Halfway across, the fence completely gave out on one side, and zombies began to pour into the yard. It was fairly large, about forty yards from fence to fence. When she reached the other side, she tossed the club over and began climbing once again. Adrenaline fueled her ascent, and at the top, she noticed that three ghouls had come around the outside towards her.
“Give me a break!” she snarled, and threw herself over, this time landing on her feet, trying to absorb most of the impact with her good leg. She pulled her handgun with her sore arm, rubbing the shoulder as she took quick aim. She fired two shots, hitting the targets dead on, despite the recoil from the gun making her wince at the pain in her joint.
For the final zombie, she pulled her knife, using her good arm to stab it in the eye socket, dropping the corpse.
The horde in the yard had reached the fencing, but thankfully the numbers weren’t as severe yet since they were still filtering in from the other side, so the fence wasn’t in peril just yet.
“Well…” she huffed as she checked her weapons, “that’s four blocks down.” She shook her head. It was going to be a struggle getting to her destination in one piece, and her situation was growing more bleak by the minute.
Watts walked the rest of the way through the yards to the next street, dragging her leg and club behind her. Her knee was almost unbearable, and her arm was only comfortable if it was limp. She sighed heavily when she reached the next street, finding a couple dozen ghouls roaming about.
There’s no way I’m going to be able to make it to the high school like this… she thought, ready to just give in and lay down. No… no, Janey. Keep moving. She steeled herself and pushed on, reaching the other side of the street with only attracting a few creatures.
The next few yards were empty, with another fence looming ahead. She moved as quickly as she could, hopping over it and landing with a thud, her good leg quickly becoming exhausted from the extra use.
When she reached the middle of the yard, her wounded knee gave out completely, and she fell to the grass, hissing in pain. She rubbed it frantically, willing it to work, just to get her a few more miles. She glanced at her watch. Just under an hour, just a couple more miles.
Watts grunted deeply as she willed herself back to her feet, limping to the house. She tried the back patio door, finding it surprisingly unlocked. She slid it open silently, readying her handgun just in case of any close encounters. She locked it behind her and swept the house, finding it gloriously empty.
She crept into the front room, peeking out the window at the street. Dozens of zombies shambled about, looking around for their next meal. Most of the driveways were empty, without even a car.
She perked up at the sight of a lone house at the end of the block, six houses away, across the street. A lone car sat in the driveway, a clunker of a sedan easily twenty years old.
That’s your ticket out, Janey, she thought, taking a deep breath. Now just have to hope it runs… and that the keys are in the house… and that the gas hasn’t gone bad…
She blinked back tears. The hopelessness of her situation threatened to overcome her, but she shook her head violently, clenching a fist. She had to buy herself some time if she was going to be able to get over to the house, get inside, and find the keys.
She scanned up and down the road, trying to think of an idea, but nothing came to her.
What can I use as a distraction? She chewed her bottom lip as she studied the area. The only car on the block is the one I’m going to… uh… borrow. And it’s unlikely that a clunker like that has an alarm. How am I going to get those zombies away from it?
She contemplated for a moment, and then an idea hit her, but her blood ran cold at the thought.
You have got to be out of your mind, Janey! She berated herself. That’s really the best idea you can come up with? Seriously?!
She closed her eyes, letting out a deep breath, but knowing that this was the only option she had. She pushed away from the wall and walked to the back door, looking out to make sure the coast was clear, which it thankfully was.
Watts headed back for the front of the house, and threw open the door, stepping out onto the porch. She took a deep breath and then let out a sharp scream.
“Come and get me!” she bellowed. “Yeah you, over by the street! Don’t tell me you don’t want a piece of this!”
The zombies in the street perked up and moaned, immediately moving in her direction.
“That’s it!” she yelled as they grew closer. “Come and get me!”
As they stumbled towards her, she backed into the house, leaving the door open. Once inside, she moved to the back of the house, still yelling and whistling as loudly as she could. She kept an eye on the backyard, making sure it remained empty despite the noise.
She quickly whirled around when she heard the first zombie enter the house. She let out a few more yells and taunts before stepping onto the back patio, still hollering. As the lead zombie reached the patio door, she slid it shut, trapping the ghouls inside.
Watts turned and spotted a zombie coming around the side of the house, so she stepped over and swung the slub, hitting it in the dist of the head and dropping it.
The head of the club flew off with a crack, and she groaned, but then held up the newly sharp tip. “Not ideal,” she muttered, “but still could be useful.”
Watts moved over a couple of houses, staying in the backyards and checking for zombies around every corner. As she looked to the road, she saw it was mostly clear of zombies as they moved towards the house.
Finally, she made it across the street from the house with the car, moving up to the corner of the building. She glanced down the street to see most of the zombies still focused on trying to get into the diversion house. There were only a few ghouls within twenty yards of her target, and she took a deep breath.
Come on, leg. She didn’t wait any longer, and hobbled towards the house, taking care to walk as softly as she could on the pavement. Much to her surprise, she made it across without attracting any attention.
She walked around to the back, wanting to stay out of sight as much as she could. The back door was ajar, which caused her some concern. She readied her golf club spike and quietly pushed inside.
The kitchen was very dark, across from the front room which had blackout curtains. She moved into the living room, and a set of bloodied hands reached out to grab her by the collar.
Watts pulled back, but the creature's grip remained strong. They tumbled into the kitchen, the ghoul pinning her against the wall. She pushed against its chest with the spike, unable to maneuver it to be useful in such close quarters. She reached for her knife with the other hand as another zombie staggered from the back hallway, moaning loudly with excitement.
She quickly abandoned her plan for the knife, and readied the club, pushing against her current attacker with her hand. When the new zombie came within range, she thrust forward with the spike, getting it through the eye and dropping it.
She dropped the spike and grabbed her knife, slamming the blade into the ghoul’s temple and shoving the corpse aside. With both enemies down, she shuffled back over to the kitchen door and shut it, turning the deadbolt. She hissed as she knelt down to pick up the spike, but there was another weak point in the shaft, so she decided to leave it, tightening her grip on her knife.
She took a quick breather before looking at her watch. Forty-five minutes to go. She took a deep breath and hobbled into the living room, looking at every wall and table, hoping to find the keys to the clunker outside.
She tore back into the kitchen as fast as she could, and relief washed over her at the sight of a set of keys hanging by the door.
“All right, I’m in business,” she said, and snatched the keyring from the hook, wincing at the pain in her shoulder.
Watts hobbled to the front door, peering through the window to see that the coast was clear. She didn’t waste any time, rushing outside and over to the car, unlocking it and hopping
in. She put the keys in the ignition and paused.
“Oh please, sweet baby Jesus,” she prayed, “let this thing start up.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and turned the key. The car struggled to start up, revving several times but refusing to turn over.
“Come on, come on!” she urged, trying again and hitting the gas pedal a few times, hoping that would do the trick.
The car finally turned over, but struggled to stay running. She hit the gas a couple more times, revving the engine up further, and finally it hummed steadily.
“Got it!” she cried, and threw the car into drive, tearing out of the driveway. She headed east, past a cluster of zombies that had approached the noise, and left them in the dust.
The road went on for nearly a mile, with only a handful of ghouls in her direct path, but lots of them stretched down side streets and into yards. She reached the end of the road, forced to make a left before turning to the right to continue in the proper direction.
Another mile later, she knew she was close to the destination with time to spare, just over a half hour on the clock. On the right side of the road was a big sign boasting Stream High School - NEXT RIGHT.
“Gonna make it!” she cried, smacking the steering wheel. “I’m gonna make it!”
Watts took the next right and then slammed on the brakes, her heart sinking.
There was a wall of zombies ahead, easily in the dozens but probably in the hundreds.
She rested her forehead on the steering wheel. “So close, yet so far away,” she groaned, shaking her head back and forth.
She sat back against the headrest, staring daggers at the wall of rotted flesh. She contemplated ramming through them, but knew that she would more-than-likely get stuck in the center of the mob.
Reluctantly, she put the car in reverse, doing a three-point turn to head back to the previous road. She looked down it, seeing another impressive collection of ghouls.
Two roads back, she found a road that looks passable. She made the turn and picked up some speed, smacking a few zombies as she wove in and around clusters of monsters. As she travelled several more blocks, she continually looked down the side streets in hopes of finding the school, but all she could see were zombies packed shoulder-to-shoulder.
Hope drained out of her at an alarming rate, especially after she spotted the high school proper. Throngs of ghouls surrounded the building, bleeding out onto the road.
“What if they see that and don’t come?” she babbled to herself, panic rising in her throat. “Can this car even make it to Redmond? Or Totem Lake?”
She hit the gas, moving forward to the intersection and seeing that the zombies were a little more thinned out. “Okay… might be clearing out…”
When she reached the next intersection, there was a smattering of creatures, but then another noise, like music to her ears.
Machine gun fire popped in the distance, which drew the attention of the ghouls ahead. They started walking away from the school, and Watts’ heart soared.
“The rescue team!” she cried and waited for them to appear in the intersection.
Moments passed, and nobody came. Her heart rate doubled, pounding harder and harder. And then the gunfire ceased.
“No, no, no,” she moaned, and slammed on the accelerator, tearing up the road towards the main one before doing a hard right turn. She could see the rescue transport about five blocks up, starting to drive away.
Her eyes watered at the hundreds of zombies between her and her rescue. “I’m here, I’m here!” she screamed, and laid on the horn as she punched the gas again, driving as fast as she could towards them. She wove around zombies when she could, but soon it got too thick for her to avoid them.
Corpses smacked against the front of the car, several flipping right over the vehicle, slamming into the windshield and creating multiple shatter points. There was so much blood that she could barely see, especially with the spider web of glass zigzagging across.
But she pressed on, flooring it and continuing to honk the horn over and over again.
All she could see was blood and zombies, crimson and gray. She couldn’t pick up any speed as shit hit a thick wall of ghouls, pushing through several layers of bodies. The car bounced up and down as she rolled over them, the engine straining as it climbed.
She managed to push through the bulk, a little bit of daylight peeking through as the car gave out.
“No, no, come on!” she yelled. “Please, start back up!” She tried to restart the stalled vehicle, but it was to no avail. Soon even the starter didn’t make a sound, just an empty, dull click, like a nail in a coffin.
Watts sat in despair, the little bit of light through the blood growing dimmer as zombies converged on the car, pounding at all sides. Just rotted, putrid bodies smacking against what had quickly become her mausoleum.
Her heart sank. This was the end.
“Well, Janey, you gave it a heck of a go,” she said hoarsely, swiping at her eyes. “You made it a lot further than you thought you would, and you gave it your all. Can’t do anything more.” Her leg throbbed. Her shoulder ached. Her body slumped against the seat as if all of the exhaustion of the day suddenly caught up with her. All she could do was await her fate now.
She looked down at her handgun. She didn’t want to be a zombie. Though with a horde this size, there wouldn’t be much of her left to become anything. At least they’d chew her up enough that she couldn’t be a runner, putting people in danger.
She fingered the butt of the gun, but didn’t pull it out of its holster. A bullet to the brain would be far preferable to getting torn apart by hungry corpses. She shuddered as she imagined what that would feel like, putrid, nasty, rotten teeth tearing at her flesh.
She thought of Larry, covered in zombie bites, leaning against the wall of that tiny office, telling her to look away so that she wouldn’t have to watch him kill himself. How nice he was, how he’d saved her life, how he’d pushed on even though he was doomed to die. She thought of his blood splattered across the wall, blood pooling beneath his limp body, and then she realized she’d unholstered her gun.
She looked down at it, in her hand, her small but strong hand. Could she do it?
“This isn’t how I thought I’d go out,” she murmured, echoing Larry’s sentiment before he died. Nobody ever thought they’d have to kill themselves to avoid getting eaten by undead humans.
She raised the gun. Her hand shook as she put the barrel to her temple. She thought of her family. Her friends. Her unit. She closed her eyes.
Gunshots suddenly peppered the air, muffled through the horde, and zombies suddenly started to drop.
Watts blinked at the windshield, almost in a daze, as someone leapt up onto the hood of the car, driving a crowbar through the glass and jerking it out.
The entire front glass came off in a single piece, and a soldier tossed it aside into the horde. Watts stared up at him dumbly, unable to believe someone was standing there, reaching in to rescue her.
“We have to go now!” the soldier cried, snapping her back into reality.
Watts clambered out of the opening, taking his arm. It felt like a million years since another living being had touched her, and the contact gave her a surge of adrenaline she hadn’t thought possible.
To either side were two troops each, laying down suppressing fire. The soldier helped her down from the hood.
“Can you walk?” he asked.
She nodded jerkily, putting her weight on her good leg. “I’ll manage.”
“We’re moving!” he barked, and motioned for her to stay close as the group backed up, covering the rear as they moved to the armored vehicle.
When they reached the truck, the soldier helped Watts into the front passenger seat, slamming the door. Her mind reeled as the soldiers all jumped in, unable to believe that just seconds ago she’d written off her life as over.
“Let’s roll!” the soldier barked, and they took off, the vehicle picking up speed
quickly down the road to Totem Lake.
One of the passengers in the back reached forward, grabbing a radio from the front. “Captain O’Neil, we have the package,” he said. “Returning to base.”
“Good job,” came the reply. “Put her on, please.”
The soldier held out the radio to Watts, and she took it with a shaking hand. “Thank you, Captain,” she said, voice thick with emotion.
“You did good, Private,” O’Neil replied. “Even made it early. I’m impressed.”
She let out an exasperated laugh, rubbing her forehead. “My mother always taught me that if you aren’t fifteen minutes early, then you’re late,” she said.
“Sounds like a wise woman,” the Captain said, chuckling. “Now you take it easy. I’ll come check up on you in the med bay when I get a chance.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Watts repeated, swallowing hard. “So much.”
The line went dead, and she set down the receiver, leaning her head back against the headrest and closing her eyes. After a moment, she opened them, rubbing her knee as she looked out the window, staring at street after street of zombies and devastation.
Her chest swelled, images flooding her of her dead unit members, of the soldier who’d saved her life in the store, all the pain and suffering she’d had to endure just to make it to this moment.
Watts burst into tears, unable to control herself anymore.
The rest of the soldiers stayed quiet, letting her grieve and deal with the day she’d just been through. One of them reached forward, patting her on the shoulder, and she turned to look at him, cheeks shining with tears.
He smiled and held out a bottle of water. “Drink up, it’ll help.”
She blinked rapidly, unable to stop a wet laugh from bubbling out of her throat. “I think the only drink that will help me will need to be a little stronger than this.”
The soldier snorted, prompting a ripple of laughter from the rest of the crew. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a flask, holding that out instead.
Dead America The Northwest Invasion | Book 7 | Dead America: Seattle [Part 5] Page 6