by JE Gurley
“Apocalypse, assholes!” Sugar Bear yelled out the window. “Lighten up.” He thought about what he said and laughed.
“Sugar,” said Dez, “that one’s going down with ‘Damn the torpedoes’ and ‘I shall return’.”
“Thank you, thank you,” Sugar Bear said. “Make sure they spell my name right. D-e-s-m-o-n-d R-i-t-t-e-r.”
“I think ‘Sugar Bear’ is more colorful, and will really give historians something to think about.”
“Uh huh.”
Newkirk swung back up Westholme and the entrance to Parking Lot 2.
Poe still lay there, now in a bright pool of scarlet. The zombies surrounding him saw Newkirk’s car and left their vigil.
Newkirk plowed through the barrier.
“Hey!” shouted Monroe, probably more out of habit than anything else.
“Sue me,” Newkirk barked. “Where’s your fucking car?”
Monroe indicated an older Chevy near the office. Newkirk made for it and slammed on the brakes. He popped the hatch. Monroe prepared to exit.
“The .45, drittsekk,” Dez said.
“I need this,” Monroe whined.
Quicker than Tom would have thought possible, Dez struck out and clocked the man in the face. As Monroe rocked back, Dez grabbed the .45.
Monroe put a hand to his face and started crying. “Please, man, I’ve got a wife and two little kids, a boy and a girl.”
“We need…” Dez began, but Newkirk interrupted him.
“Give him the fucking gun.”
Dez started to protest, then handed the man the gun. Monroe took it gratefully and scrambled out.
They waited until he was safely in his car and then Newkirk peeled out.
Zombies were coming up the ramp, and Newkirk plowed into two of them.
One flew into the retaining wall and its skull promptly exploded. Tom thought he saw something fly out of the gore, something that went straight up and then out of sight.
“What about you?” Newkirk asked Heather.
She shook her head. “My roommate was killed over by Royce earlier. I don’t care where we go.”
Newkirk nodded and began threading his way down Hilgard. It was still easy if you were willing to drive over lawns and sidewalks. Other drivers who hadn’t thought that was an option honked and swore.
Not knowing what else to do, Tom leaned back and closed his eyes…
…and thought of Taylor.
“The Thetis Plague” available from Amazon here