Better off Undead

Chapter 18: State of Emergency

It was unlike anything either man had seen before. It was completely unlike the organized readiness of an oncoming army. It was not even the disorganized wave of a protest march. It was more like a river, bubbling and boiling with the tide, the undead stumbling and collapsing only to be overrun by the next uncaring zombie in line. Vast tributaries of the undead came pouring out of side streets, and somehow flowed into the main current without creating the slightest break in its advance. All in all they were still the slow moving, stumbling wrecks that they were used to seeing, but the sheer number of them combined with the unstoppable force of their movement proved a particularly horrific sight.

"We're dead."

Eli did not mean to say the words. They were not representative of what he was thinking, as in fact his mind had gone completely blank except for the image of the oncoming horde. It felt more like somebody had taken control over his body and used it to say those two words.

Matthew apparently did not agree. Turning, he grabbed Eli by the shirt front and yanked him along as he ran in the direction of the SUV. Across the way, Marshall and Daniel were doing much the same thing, though neither of them needed any coaxing. Behind them, a similar wall could be seen approaching from a bit further away, though that distance did nothing to decrease the horror at the sight of it. Devin had started the vehicle but was standing in the door well of the passenger's side, leaning against the fully open door as he held his M4 raised and ready, pointed at the zombies, waiting for one to get too close.

Matthew, Marshall, and Daniel all piled inside the vehicle. Eli planned to follow suit, but something moved in the very corner of his vision and he stopped.

"Get in the car!" someone shouted from inside, but Eli barely heard them. He had turned and was staring up at the top of a building. He squinted against the bright sunlight, trying to make sure he was not just imagining things. Something that looked like a black cloaked figure seemed to be standing in the shade of a roof access stairwell, and it seemed to be watching them.

"What the hell...?" Eli started to say, but hands grabbing him by the shoulders and yanking him inside the SUV caused the words to catch in his throat.

"Go!" somebody shouted, and Marshall needed no further prompting. He slammed on the gas and headed for the nearest side street. The zombies were quickly closing off all paths, but there was still one opening, and they ripped into it, tires screeching in protest. Everything wobbled as the top heavy vehicle threatened to flip over, but Marshall had made the turn wide enough and the vehicle righted itself again. Despite their efforts, seconds later he slammed on the breaks.

Ahead of them was a third wall of zombies. It was not nearly as massive as the first two, but it was headed straight for them and there were no more side streets to try to dodge around.

"We'll have to go through them," said Eli, finally pulling himself together. He leaped up, grabbing the still open side door and slammed it shut.

"Are you crazy? I can't just drive through a crowd of people!" Marshall protested.

"They're not people, they're zombies," Eli countered, buckling his seatbelt. "And I don't see any other choices, do you?"

As much as he hated to admit it, Eli had a point. He gave a quick glance around. There was a side street not too far through the zombie mass rapidly approaching them. If he headed for that it would be significantly less to drive through than just going straight. Nodding with a grim determination at this plan, he floored the gas pedal. With a roar, the big white SUV lurched forward and slammed into the nearest zombies. Against the vehicles incredible mass the decaying creatures dropped like flies, but despite its apparent design the vehicle had not been prepared for this sort of violent off-road travel. The SUV bucked and bounced like a crazed bronco as it attempted to find purchase against the never ceasing flow of uneven bodies.