Forgetting the Apocalypse

35. Bad Feeling

Avoiding it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. The more I tried to avoid it the more I thought about what I was trying to avoid. Therefore making me think more about it.

How the hell does that make sense?

Sensing my irritation both Jack and Roone walk closer to me. Jack rubs himself against my legs and Roone gently grabs my hand and intertwines his fingers but doesn't say anything. Which I'm glad since I wouldn't know what to tell him.

I don't even know what's causing my discomfort, but I feel like something is about to happen.

Instead I was trying to focus on the path that we needed to cross safely into the new country. Neither one of us could easily take the reins since this was a first that they'd be entering Canada. That meant everyone's focus would need to be on the road. On our surroundings. We'd tried to still find a map of course but this is one track that we'd wing.

Three hours into Canada and into the night we notice the temperature isn't changing much. The nights are getting a little warmer. Makes me wonder if summer in Canada is gonna be hotter than it was in the previous states.

So far we've only encountered some old industrial buildings. Most of them were too badly damaged from either their roof tops or walls. The weather added more to it so we weren't going to risk going into something that was unstable and can come crumbling down on us.

Upon walking further we reach what I figured to be an old refugee camp. It appeared to be burned. Correction, it was burned. It was still burning. We could feel the warmth of the burns. Some of the tents and trailers were still lit. Whatever happened here, just happened.

This must be where the bad feeling I was gettiing was coming from.

It took just one. One snarl for us to know that they were freshies.

"We're too exposed out here!" I call out.

Running past the trailers we came across another courtyard were we saw more of the aftermath. Dozens upon dozens of freshies were burning on the ground.

So many charred and bloodied arms reaching out trying to grab hold of us. Many of them ripping from their torso and stomach in an attempt to pry themselves away from the floor.

The melted ones weren't our only concern though.

It was the ones that were inside the only damn building that was still standing or on fire. The glass didn't look like it was in the best condition with the cracks visible.

They too were freshies. Every time one of them banged on it we flinched. The noise drew more to the windows and it finally happened.

One too many gathered around a section that had more than one crack and it gave out. All the ones that were trapped inside began pouring out. That's when time stopped for us all.

"Riva!! No!"

None of us would get to him in time. We were only a foot away from each other, but with those still on the ground, we might as well be a mile away.

I don't understand this. We have a system. One that works perfectly. Fredi up front with Blackie, Roone with Saphira to the left, Riva is to the right with Dukino. I'm supposed to be in the back with Jack covering our six. How and why did Riva manage to be the one in the back?

It was chaos.

All of us were fighting to get to Riva who being grabbed by both legs from a burned freshie leaving him vulnerable to those who were running at him. If he stopped shooting at the ones coming at him to deal with the ones grabbing him then he'd be overrun. If he didn't get those bastards off his legs then they'd eventually bring him down.

Bullet after bullet didn't make a fucking dent. There were too many!

Unclipping Jack from his leash was the first thing I should've done. As soon as he was free he took off the way the other three had and was knocking them down at their knees.

Frustrating roars erupted from them. Unable to decide on whether to keep coming at us or the other prey that dared fight back.

My stomach dropped when I saw Riva finally get pulled down. I stopped shooting, pulling out my knives and started swinging. I always did more damage with them anyway.

The only thing was I had to make sure I didn't trip or fall as I fought my way over the bodies.

I thought I was too late when I saw one of them about to tear into his leg until his head was blown off. I couldn't sigh in relief just yet. We still had many to deal with. I haven't looked over to Fredi or Roone.

Finally reaching him, I tackled the two that were about to pounce. That gave him the opportunity to finally kill the one that had a hold of his other leg.

Back on our feet we could see that we were thinning out their numbers. There were more melted than there were standing.

With Fredi and Roone taking out the last few, we started clearing the melted ones. We could've left them alone now but it felt personal and a way to relieve the panic we just experienced. It was also much easier for us to bend down and stab them in their brains without worry.

Once it went quiet, when there was no more snarling, did we catch our breath.

Roone ran to his brother. Pulling him in a tight hug that made me wince. Dukino ran to him as well, wagging his tail like there was no tomorrow.

Smiling, I called my own. "Jack, c'mere boy!"

"Hey there, baby girl. Thanks for shooting that asshole. Thought we'd have to go all Hershel walking dead on me," he laughed.

Don't know what the hell that means but my smile kinda disappeared.

"I didn't shoot him. As soon as I started making my way to you, I dropped my guns and pulled out my knives." I answered honestly.

"Oh, well then thanks bro. I officially nominate it as zombie kill of the week."

This time it was Roone's turn to drop the smile. "I didn't shoot him either. I was trying to thin them out as they were coming out of the window."

"Gramps?"

He shook his head, "I was making sure to keep them off Mara as she made her way to you."

All of us grew tense.

"So who the hell fired the shot?"