“E!” Adam shouted, pushing several people out of his way. He glanced at the man I was holding, then back to me.
“My truck!” I jerked my chin in the direction of the garage. “Get my truck, remove the cap, and meet me at the main entrance!”
Without question, he simply nodded and took off running while I set my sights on the wailing woman still holding her arm. Dragging the injured man alongside me, I made my way to her.
“Get up!” I dropped my rifle and offered her my free hand. “Get the fuck up!”
Bloodshot, terrified eyes met mine. “I’m going to die!” she screamed. “I’m going to—”
The toe of my boot collided neatly with the side of her head, sending her sprawling onto her back in somewhat of a daze. Bending down as far as I could without releasing the sobbing man at my side, I grabbed a fistful of her hair and then, with a strained grunt, dragged her away from the crowd.
It was slow going toward the main gate as I attempted to haul two useless lumps of flesh along with me, the woman begging me to release her and the man still sobbing uncontrollably. Important minutes ticked by, leaving me worried about how the other gate was faring while I was struggling to pull off a spur-of-the-moment plan in hopes it worked.
The rumble of a familiar engine sounded from behind me, and as Adam pulled up beside our small group and jumped out of the driver’s seat, I thrust the woman at him. “Put her in the back,” I ordered.
He did as he was told and, after unloading the man, I followed them both up onto the bed of the pickup and demanded Adam start driving.
“Get us outside the gates,” I shouted, “and close to the rotters!”
Lucky for us there were only two men still stationed at the main gates, both of them quivering with the fear of not knowing what was happening on the other side of the compound. They were more than happy to open the gates for us without question.
Gravel kicked up from beneath the tires as Adam sped up, racing around the perimeter of the camp and sending the three of us in the truck bed sprawling on our backs. I righted myself quickly and freed my knife from my boot, then grabbed the person closest to me, the man, around his neck and yanked him forward.
“What are you doing?” he cried out but his voice was strained, his movements weaker now due to blood loss and the quickly spreading infection.
“Slow down!” I shouted, hoping Adam could hear me. “And turn her around! Lay on the fucking horn!”
The small horde was now in our sights. The gate was bent at a dangerous forty-five-degree angle, the screaming and shouting from the desperate crowd defending the gate now near deafening.
Adam pulled the truck to a mere crawl about fifty feet from the nearest rotter and did as I’d told him. The horn blazed loudly, cutting through the screams and shouts of the living, and attracting the attention of the closest rotters. When the man in my hold saw them start to hobble toward the waiting truck, he twisted in my grip, shrieking in earnest now.
“Don’t!” he pleaded. “Don’t, please don’t—”
I didn’t hesitate. Ignoring his pleas, I sank my blade into the soft, meaty center of the man’s gut and sliced straight across. His resulting scream alerted even more of the rotters, as did the smell of the spill of his intestines that came next.
Gritting my teeth, I sank my hand inside the gaping wound and helped drag out the rest of his guts to dump onto the ground. By now, most of the rotters were headed our way, the scent of fresh blood and meat all it took to turn them away from the falling gate.
Adam continued to drive off slowly, followed by the rotters who hadn’t dropped to their knees to scavenge the man’s innards. Finally, I relinquished the man’s now still and silent body, shoving him forward and onto the group. The rotters descended upon him like a swarm of ants would a fallen marshmallow, in a flood of flying limbs, tearing him to shreds in moments.
As I’d hoped they would, two more trucks had joined us outside the gates, the beds full of armed men who were now picking off the rotters in a flurry of bullets.
I turned with my hand on the keys attached to my belt, meaning to reach for the utility chest housed in the bed of the truck and grab my spare guns, when I was blindsided by a flash of flesh and hair flying toward me. Startled, I dropped my blade. The woman I’d stupidly forgotten about had turned, and was now nothing more than a mindless beast dead set on having me for dinner.
Falling backward in surprise, I quickly outstretched my arms, realizing belatedly I hadn’t put my gloves on, and that I was also about to allow her to chomp down on my most valuable body parts. With little choice, I readied myself for her incoming attack, hoping like hell she’d choose my left hand over my right, and that Adam would have enough sense to cut off the infected hand without hesitation.
But she never reached me. Only inches from contact, her face exploded in a burst of blood and brain matter, and I rolled onto my stomach, covering my face from the rain of infected flesh erupting all around me.
“E?”
I waited a moment, cracking open one eye to survey my surroundings before rolling over onto my back. The truck was at a standstill, and Adam stood off to one side, peering at me over the edge of the truck bed. His lips quirked as he looked me over, trying hard not to smile.
“She turned quick,” I muttered angrily. You never knew how fast they would turn. Some took days and others only moments. Pushing myself upright and getting to my feet, I took in the bloody mess coating my truck, as well as the numerous infected still shambling toward us.
“Start killing,” I said, jerking my chin toward the oncoming threat. Again, I reached for my keys, quickly unlocking my tool chest and pulling free two handguns. I checked the clips and when satisfied they were full, swung my body over the side of the truck.
Side by side, Adam and I moved forward and began shooting. Doing what we did best.
Killing.
