Dead Sprint

by William Walsh

heard what I was waiting for. The dead were many now and he had a lot of things to shoot at. Then I heard his magazine drop. I charged at the soldier head on hoping to knock him over. He heard me coming. Out of ammo and with no time to load more, he dropped the rifle and met me with his hands up. Having time to brace himself he deflected my wild tackle and tossed me to the floor. Not wanting to give him time to get his pistol I hopped up and swung. He ducked under my punch and I took a fist to the rib. After a few more swings I knew I was outmatched and I started to back up away. Just as I was about to turn and flee I took a savage punch straight in the nose that sent me on my ass. My head leaned against the hummer. Blood began leaking down over my mouth like a faucet and the bones in my nose felt out of place.

  “You’re fast but you should have taken some boxing lessons,” he taunted.

  Casually, he pulled a loaded clip from his pouch and walked over to the rifle. With a sudden burst of energy at the sight of opportunity, I quickly got up while his back was turned. I jumped in the driver’s seat looked for the shifter.

  “Oh no you don’t,” he screamed at me.

  Everything looked similar to a normal car and if I just took a second I could be on the move, but I didn’t have a second. The front of my shirt was grabbed up as he attempted to pull me from the vehicle. I tried as best I could to stay planted but blood was running from my nose right into my mouth and it was hard to breath. In the melee my hand touched something cold and metallic on the passenger seat. MY GUN! Abandoning the struggle for a second I snatched the gun and shoved it in his chest right where his body armor would be and pulled the trigger. With a groan of pain he fell back to the ground. Now in the darkness I could see the staggering forms making their way over.

  I lifted my shirt and wiped not only my own blood but the blood that hit me from the shot. By now it was sticky and soaked with it. I looked down and felt my way around looking for the parking brake. I found it and released it. I took a second to get my composure before I started driving. The dead were even closer now. The soldier still lay on his back taking labored breaths clutching his chest. I felt my way around the knobs for a way to turn the headlights one but couldn’t find one. Finally I put it in drive and took off. In the pale light of the moon, I could see the shambling forms surround and then pounce the downed soldier in the mirror. I looked away not wanting to see the horror of when the dead actually capture their desired prey. All I heard were desperate screams and then the sound of wet flesh being torn from the bone.

  Still with no headlights, I blindly made my way trying to stay on the paved road. Water filled my eyes and I had to pinch my nose shut to prevent it from bleeding. It had swelled considerably and now was very large. It had grown enough to block part of my already watery vision. Driving was a hard task. I had to wipe my eyes every few seconds letting blood drip down my face but removing the tears in my vision. My other hand was planted on the steering wheel. The vehicle drove heavy. Speed was not its attribute but it made up in durability and power. I took solace in the fact that it was made out of steel. The blood from my nose was not stopping and the tears were only beginning to slow. I couldn’t see a fucking thing. The path was getting more and more steep. I had less and less control as I made my way down the slope. I had to get back home, or at least somewhere where nobody would want to eat me. I had to put my seatbelt on. A horrible thought of being trapped in an overturned vehicle as the hungry dead approached sent my mind into overdrive. This was going to be tricky.

  I kept my right hand on the wheel as I felt for the seatbelt with my left hand letting go of my nose. Blood once again began to seep down my already soaked hoodie. I couldn’t feel a seatbelt but knew it had to be somewhere. The blood was too much. My mouth was full of it now. The seatbelt had to be somewhere. If only I could just take one second to wipe the blood away. I couldn’t do that. I needed to keep control of the wheel. There it was, the seatbelt. I pulled it across my body and I tried to find the other end. Losing my grip on the wheel for just a second I exchanged hands and put the seatbelt in my right hand and grabbed the wheel with my left hand. I had to be getting close, we didn’t drive that far. I looked down for a split second to find the other end of the seatbelt and blood dripped heavily onto my hand. I spotted it and tried my best to work the ends together. I heard a click and felt it go in. Satisfied, I picked my hand back up to my nose. After quickly wiping my eyes and face I saw something horrific in the windshield. The cylindrical black form of a tree was rapidly approaching. Without time to swerve I braced for impact.

  The hummer took the damage quite well but I was definitely shaken. I had never been more grateful for seatbelts. After a second of catching my breath from the fright I shifted into reverse. I put my foot to the pedal and then the tires spun…but I didn’t move. It had stalled somehow and I didn’t know how to start it again. Panic set in and I pushed the pedal harder and harder and got the same result. I was stuck. The fear equivalent to live burial set it. I had to get out now! It took a second to figure out how to open the strange door but then I was outside once again in the darkness. I felt a heavy form nearly drop on me. I could smell the death stronger than ever before. Jagged teeth scraped arm taking away a small chunk of flesh. Pain like I never felt rushed through me and I pushed the puss bag away. Out of sheer anger I pulled my pistol and fired two shots hitting the corpse in the head. Its ugly rotten body now laid still. I walked away with my mind in panic.

  I stared down the unfamiliar path and could see nothing beyond trees and a dirt road. I could hear the rustling of leaves over my heavy breathing. The dead were closing in. I could see their forms in the woods like dancing shadows as they approached in their mockery of un-life. I looked up the hill and saw more stumbling down, some full from their recent meal but still wanting more. I knew it then. I knew there was no way. I knew there was no point, no point in even trying to get home. They were close now. I put my hand over the bite on my arm. New tears came to my eyes. I don’t know if they were from my broken nose or just from utter sadness. I thought of my sweet Julie and thought of the pain in watching her decay; go from a smart girl to the monster she now was. Why did it have to happen now? If this was my fate, why couldn’t it happen sooner? All those nights of crying and all the sadness were unneeded. It made no difference now. There was no going back. In the moonlight I looked down at my gun. Then with a shaking hand I brought it to my chin. Final tears escaped my tightly shut eyes as I prepared for what was to come. Finally, I pulled the trigger…and heard nothing more than a click. Furious I tossed the gun away and cursed out loud. Now what? I stared at the growing mass of dead now before me. Rotten grayed faces emitting hungry groans got closer and closer and closer. Then a thought came to me.

  “Not yet. A few more”

  Slowly I back stepped letting the crowd of dead come together. I could hear their voices distinctly. I knew it was time. I pulled the final stick of dynamite out of my pocket followed by the lighter, my lucky Zippo. I lit the fuse, smiling as the sparks crackled away from it. I eyed the crowd and took a long deep breath. In a burst of energy and holding my weapon of choice, I ran to the middle of the crowd and spent my final moments of life in a complete dead sprint.