23 Hours (7 page)

Yet another one of those creatures hit me from behind, slamming my head into the ground and sending both of us rolling across the road. Just when I ended up on top, one of her friends slammed into me, screaming horrifically in my ear and tearing into my side with razor like fingernails.

I screamed out in pain but it didn’t sound like me which actually did scare me, so I lashed out at anyone and everyone around me; jumping to my feet and swinging Excalibur like crazy. The first creature lost an arm and a half with one swing, her head with the next swing. The second one put up more of a fight, tackling me to the ground again. I think he might have actually broken a couple of my ribs before I rolled him over and took his head.

Number four and five were even bigger than the first three but they’d made the mistake of taking up positions behind me. I turned back towards the lights in the distance and saw him sitting in the middle of the road. My mouth started to water, but then he looked up at me causing something inside to snap. I shook my head again to clear my thoughts and the hunger faded; suddenly I could remember feeling something different.

The two things behind me growled in unison so there was no thinking, just acting as I rushed and grabbed the kid and bag in one swoop and took off towards the hospital. I could hear the creatures behind us but they didn’t seem to be getting any closer as long as I kept running, so that’s what I did.

As I rushed towards the large cinder block building I heard a new sound, like an air raid siren. I took a chance and glanced behind me, and while the last two creatures were still there, the sound wasn’t coming from them. Instead, it was coming from the hospital up ahead. It was obvious they had seen us coming as the bright spotlights jumped to life, sweeping back and forth to illuminate the perimeter of the building.

In my heart I knew the hospital was my destination, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember why. And even though I knew my goal, part of me wanted to just turn and run off with him. Just as I was about to stop to try to clear my thoughts, I saw them. Two more of those creatures were running through the trees to my left, a couple more to my right. The hospital stood in a large field littered with abandoned vehicles but the nearest tree was at least 100 yards from the building, so those things wouldn’t be able to hide much longer. I tried to find a way to use that to my advantage, but again I just couldn’t seem to focus so I just kept running.

The boy felt practically weightless as I rushed into the open field but I still couldn't manage to outrun them and my heart was pounding harder and harder. I kept going but something didn’t seem right with my body; I seemed to be losing ground with every step.

A sudden roar from one of the infected off to my right took me by surprise as we passed the tree line and as I glanced at them I saw they had gotten much too close. I instinctively moved off to the left trying to put a little space between us and them only to realize too late that it was exactly what they wanted me to do. I hadn't even heard the creature on my left until it was practically on top of us.

She slammed into me with a force that belied her size. I was able to stop myself from crushing the kid as we tumbled to the ground and even managed to throw that bitch off of me pretty easily but then her companion jumped into the fray.

I felt the kid ripped from my arm before I ever saw the second one and immediately jumped to my feet. Three others had caught up to us by then and I really didn't like those odds but what else was I supposed to do? I just kept swinging, both with Excalibur and my now empty fist.

Two of the newcomers plowed into me before I even had a chance to stand. Their fingernails sliced into me like a steak knife through raw meat and even tore Excalibur from my hand, but I kept throwing punches, aiming for the empty eye sockets. None of that seemed to faze them but thankfully a couple quick up kicks to their jaws sent them stumbling backwards, giving me a chance to grab Excalibur again and jump to my feet.

My previously useless arm was feeling stronger than ever and I actually looked forward to pounding more of them with it but as the smaller of the two rushed at me again, Excalibur made quick work of him. Unfortunately the others used the momentary distraction to encircle me, basically cutting me off from both the hospital and the big guy who’d taken the boy. For some reason that really pissed me off so I lunged at the biggest one between me and the kid. This wasn't just some weak ass jump, I full on NFL lineman tackled his ass, but I didn't stop there. I pinned his arms down, dropped Excalibur and just started pounding. I rammed my firsts into his face over and over until I was pretty sure I had broken every knuckle on my right hand, and then hit him a couple more times, all while roaring like a madman.

I might have broken every bone in his face, but I didn’t get the chance to finish the job before his buddies pulled me off and threw me to the ground. I continued swinging at whoever was nearest and even connected a few times before the hopelessness of the situation settled upon me.

The teeth were just starting to rip through my flesh when the shots rang out. All of the infected immediately stood up, looking for the source of the new threat. I really didn’t care where they were coming from, I just used the opportunity to grab Excalibur again and take off two of their heads.

 “Hey dumbass!” A voice cried out over the sound of a growling engine, “Get the boy!”

I turned in time to see a woman racing towards us on a ‘58 Harley, the throttle cranked in one hand, an oversized revolver in the other.

Chapter 11

“Rosie!” The name jumped unbeckoned to my lips. I knew her but I couldn’t remember exactly how, and I wasn’t really sure if I trusted her but seeing how she’d just shot two of the creatures that had been trying to make a meal of me, I decided to take a chance. Turning my back to her and the rest of the infected, I raced after the remaining one who’d taken my boy.

5 am is really dark and even with the spotlights sweeping across the field I couldn’t find the renegade creature. I stopped dead in my tracks, trying to catch the slightest whiff of the boy but all I could smell was collective odor of all the infected.

More shots rang out, but this time they were coming from the hospital. They weren’t shooting at me or even at the group of infected that Rosie was busy with, they were firing at the burned out shell of an abandoned school bus about thirty yards to my right. Without the slightest thought, I took off for the bus, trying to avoid the majority of the spotlights as I went.

A bullet ripped through my thigh, momentarily knocking me off balance and causing me to tumble to the ground. I knew getting shot should have hurt a lot more than it did but I didn’t have time to even think about it as I jumped back up and ran the last ten yards, throwing myself through the emergency exit as another round of gunfire erupted from the hospital.

The growling at the front of the bus made my skin crawl. I wasn't sure what that thing was doing to the boy but from the sound of it, I knew it couldn't be good. Even with the broken knuckles I still managed to clench and unclench my fist around Excalibur as I prepared myself for whatever might lay ahead.

Every seat had been ripped right from the floor and thrown about as if it'd been hit by a tornado. With everything so disheveled it was hard to figure out where the boy had been taken so I just followed the growling and raced forward with reckless abandon, jumping over the discarded benches with a yell.

As I cleared the pile of chairs I saw that the growling wasn’t coming from one of the infected tearing into the boy, but into another infected. Pus and bits of flesh were flying in all directions as they tried to tear each other apart while fighting over my boy. With Excalibur’s help I decided to settle the matter for them.

Neither one gave me the slightest thought before I took their heads and grabbed the boy. As quickly as possible I jumped back over the benches, trying to avoid the post decapitation fratboy moshing before checking on the boy. At first I wasn’t sure if he was alright or if he was in shock. After being kidnapped by a mutant zombie and then watching two of them fight for the right to eat him I would have expected at least a little hysteria but he was calm as could be. That had me worried, until he looked up, grinned and threw his arms around me.

I let him hold me tight for a minute while we waited for the thrashing on the other side of the benches to stop. Once it did, though, I had to pull him off me. We were so close to the hospital that we couldn’t waste any more time. I didn’t like the idea of heading out the back door so once again we had to climb over the benches and then try to make our way to the front door without stepping on too many pieces of the infected flesh thrown about.

Once we made it to the front of the bus I was able to see the front door to the hospital. There were dirt mounds on either side with machine gun barrels peaking over the top. If I tried running towards the front door in the middle of the battle I’d be gunned down before I could get within fifty feet. A little kid on the other hand would probably make it’ especially if I was distracting the gunners.

“You see that door?” I asked him as he looked up at me.

He nodded his head but still didn’t say a word.

“I want you to run to it as fast as you can.”

He jumped and clung to me as if he’d never let go.

“I’m serious,” I said, pulling him off my chest to look him in the eyes while trying to sound stern. “You have to go that way no matter what. Okay?”

I saw a small tear form in the corner of his eye but he nodded his head.

“On the count of three,” I said stepping from the bus and setting him on the ground.

“One...Two...Three!”

He did what I asked and started running even with his bum leg. I had no idea he could run so fast, and I wanted to just watch to make sure he made it but that was right when I heard Rosie scream out in pain.

I didn’t hesitate. Peeling my eyes from that little boy I rushed around the bus and headed right back into the fray. I could see many more infected had joined our little party and three of them had Rosie pinned to the ground, already chewing into her left side.

Excalibur took the head off one of them as two more appeared from the trees. That gave Rosie a chance to grab her gun again and shoot a second one while kicking in the jaw of the third. She was actually doing pretty good, holding her own with several of those things; then a few more emerged from the trees, screaming and growling like crazy.

I tackled two of them before they even had a chance to mount an offensive but they fought back, ripping into me in several places before I had a chance to take their heads. They were still flopping around in front of me when two more tackled me from behind making it my turn to fight back.

It was hard to do much damage from my back and with my right arm pinned to the ground I couldn’t even use Excalibur. I was kicking out wildly but I was practically helpless before the two shots rang out, dropping my two attackers. Somehow Rosie had broken free and even managed to reload. I had never been more appreciative and wanted to show her how much with every ounce of my being, but that would have to wait.

Jumping to my feet I ran to her, grabbing my bag and ignoring the blood running from several open wounds. That was when all hell broke loose. At least a dozen infected raced from the trees. Together we stood back to back as they encircled us.

Rosie flipped open the cylinder to see how many rounds she had left though even if it was full it wouldn’t be enough. I pulled several sharpened knives from my bag and handed them to her before sliding a couple more into the sheath on my forearm.

“We’ll be lucky if these knives do any more than tickle them,” she said.

Sensing a challenge I grabbed one and let it rip, perfectly nailing the biggest creature in the forehead.

“Showoff,” she said, just as the entire pack rushed us from all sides.

Gunfire erupted from Rosie as well as from the hospital and all I could do was swing Excalibur recklessly, hoping to take as many heads as possible. I think I was doing well too, until I felt the blade ripped from my hands. Without missing a beat, I continued to throw punches at the nearest set of teeth before pulling out the rest of my knives.

I jammed several creatures through their eye sockets and a couple more in the throat before I was pulled to the ground. I kept jabbing with the short blades even as the teeth sunk into my thighs, ripping chunks out with a fury. Thankfully one of my knives found its way through that one’s skull but it started its death flail before I could get it back.

More gunfire erupted and more of those things started dropping around us. I couldn’t count the bodies thrashing about, even ripping into each other in death, but it made me smile to see the last one fall. Then I saw her.

Rosie was lying on the ground not ten feet from me. Her eyes were open but her breathing was very shallow and parts of her were spasming. She had so many bite marks it was amazing that she had any meat left on her bones but in a few hours that meat would start to rebuild, to reanimate. Of course that would be after the virus has caused her heart to explode and most of her brain to turn to mush.

The bag with all my earthly possessions was halfway between us. I struggled to my feet and half stumbled to it, falling to my knees as I reached down for it. There were still a few pieces of silverware that would be worth something to someone, but I couldn’t care less about those. At the bottom of the bag I found what I was looking for; the Mac10 that’d given me my nickname years ago.

For whatever reason that damn woman had helped me save the kid, so I owed her and I always paid my debts. Crawling to her, I brushed the hair from her eyes before kissing her busted lips. I think she tried to say something, probably cursing me, but one of those creatures had ripped through her throat so the only thing that came out was a gurgling sound.

I stared into her beautiful eyes one last time.