“The bus can’t make it,” he said, his heart sinking with despair.
“So do we run?” Troy asked.
Josh saw all the ways they wouldn’t make it. Sam would be lost for sure.
The front doors to the bus opened and Jamie appeared. A split second later, the sound of his weapon firing resounded through the morning. Not willing to risk hitting the kids, Jamie picked off the zombies closing in on his location.
“Shoot them! Shoot them!” Chad shouted, pointing at the zombies between him and the bus.
The undead, some still on fire, relentlessly moved toward him.
“Is he stupid? Your dad can’t shoot them without hitting him!” Troy threw up his hands, shaking his head.
“Are we going to run? Because I don’t know if I can make it. I...” Sam trailed off. “Josh? Are we going to run?”
“Dude, if we’re going to run, we gotta go when they catch him,” the Latino boy said while pointing toward the swarm of zombies in the parking lot. “They’re going to see us once they’re done eating that dumb kid.”
The image of Mr. Inmon racing to the school bus haunted Josh. The driver had rescued Mr. Inmon only to risk the lives of everyone on the school bus. The driver, Mr. Inmon, his teacher, and several kids had been killed, and the bus had crashed. Josh and his friends had escaped, but he was fairly certain the rest of the students had perished when they’d panicked and ran toward the infested area of town. Josh couldn’t allow the same thing to happen to the Metro bus. Though he knew his dad would do his best to give them cover, there was no way all the kids would reach the bus. Josh wasn’t even sure he’d make it. He’d vowed to protect Drake, and he was going to do just that by protecting the bus.
Rubbing his nose, Josh took a deep breath. “We have to get out of here.”
“To the bus?” Troy asked warily.
The sound of Jamie’s weapon firing cracked through the air. He was trying to keep the zombies from reaching the bus, but the situation was getting more dangerous with every passing second. Melissa dropped down beside him, firing at the zombies close by.
“No. It’s too late. We can’t make it. We need to go that way, away from here,” Josh said, pointing across the vast field at the tree line. “We’re going that way.”
Chad skidded to a halt as the zombies completely blocked him. Unable to get around the swiftly-growing crowd of the undead, he turned and started to run back toward the other kids. The zombies immediately fell into pursuit.
“But what about the FEMA camp? What about the bus? What about—” Corina fell silent, watching Chad screaming as he dodged away from the zombies that were dangerously close to grabbing him.
“The zombies!” Sam smacked Josh on the arm. “They’re coming!”
“Dad! Dad!” Josh shouted, his voice raspy. “Dad, we’ll find you! We’ll find you in San Angelo!”
Despite the gunfire, the growls of the zombies, and the roar of the fire consuming the building, Jamie raised his hand over his head. “Josh! I love you! You can do this! Go! Go!”
Relief filled Josh’s chest. His dad had heard him. He waved to his father, fighting back the sting of tears, and then turned to face the frightened kids.
“Follow me. Let’s go.”
Josh started across the field away from the store, the parking lot, and the bus. The other kids immediately joined him. They half-ran, half-skipped across the uneven ground. Sweat poured down Josh’s face and he brushed it out of his eyes. His lungs still hurt from the smoke and his body was exhausted, yet he knew he had to keep moving. Daring to look back, he saw the bus pulling away from the curb and rolling down the frontage. His heart was a heavy stone in his chest. It was difficult to believe that he was once again separated from his father.
“Where are we going?” Sam asked.
“I don’t know,” Josh answered. He kept his eyes on the trees ahead.
“But... but...” Sam faltered, breathing heavily.
“We’re going to get out of this area and find a way to get to San Angelo. That’s where the convoy was going, so that’s where we will go. My dad says that’s where they’re airlifting survivors to the FEMA camp.”
“But we’re kids,” Sam protested.
“So?” Troy responded.
“We’ve made it this far,” Corina added. “A lot of the adults didn’t even make it out of the store.”
Josh kept the group’s pace fast, but cautious. He spotted some rocks and a tree stump hidden in the grass and swerved around them. Now that they were getting closer to the trees, he saw that there was a barbed-wire fence running along the trunks. That explained why the mesquite trees were in such a straight line.
“I thought we were safe,” Sam whined.
“We were. And then we weren’t. That’s the Zombie Apocalypse for you,” Troy replied.
“I liked Beaux. And he got eaten,” Sam sniffed.
“A lot of people died,” the Latino boy said somberly. “Probably my whole family.”
“In the store?” Sam gasped.
“No. In Austin. My cousin, Dulce, and me were on our way to the bus stop when 28 Days Later started. I’m Danny, by the way.” He pointed to the older, slightly overweight girl with thick black hair and hazel eyes. “That’s Dulce.”
“I’d classify these zombies are more of a Romero Dawn of the Dead type,” Troy commented, falling back into the old Zombie Hunter mentality. They always categorized zombies by their favorite films.
“Are you Dulce?” Corina asked the teenage girl walking beside her.
“She doesn’t speak English,” Danny explained. “She just moved here from Mexico.”
“She’s a wetback?” Sam asked with surprise.
Corina smacked him. “That’s rude!”
“You don’t say wetback, dude,” Troy said sharply.
“Sorry.” Sam rubbed his arm.
“Her mom has a green card. She’s a scientist, and got invited to work at a laboratory in Austin.” Danny gave Sam a disapproving glare.
“Sorry,” Sam muttered, lowering his eyes.
As the others talked, Josh looked behind him. The bus was a tiny speck in the distance. Chad was in the field far behind them and leading the zombies like a macabre parade right toward Josh and his group.
“We need to get to the fence. It might hold that herd for a little bit, but it will come down,” Josh instructed. “We have to get more ground between us and them.”
The Latina girl muttered something in Spanish.
“Huh?” Josh asked her.
Dulce pointed toward the smoldering store.
A massive wave of burning zombies was stumbling along behind it and into the field.
“This is bad,” Troy decided. “Really, really bad.”
Chapter 18
Scorched zombies, some still on fire, waded into the field. Flames appeared on the tips of the tall grass and with terrifying speed, the fire started to spread outward from the zombies.
Josh didn’t have to say a word. The group abandoned their caution and ran toward the barbed-wire fence fifty feet in front of them. Chad’s frantic screams spurred them to run faster. Troy reached the fence first. He carefully stepped over the bottom line of barb wire before crouching and scooting under the one above. He was small enough that he cleared it easily.
“It’s not hard! Hurry!” Troy urged.
Corina was next. She tossed the heavy bag through the wires before following Troy’s example. Being taller made the task a little harder for her, and her braid caught the top wire. Troy quickly untangled it and she was through. Danny and Dulce split up, climbing through the fence at different spots with little difficulty. Josh slipped between the barbed wires easily, straightened, and turned to check on the progress of the zombies and fire.
On the other side of the fence was a burning field, a teenage boy racing ahead of the flaming zombies, and one terrified overweight kid with a bright red face staring at Josh in terror.
“I won’t fit, I won’t fi
t.” Sam breathed heavily. “Ohmygawd, Josh. They’re going to eat me!”
“Lie on the ground and scoot under,” Josh urged. “I’ll pull up the wire.”
“Josh, I’m too fat! I’m gonna die! I don’t wanna die, Josh!” Sam exclaimed.
“Lay down on the ground, Sam. Hurry,” Corina urged.
“I’m too fat,” Sam whined. Fear had a stranglehold on him. It was evident from his too round eyes and heavy panting.
“Sam, do what I say,” Corina ordered in her best babysitter voice.
Troy pointed at the ground. “Get down there and scoot! Or else you’re going to die. Don’t be stupid!”
“I’m not stupid!” Sam wailed, tears falling down his cheeks.
Much to Josh’s dismay, Corina scooted through the wires again to the other side. She grabbed Sam’s shoulders and shook him. “Get down on the ground right now!”
“I’m gonna die,” Sam wailed.
“Sam, you’re doing the freeze thing! Stop doing it! Do the flight thing!” Troy urged.
“We’ll go under together,” Corina said. “Lay down.”
Sam nodded mutely. He followed Corina’s actions of getting down on the ground and lying on his back in the thick grass. The fake sheriff hat he’d taken from the truck stop rolled off his head, but Sam didn’t seem to notice.
Josh, and the other kids, avoiding the barbs, grabbed the wire.
“Pull!” Josh ordered.
There was very little slack, but they managed to pull it up a few inches. Corina pushed on Sam’s thick arm. “Scoot!”
Too scared to think rationally, Sam squirmed, but didn’t move actually move his body.
“You’re doing it wrong!” Troy exclaimed.
“I don’t know how to do it!” Sam shouted back.
Josh checked the progress of the zombies, and didn’t like their chances of getting Sam through the fence in time. “Sam, move!”
Dulce fell to her knees and grabbed Sam’s leg. She pulled it under the wire, then reached for the other.
Inspired by her actions, Josh formulated a quick plan. “Corina, get back over here and hold the wire.”
“We need to hurry,” Troy exclaimed. “The zombies are getting closer! And the fire!”
Josh glanced up and noted Chad was still alive and heading their way. The zombies moved through the flames, but were significantly slower. Josh hoped by the time they hit the fence they’d be too cooked to be a threat. The fire in the field was burning itself out as it hit bare patches of ground, and the wind had changed direction. Josh noticed a bank of dark clouds approaching from the south. If they could get Sam through the fence, their luck might change for the better if rain fell and killed the fire.
Corina slipped back through the fence and took hold of the rusty wire. “I got it.”
Josh let go and helped Dulce pull on Sam’s legs. He was heavy, but they dug in their heels and used their weight to drag him under the wire inch by inch. Sam rocked his shoulders against the ground, but wasn’t much help. His stomach was thicker than Josh realized and it bumped the wire.
“Ouch!” Sam cried out.
Dulce shoved his tummy down with one hand and pulled on his arm with the other.
“Need to hurry. We got flaming zombies on the way!” Troy exclaimed. “About ten feet and closing!”
Josh glanced up to see blackened zombies emerging from the tall flames. Their lips were burned away to reveal gleaming teeth.
With a shout of triumph, Chad reached the fence and vaulted over the post to land beside of Josh. “I did it!”
“Help us,” Josh ordered.
“We need to go! Leave the fatty! He’ll slow them down,” Chad answered dismissively.
“Don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!” Sam chanted in terror.
“We’re not leaving you,” Josh promised, and pulled harder. The muscles in his arms and legs were stinging with the strain.
“Help us,” Corina shouted in Chad’s face.
Breathing heavily, sweat streaming down his cheeks, Chad reluctantly leaned over and grabbed Sam’s belt. Dulce shoved down on the boy’s stomach while Josh and Chad pulled. His shoulders and head slipped under the barbed wire, and he was through.
“We did it!” Danny grinned, and let go of the wire.
It vibrated with a twang.
Corina turned to Sam. “Get up. Hurry. We need to get moving. The fence won’t hold them long. And it’s not going to keep the fire back.”
“He’s wasting our time. He’s gonna die anyway,” Chad said with a sneer.
Rolling onto his side, Sam sobbed, “I’m not going to die, Chad.”
“Eh. Without us you will.” Chad shrugged, and jogged into the trees. “Hurry up, losers.”
The kids scrambled away from the fence and followed the teenager.
All except Corina.
Josh turned around when he noticed she wasn’t following. “Come on.”
Corina was frantically pulling at her pant leg. “Josh, I’m caught!”
“What?”
“The studs on my pockets are caught! Please help!”
Rushing to Corina’s side, Josh ignored the advancing zombies. The smell of burned meat and grass filled his nostrils, making him gag. Corina jerked her hips away from the fence, but she was solidly hooked by a barb.
“Oh man! The zombies are going to eat her,” Sam wailed from behind them.
“Shut up!” Troy ordered. “You’re freaking her out.”
“Josh,” she wailed desperately. “Please get me free!”
“Hold still!” He could see where she was snagged. The rusted metal had burrowed under the studs. Fingers slick with sweat, he tried to unhook her.
“Josh! They’re almost to you!”
“I know, Troy!”
The zombies were eerily silent. Out of the corner of his eye, Josh could see their blackened bodies coming closer and closer.
“Josh,” Corina whispered, terror in her eyes. “Get me free, please!”
Jerking at the wire and at her jeans, Josh frantically attempted to free her. “Chad, help me!”
“He ran ahead,” Danny replied.
Grunting, Josh desperately tried to free the girl he loved.
“Josh! Seriously!”
“Troy, shut up!”
“They’re gonna eat her!”
“Sam, shut up!”
The reek of burnt meat was overwhelming. Josh looked up to see one zombie reaching for him. He ducked away from its grasping hand. A second later, a broken tree branch swung over his head and knocked the zombie back.
Breathing heavily, Dulce hit it again.
With another branch, Danny shoved a different zombie back by jabbing it hard in the chest with one splintered end. “Dude, seriously hurry!”
“The zombies are going to eat them!”
“Shut up, Sam!” Josh and Troy chorused.
“I don’t want to die,” Corina whispered, her eyes darting to the zombies closing in on her. “Please, Josh!”
Shaking the wire has hard as he could, Josh grunted with exertion. Blood started to stain the fabric around the barb, and Josh hated that he was hurting her.
A zombie lurched toward the kids behind the fence. Dulce and Danny shoved it back, but it stayed upright, supported by the many undead behind it. They were only a few feet from the fence.
They were out of time.
Weeping, Corina pulled against the wire.
“Take them off!” Josh exclaimed. How had he been so stupid and not realized what she needed to do before. “Take off the jeans!”
“Oh, God! You’re right!” Corina gasped. Her fingers fumbled with the button on her waistband.
“You’re useless,” Chad grunted, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. He grabbed Corina about the waist and wrenched her from the fence. Her jeans ripped free, tearing a big hole in the fabric and leaving a nasty wound in her skin. Grabbing Corina’s hand, Chad dragged her deeper into the trees. “C’mon, losers. Let’s go!”
“Don’t need to tell me twice,” Troy muttered, following.
“I almost died!” Sam trailed after Troy. “I almost died, Troy!”
“Nah! Corina almost died!” Troy replied.
Still holding onto their makeshift spears, Dulce and Danny ran after Chad and the others. Josh backed away from the barbed wire fence as the front end of the herd of zombies collided with the rusted metal. The fence shuddered but held.
Reaching across the top of the fence, the zombies silently flailed as they tried to grab him. Staying well out of their reach, Josh swallowed down his fear as he stared at the strip of cloth still attached to the fence.
Corina had almost died because of him.
Chapter 19
“Sip it slowly,” Corina ordered.
Sam ignored her, and gulped nearly the entire bottle of water in one go.
“Sam!” Corina shook her head, clearly annoyed.
“I was thirsty!”
“We need to preserve what we have!”
Lowering his head, Sam muttered, “Sorry.”
The kids had remained quiet as they trudged through the thick wild grass under the low branches of mesquite trees to avoid drawing the attention of zombies. They’d basically stuck to the plan Josh had devised at the truck stop. They’d made their way through the trees, aiming away from the highway, the burning truck stop, and the zombie herd.
After an hour of walking, it finally felt safe enough to have some conversation. Smoke filled the horizon to the west, but Josh didn’t see flames among the trees. They were taking a break at a culvert in a drainage ditch between the woods and a large unplowed field. Josh hoped that the cement and gravel would act as a firebreak if the fire was still spreading. It was hard to tell with the shift in the wind blowing the smoke from the truck stop away from them. There had been a few loud explosions in the last hour, and Josh suspected they’d originated at the truck stop.
The Living Dead Boy (Book 2): Lost in Texas Page 9