Fighting to Survive (49 page)

Before them, the
feast continued. The zombies did not seem to even notice the three
vehicles-idling just a short distance away.

Nerit's
voice finally sounded through the static.
“
We're
going to make sure that if anyone is still alive in there that they
have a chance. Kill the ones eating and on the ground dying. Make
it fast.
”
Nerit continued with her instructions, her voice calm and steady.

Jenni
listened to the directions, her finger flicking on and off the safety
on her gun. Katie exhaled slowly and gripped the steering wheel even
tighter with her hands.

“
This
really fuckin' sucks,
”
Jenni said under her breath.

“
We
do what we can and let the rest of it go. Otherwise, we'll go
batshit crazy,
”
Katie answered.

Jenni nodded.

Nerit's voice gave
the word and Katie followed the other vehicles into the parking lot.
Using the big metal beasts as weapons, they ran over the zombies
devouring the people they had come to rescue. The big bus did a good
job of flattening the disgusting creatures that were so greedily
consuming the dying. Katie aimed for any it missed.

After
four rotations through the parking lot, if anything was still moving,
it was doing so feebly. Jenni shoved her door open and jumped out.
She pulled her ax out of the truck and headed toward the nearest
twitching zombie. Heaving the ax over her head, she brought it down
hard on its skull. Katie followed behind, holding a spear and doing
the same duties. The squashed and mangled zombies were barely mobile
now and basically lay on the ground, their spasm obvious in the glow
of the headlights.

Jenni dispatched the
still-moving zombies swiftly. She had no time to deal with them and
had no desire to see Lloyd try to make an appearance. She felt back
to her new, normal self. She wasn't going to let his ghost fuck with
her anymore. Of that, she was certain.

Once their grisly
task was done, the group from the fort stood stoically among the
dead. Jenni tried not to notice the old people and children among
the bodies.

“
Ed,
Felix, Bill and I are going in. Roger, Katarina, Jenni and Katie,
you stay out here and keep watch. If we call for you, come quick,
”
Nerit ordered.

Jenni
began to protest, not wanting to be left out of the mission inside,
but one look at Katie's expression and she clamped her mouth shut.
Jenni could not easily define what she saw in Katie's eyes, but it
made her bond to her best friend feel tighter. Maybe Katie needed
her.

Katarina stood
nearby, her red hair coiled on top of her head, staring toward the
town. The grisly remains at her feet were ignored. Jenni didn't
know the quiet woman very well, but in that moment, she reminded her
of Nerit. There was a calm coldness to her that Jenni admired. She
felt hot and emotional inside in contrast. She couldn't bear to look
down and see the twisted remains of the dead and know that they were
too late.

The
smell was terrible. Jenni's eyes watered as she stepped away from a
cluster of bodies. A group of zombies had been greedily eating one
of the larger women when they arrived. Jenni had briefly wondered if
the woman had been fat or pregnant, but the thought made her feel
unbalanced, so she shoved it away.

“
I
hate this shit,
”
Roger said in a low voice.
“
I
really, really do.
”

“
Something
is going on over there,
”
Katarina said suddenly.
“
I
see headlights. I think a vehicle went down in a ditch over there.
”

“
Binoculars
are in the bus,
”
Roger said, and hurried to retrieve them.

Katie
stood nearby, watching the road and their surroundings.
“
Is
anyone alive?
”

Katarina
shrugged.
“
Can't
tell. Something is moving. I can see a shape moving in front of the
lights.
”

Jenni strained to
see down the road, but from where she stood it wasn't clear what
Katarina was looking at.

Roger
returned and handed off the binoculars to Katarina.

She
immediately raised them and studied the scene.

“
Zombies.
Trying to get into a truck that is definitely nose down in a ditch.
”

Jenni
took a few steps toward the road.

“
Jenni!
We can't leave,
”
Katie called out.

Jenni
made a face and stomped her foot.
“
C'mon.
Someone is probably alive over there.
”

“
We
have to provide Nerit and the others backup,
”
Katarina reminded her.

“
Ugh!
”
Jenni felt frustrated by her inability to act and go rescue whoever
was stranded down the road. She stomped her foot again for good
measure.

Gunshots sounded
from inside. Everyone froze. There was a long silence, then Nerit
and the others emerged with a young woman and a small boy. Seeing
the carnage in the parking lot, the woman grabbed up the boy and
pressed his face against her neck to hide his view.

“
They
were in a bathroom with the door barricaded. They are the only
survivors,
”
Nerit said to the others.

Felix
quickly escorted the woman to the bus while Bill took the time to
examine the double doors leading into the community center.

“
Nerit,
we got a vehicle up the road with zombies around it. I count six
zombies,
”
Katarina explained quickly.
“
Could
be survivors in the truck. But we're gonna have to shoot the
zombies.
”

“
That'll
get the town zombies moving our way,
”
Nerit said thoughtfully.

“
We
gotta go save them,
”
Jenni protested.

“
I'm
with Jenni. We have to save anyone we can,
”
Katie agreed.

Bill
walked toward them, his expression dark.
“
I
agree. Let's do it.
”

“
The
road is narrow. Take one of the trucks, but make sure you are facing
away from the town. We'll stay here and provide as much cover as we
can, but make it quick,
”
Nerit said firmly.
“
The
longer we are here, the more dangerous it is.
”

Katie
headed toward the red truck.
“
C'mon,
Jenni. We'll do this.
”

Bill
jogged after Jenni as she headed back to join Katie.
“
I'm
coming with you. There weren't no vehicles left with the survivors.
We don't know who is in that truck.
”

Jenni
slid into the back seat, while Bill got into the passenger seat.
Katie shifted gears and slowly drove up the road.

“
Maybe
they'll rush the truck so we can run them over,
”
Katie mused.

“
We're
never that lucky,
”
Bill answered.

As they drew closer
to the stranded vehicle, they could see that it was lodged firmly in
deep ditch nose first. The hood was smashed up against the cracked
windshield on the right side and only the left headlight remained
shining into the night. The zombies were pounding on the windows,
obviously trying to get into the cab. Inside, two young girls were
screaming in terror.

“
I'll
take the two on the left.
”
Bill said, gripping his rifle tightly.

“
I
can get the ones on the other side. The two on the windshield are
not going to be easy. We'll have to get all the way out for those,
”
Katie decided.

“
We
need to make this fast,
”
Jenni agreed.

Katie stopped the
truck, Bill did a silent countdown with his fingers. At three, they
both flung open their doors. Jenni scrambled over Bill's seat and
dropped into the road. She darted past Bill and aimed at one of the
zombies rearing back off the windshield to screech at the new flesh.
She fired. The zombie jerked back and fell into the tall grass. Bill
and Katie picked off the other zombies as the remaining zombie,
trying to pry its way through the shattered windshield, ignored the
attack. The two girls screaming inside disappeared from view as they
took cover. Jenni aimed and fired again. The last zombie tumbled
over the hood and disappeared from view.

“
Get
them fast,
”
Katie shouted at Bill.
“
We've
got company coming!
”

Jenni
looked up the road to see zombies materializing out of the darkness
of the trees onto the moon drenched road.
“
Fuck!
”

Bill waded into the
tall grass, his form illuminated by the red truck's headlights, his
gun and gaze aimed downward, wary of anything lurking there. Jenni
kept him covered as Katie stood ready to jump into the truck and
drive them out of here.

One
of the girls popped up and shoved the truck door open. Bill reached
for her and she jumped into his arms. Another girl, younger than the
first, also dove into his arms. He clutched them tightly.

Jenni
watched the terrain around him.
“
Hurry,
Bill. Hurry!
”

Bill
hurried out of the grass and onto the road. He glanced over his
shoulder at the moaning forms drawing ever closer. Katie rushed over
to him and grabbed one of the girls. Together, they hustled them
into the truck as Jenni continued to keep her gun trained on the
zombies closing in.

Katie
slammed the driver's door shut as Jenni and Bill squeezed in beside
her. Bill yanked the door shut as Jenni scrambled into the back with
the two girls.

“
Are
either of you bit?
”
she asked, and felt like a bitch doing it.

“
No!
No!
”

One girl was blond
with huge blue eyes. The younger one was Hispanic with the darkest
eyes Jenni had ever seen.

The zombies were
closer now. Their mutilated forms were slow, but relentless as they
stumbled down the country road.

“
What
drew them here?
”
Bill wondered.
“
Couldn't
be the gunfire this fast.
”

“
Don't
know. Don't care,
”
Katie answered, and shifted the truck into reverse. Looking over her
shoulder, she began to drive backwards toward the church parking lot.
The other two vehicles waited for them.

Suddenly, a man ran
into the glare of the headlights. Waving his arms, he was covered in
sweat and breathing hard.

“
I
have a feeling we now know what is drawing them here,
”
Jenni said.
“
I
think they're chasing him!
”