“If you hurry the hell up,” Joel said.
"Stupid, but I like it," I said and hit the door release.
Joel and Scott dashed outside and made for the clump of bushes that obscured the little vehicles. Joel knocked a rotter to the ground, and Scott followed up by stomping its head into goo, but they had a half dozen Zs on them in no time. Joel turned and fired his M4 until they were a pile of withering corpses.
I shut the door, and then focused on the task at hand. Getting us the hell out of here. Joel was totally capable of taking care of himself, and Scott, from what I had observed, would make a good companion.
I pushed the bus forward and shoved first five or six Zs out of the way with the Z-scoop, and was amazed that it even worked. Men and women covered in filth, bloodied, damaged, broken, and in some cases missing limbs. But they didn't feel their own wounds. They had only one desire in life, and it was for our flesh.
I gently tapped the gas again and pushed them toward the house. They parted to the side like a freaking wave. Moses had nothing on me today.
"There isn’t enough room to maneuver?" Erik asked.
"Nope. We’re going to have to change tactics," I said, voice harried, because there were scant feet between us and the house. I could try to back up, crank the wheel, and aim for the road next to the house. Or I could try something else. Something that could get us all killed.
"If you're going to do something, do it now, Creed," Anna said from behind me.
Erik and Katherine hung out of windows on either side of the bus and shot as many of the Zs as they could pick off, covering Scott and Joel while they got the ATVs situated.
"How thick do you think the barn walls are?" I yelled.
"What the hell kind of question is that?" Erik asked.
I pushed forward again trying to make more room. The horde of Zs had increased, and it was like trying to drive through a pool of Jell-O.
The ATVs roared to life and cut across the rearview mirror. Joel revved his engine a few times, and bore down on the horde. He slid to a halt, and yelled "Hey. Look at us."
Scott’s ATV stopped right behind Joel’s vehicle and Scott jumped up on the foot rests then waved his arms like a maniac. Great diversion, guys, just don’t stick around long enough to get swarmed, I mentally urged them.
At least a dozen broke away from the group and staggered toward the two men. Scott shot one in the face, then holstered his side arm. He nodded back toward the bus, then peeled off and rode the ATV fifteen feet away. Joel followed, drawing the Zs after them.
Looking in the rearview mirror, I judged we were still too close so I pushed a few more times until the scoop was right against the back porch. I really should have taken a few measurements before attaching the prod onto the front of the bus. If I had fifteen minutes, and a lot of patience, I could probably have gotten out of the tight spot by pulling forward, then turning as I backed up the eight feet of free space I had, then repeating the turn again and again.
Zs clawed at the front windshield. A man whose face was half-burned off went down. I hit the gas, tap tap tap, and pushed them further and further forward until they were nearly pressed into the back of the house.
They were driven up the porch steps, and one of the railings snapped off. One of the shufflers leapt onto the bus and skittered across the top. I glanced in the rearview mirror. Erik trained his handgun upward trying to guess where the bastard was.
The roof compressed and Erik fired three times. In the confined space, the sound was deafening. I shook my head but my ears ran like a bell.
The shuffler fell of the roof and staggered away while clutching its side. Katherine leaned out to shoot it, but a Z blocked her aim and ended up taking a 9mm round in the chest. It didn't kill it, just knocked it to the side. By then, the shuffler was gone.
"Hurry!" Anna urged.
I tapped the gas again and again, gaining a few inches of precious runway each time. Then we were right up against the press of bodies and the wheels spun.
"Shit!" I yelled.
"What?" Erik yelled back.
"Hope we're not stuck," I said and shifted into reverse. "Everyone sit down and hang on to your butts. This might get interesting."
"We have very different ideas about what's interesting, Creed," Anna shot back.
I looked in the rearview mirror and caught sight of Christy gripping Frosty's neck. The dog was pissed. She bared her teeth and growled like a demon.
I tapped the gas and breathed a sigh of relief when we pulled out of the rut I had tried to drive into the ground.
"Creed!" Anna grabbed my shoulders and pointed.
I followed her gaze and found a dozen shufflers behind the mass. They tore along the side of the house and veered into the bushes like a pack of rabid dogs. Green eyes filled with malevolence met mine.
Joel spun his ATV to the side, and pressed the assault rifle to his shoulder. He aimed and then let out a stream of rounds. They punched into the shufflers, making them leap away. One dropped and didn't move again but his glowing green eyes met mind. I shuddered and focused on the task at hand.
I took one more look, made sure everyone was in a seat, and then pushed the gas pedal to the ground and said a little prayer.
The bus took a few seconds to get up to speed. I tried to aim between two support beams but managed to clip one. It sent the bus careening to the left. I half-expected us to come to a sudden stop and crush the back of our new ride. Maybe it was the reinforced plates we had attached. Maybe it was simple momentum. Maybe someone was looking down from above for once.
The bus smashed through the back of the barn and sent slats of wood flying. The sound was horrendous and told me I had probably caused some serious damage to the vehicle. But the wheels kept spinning so I kept my foot on the gas.
The bus spun hard to the right and sent my passengers sliding around. Christy sprawled across the floor of the bus, yanking Frosty with her. The dog yelped.
The back of the farm land stretched out in the rearview mirror. The bus was already going right so I cranked the steering wheel. We nearly flipped, but the old beast managed to stay righted.
"Creed! Where the hell did you learn to drive?" Anna yelled.
"On the job training. Everyone get in a seat," I called over my shoulder.
Erik pushed a window down and opened fire on a couple of Zs. One of them dropped with a dumb look on his face. The second one took a shot to the shoulder and fell onto his ass, but he was back up in a few seconds.
The horde of Zs and shufflers stalked toward us. One of the green-eyed bastards leapt onto the front of the bus. I kept the wheel cranked and gunned the engine, sending the shuffler flying. As he rolled away, I hit the brakes just before we smashed into a couple of tall trees and put the bus in drive. I pushed the pedal to the floor, and the engine responded with gusto.
The vehicle shimmied, probably from whatever damaged I'd caused as I crashed through the barn wall, but she held it together.
The shuffler came to his feet, and I ran his ass over. The bus thumped up and down, and we sped toward the road. I looked in the rearview mirror and grinned when I caught sight of the body because it didn't move. His clothes, such that they were, had been torn off his upper body, and he was contorted in a way that meant his back had probably been snapped.
"Score one for the good guys," I muttered.
I coasted along the edge of the woods, racing over hard ground until we hit a patch of soggy ground. I gave the engine a little surge, and we managed to not get stuck.
There was a tiny space between the trees I aimed for. It wasn't a lot of room but we might just make it.
Damnit. Our entire nest egg was blown. Our home was overrun. We had barely escaped with a few possessions. I frowned because I was going to miss having an actual bedroom and place to sleep in relative safety. The break had been good for me and Anna. We'd had time to relax and get to know each other a little better.
But here we were again, on the damn r
un.
I had traversed this area at least a hundred times and knew it like the back of a Zs bashed in head.
The trees rose toward me, and I slowed. No choice. If I kept up at this speed, I'd probably run smack into one of them.
A figure flitted across the opening. Something fast. Then it stopped, and I realized it was Joel. He waved from the back of the ATV. I aimed for him and slowed even more. Erik roared around behind us and came to a sliding halt. He turned, pulled his handgun, and fired at a trio of shufflers. One of them spun off, but the other two dove away. They might be snarling monsters, but they were smart and knew how to preserve themselves when under fire.
The bus responded to a gentle touch, but I still worried about how much it was dragging on the rear right side. It made me keep a little bit of left on the steering wheel.
If the rear end gave out, we would more than likely be caught with our pants down.
I urged the big beast between the trees. We bumped over a huge root. I gave her a little more gas, and she came down with a thump. A much larger bulge rose before my eyes. Joel backed up the ATV and eyed it. He nodded at me and gave me a thumbs up.
Behind us, Scott fired at targets. The horde had caught up with our near escape and filled the entirety of the rearview mirror.
I hit the gas again and the wheels spun on pine needles and soft ground. The bus's momentum stayed true, but we didn't have enough. I took my foot off the gas and hit it again, but the wheels spun again.
"Oh shit," I said.
"What?" Anna asked.
"Just be ready for the worst," I replied.
"That's not reassuring," Erik said.
No shit, man. This wasn't exactly my finest moment.
I brought the bus to a halt and put it in reverse. Behind me, Scott gassed the little ATV and shot away because he was about to be overrun.
The mass of Zs and shufflers advanced on us at a steady snarling rate. The shufflers were smart and stayed a few ranks deep. There was a time when they hadn’t gotten smart and were easy to pick off. Now they preferred to work with meat shields in front of them.
I hit the gas again, but we didn't move.
"Son of a—"
"Creed, get us the hell out of here," Anna yelled.
Frosty growled and bared her teeth. She probably wanted to go out there and drag a few shufflers back to Hell. Good dog.
"Are we stuck?" Katherine asked.
"I hope not," I replied, trying not to show how much I was sweating.
Joel motioned for me to follow. I lifted my hands and shrugged in frustration.
He roared around the tiny space between the bus and the woods with his assault rifle locked under his arm. He fired a burst, but I couldn't see what he hit.
I punched the gas in frustration, but the wheels didn't find anything to bite into except a pile of pine needles that went flying.
"Everyone in the back! Crowd up right over the rear wheels," I yelled.
With a little extra weight back there, maybe we'd get some traction.
Anna, Christy, Katherine, and Erik rose to their feet and moved to the rear of the bus. Erik studied the floor and found where the access panel was to the underside. He stood on it and pulled Katherine close to his body. He wrapped his arm around her, and they both reached out to hold onto the back of seats.
Christy knelt near them, and Anna crowded in.
Someone banged on the back of the bus. Erik pushed down the rear window, and leaned out and spoke with Scott, but I couldn’t make out their words.
"They're going to push on three. I'll count it out," Erik called from the back of the bus.
"Push?"
"With the ATVs. Just get ready on one, two, three!"
I hit the gas and the wheels bit. We moved forward a few feet, and then met with soggier ground. Dammit!"
"Again. On one, two, three!"
I hit the gas, and we surged a few feet. In the rearview mirror, the Zs were only feet away. Joel's rifle banged out a half-dozen rounds and bodies dropped.
If this didn't work, they were going to be swarmed, and there would be no way for them to escape.
I let off the pedal and punched it again. We finally moved, and the bus's front end bounced over the huge root. The scoop rattled against the front of the bus. Shit, the damn thing wasn’t going to last much longer at this rate.
As we came down, I timed our momentum for when the back end would get the most effect from the forward mass slamming into the ground and floored it.
The bus finally caught, and we shot between the trees.
Then an army of shufflers broke ahead of us. I gunned it and smashed into them. They parted, thanks to the Z-scoop, but many fell, and I had to drive over them.
The bus thumped up and down again as we ground bodies into mush.
"Are we clear?" Erik moved behind me.
"Not sure. Open ground ahead, but they seem to have us surrounded."
The ATV's moved ahead of us and into the clearing, then they spun to a halt.
"Fucking hell!" I yelled.
There were more Zs ahead. Too many. They poured out of the tree line and made for the bus. Not dozens, but hundreds. We had a few minutes, at most, to figure out our next plan of attack.
We couldn't afford a moment of indecision, but that's exactly what happened. I was shocked at the amount of zombies. Slobbering, blood-crusted, and moaning, white-eyed jerks.
We had two choices. Either we sat there and waited for them to swarm us, and eventually find a way in, or we hoped the Z-scoop would hold out long enough to break us free.
Joel and Scott spun their ATVs around and made for us. The clearing wasn't more than a hundred feet across, and the mass would be on us in less than a minute.
I hit the door release and Joel pulled up alongside so I could hear him.
"We'll try to draw some of them off you make for the road," he yelled.
"Not gonna work. Just get in and start shooting everything that moves. We'll have to trust that this bucket makes it," I said.
Erik nodded.
"Fuck," Joel said and looked over his shoulder.
Scott took his shotgun from the ATV, turned, and blasted an eager zombie, blowing the guy off his feet. He fired again and dropped a woman with long hair who wasn't going to make it to the dry cleaners today. Damn shame too, because her Sunday dress was in tatters.
Joel clenched his lips and made a decision. He pushed the ATV away, and then moved up the stairs into the bus. Scott followed after, shooting another zombie. The blast took the man in the hip and sheared off most of one leg.
When they were both on board, I closed the door, and cursed the loss of our ATVs. But we had no choice, and Scott and Joel had provided the distraction we needed.
The clearing, such that it was, meandered to the right at a thirty degree angle. It was between a bunch of overgrown brush and was more than wide enough for us on a normal day. Today was anything but. About a billion rotting walking corpses had their eyes set on us.
Something hit the top of the bus and footsteps scrambled. Then another set, and the roof bowed in.
"We got shufflers," I said. “Where did they come from?”
"Damn things are like fleas. Can't ever get rid of the things unless you go with the nuclear option," Joel said.
"Take off and nuke `em from space. It's the only way to be sure." Scott grinned, then his face fell, and he looked upward as feet rattled.
A face appeared, and glowing green eyes met mine. He snarled, and then his head quickly disappeared over the windshield. I didn't even have time to go for my gun.
I put the bus in gear. "Ladies and gentlemen. Please take a seat and prepare for your tour. If you look to your left, you’ll see a bunch of walking corpses. If you look to your right, you’ll see the same fucking thing.”
“Don’t get to eager, Jackson. Nice and steady,” Anna said.
“I know what you like,” I quipped.
“I’m going to shoot you in the junk,�
� Anna said.
“Oh my god.” Christy groaned.
Humor, man. Even in the worst of times, it’s worth a shot.
I gently applied the pedal, and the bus rolled forward. A pair of Zs in shorts and T-shirts ran into the plow and fell away. I hit a second patch, this one made of up half a dozen, and they parted like grass.
Something struck the top of the bus, hard.
I ignored it and kept us moving forward.
Joel ejected his magazine and slammed another one home. He pressed the stock to his shoulder and moved toward the middle of the bus as he pointed the gun upward.
"Hey, man, you know how loud that thing is in an enclosed space like this?" I yelled over my shoulder.
Joel fired three rounds at the roof. Something fell off the bus and slammed to the ground.
"Yep," Joel answered.
I plowed into another mass of Zs, this time there had to be at least fifteen or twenty. Once we broke free. the true threat lay straight ahead.
I got impatient and hit the gas to speed this along. All the creeping around should be reserved for times we were out on supply runs and not when we were surrounded.
Zs fell away, but they also went down in front of the bus, creating a withering road bump. We bounced over a couple of corpses, and then came to a halt. I slammed the bus into reverse and tried to back up. When that failed, I hit went back into drive and tried my luck. It took a few tries, but we finally got over the hump, so to speak.
"Careful, man. Keep it low and slow," Joel advised.
"I think I got it," I said, and hoped this was true. "Now."
My instinct was to run, full flight. If we got stuck, this would be a giant coffin. We'd all die screaming so maybe we could just blow our heads off. I remembered a time when we had been completely surrounded and stuck in a beat-up RV. Joel and I had counted bullets and made sure we had enough to off each other.
I fought down my instincts to try smashing through the horde again and kept the speed down. Joel hung over me, one hand on my shoulder, the other pressed flat against the roof. Another shuffler hit the top of the bus, then fell away. Guess he didn't plan that so well. I hoped he broke his fucking legs.
The bus slowed as I drove into the bulk of the Zs. I gave it more gas but it was like driving up hill through molasses. Joel and Erik took up position on either side of the bus and leaned out of the windows to pick off a few stray Zs, but the bulk was our issue. If they clogged our path anymore, we'd be stuck sooner than later.
Z-Risen (Book 5): Barriers Page 11
