Again, Maggie and I took the lead with Frank and James following close behind this time rather than back a ways. We passed the body of the child zombie Maggie shot off the back of the truck, I didn't imagine the head rolling free of the body after all. The first child's body we saw before we came upon the bus was still there not too far away. I wondered if that child was a zombie or had simply died from other means. I then shook the image off as the bus came back into view. It was a wreck and lucky for us not taking up the entire road as it was before. We slowed to a near stop, creeping along at walking pace as we maneuvered around the hood. Frank's voice crackled over the radio. “See anything yet?” he asked.
Maggie was already holding the mike and called back a “negative so far” and dropped the mike into her lap. Her side arm rested quietly on her knee as she scanned the area ahead of the truck as far as she could see around the fender of the bus. Between us, was the pistol that she got out of the glove box earlier, a 1911 .45 auto. Also on the seat were the magazines that accompanied it.
My eye caught movement behind a stalled car and I quietly pointed at it for Maggie. She nodded as soon as she caught it coming out behind the rear of the car. It was another child zombie but sorely damaged, likely from the blast of the rocket. It's head was sporting a massive open wound and one arm and shoulder was blasted off the torso. How it was still walking with that sort of head trauma was a wonder.
A thump on Maggie's door caught our attention and it was an adult, likewise messed up from the blast, side of it's face badly burnt and it's lower jaw missing with the tongue hanging grotesquely from the exposed space. “Ugh, ought to shoot that one just for being ugly as hell.” I muttered. Obviously Maggie thought the same thing as I watched her shoulders twitch as she tried not to laugh. “You can push it out of the way by opening the door hard and then shoot it...” I began. She shook her head, “no, James will shoot it or Dad will run it down. Lets keep going.” I nodded and turned my attention to the road ahead. There were still a couple more cars that necessitated our zig-zagging around slowly before the road beyond was clear. Wasn't going to be as bad as I thought. Which I definitely thought wrong.
As our front bumper cleared the last car, again I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned and looked and muttered “Aw shit not again?” From out of the woods on the left came a large group of zombies. They would be on us in moments if Maggie didn't stomp on the gas and tear out of there. Problem was that Frank and James were still in between the other two cars, if we took off then they'd be left behind. She pressed the gas a little and blew on the horn hoping to get their attention and draw them away from Frank's truck long enough for him to find his way out of the car maze and get clear. From there we could cruise on down the road and leave this bunch behind.
Maggie turned in her seat to look behind her and the mike was in her hand. “Dad, zombies, get yourself outta there hurry!” she yelled into the mike, over the truck horn. Frank's voice came back but it was difficult to hear over the horn of the truck. Her ploy worked and the zombies focused on our truck and came at us with a vengeance. A line from a Star Wars movie came to my head, “didn't we just leave this party?”
A zombie managed to get ahold of the side mirror of her door and grab on with one hand as it clawed at her over the glass with the other, it didn't seem to mind that it's feet were dragging on the pavement as we worked our way past the main body of the group. It was far too tempting to get her to lower the window and blast the sucker off the mirror, but it would be a stupid move. Instead she twisted the wheel hard one way then back the next and it succeeded in knocking the door hanging geek off and we felt the rear tires satisfyingly crunch over the body.
None-the-less the group was already at the truck and swarming it. A couple managed to get aboard into the bed and on the pile of gear covered by the tarp. They'd have to be dealt with later, right now, key point is making sure they didn't swarm the front of the truck and impede our forward progress. In my door mirror I could make out Frank's truck doing better as it cleared the last car. “Ok,” his voice called out on the radio, “we're clear of the car jam, punch it on outta here! Go, go, go!” Maggie obeyed. As she pressed on the gas, I turned around saw one more clamoring over the edge of the truck bed.
Maggie's foot stomped on the gas pedal and the truck leapt forward, knocking zombies trying to work their way around in the front, aside like rag-dolls. The three that managed to climb into the bed became two as one of them lost it's balance and fell out. In the passenger side mirror I saw Frank's truck wheels smash the head flat as he dodged the tail end of our group. “You got two hanging on in the back” his voice called to us. I wanted to grab the mike but Maggie hung on to it grimly. “Roger that!” her voice called as I worked the clasp of the rear window slide. “You should've told him “no shit boss!” I said as I worked on the window. “I don't think he'd appreciate that, he's in full military mind right now and I don't feel like getting court-martial-ed at the moment.” I turned to look and saw that she was grinning.
Out the back window I could see that both trucks were clear of the main body, although that bunch kept running after us. There were two still in the back that needed to be dealt with. My mind raced for options. I wanted her to slam on the brakes to throw the two off balance long enough for me to open the window and fire out of it, but I was already in an awkward position with my back to the dashboard and working on the stuck clasp. “We need to stop and get out and blast them off the truck!” She looked at me and nodded and I spun around in her seat to sit normally and grab the seat-belt, hooking it in. I grabbed the mike from her hand and pressed the call button. “Frank, we're going to stop and get out and start shooting! Watch yourself!” Before he could respond she slammed on the brakes, causing the two zombies to lunge forward and fall on their faces on the tarp, as they struggled to right themselves. I already had my seatbelt off and flung open the door to jump out, she had done the same as soon as she shifted the lever into park.
I took a couple of steps away from the truck, cocking my gun before turning around and taking aim. The zombie closest to my side managed to get it's self righted and was trying to climb out of the truck. I decided to wait until it was up on it's feet before shooting. Maggie didn't wait for hers, her gun barked twice and piece of skull and brain tissue went flying. The zombie flopped dead half in and half hanging out of the truck bed. Mine had managed to get out without falling and staggered towards me. I aimed and pulled the trigger. Click. Nothing. I checked and saw that the safety was still on. The zombie was now at point-blank as I thumbed the button and raised the gun again, this time pressing the end of the barrel against the skull. The zombie stopped and managed to growl before the back of it's head exploded. I jumped back as the body fell forward.
Frank's truck pulled up and came to a stop. Both of them jumped out armed and ready. James ran towards his mother and she raised her arms up to hug him but her expression changed as James raised his pistol at her and fired. The bullet whined past her head and struck the zombie behind her perfectly between the eyes. There, that feral grin was on his face again. Maggie stood stock still staring at her son as if not recognizing him. Frank and I stood looking at the boy.
In a moment, James tucked his pistol into his belt and went over to his mother and hugged her. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly. Frank and I joined together and had a look at the walker that appeared behind Maggie. Puzzled as to how that sucker managed to hang on without being seen then freeing itself when we stopped. We passed the two, still in an embrace and had a look.
What we saw answered the question. It's left arm was torn off at the elbow, leaving us to guess that it had hung on or was caught at that joint. When we stopped, the forward inertia caused it's body weight to pull on the trapped forearm and tearing it loose. It managed to get up again and was making a bee-line straight for Maggie. Luckily James saw it when they pulled up and estimated that his mother wouldn't have the time to turn and defend herself. Again that boy shown himself to be a great shot, but the trouble was still the fact that he looked like he was enjoying himself too much. As if it were a live video game or something.
In about fifteen minutes later, we were back on the road, headed towards the nearest freeway access. Maggie sat on her side of the truck instead of her head on my shoulder like it was a while ago.
I knew she was feeling confused, frightened and worried about her son. I left her alone and stayed quiet. If she'll want to talk about it she will in time, (she is, after all a woman), we still had a few hours daylight ahead of us, hopefully, without interruptions like the ones this morning. Honestly, those I could do without. I got to thinking about how we might have to break this kid a little to get him back to earth.
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