Sharon climbed to her feet, brushing herself off with no apparent wounds.
"Told you," said Park.
"Did you honestly expect that to work?" said Sharon.
For a second it was quiet. Everyone on the trucks stared at Sharon. The corpses and animals stayed in formation. Angie swallowed, wondering what her next move should be.
Then Sharon let out a loud screech. A piercing, primal noise that sounded like it came from somewhere deeper than Sharon’s body. It echoed around the trees and pushed Angie and the others back in revulsion.
As one, the line broke and the corpses and animals attacked. The corpses stumbled forward, groaning and reaching. The animals rushed for the trucks. Bears, bulls, bobcats, and a host of others all pounding through the snow, snorting and enraged. Sharon smiled as they attacked.
"Everyone back!" yelled Angie. Dunwoody threw the truck into reverse and started speeding backwards. The other trucks followed, speeding along parallel to Angie's truck. The corpses fell behind quickly but the animals kept pace, chasing the trucks across the field.
Angie looked behind, her hair whipping around. She knew they couldn't keep this up for long. They were going too fast, and as good a driver as Dunwoody was, it was only a matter of time before he or one of the other drivers lost control.
She looked back to the front. The animals were close, but not that close. A few were crisscrossing the field, blindly lashing out at everything. The rest were focused on the trucks. Angie guessed they had enough space between them.
"Everyone hold on!" She yelled to the others in the bed. Then she banged on the cab as hard as she could. "Turn around! Now!"
Angie crouched down, using her cane to keep her balance. The truck spun in the snow. Snow and ice flew out from the sides of the truck. The wheels spun, almost losing traction. The truck stopped. The animals drew near. Dunwoody slammed the gearshift into drive and sped forward. On either side, Angie could see the other two trucks doing the same.
"Now haul ass!" Angie yelled. Dunwoody slammed the pedal to the floor and the truck shot across the field. The trucks to either side followed. The corpses fell further and further behind. The animals kept up, though, running furiously in their rage.
"What happens when we get to town?" said Park, shouting over the wind and looking at the animals racing along on either side.
"Haven't thought about that yet," said Angie.
"Just like old times."
"So!" yelled Angie as the truck rumbled under them, "That wasn't the crazy woman you talked about?"
Park shook his head. "No, her name was Beulah, and I'm starting to wish I'd paid more attention to what she said."
"What did she say about Sharon?"
"She said the dead fucks were her idea!"
Angie through about it. It was crazy. Beyond crazy. Not even across the street and down the block from crazy. But, the corpses had been still. Like they were in formation, waiting for orders.
And they hadn't moved until Sharon had let them.
The truck raced along, bouncing over snow and brush. Angie crouched down, Park next to her. She looked behind them. The corpses were long gone, and the animals were falling back but still close.
Park peeked back over the cab, his tangled hair whipping around in the wind. "You're gonna want to see this."
Angie stood back up. In the distance was another line, dark and shapeless, but growing fast.
"I don't like this," said Angie.
"I can relate," said Park.
They sped along a few seconds longer. The guards fired to the side and back, aiming for the animals but mostly missing. They were moving too fast and the animals were too erratic.
The truck hit a hole in the ground. It bounced over and hit the other side. The hit sent a shockwave through the truck, causing everyone to shift. Screaming, Lilly started to fall over the side. Park shot forward with a speed that surprised Angie and grabbed Lilly's arm, stopping her fall.
"Let go of me fucker!" yelled Lilly, leaning out the truck bed. The snowy ground sped by underneath her. "I can do this!"
"Seriously?" said Park, holding her arm. "You're going with that right now?"
Lilly struggled for a moment. "Shit. Ass! Fine. Pull me up!"
Park pulled her up. Lilly fell back into the truck bed and into Park’s arms. She crawled away from him, frowning.
"You're welcome," said Parkas he sat back down against the cab. The truck bounced along, speeding through the snow.
Angie turned to look back out over the cab. The dark line was getting closer. She still couldn't make it out, but she knew what it was. Another line of corpses. Blocking the way they had come.
One of the children shrieked, loud enough to pierce the rushing wind. Angie tried to look everywhere at once. Then she saw it.
A large bull was racing for the truck, coming up on the left. It was currently ahead of the truck, but its trajectory was clear. They would collide.
"Look out!" yelled Angie into the frigid, rushing wind. But she knew there was no time. She braced herself for impact.
The truck passed the bull just as it reached it. The bull slammed headlong into the side of the truck. The truck skidded across the snow, tires spinning and ice flying. Angie and the others held on as the truck lost control for a few terrifying seconds, then righted itself. They sped along. Angie looked back at the bull. It was shaking its head, spreading blood across the snow. It bellowed and raced after the truck.
A large gust of wind whipped across the field. The truck swayed but corrected. Angie looked overhead. The sky was no longer clear. Clouds, grey and angry, were closing fast.
"Great," she said under her breath.
Dunwoody honked the horn. Angie looked out over the cab. The line was very close now. It was clearly corpses, lined up and blocking the way, several rows thick. Too many to drive through.
"Go around!" yelled Angie, pounding on the top of the cab.
Dunwoody shifted his hands on the steering wheel. Angie crouched down. "Everyone brace themselves!" Around her, Park and the children complied.
The truck banked hard to the left, skidding in the snow and nearly losing control. The corpses, still lined up thick, reached for them but didn't move. The truck corrected and sped across the field. The line of corpses raced along beside the speeding truck.
Another blast of wind hit them from the side, nearly sending the truck into the corpses. Dunwoody's driving saved them. He expertly corrected and continued down the field.
Angie stood in the bed and winced at what she saw up ahead.
"You look worried," Park shouted over the wind.
"I am," Angie shouted back. "We've never driven over this part of the field. Who knows what's under the snow this way."
The truck sped along. A line of trees was ahead of them, but still far enough away that Angie held out hope they'd reach a break in the line of corpses. None showed itself.
Angie looked to her left. The bull was running alongside them, far off but keeping pace with the truck. Blood trailed behind it.
"There's that fucker again!" yelled Park.
Angie kept her eyes on the bull. "As long as we stay parallel to him we're—"
Wham! The truck ran over something hard in the snow. The truck kept going, speeding along but clearly worse for the hit. A horrible grinding noise came from the engine. The truck was shaking more than the terrain would account for.
Angie looked around quickly. She saw scrap metal poking up through the snow. A large pile of it was up ahead and to the right.
Wham! The truck hit another piece. The truck shuddered, worse than before. A gust of wind hit them from the front, making them sway back and forth. The sky overhead was thick with dark clouds. The trees on the end of the field shook in the wind.
A pile of scrap metal loomed close in front of them.
"Look out!" yelled Angie, leaning to heard through the truck window. "Go around!"
Dunwoody spun the wheel. The truck banked left again.
It cleared the pile of scrap metal but hit a large patch of slush. The truck spun in the slush until they ended up speeding back the way they had come. Dunwoody turned the wheel left and right, trying to regain control.
Angie looked ahead. The bull raced toward the front of the speeding truck. Its bloody snout shooting blood across the snow. Its large horns were pointed toward the truck's grill.
Angie was about to shout a warning, but it was too late. A large gust of wind grew behind the truck, sending clumps of snow out in front of them.
The bull rammed into the front of the truck just as the gust of wind hit them from the back. The back wheels left the ground as the bull's horns dug into the grill. Everyone in the truck screamed as the truck flipped up and over, spilling Angie, Park and the children into the snow.
The children were crowded around her, Park to her right. Angie's knees ached from where she'd hit the ground.
The truck finished its flip and fell toward them. The bed was only feet away from crushing them into the snow.
The children screamed. Angie clutched as many of the children as she could and braced herself, looking away from the falling truck.
She looked ahead and blinked.
A large buck with a huge rack of horns ran at them, enraged and oblivious of the truck. The children screamed again as the buck bent its horns down, intent on goring them. The shadow of the falling truck grew large across Angie, Park and the children.
The truck slammed down, the edge of the overturned bed crashing into the buck. The buck's head slammed to the ground as snow flew around them. The truck came to a rest. The buck's neck and shoulders had provided enough room to keep Angie and the others from being crushed. They were covered by the overturned truck, shielding them from the outside wind like a metal tent.
The buck was still alive. It snorted and strained against the tailgate, trying to get to Angie and the others. The children screamed, trying to crawl further back into the snow.
Struggling to move in the small space, Angie worked the sword out of her cane. She stabbed at the buck, the sword piercing its head and neck. Blood flowed from the wounds but the buck kept moving. It clawed and dug at the snow, its hooves appearing under the lip of the truck. It gained a small bit of traction and the truck shifted overhead. The buck was coming inside. Angie kept stabbing. "Die! Die you fuck!"
Park grunted, working his rifle from his back. As Angie kept stabbing, Park worked the barrel of the rifle into the buck's mouth. He fired and the buck jerked. Blood came from its mouth but it kept grunting.
"Shit fuck hell twat," said Park, struggling to cock the rifle with it still in the buck's mouth. He fired again. The buck let out a large groan, spilling more blood from its mouth. The buck slumped and finally stopped moving.
"Whoa," said Lilly.
"Everyone out!" said Angie, motioning the children around her forward.
The children climbed out from under the truck, pushing past the dead buck. When the last one was out, Angie looked to Park.
"After you, madam," said Park, motioning for her to go first.
"Such a gentleman," said Angie. She climbed out into the cold air.
The wind had died down. Angie stood, sliding her sword back into her cane. She put the end of the cane into the snow and leaned on it. Park climbed out and stood, brushing himself off.
A loud commotion came from behind them, scraping and snorting. Angie turned to see the wounded bull pinned under the hood of the truck. Its rear legs were limp in the snow, its back clearly broken. Angie almost felt sorry for it. Almost.
Her eyes went to the hood of the truck. The wheels were still spinning furiously. Steam was rising from the sputtering engine. Someone's foot was still on the gas.
Angie limped over to the overturned cab. Leaning on her cane for balance, she bent down to look. Dunwoody's broken and bleeding body was crumpled against the steering wheel. Most of his head was caved in.
"Fuck!" snapped Angie, straightening back up. She looked back to Park and the children. The children were looking at her, scared and confused. She realized she was making it worse. She softened her face, walking over to Park with a fake smile.
"We gotta get back to town," she said when she reached Park. She sniffed in the cold air and leaned on her cane, trying to get her bearings. She could see the town far off in the distance to her left. Past the line of corpses, which still hadn't moved.
Park cocked his rifle and reached into his pocket. He frowned at the number of bullets he pulled out, then replaced them. "I sure hope we ain't walking."
Angie tried to keep her smile for the children. "Well unless you can fly, I was thinking a fast version of that, yes."
Groans came from behind. She turned to see corpses staggering from the woods, not far from her and the others. Lots of them, dead and frozen and reaching. The children screamed, and Park readied his rifle.
Angie shifted her weight off of her cane and drew her sword. She let her smile fall. "We're probably fucked."
"That's what I was thinking," said Park.
The corpses staggered closer. Angie readied herself, wondering how many she could get before they were overwhelmed.
A different, louder noise came from behind her. Angie turned again, starting to feel ridiculous. The other two trucks sped across the field, flinging snow out from either side.
Angie realized they were coming too fast. The trucks weren't coming this way to rescue them. Or, that's not why they started this way. The trucks had come for the same reason they had: they were blocked off and routed this way. This was Sharon's plan. They were being led into a corner.
"Back, back!" she yelled, running to the children and pulling them back with her free hand. She grabbed one small shoulder after another, pulling until they started backing up on their own. "Everyone back!"
Angie, Park and the children scrambled backwards. The trucks, finally seeing them, struggled to stop. The tires locked as the two drivers slammed on the brakes. The trucks slid across the snow. Angie and the others backed further and further away, closer to the corpses behind them. The groans grew louder.
Angie dared go back no further. The trucks finally stopped, spraying snow across Angie and the others.
Maylee climbed out of the back of her truck, dropping to the snow. "What happened?"
Angie sputtered snow from her mouth and limped forward, the children and Park following her. "Bull. Dunwoody's dead, we're okay."
"Hurry! Everyone in!" Maylee urged, her face and tone flat, all business. This was not lost on Angie.
She pushed down her feelings on that as she and the others hurried to the trucks. They split the children into two groups, each one squeezing into the remaining two trucks as best they could. Maylee climbed back into her truck. Angie and Park climbed in with her.
The corpses were close now, groaning and reaching. Their frozen skin cracked in the wind, spilling thick black ooze down their bodies. The guards in the trucks fired, their rifles cracking into the cold air. The corpses jerked with each shot, their heads exploding backwards across the snow. They fell. A few were left, but far enough away to not worry about.
"Go go go!" Angie ordered.
The trucks, now overflowing with children, turned as best they could in the snow. They sped off, racing back up the way they had come. The line of corpses groaned as they zipped by. The corpses were packed together, too thick to plow through. Angie hoped an opening would appear, but she doubted one would.
She saw a dark mass coming toward them. She stared, squinting into the wind. When the mass came into focus, she saw it was a mass of animals. A lot of them, racing toward the trucks.
She looked to her right, to a thick grouping of trees and brush. They were boxed in.
Angie pounded on the cab. "Go through the corpses!"
A guard named Hartnup sat at the wheel. "There's too many!"
"We don't have a choice!" The animals were close now. Their hooves and paws pounded in the snow.
The truck banked
hard to the left, right into the line of groaning and reaching corpses.
The truck collided with rotten, frozen bodies with a force that sent shudders through all in the bed. The truck slowed as it ground over the bodies. The ones who weren't crushed reached over the sides, their dead and rotten fingers grasping at Angie, at Park, at Maylee and the children. They held on to the hood, scraping cracked fingernails across the metal. They held on to the sides, biting at the children but missing. The children screamed, trying to squeeze as close to the middle of the bed as they could.
A second later the truck was clear of the line. It sped up, pulling some of the corpses with it. Angie looked behind her. The line of corpses receded into the distance, blowing apart again as the other truck followed their example. This one had an easier time, taking advantage of the opening they had made.
The adults did their best against the corpses hanging on the truck. The guards shot and Maylee swung. Park fired his rifle this way and that. Angie had her sword out, stabbing at dead hands until they fell apart, sending the corpses spilling to the snow. Lilly stomped at dead heads despite Angie wishing she wouldn't.
After a few moments of furious battle, most of the corpses were cleared from the truck. The tires spun along in the snow, speeding the truck forward. The town grew larger ahead.
The truck bounced over a large rut in the snow. Yelling in surprise and fear, Maylee and a few of the children fell from the bed. They landed, rolling in the snow. The rest of the corpses fell after them.
"Maylee!" yelled Angie, watching as the truck kept going. Maylee staggered to her feet. The children stood up around her. They rapidly receded into the distance as the truck raced on.
Angie turned, pounding hard on the cab. "Go back! Go back! We lost Maylee and some kids!"
Hartnup spun the wheel, turning the truck sharply in the snow. Angie crouched down. The children screamed as the truck spun.
After a few dizzying moments, the truck righted itself and sped back the other way.
Maylee and the children grew as the truck sped closer. Maylee was gathering them together. The second truck veered out of the way, slicing its own path across the snow.
World Memorial Page 21
