“What's the plan here?” Felicity asked.
“Drive straight through,” I said nudging the car forward. Instantly they were on us. The zombies surrounded all sides of the car and began beating their fists against the windows. Either this batch of the dead were smarter than the rest or they were starting to learn to work together. The car rocked back and forth and Benji began to freak out.
“I don't want to die!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.
“We're not going to die out here,” I said, giving the car some gas and running down a couple of flesh hungry monsters in the process. “Just relax.”
The words were barely out of my mouth when a big man in a tattered blue Mammoth Mountain hoodie punched through the window and grabbed Benji by the arm. We all screamed at the same time. There was shattered glass all over the backseat. I tried to turn around and hit the man but my seat belt kept me locked in place.
Now that would be an ironic way to die, I thought. Trapped in a car by a seat belt. I thought these things were supposed to save lives.
Felicity began beating the man in the head as he tried to pull his weight up and into the car to get a bite of either of them. I hit the seat belt release and swung around, punching the man square on the top of the head and driving him out of the car.
“Get us the hell out of here!” Felicity screamed.
I slid back down in the driver's seat and hit the gas. We accelerated hard and ran over several zombies in a row. They made loud thumping sounds as their upper torsos slammed into the hood, in one case denting it. I could feel the tires going over the ones we'd hit, like large and gruesome speed bumps. Up ahead to the left there was a break in the horde. I turned the wheel and floored it that way. A woman's arm hit the side of the windshield, causing it to crack into a brilliant spider web of broken glass. We were free again. The road ahead was not obstructed. I looked in the rear view mirror, expecting to see a line of carnage we'd cut across the horde. Instead they had just reformed and began slowly lumbering after us.
“Is everyone okay?” I asked. “Anyone bit or injured?”
“We're fine,” Felicity said with a shaky voice. “That was close.”
“What about you Benji?”
“I'm fine,” he said. “He grabbed me but he didn't get a chance to bite me. Man, he smelled horrible. I can still smell it.”
“Good,” I said. “I'm glad we're all in one piece.”
“That was rough,” Felicity admitted.
“You look like you sobered up a bit,” I said to Benji.
“Yeah,” he replied. “I'm just hungry now.”
“Don't worry,” I encouraged him. “It looks like we’re almost in Oxnard now. We'll stop up here in a bit and make some of that space-age grub that we brought with us from Jackson's place. I'm personally looking forward to trying some exotic cuisine.”
“So close to the base?” Felicity seemed shocked by my offer.
“They'll take everything once we get there,” Benji explained. “At Vandenberg the only thing they left me were my comics.”
“That's right,” I said in my best old timers panhandler impression I could muster. “And I've been dreaming about them there fancy pancakes since yesterday.”
Felicity and Benji's laughter was cut short by the sound of several hard thuds hitting the side of the car.
“What the hell was that?” Felicity managed to get the question out just as the answer came. Several men dressed like rogue warriors from a Mad Max movie came running out onto the highway pointing weapons at us and firing. They hit the side of the car again. The air was filled with the sound of metal pinging on metal and then the passenger side window shattered and sprayed me with glass. I shook my head to free the loose shards from my hair.
“Get down!” I hollered.
A man with a bright pink Mohawk in dusty outdated military gear ran out in front of the car. In his hands he carried a bow and arrow. He raised them up and took aim directly at me. There was no time to swerve and I worried I might flip the car. I slid down in my seat and punched the gas pedal hard. I could hear the man's legs crack as the front of the Lexus slammed into him. He screamed in agony and flew over the top of the car. I didn't stop. Steam poured up from the radiator of the car. The temperature gauge began to rise. The check engine light went on. Worst of all, the fuel gauge began to fall. I didn't know if we were really leaking gas or if we'd just damaged the sensor in some way. Either way, it looked like we were going to have to abandon the car sooner than I thought.
“Damn,” I yelled. “We're not gonna make it. We were so close!” I punched the steering wheel in anger.
“Who are those people?” Felicity asked.
“I don't know,” I said feeling the panic rise up in me. “But I am guessing they’re not friendly.”
“What are we gonna do?” Benji asked.
“I've got to get us off the freeway. We're leaking fuel and we need to find cover in case they track us.”
“Won't the zombie horde take them out?” Felicity asked.
“We can't count on that,” I said, “but I sure hope so.”
I saw a place in the road where it came level with the city streets and jumped the barrier, popping the back left tire in the process.
“Hold on,” I screamed as the car shot like a bullet over the succulent covered divider and onto the asphalt. Sparks flew out from the back of the Lexus like Fourth of July fireworks as the rim hit the ground.
“I thought you said we were leaking gas,” Felicity shouted over the sound of rushing wind coming through the smashed windows.
“I'm pretty sure we are,” I said, doing my best to keep the car under control as I rammed up and over another curb and into a mall parking lot.
“Oh my God,” Felicity wailed.
“What?”
“The car is on fire!” I looked in the rear view mirror but couldn't see it. My first thought was that we were going to explode, like when a car is hit in the movies. I slammed on the brakes and the car skid to a stop, wrapping around the concrete base of a light fixture near the entrance to Macy's. I turned around to find Felicity and Benji huddled together in the back, waiting for the explosion.
“Don't just sit there,” I shouted. “Get out of the car now!”
They yanked open the door on the side that wasn't smashed into a pole and scurried out. I threw my door open, grabbed my katana, and bolted. My head hurt. I was feeling slightly disoriented and dizzy. I felt something warm and sticky running down my face. I reached up and discovered it stung when I touched the top of my head. I stared at my hand and saw that it was covered with blood.
You must have smashed your head into the windshield in the accident, I thought. It's not going to kill you but whoever those people are might. Plus there could be zombies out here. You've got to stay calm and find cover. Whatever you do, you have to stay awake and not panic.
My little motivational pep talk was working. I motioned for Felicity and Benji to join me.
Felicity held her hands over her mouth when she saw me.
“Are you okay?”
“I'm fine,” I lied. “It's just a scratch. We've got to keep moving.”
“What about the car?” Benji asked. “All our supplies are in there.”
“The car is done,” I said. “It's just a matter of minutes before it goes up in flames, leading those people to us and probably another horde of zombies as well.”
“What are we supposed to do?” Felicity asked. “We can't just go on foot.”
“For now, it's our only option,” I argued. “We're pretty close now to the base. I say we cut across the mall and head toward the coast. We can use it as a guide to make sure we stay on course. If we keep walking, we'll reach Hueneme before sundown.”
“You want to go in there?” Felicity asked. “How do we know it's not crawling with zombies?”
“We don't. It's just that out here in plain sight we're sitting ducks for whoever those crazy maniacs are that attacked us.”
“Are you sure you're okay?” Felicity asked, touching my face. “I'm not sure you're supposed to move after an accident like that. You might have a concussion.”
“I think it's okay as long as I don't go to sleep right away,” I said.
She leaned in and kissed me.
“Guys,” Benji said. “I think I see someone coming.”
I looked past Felicity to see a cluster of men in the distance walking on the highway. These weren't zombies. They were hunters, coming to get us and have their revenge for their fallen comrade, no doubt.
“Let's move,” I said drawing my sword. Benji practically sprinted past me and Felicity followed him. There was tenderness in my right ankle as well. I didn't notice it until I began the walk up the mostly empty parking lot toward the front entrance.
Please let the doors be open, I thought. If they were operated by electricity or locked up and we had to go the long way round we were goners for sure. Benji reached the front first and waited for me. A pane of glass had been removed cleanly from the store window letting us freely step in. I poked my head inside half expecting to get it chomped by a hungry zombie, but the store was empty of people as far as I could see.
“Stick together,” I said. I turned to Benji. “Whatever happens, I don't want you running off unless I say so. Got it?”
“I got it, boss man,” Benji said. We climbed in sliding past a rack of dresses and I glanced back toward the abandoned Lexus. The cluster of hunters was getting closer. They were definitely coming for us.
Chapter Twenty Three
We made our way through the department store, walking up a frozen escalator and out into the main part of the mall, without spotting a single zombie. As far as I could tell the place hadn't been infested with the dead. There were none of the telltale signs, no blood, no human remains strewn about, no smell of rotting death and decay. It seemed totally impossible, but the mall was clean. The stores were all open, but shrouded in darkness. Above us a clear panel skylight allowed rays of the sun to illuminate our path. Birds flapped around over our heads, going back and forth between stores on the second level. My stomach growled as we marched past the food court toward an exit on the other side of the mall, passing a Wetzel's Pretzel.
That's just what I needed to see, I thought. I'm freaking starving. I'd have killed a hundred zombies for a pretzel right then and there and stacked the bodies into neat piles for our not so friendly new friends.
“Can't we stop and check to see if there is anything edible?” Benji was as hungry as I was, maybe more since he'd just come down from drinking the blood of the Lamb.
“There's no electricity,” I said. “Which means the food’s all spoiled anyway. Besides, if we did find anything we'd have to prepare it. We've got hunters on our trail. We don't have time to stop and cook.”
“The smell would lead them right to us,” Felicity added in a soft voice.
“She's right,” I said. “Our best hope is to head to the coast like I said and hope we lose them along the way. For now we've got to at least stay ahead of them.”
“We can't go forever without eating,” Benji pouted.
What's wrong with this kid, I thought? We're being hunted down like wild animals and he is crying about missing his juice box at snack time?
Benji was usually pretty easy going. I chalked it up to the trauma of the accident and being grabbed by that big zombie. That would be enough to freak anyone out. Still, I hoped he would get it together and not slow us down. Everyone needed to stay focused if we were going to make it out alive and together.
“We'll find food along the way,” I said.
“What if we don't?”
“We will,” I promised. “Worst case scenario, we eat at the base. Now stop arguing and hurry up.”
Benji scowled at me. I had become the mean parent. I guess someone had to play the role but that didn't mean I had to be happy about it.
“Come on,” I said. “I don't want to argue about this all day.”
I heard a high pitch whistle hum through the air to my left side.
“Xander?” Felicity's voice sounded off, like she was fighting back tears. I turned in surprise to see an arrow sticking out of her right arm.
“What the hell?” I walked over and looked at it. It was run all the way through the skin under the bone and out the other side. Bright red drops of blood dripped from the barbed tip. I heard another whistle zing right past me before I could comprehend what had happened to her and the second arrow skidded off the shiny stone floor next to me, clattering across the tiles. I looked off in the direction the weapon had come from to see one of the hunters stringing up a third arrow. He smiled at us with black teeth.
“What do we do?” Felicity looked at me with big pleading eyes.
“Run,” I yelled, drawing my sword and holding it out in front of me. Benji and Felicity turned and bolted for the sliding doors at the end of the mall. The third arrow whirred directly toward my head. I brought my blade up as I ducked and knocked it into a planter between the Orange Julius and Hot Dog on a Stick.
The bowman crouched down to reload just as his buddies came tearing in from the darkness of the department store with their guns drawn.
Arrows are one thing, I thought, but there is no way I'm gonna be able to dodge a bullet.
I turned and ran toward the exit as fast as I could. The sound of gun shots rang out like loud thunder. I didn't stop. I couldn't. My lungs burned as I pumped my legs up and down as fast as they would take me until I reached the others.
Benji and Felicity were trying desperately to pry open the heavy glass doors, but with no luck. I joined in on Benji's side, managing to get them open about an inch. Felicity let out a shrill cry of pain and let go, clutching her wounded arm. I looked back toward our enemies. They were advancing with their weapons drawn. We were trapped! They fired again and the bullets hit the glass to the left of us. Felicity quivered in fear and slumped down to the floor.
“Are you hit?” I asked. She didn't answer. “I said, are you hit?” She shook her head no, unable to speak. She was quivering from head to toe.
She's probably going into shock, I thought, from the wound the arrow made. Hell, it's still sticking out of her!
They were less than a hundred feet away now. At this range, their aim was sure to improve.
“We're going to die in here,” Benji cried. “Do something!”
I turned back to the doors and began to pull with everything I had in me. Benji joined me and the door began to slowly roll back. I could feel all the muscles in my arms and chest burning.
Don't stop, I told myself. They are depending on you. All of our lives count on it. Pull harder!
I gave out a cry and yanked the doors open a bit more. My arms felt like stretched rubber left out in the hot sun. The muscles were giving out. I could feel myself losing my grip. Another shot rang out and hit the glass mere inches from my head. I wasn't going to die like this. I couldn't! Not after everything we had been through. Not without saying goodbye to Moto.
I stepped between the doors, propping my legs against one side with my back against the other. The doors came open, but the pain in my back and legs was almost unbearable.
“Go,” I yelled in a hoarse voice. “Go NOW!”
Felicity crawled through and Benji followed her.
I turned to see them standing on the sidewalk staring at me.
“Come on,” Benji yelled trying to pull me through with both hands.
I gave the doors one last push and fell through. A chorus of gunfire erupted from inside the mall as the hunters screamed and wailed at our escape. Several of the shots made it out through the small crack before the doors closed and fully shielded us. Miraculously, we weren't hit. My whole body ached and I panted like a wounded animal as I stood back up on trembling, unsteady legs. The hunters pounded on the glass but didn't try to pull the doors open.
“That's odd,” I said. “Why aren't they following us?”
&nbs
p; Benji frantically tugged at my arm. I turned around to see the reason why we'd been left alone. A small crowd of about a hundred zombies had begun to wander toward us from across the parking lot. The familiar sound of their unearthly moans and horrible stench reached me at the same time. I fought back my desire to vomit as a breeze sent a wave of decomposing death over us.
“This is bad,” Felicity said. “We're trapped. What do we do?”
“Get behind me,” I said, holding up my blade. “We're going to cut a path to freedom.”
“That's insane,” Benji cried.
“We'll never make it,” Felicity added.
“We've got no other choice,” I replied, letting out a war cry and charging at the ones closest to us. With a flash of my blade I took off a fat zombie’s head, kicking his rotting body over. It felt like stepping in putty. I didn't slow down. Without missing a beat I brought the sword back across my body to the right with all the force I could manage and took off another zombie's head with a clean sweep. The rest of the zombie horde didn't seem to notice my bloodthirsty rampage. They just stepped over their fallen friends and kept coming at us like the mindless killing machines they were.
Swinging in a wild circle I sliced my way through another, then punched a thin zombie out of my way, before freeing my blade from the last victims chest. Dark coagulated blood oozed from the tip of my sword like an oily film of dead pulp. I shook it off and drove the weapon back through the neck of a screeching woman who lunged for me, nearly knocking me over. There were more of them than I had realized. They were reaching me too fast and I was taking too long to kill them. Benji and Felicity were right. This wasn't going to work. There was no way I was going to be able to fight them all off.
“Xander look out,” Felicity cried out as a thickly built male zombie snapped at me teeth first like a rabid dog. I leaned back just out of his bite radius and felt the horrible chill of his cold breath on my face. He looked like he had been a body builder before being turned and I was dismayed to discover that he still had the strength of one as he gripped me by the throat and began to squeeze the life out of me, raising me completely off the ground with my feet kicking at the air. I beat my left fist helplessly into his chest to no avail as I began to see stars popping in my field of vision. Felicity was screaming at the top of her lungs. I prayed the rest of the horde hadn't already moved past me and gotten to them. My right arm flailed wildly with my sword still in it but I wasn't able to make a dent in the monster even by hacking chunks of flesh from his back. He pulled me forward toward his open mouth, preparing to tear off the front of my face. In a last ditch effort I jerked my right arm upward, lodging the sword into his head. I felt his grip loosen but he didn't relent. He was still making every effort to eat me alive. With all the strength I had left in my already sore muscles I forced the end of the sword handle down until the blade slowly sliced up and through his brain, removing half of his head and exposing rotten gray brain matter and more oily black blood in the process. He let me go and fell over with an unsatisfying grunt. I fell to one knee, gingerly touching my neck and gulping in air as fast as I could. I was dizzy but I forced myself back to my feet to continue to fight.
Zombie Attack! Rise of the Horde Page 24