The Road Trip At The End (Book 2): Border

by Wood, J N

  Has there been music playing all this time?

  ‘Chris!’ Jack called out.

  I looked for him in a panic, thinking he must be calling for help. He was stood on the bonnet of one of the parked cars. It was a big black SUV.

  ‘Over here. Get on this car you fucking prick,’ he screamed.

  Fuck’s sake Jack, that’s a bit harsh. I’ll put that one down to the adrenaline.

  I pushed away a zombie that was only inches away from chewing on my elbow, and then brought the bat down on its head. I kicked another in the groin, almost flipping the thing over. Its face slammed into the ground. I ran towards Jack, barging three more zombies out of my way before I reached the SUV. Jack swung his axe down into the shoulder of a zombie blocking my path to him. It literally flew through the air, hitting tarmac at the back of the SUV. He swiftly moved his axe to his left hand and reached out to me with his right. I grabbed his outstretched hand, placed my right foot on top of one of the front tyres. He pulled me up onto the bonnet.

  ‘This really isn’t working,’ I shouted. ‘There’s too many of them, and there’s more still to come from the fence. How are we supposed to clear this for the Fencers?’

  ‘Don’t know,’ Jack said, breathing heavily. ‘Keep going.’

  I put my back to Jack, and started clubbing the zombies on the top of their heads. They were making it easy for us, just queuing up to get their heads caved in.

  I swung and swung, and swung some more, not caring about the hands grabbing for my legs. They were too weak to pull my feet out from under me.

  ‘Although it’s a lot easier up here,’ I said. ‘Fucking brilliant idea. Have you noticed the zombies are getting weaker and slower?’

  ‘Yep, I’ve noticed,’ Jack said between deep breaths. ‘Can you hear that music?’

  ‘Yeah. It’s Tears for Fears.’

  ‘Good, didn’t know if I was going crazy. It sounds like it’s coming from the school.’ Jack took a second to point over to far side of the school, where we’d spent the night in quarantine.

  The majority of the zombies seemed to be bypassing us, and heading to wherever that music was being played.

  I took the opportunity to try and find the Green Team. They were just in an open field, so didn’t have anything like we had to gain an advantage. I couldn’t tell who was who in the chaos. All I could see were various types of weapons swinging and connecting with the dead. Dark coloured liquid flew in every direction.

  I slammed my bat into more heads and looked down at myself. I was also covered in dark splatters.

  The vehicle beneath us shifted. I quickly moved my feet further apart to regain my balance. Squeaks from the back of the SUV made me twist around. Caleb was on his hands and knees on the roof.

  ‘Hey dudes. What’s up?’ Caleb said. He withdrew his knife from a zombie’s eye socket, before bending forwards to stab another.

  ‘This isn’t going well,’ Jack said, swinging his axe down again and again. ‘What’s the plan Caleb?’

  Caleb continued stabbing. He was either blatantly ignoring Jack’s question, or he’d sustained some kind of injury to his ears.

  I looked past Caleb to see some of the rest of Blue Team had also climbed on top of cars. Two were on the roof of a car, and six or seven people were in the back of a truck, so they had a bit more protection than us. The rest of the team members that were still alive were on the flat roof of a single story building, over in the corner of the car park. They weren’t doing anything to help the situation from up there. They couldn’t reach down to kill anything.

  ‘We need everyone out here Caleb,’ I shouted. ‘The Fencers can fucking wait.’

  Caleb just continued stabbing.

  The fucking twat is ignoring us.

  A sudden shock of pain rushed through me again. I instinctively kicked my leg out, connecting with a zombie’s face. I felt bones and teeth disintegrate when I made contact. The face that was biting me was still attached to my leg though. Teeth were trying to gnaw their way through my shin bone. Its arms were wrapped around my thigh, trying to drag itself up to a meatier part of my leg. I repeatedly brought the handle of the Smasher down onto the top of its head, eventually turning it into a mushy mess. It released its grip on me and I kicked my boot into what was left of its face.

  ‘Mother fucking fuckers,’ I shouted, lifting my freshly bitten leg up off the bonnet. I could feel blood running down both my legs.

  Maybe I should be worrying about them grabbing my legs.

  Why didn’t Gee steal me some jeans? Instead of these paper fucking thin combats.

  All of a sudden, the rain came, and not just a light smattering. It was heavy, torrential rain, like standing under a waterfall. The hissing, combined with the fireworks, and the rain bouncing off the SUV, was incredibly loud.

  ‘Fuck off rain!’ I shouted, quickly smashing in four more heads that had come too close to me.

  ‘Caleb!’ Jack shouted.’ If we stay out here we’re all going to die.’

  ‘Keep fighting,’ Caleb ordered him.

  ‘Look at the fence,’ Jack said. ‘There’s still a lot more to come. We need to retreat back to the camp.’

  ‘We need to make it safe for the Fencers!’ Caleb screamed, still thrusting his knife into faces.

  ‘Caleb,’ I shouted. ‘Jack’s right. This is fucking stupid.’

  ‘I need to go and find Isaac,’ Caleb called out. ‘Keep going.’

  He jumped off the back, barrelling into three zombies when he landed. He faltered slightly, but quickly regained his balance and ran across the car park.

  Jack paused for a moment, watching Caleb run away. ‘Who’s he going to find?’

  ‘Isaac, whoever the fuck he is.’

  Jack slammed the top part of his axe down into a head, destroying it easily. ‘I think he’s probably still stoned,’ he shouted.

  The piles of bodies lying around the SUV were getting higher and higher with every zombie we killed. This meant the zombies’ faces were getting a lot closer to us now, once they’d climbed on top of the fallen ones.

  ‘Jack,’ I said. ‘Roof?’

  He looked at me, and then down at the piles of dead surrounding us. ‘Roof,’ he agreed.

  We both stepped up, being careful not to slip on, or break, the soaking wet windscreen. This gave us a slight reprieve, as the zombies were struggling to get a grip on the wet vehicle, and we were also a lot higher than them.

  I dropped to one knee. ‘I’m gonna try and catch my breath.’

  Jack lowered himself down to join me. ‘Yep, good idea.’

  We were both desperately out of breath.

  I pointed to the area Green Team had been fighting, asking, ‘Have you seen any of the others recently?’

  ‘Nope.’

  Two things then happened, almost exactly at the same time. The fireworks stopped, and I spotted Ali.

  ‘Shit, that can’t be good,’ Jack said. ‘Bet it’s the fucking rain.’

  Chapter 17: Wrecking Balls

  I tried to shield my eyes from the pouring rain. ‘I can see Ali.’

  Jack started scanning the horizon. ‘Where?’ he asked.

  I pointed her out. She and three other Green Team members were surrounded by a group that must have been twenty zombies deep, and more were coming. The four remaining humans had their backs to each other in the middle. Ali was constantly stabbing with two knives. I couldn’t see Michael and Shannon anywhere.

  One of her fellow team members suddenly became a lot more animated. Her head snapped back, her face contorted with pain. She started to frantically swing her arms around, trying to reach something behind her. I couldn’t tell what was happening. And then all of a sudden, she was gone, dragged off into the horde, disappearing almost immediately.

  I quickly glanced around us. The car park in front of us was full of hungry skeletal creatures, some rushing towards us, but mostly towards the source of the music. It was almost clear at the back of the SUV. Caleb
hadn’t had too many issues when he went that way.

  I looked at Jack.

  He was already pointing at the mass of zombies between us and Ali. ‘These ones would just follow us over there.’

  I think he actually read my mind.

  ‘I’ll go,’ I said. ‘You stay here and keep these ones distracted.’

  ‘What are you going to do when you get over there?’

  ‘No fucking idea. But I can’t just stand here and watch her get eaten.’

  Jack let out a long breath. ‘Okay, try not to die.’

  ‘Will do. Don’t stay here too long. As soon as they look like they can get up onto the bonnet, make a move.’

  ‘Yes I know. Good luck mate.’ He reached his fist out towards me. I bumped mine against his.

  I tried to smile, saying, ‘See you in a bit.’

  Jack started to bang his axe against the window in the door. After the third hit, the window shattered. I took the opportunity to jump down, swinging my bat into a distracted zombie’s face after hitting the ground.

  I kept my head down and ran towards the running track, avoiding numerous zombies as they reached out for me. I just had to make sure I kept moving.

  They’re definitely slower now.

  There were still a lot of zombies over by the edge of the American football field, but they were much more spread out. Most of them still heading towards the camp, attracted by the music, or the noise everyone must have been making on the other side of the inner fence. I just continued trying to avoid them, clubbing the ones I couldn’t.

  What the fuck am I actually going to do here? Die trying to get to Ali, or just die once I’m next to her?

  The tennis courts where we’d spent some of our quarantine were surrounded by zombies.

  That must be where the music is coming from.

  Fuck me this has been a disaster. Who thought this was gonna work?

  I crept towards the horde I thought I’d seen Ali surrounded by. It was hard to tell now I was on ground level, and there were fucking zombies everywhere. The dead all looked the same.

  Head Over Heels ended, and People Are Strange, by The Doors started playing.

  A weird soundtrack for my suicidal rescue attempt. It’ll have to do I suppose. I’ve got no choice, just kill as many as I can.

  The first head exploded under my bat. I raised it up again and smashed in another, and then another, and another. Their backs were still towards me, only a few breaking away to come for me. A vast amount of them still ran around the horde in front of me, heading for the source of the music.

  A car horn blared out. I glanced to my right and a black SUV was speeding across the field towards me. Zombies were hanging off almost every part of it.

  There was another flash of pain, this time coming from my arm. I brought the handle of my bat down on the zombie biting into my left forearm. Again and again, I smashed the thing in the skull, until it eventually fell away.

  The SUV hit the edge of the horde in front of me, and carried on going. I was covered in a wave of blood and guts. I heard Jack whooping from inside as it hurtled past me. Zombies were sent flying, clearing a path and leaving a bloody trail of destruction behind it.

  A lot of the zombies chased the SUV, but I still had to take out two of them as they ran towards me. The first fell after a swing of the Smasher to the head. The second, I took out at the knees first, then quickly brought the bat down on its head as it fell to the ground. I headed towards where I thought Ali would be.

  The horn blared out again, making me hesitate. The SUV drove through the other side of the horde. I shielded my face with my hand as I was splattered with more zombie innards, even though I was a good twenty feet away.

  Thanks to Jack, the horde was much smaller now. I reached the edge of it and started bashing in the back of more heads. I could hear screaming coming from the middle, making me swing harder and faster. I knew I wasn’t going to be quick enough, so I stepped back a few paces and ran at them. I got my elbows up in front of my face, and forced my way through the four or five thick zombie wall, stumbling and falling to my knees once I was in the middle. It was lucky I fell, because a sword flashed close above my head as I skidded to a halt.

  Only one of the Green Team was still standing. It wasn’t Ali. I frantically looked around for her. A zombie clamped its teeth into my shoulder from behind me. I ignored the zombie, and the pain, because I’d seen Ali. She was screaming and shouting, lying on her back on the floor. Her arms and legs were wildly punching and kicking out, trying to stop the three zombies desperate to get to her. There were slashes on her face but I couldn’t tell if she was badly injured. We all looked as filthy as the things we were trying to kill.

  The last remaining man in the middle was covering a lot of ground, basically fighting off the zombies on his own. He was swinging a massive broad sword, a fucking four foot long broad sword.

  I gave him a wide berth, avoiding the swing of his sword. I barged into two zombies, whilst moving my bat to my left hand. I pulled out my axe and stepped behind the zombies on top of Ali. I used the blunt end of my axe blade to quickly cave in the backs of their skulls.

  I felt another bite on my right arm, but managed to knock the biter off, smashing its head into another’s skull. I tried to put my axe back in my belt, but accidentally dropped it to the muddy and blood soaked grass. I didn’t have time to pick it up. I pulled the bodies off Ali and dragged her to her feet. She swung her knife at me, narrowly missing my shoulder. I felt a weight drop away from my back.

  ‘You had a zombie on you,’ she weakly said.

  Holding Ali up with my left arm, I tried swinging my bat into another head. I missed and hit its shoulder, but it still fell to the ground. I kicked another in the chest, forcing it back into the crowd.

  ‘Come on, we’re leaving,’ I said to Ali. ‘Hey Braveheart,’ I called out to the man. ‘We’re fucking leaving.’

  The man swung his sword, decapitating heads and slicing into the bodies of numerous zombies. He twisted around to look back at me. I took the opportunity, running towards him and putting my right arm around his back as we passed, dragging him along with us.

  The three of us crashed into the zombies. We forced our way through, bones crunched and ligaments snapped as they tried to stop us. I desperately clung on to Ali’s back, kicking out with my legs as we ran, my knees crashing into soft, decomposing bodies. I was conscious of the fact her arms weren’t up to protect her face. Although neither were mine, my left holding up Ali, and my right dragging along Braveheart. Zombie faces slammed into my chest as we ran. I could feel their mouths trying to take chunks out of me, scraping across me as they fell away, unable to gain purchase.

  We finally made it through. Once clear, Ali must have lost her balance, dragging me down to the grass with her.

  Braveheart immediately spun around, his broad sword going to work, body parts instantly falling to the ground. ‘Get her back to medical,’ he called out, slicing three or four zombies up at a time.

  I got back to my feet, dragging Ali up alongside me.

  ‘So tired,’ she managed to say.

  Yep, so am I.

  I tried walking with her but she wasn’t going to be able to walk. Her feet were starting to drag. I turned around and kicked the legs out from under a zombie, crushing its head with the heel of my walking boot once it was on the ground. I then smashed the handle of my bat into another’s face. It toppled over backwards to the grass.

  I quickly looked around for some help, trying to find the black SUV. Without the fireworks, thousands more zombies were spilling in through the gaps in the fence. They must have been following the hissing.

  Fuck’s sake. We need to get out of here. This has somehow become even more ridiculous.

  I heard him before I saw him. Jack was doing his very best to stop the oncoming swarms. The black SUV’s engine was loudly revving as it tore through the zombies. He was driving close to the gaps in the fence, obliterating the dead
in their hundreds as they entered through the missing sections.

  ‘Nobody to help us Ali,’ I said, pressing my baseball bat against her. ‘Carry this for me.’

  ‘Okay Chris,’ she weakly replied, struggling to keep her eyes open.

  Leaving my left arm around her back, I bent forwards and placed my right arm behind her knees, and picked her up. She laid my bat across her chest.

  ‘Go!’ Braveheart shouted.

  ‘Yeah yeah. We’re going,’ I muttered, and started running towards the tennis courts, the most direct route back from there. I’d been intending to run around the horde surrounding them. When I got closer, I spotted one of the other Zombie Patrol teams fighting in the tree line, not far from the edge of the fences surrounding the courts.

  Fuck it. I’m going the long way back, the way we came in.

  I crossed the running track and entered the American football field, stopping when I heard a vehicle skidding across the car park. I looked to my left to see the zombie covered SUV crashing into another car. With the loud squeaking of bending metal, the driver’s door opened and out stepped Jack. He leaned back into the SUV, coming back out with his axe. Hissing close behind me made me spin around. Ali murmured something unintelligible. Too many zombies to count were running in our direction.

  We’re not making any noise. Go towards the music and leave us the fuck alone.

  I started running for the alleyway between the school buildings. Wind of Change, by Scorpions played out as I cut a path diagonally across the field. I had to stop myself from whistling along to the tune.

  I’ll come back and help Jack after dropping Ali off. He’ll be okay.

  Ali began to stir. ‘There is music playing Chris.’

  ‘Yep, I know,’ I said, between breaths.

  There was nothing between us and the alleyway. Just a shitload of zombies chasing us. I was beginning to feel really tired. The exertion of fighting for so long had really taken its toll. Then I remembered all of the bites. I hadn’t thought they’d been that bad. It wasn’t like they’d been biting chunks out of me.

  Hopefully.

  Blood loss would probably make me feel tired though.