markson721

Chapter 9

Swarmed

Eric was still lost in his thoughts as he trudged back to the gas station and the small band of stunned survivors. His shoulders sagged with guilt forcing his eyes towards the ground. He wasnt sure hed be able to look his fellow survivors in the eye when he returned. A piece of himself had died back in the gym. A piece so critical that he felt he was already starting to slip the tethers of what defined humanity. Reluctantly he pulled his eyes up from the ground just a step in front of him and watched as Freds back disappeared in the distance.
Propelled by some other force then his conscious mind Eric started jogging after the mechanic. He was a good eight or nine strides behind the lanky mechanic. He pushed his legs to move a little faster. He was just about to catch Fred when Erics eyes fell on the scene of chaos unfolding around the gas station.
All four vehicles that the little group he was a part of were sitting at the pumps feeding the gluttonous gas tanks as those with guns fought to buy a few extra seconds. Sanchez was kneeling against the nearer gas pump on the right and using the pump for cover. His shots were slow and methodical and he didnt waste a single shot as Eric watched him fire off a three shot burst. Three zombies went down in quick succession, the body of an early twenties woman in a sun dress falling face first into the center of Grand Ave. Erics feet were unconsciously steering him through the anarchy that was collapsing in on the survivors.
Erics eyes continued to drift to the right and he spotted Fred pressing his back to the second pump on the right. He was wedged between the white SUV and the gas pump and was fumbling to feed a handful of shells into the shotgun. From where he was standing Eric could hear the incessant moan of hunger that rattled out of the zombies cracked throats as they shambled closer to Fred. The guy in the red shirt from the gym was manning the pump his eyes darting from the nozzle to the pump to the approaching zombies in short twitches like a meth addict.
Finally loading the shotgun Fred hammered the slide and fed one of the shells into the barrel. He was to his right using the corner of the pump for cover and fired a knee jerk shot into the face of a zombie that had managed to close to within three feet of the mechanic. The dead things head vaporized like a watermelon crammed with dynamite, a mist of red and grey hung in the air like a gentle summer cloud for a seconds before Fred swung his gun to the left and sighted up on another zombie.
Kirk was across the small cement lane from Fred and the SUV. Kirk was using the driver side fender of the truck for cover as he tried holding a cluster of zombies back. They were shuffling around the left edge of the gas station and moving on unsteady legs towards Kirk and the burly man with the sleeveless t-shirt who was just starting to top off his tank.
Like most of the South Hill the gas station was surrounded by mid century homes clustered closely together. Eric didnt know how he knew but he was sure that the sounds of their assault on the gas station to save Fred and Tommy and their subsequent foray into the gym had drawn the zombies towards them. Eric was surprised they hadnt run into larger groups of zombies like this already. Besides his own neighborhood and the dozen or so who had followed the patrol car down 37th Ave they hadnt run into a large group of zombies yet. It confirmed a fear that Eric had been holding back for the last hour, most everyone if not everyone up here was dead and were coming back as they insatiable dead.
Eric was snapped from his stupor by Kirks next shot which hit to the left of the zombie he had been aiming for. The bullet tore out a section of the cinderblock structure of the gas station office sending cement shrapnel into the zombies face but other than tearing a few gouges across the zombies cheek that oozed a dark thick blood his shot didnt do any damage. The zombie, a woman maybe in her mid thirties with matted wheat colored hair stared at Kirk with only a vague recollection that this thing in front of her was a meal. Her cracked and rusty colored lips peeled back over her bloody teeth as she set her sights on Kirk.
Running down the cement lane between the four pumps Eric came up on Kirks right. He planted his feet about a shoulder width apart and pulled his pistol up to his eye. Eric eased the trigger back and fired. His bullet caught the female zombie in the left shoulder forcing her to stagger backwards to keep her footing. She swung her pale eyes on Eric and snarled as Eric fired a second shot that caught the zombie in the space between the bridge of her nose and below her left eyebrow.
She fell in a heap; a sick splat accompanied her fall. Eric didnt bother to wait to see if she got up again. He turned right and fired a shot slightly to the right of center and took another zombie down as Fred moved back into the cover of his gas pump and started feeding the magazine of his shotgun again.
The crack of gunfire stayed steady as they few men who had guns and could use them continued to fire. They were holding back the flood of dead bodies but Eric was confident that the thunderclaps of their guns would continue to draw more of the dead things towards them. Sanchez, thoughts, Eric barked over the cannon-like explosion of Freds next shotgun blast. Eric chanced the look over his shoulder waiting for the gaze from Sanchez that would tell him he had been heard.
We have to get out of town. Were running low on ammunition as is, theyd overrun us if we dont go. Sanchezs face was covered in sweat. It was nowhere near hot enough in mid April for Sanchez to sweating that profusely. It was stress and fear, the same emotions slicking Erics own body in sweat. Eric could see in the Hispanic officers eyes that he knew this was a fight they werent going to win. Eric nodded shortly believing he had an idea where the lead officers mind was. Kirk whats the situation with that truck, is it ready to go?
Officer Kirk fired three quick shots wasting two bullets before his third one caught his target and sent it falling to the ground. Eric was entirely sure that the younger officer had heard Sanchez over the crack, crack, crack of his shots but a second later Kirk yelled over his shoulder, I think were fully right big fella? Kirk directed that last bit at the burly guy from the gym who nodded.
Get in and fire her up Kirk. Sanchez might have been flustered by the responsibility of commanding this inadequate group of people but he if he was unsure of himself his face didnt show it. Fred what about that SUV?
Fred was pushing a fresh shell into the shotgun and as the action snapped shut his eyes jumped up to meet Sanchezs eyes. I think were good. Fred didnt sound a hundred percent confident about that. Eric couldnt blame him; he had been forced to push back the closest cluster of zombies when he had gotten back from the gym. There was no way that he could have kept the zombies off the groups back end, reloaded the shotgun every fifth shot, and tracked the progress of the gas tank. Eric couldnt see the gym employee. Eric assumed the guy had jumped back into the SUV after his job of filling the tank was achieved.
Fred took his eyes off Sanchez and scanned the area behind him. The nearest zombie that Eric could see was at least thirty yards back, well out of range of am effective shotgun blast. Fred rushed around the back of the SUV and came up beside Eric. Fred grabbed the passenger door handle and yanked it open with more urgency then was strictly necessary at that second but the adrenaline was coursing through all them like speed.
Eric watched as Kirk fired two more shots, ejected his spend clip and latched his fingers around the door handle of the truck as the burly guy jumped in the passenger seat.
That left the truck that zombie in the yellow polo had been driving before he had been bitten. No bodies got the keys for that truck on them do they? Eric didnt wait for an answer. As Fred, Kirk, and Sanchez had retreated to the vehicles the zombies had started to close in on their group as the lethal fire from the survivors guns went silent.
His head on a swivel Eric as he divided his last few seconds between checking that no zombies were in front of him and none of the zombies he had seen behind him bum rush him. Eric was starting to feel the gentle caress of hope stroking the dark corners of his mind as he neared the drivers side door of the truck. He could see that one of the women from the gym was sitting in the passenger seat. They were going to get out of this situation having saved over a half dozen people without losing a single person.
It was the too good to be true feeling that should have told Eric that something wasnt right. He his hand was within inches of the door handle when a hard thud sent the chassis of the truck shaking. He heard the snap of breaking ice and through the drivers side window could see that a burly zombie with his nose torn off and the skin around his lower jaw and chin chewed up rear back to pound on the passenger side of the truck again. The woman from the gym, a shorter woman with dark brown hair that looked still looked like it was wet from getting out of the shower screamed and then launched herself at the drivers side door.
With strength only the desperate need to escape to safety could unleash she pushed to door which cracked against Erics outstretched hand jamming several of his fingers. She flung herself out the open door hammering her hammer hard fist into Erics chest as she leapt from the truck. Eric fell to the ground his head smacking against the cement and sending white starbursts exploding across his vision. He heard the clatter of his gun against the cement as it fell out of his hand. He rolled to his right trying to grab it. His fingers brushing against the hard metal edge of the pistols grip but he was unable to wrap his fingers around it. He put his left hand down on the cement as he felt his heart beat throbbing through his injured fingers. He moved a few inches closer to his gun. He stretched out his right arm and was able to get his hand on the gun. He pulled it in close and rolled left.
Eric turned his gun towards the front of the truck from his sitting position prepared to fire. The dark-haired womans head turned right and then let out an earsplitting shriek then she bolted to the left as a head with half the skin and hair from its head stripped away to reveal bloodstained bone. Eric fired but his vision hadnt entirely cleared and his bullet caught the zombie near the hip. The creature pitched forward but with its claw-like hands extended snagged her shirt and dragged her down with it. Eric leaned up to fire a second shot this time determined to take an extra second to make the shot count but it was too late.
The zombie was kneeling over the dark-haired woman as she screamed and struggled, a serrated chunk of muscle between her trapezoid and her shoulder blade already ripped from her body. She fought to get her hands under her body and push the zombie up but its weight was too much for her and as he darted in and tore out another chunk of her flesh she wailed and then slipped into unconsciousness. Eric quickly pushed himself to his feet and jumped into the truck. The zombie feasting on the dark-haired woman was not the one that had spooked her and Eric wasnt going to wait around to become that monsters meal. The keys were in the ignition and Eric turned them sending the sleeping giant of the truck roaring to life.
As Eric put the truck in drive and fell in behind Sanchez in the patrol car he tried to tell himself that six lives saved out of seven was more than he had any right to hope for but his thoughts stayed on the dark-haired woman and the hysterical bleating of her desperate wails as the zombie started to feed on her.