then out there when that car blows up.”
Fists pounded on the windows, two ghouls on each side. The one with its head on fire staggered and landed on the car in front of them and lit the back tire on fire as it slowly slid to the ground.
“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Wyatt screeched anxiously.
They were too close. Wyatt’s hands automatically reached for the ignition and the keys dangled from it. He turned the engine over and reversed, slamming into the car behind him. Putting it in drive he raced forward to jolt the car in front of him and then reversed again trying to find an exit. He kept up the pace until he thought he could squeeze through one of holes he made.
The back window was shattered. Spider webs curled from the center to the edge of the glass at the same time the first car exploded. A wave of heat and bits of car parts flew in the air. Wyatt crouched in his seat with his hands over his head listening to metal pieces fall around them.
Flames were swallowing the second car a few feet away.
“Drive Wyatt drive!” Lincoln yelled from the backseat. Wyatt peered over the dash and saw an accessible path the explosion cleared for them. Glass shattered in the back, raining down on Lincoln and glowing red eyes peered at him in the rearview mirror. Jaws snapped at the same time Wyatt hit the accelerator and ghoul flew off the trunk.
“Use the sidewalk!” Lincoln yelled when he felt Wyatt slowing down.
“Shut up and let me think!”
“I’ll die before that happens!” Lincoln grabbed the wheel from the back and swerved i
t in between two cars. The metal screeched until they were free, breezing along on the sidewalk. The giant beaver was in sight and Lincoln spotted his SUV right where he left it. He stopped breathing and his heart physically hurt.
They never made it. He hoped it would be gone. A sign his mother survived.
He turned in his seat and gazed out the back horrified at the thought she was lost somewhere in the dark.
Wyatt sighted the Land Cruiser and took his foot off the accelerator, “Should I stop?”
Hesitating, Lincoln could feel the car slowing down. The red eyed chompers were still chasing them and they’d lost all their gear. If he wanted to survive they needed to drive until the car died or ran out of gas. Not hiding the pain in his voice, it cracked when he said, “No, keep driving until we’re far far away from this hell hole.”
Darkness wrapped around him and he clung to the safety of it hiding his grotesque face. Wheezing breaths crackled through the silent night and his fist tightened to bear the pain and fury enveloping him. Pure, dumb luck was on their side and Murray regretted not killing them earlier when he had the chance.
He watched the crumpled car escape onto the freeway and stared at the empty darkness that swallowed it. Frustrated screams wanted to tear from his throat but stretching his mouth that wide would rip the healing skin.
“What do we do now boss?” Justin asked. Owen and Frederick gathered the empty guns ready to follow orders. Murray gritted his teeth, quietly scolding himself for using all the ammo and not killing his quarry.
There was only one place left to go that could possibly know where those men came from—that would lead him to a new city. A new safe haven he could call his own. A town to replace everything he lost and claim what was rightfully his.
“Let’s go check the visiting hours at the hospital,” Murray slurred trying to keep the spit from trailing down the side of his face.
TWENTY FIVE
