23 Hours (4 page)

It took no time at all for me to find the little armored car towards the back of the pack and I had to smile. Though it was made in the fifties, the sharp angles still made it look a little futuristic. It had the machine gun turret but unfortunately no gun. It was also missing its spare tire, but other than that it looked to be in good condition and the updated urban camo paint job was a nice touch.

I could have spent an hour admiring the car but time was not on our side so I slid the kid off my back so he could climb in first. It took no time for him to make his way into the vehicle but it wasn’t quite so easy for me; the thing wasn’t the roomiest. I tossed my tattered bag down to the kid and somehow managed to worm my way in but just as I slid into the driver’s seat a group of men emerged from the hallway and rushed into the garage. They were all shouting at each other and rushing through the room. Fortunately they didn’t seem interested in looking into any of the vehicles; instead they raced to the large steel garage door, forming a line in front of it with their guns drawn.

Each one had a submachine gun or assault rifle pointed at the garage door. “Damn,” I thought as soon as I realized what was happening. With all of them focused on the door they obviously weren’t trying to keep anyone from getting out, they were trying to keep those things from getting in.

Chapter 5

The tension grew as they fell silent once they were all in position. A couple of them shifted their weight occasionally or drummed their fingers on their trigger guards, making everyone even more nervous but they were all so focused on the door that I thought I might actually go unnoticed; that is until one of the guys at the end of the line hollered out.

My palms began to sweat as soon as I saw what he was pointing at. I had pulled the knife from the guard’s throat and even from his skull, but somehow I had forgotten to get the one from the phone.

They all turned at once and started scanning the garage. Thankfully the Ferret, with us inside, was buried in the shadows of much larger trucks. Just as they started to fan out in search of us, a loud crash reverberated across the garage causing them all to whip back around, once again pointing their guns at the door.

Several large objects slammed against the metal door, denting it in various places. The group all looked at each other in utter confusion as the assault on the door continued, but no one seemed anxious to open fire. That’s when I realized that no one seemed to have any extra magazines strapped to their vests or sticking out of pockets.

Suddenly I got it. They had limited ammo, and with the infested attacking they would probably see them as the bigger threat. They wouldn’t want to waste ammo on an armored car right?

With my mind made up, I jammed the keys into the ignition and turned the antique beast over. Unfortunately it seemed to have been sitting so long that one or both of the batteries were a little impotent. I cranked on the key, but the thing barely turned over. In fact it turned over so weekly I was surprised the guards even heard it, unfortunately they did.

Two of the guys turned around and started scanning the area, trying to figure out where the pitiful whining noise was coming from. I could have stopped right there and hoped they wouldn’t continue looking, but eventually they or the beasts attacking that door would find us. Deep down I knew our only chance was to get the damn car running.

I cranked the ignition again without any luck but it definitely gave those two guards a better idea where we were. The third time cranking the engine they figured out right where we were and started rushing towards us. Thankfully, I guess, that was right when one of the infected broke through the bottom panel of the garage door. The remaining guards screamed and opened fire, quickly drawing the attention of the two guys hunting us down. At the same time, that ancient engine finally decided to catch, spewing black exhaust throughout the garage.

The noise from that little engine was practically defining in such a confined space, but I floored it anyways, making sure that it had plenty of gas feeding into the carb. If that thing died, so would we.

Between the noise of the Ferret and the incessant pounding on the garage door, the guards were completely lost, unable to focus on one or the other. I used their momentary incompetence to my advantage, swinging the car out to the main aisle and jamming through its gears as quick as I could. I had actually managed to pick up a good amount of speed as I aimed straight for the guards. Thankfully the guys dove out of the way allowing me to crash through the door, sending metal panels and plenty of infected bodies flying.

The gunfire erupted behind us as we tore away from there. Whether or not they were aiming at us didn’t seem to matter as the bullets clanked against the Ferret, but thankfully they bounced off as the ancient armor somehow held up.

The feeling of the vehicle crushing several of the infected beneath its Run-flat wheels was actually quite satisfying. So much so that I did a couple doughnuts in the gravel lot, taking out several more. It wasn’t just about my pleasure though; I mean I did just leave a huge fuckin’ hole in the Town’s wall, so it was the least I could do even if they were trying to kill me at the time.

With at least half of the infected dead, and the rest getting blown apart by the guards within the building, I decided we were done having fun and headed towards the main gate. Things were much calmer there, though it was still far from safe; even the guards had abandoned that post for a much more secure position.

I thought about hopping out of the scout, retrieving the gate keys from the guard shack and opening the gate rather than running through it, but that was right when the giant hand reached through the window. Technically I think it’s called a port, and I have no idea why that thought ran through my head instead of anything useful, but it did. That simple hesitation was enough to allow the infected hand to grab hold of my face, squeezing the hell out of it to the point I thought my eyes would shoot from my skull.

I couldn’t see anything but the bright lights from the shooting pain and I thought my brain was about to squeeze out my ears, but just when I thought I couldn’t possibly take any more the pressure suddenly stopped and I realized the hand had let go. The infected freak was holding onto the side of the vehicle with his right hand, but released my face to swat around in front of his face unable to figure out that it was a knife, my knife, jammed into his eye socket. He looked almost like King Kong holding on to the side of a skyscraper swinging at imaginary planes flying around him. None of it fully registered within my nearly pulverized head before I saw the kid pull out another one of my knives, ready to attack the beast again.

“Hey,” I said, pulling the knife from his hand before he had a chance to lose one of our last weapons. Beside, even though he didn’t seem the slightest bit affected, the poor kid shouldn’t have to deal with killing anyone yet, even one of those things.

As King Kong flailed about, I took a risk and grabbed the knife from his face right before twisting the wheel and running the Ferret through the fence. Thankfully the impact sent King Kong tumbling to the ground so I jerked the wheel, steering us back onto the paved road.

I then gunned that thing, trying to put as much distance between us and them. The antiquated engine performed quite well and for a few minutes I felt alive and almost human again. It reminded me of the Friday nights when we’d go crusin’ looking for good times, hot chicks, a drag race or a fight. Sometimes we’d find all of the above.

When I was sure no more of the infected were clinging to the car and we were far enough from the town, I slowed down to check on the kid. He looked up at me with a smile in his eyes and I just had to shake my head at him. My heart was still racing and I still hadn’t quite caught my breath from all the excitement, but he was calm as could be. Once again I wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or concerned.

Chapter 6

A couple miles later I remembered Willie’s watch. Pulling it out, I was happy to see we’d made up for all time we’d lost that morning and we actually had a chance to make it. Unfortunately, though I’d remembered to check Willie’s watch, I hadn’t remembered to check the gas gage. That thought dawned on me right about the time the Rolls Royce engine started to sputter.

“Damn,” I thought as the thundering car suddenly fell silent and coasted to a stop along the edge of the road. Every Infected within a couple miles had to have heard us flying down the road so we had to get as far from there as possible and quick.

It could have just been the adrenaline, fear, or both, but climbing out seemed quite a bit easier than climbing in. We were out in no time, the kid hanging on tight as I rushed west to the train tracks. At that point they were a lot closer to the main road, too close if you asked me, but at least there was a field and some trees and bushes between them.

We hit the tracks and followed them south for quite a while as the sun continued getting lower in the sky. There were birds chirping in the bushes and the buzzing of too many insects but the only other sounds were my shoes on the gravel and the kid’s rhythmic breathing in my ear. Somehow it reminded my of the evenings at the church camp my mother made me attend every summer. I don’t know why, but that thought brought a slight smile to my face. There was just something almost magical about twilight in the summer. Unfortunately the magic was broken as soon as I heard the first god awful scream; it was a howler

At first the infected were completely out of control, like speedfreaks on steroids. Over time, though, some of them have started working together in packs. The howlers tend to be smaller ones in the pack, sitting up high keeping a lookout for prey while the others wait in ambush. As soon as their victim is close enough they let out the most dreadful noise, like a cross between a growl, a scream, and an air raid siren. Usually by the time you hear it, it’s too late.

My first instinct was to break out in a run, hoping to make it to some place to make my last stand, but then I realized the howl was still a bit away. That, and there was no perch nearby that a howler could have seen me. That’s when I heard the other, much more human, scream.

It’s hard to say exactly why, but I immediately shoved the kid into a nearby tree and took off through the brush and field back towards the main road. Maybe it was the thrill of the fight, maybe it was my hatred for those unholy beasts, or maybe I just had a death wish. It really didn’t matter why, all I know is that I rushed in swinging Excalibur like a madman. The first ones didn’t know what hit them, and I was able to take their heads clean off while they were focused on their prey. It was kind of funny to see the bodies thrashing about, reaching out for anything in front of them. They actually ended up grabbing one of the other ones and ripping it in half before they finished spasming and fell still.

In the meantime, the other three seemed to sense that I was a bigger threat and left their victim to focus on me. That was about the time that I realized I was in some deep shit.

Only one of them was as big as Willie had been, but the others were no less intimidating with their peeling flesh, empty eye sockets and oozing pus. I glanced around hoping to find somewhere to run, to hide or at least get some sort of strategic advantage, but there was nowhere.

I backed up slightly as they started circling, cursing myself for ending up there. I should have been in that shack, completely plastered by then. Instead, I was about to be ripped to pieces. Shortly thereafter I’d become one of them, and that was one thought I just couldn’t stand.

“Never gonna happen,” I scream as I raced forward.

That actually seemed to give them pause, for a second; then the biggest one leaped forward. It was all a chaotic mess of raw muscles, limbs, blades and teeth. Between the road rash and Godzilla’s incisors digging into my shoulder, I was overloaded by the pain, but somehow in the midst of it all I was able to feel the road vibrating. Not only that, but I had enough sense to know what was happening. Godzilla, on the other hand, was gnawing on my bones like he was trying to chew right through my shoulder. And he probably was, but that seemed to be enough to distract him from the sound of the semi racing towards us.

From the corner of my eye I could see the other two infected ones posture up to face the oncoming vehicle, probably hoping for their own meal, but Godzilla didn’t budge. I continued to pound my fist against the side of his head enough that he wouldn’t get suspicious, but I also slowly scooted us more towards the middle of the road.

The gunfire erupted suddenly, and I hadn’t expected that, but it all seemed focused on Tweedledee and Tweedledum so I took a moment to watch. It was a beautiful sight, seeing them torn to shreds by the bullets. And I was thankful for the help, but if none of the bullets hit the brainstem I was still in major trouble. None of that seemed to affect Godzilla as he stayed attached to my shoulder. The semi continued bearing down on us, so I had one last chance. I waited as long as I could, making sure the truck wasn’t going to slow down, then pulled my legs up beneath him as I positioned my feet and knees against his abdomen. With every last ounce of strength I had, I shoved his body straight up.

The thud was sickening, but somehow satisfying, as the front grill smashed into Godzilla, throwing him off of me. I’ll miss the chunk of muscle his teeth took with him, but at least I was free.

The semi kept going, not bothering to stop and check on me. It kind of pissed me off, and I was tempted to flip them the bird, but I had Excalibur in my right hand, and my left arm didn’t seem to be working any more. Besides, I couldn’t really blame them; they did at least use up some of their bullets for me; that’s more than most would have done.

I climbed to my feet as quickly as possible to check on the creatures’ first meal, but unfortunately there was other business to attend to first. Godzilla’s head was completely separated from his convulsing body, but Tweedledee and Tweedledum still had theirs attached. Not only that, but Tweedledee was trying to climb to his feet. It might have helped if he still had legs, but that didn’t stop him from trying.