by Dead Road 02
He was closer, closer than before and his heart beat faster at the thought of actually reaching his goal. Lifting his head, he took note of all the zombies that were mulling around in the distance. A wad of spit shot from his mouth and he stood up straight, hands on his hips. His legs burned from exertion, but he ignored them.
“Only a couple more miles, I can do this,” he panted and spat again, trying to remove the taste of his puke from his mouth. He began mapping his route to the school. Get off the highway in four exits, and stick to the main road. A left on Rose Avenue and then the first right and he’d be there.
The few zombies that trudged along the highway were drawing closer, attracted by the sound of honking cars. John gathered his breath. With one deep inhalation, he started toward them, clutching his bat with both hands. He found his legs suddenly running and he soon sprinted past their grabbing hands. When any got too close, his bat would knock them away, cracking their skulls with hasty strikes. He danced in and out of their reach, making sure not to stop for too long, always moving. At times he simply speed walked, and he still traveled faster than any of the zombies. They were slow, and John didn’t fear the ones he left behind anymore, knowing they wouldn’t catch up.
He only needed to worry about the ones in front of him. That didn’t mean he never looked back. He wasn’t foolish enough to ignore his surroundings. He knew that at any moment they could appear behind him, both surprising and then ending him. He wouldn’t let that happen.
He smiled as he closed in on his exit. The bat swung up, catching a man beneath his jaw and rocking him off his feet. With the momentum, John spun around, hitting a woman in the temple. As she collapsed, he continued on, feeling his arms tiring. Exhaling a shuddering breath, he pushed on, feet pounding the pavement. Far behind him he could still hear the blaring horns and the long winded moans.
Hopping the center divider, he jogged to the off ramp, slipping between two stationary cars. He could see Rose Avenue and the neighborhoods around it, recognizing them immediately. His smile grew wider and his panting became heavier. He nimbly dodged around a young boy’s hands as they grabbed for him. The boy tumbled from over extending, falling on his stomach.
Rose Avenue was a wide, four lane road, leading into several residential areas. Pleasant single-story homes lined the sides, their yards, once well-kept, were now covered in abandoned cars, blood, and bodies. Dozens of the walking dead stumbled around the street, while others feasted on corpses, desperately gnawing meat from bone.
John closed his eyes for a moment, exhausted. He knew he had to make his way past all of them to get to the school, but he was growing too weary. Running and swinging the bat for the last seven miles had taken a toll. He moved closer to one of the homes, stepped on the front yard and crouched low behind a bush, hiding from sight.
He placed the bat on the ground and shook his arms, rotating them at the shoulders. They popped softly and his face contorted in pain. Taking a moment to let his aching shoulders relax, John ran a hand through his hair, finding it greasy. He rubbed his hand on his jeans and reached down for his bat. When his hand closed around nothing, he glanced to where his bat should have been, finding it missing instead.
“Wha–?” The back of his eyes exploded with flashing lights and the bushes in front of him became blurry green blobs. His skull throbbed so hard that the pressure began forcing his sight to go dark. He felt his body falling as the world turned black.
End Of Part 2