If Tomorrow Never Comes- A zombie novel

Chapter 20

It was early morning, yet the heat from the sun already beat down on the group. Making the task at hand for the survivors that much harder. Sweat stinging, blurring their vision as they prowled the city streets, climbing over broken down cars and dead bodies. The smell of rancid meat clung heavily in the air, tinged with recently extinguished fires.

"Be careful. This one is still alive." Britney said as she cautiously stepped over its hand - which was pinned underneath a car door. It frantically tried in vain to grab a piece of her. Oliver followed behind her, pressing his booted foot down onto the window - it gave way with a muffled crunch - and a satisfying smashing sound of the infected's head yielding to the pressure.

"It sure is an awful mess." Britney commented, taking in the scene of destruction before them. - "Our city wasn' this bad."

Oliver made a low whistle of surprise. "Once order gives way to chaos, everything else falls by the wayside." He paused. "Wonder how other cities have made out?"

"Mankind didn't go out in a bang, we went out in a sorry whimper." Max swallowed, holding back tears he didn't know he had. "Thousands of years of progress. The invention of the wheel. An accidental discovery of penicillin. And mastering travel by sea, air and land. Yet we are wiped out by some killer mystery plague that no scientist could have prepared for."

The cop grimaced. "We aren't all wiped out yet. Heck, if there's still fight in me. In you. In Oliver. There has to be more of us out there, clawin' to survive. We'll pull ourselves back. We have before and we will now. Don't say you heard the fat lady before she's even started singin'."

Britney started walking and the rest followed, all on alert. Max couldn't stop the small smile that crept over his face. Britney had spunk! At least that's what his dad would have said. And he would have been right too. She was strong and brave and Max had yet to see her back down from any challenge that had come their way.

"Oh. My. Gosh, Max. Quit being such a Debbie Downer. Mr. All Doom and Gloom. We're alive and we're not going anywhere. You risked your life just to find me." Skylar smirked at her brother. "You're a descendant of those thousands of years of human ingenuity and you didn't give up. Like Britney said, it's not over until it's over."

Oliver could relate to what Max was saying. He had his own moment of doubt while trapped in that stairwell back at the school. But he had dug down deep. Refused to roll over and die. He chose to live instead. But he wasn't ready to share that with everyone present. His eyes landed on Henry and he glared at the man for a few seconds.

"I think it might be a good idea to check the cars. We're sure to find Aspirin, antiseptic and possibly a few bottles of water." He suggested.

"Or the dead." Henry retorted.

"Yeah but they'll be slow. We could take them out with no problem."

"Just be careful." Britney warned.

Oliver cautiously peered through the windows of each car that they passed before his eyes fell upon a blue duffle bag. The contents had spilled; crackers, soups, some canned fruits and vegetables and more. He was about to reach inside the broken window when a lurker rose up from the back seat, snarling, trying to grab onto him. Instinctively he jumped back.

Henry clucked his teeth in amusement. "Didn't I say be careful." Britney scolded.

Oliver's cheeks turned a light pink from embarrassment but he quickly pushed it aside. Retrieving his knife, he moved back to the car, the lurker had managed to pull its torso into the window. He plunged the weapon into its skull and it stopped moving.

He shoved the contents back into the bag, zipped it closed, "Max, heads up." Oliver tossed the bag to Max before he caught it with a thump.

"What's in this thing." Max said with a chuckle before slipping it on over his head.