Trudge: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse by Shawn Chesser Page A

The Escalade didn't have run flat tires so there was the outside chance of a big femur or tibia bone puncturing a tire and forcing them to stop, potentially leaving them surrounded.
    In his peripheral vision Carl noticed the sun flash off of the speeding car a second before impact. The interior of the Cadillac erupted with a whirlwind of flying glass and the horrible sound of compacting sheet metal. Before they could even comprehend what had just happened, the airbags exploded, leaving all of the windows obscured. The big luxury SUV spun three full revolutions before coming to a stop in the middle of the far right lane and then it rocked back and forth on its suspension for a short duration.
    Carl came to, his head throbbed, his back was killing him and he momentarily forgot where he was. The silence was eerie, white powder from the deployed airbags swirled around his face reminding him of feathers floating in the air after a pillow fight.
    Brook took a blow to the head when it bounced off of the passenger side glass, she was fortunate to have suffered only a mild concussion. Most of the windows were now in thousands of tiny pieces all over the road and the inside of the SUV.
    Brooks’ first instinct was to look for Raven. Her little girl was curled into a ball on the floor of the third row of seats. Raven coughed and called out for her mom.
    In the seconds after impact Carl shook his head and felt his extremities checking for anything broken. Satisfied that there weren’t any nonworking parts, he looked out through the imploded windows for any threats. A midsize black 6 series BMW sat 50 feet away leaking fluids, smoke started to billow from the engine compartment.
    As the airbag powder finished settling in the SUVs interior, Carl asked his sister and niece if they were ok. Waving the dust from in front of her face, Brook said “I’ve had better days. My head REALLY hurts." From the back of the Escalade Raven continued calling for her mom.
    Still surveying the intersection Carl noticed a handful of the undead on the other side of the now burning BMW. He turned his attention to the occupants of the car; the passenger had just started stirring. The driver was slumped over the deflated airbag.
    "Brook, get Raven out and cover me with the shotgun. I'm going to check on those people" Carl said pointing towards the wreck.
    He found that running wasn’t easy. The violent impact had caused his knees to knock together and they both hurt like hell.
    Arriving at the Beemer’s passenger side Carl tried to open the door. It was jammed shut by the crumpled metal around the frame. The dazed passenger pleaded "Save my wife, please!"
    Carl circled the car, taking note of about a dozen walkers half a block away. One look at the woman in the driver’s seat said it all. Her head was misshapen and her skull was visible where her scalp had been peeled back; blood trickled from her ears and nose. He was about to make another effort to extricate the man when a whooshing sound and a blast of superheated air came from under the car, followed by angry flames licking up the doors.
    Carl hobbled backwards, hands up warding off the intense heat and then rejoined his sister and niece. He watched the man in the BMW cross himself as the undead walkers arrived at the car. Oblivious to the searing heat they attacked the drivers head and upper body, rending chunks of flesh off of him with their teeth and hands. Fully aware of his fate, the man emitted a high pitched warbling howl that turned into shrieks as they continued ripping into him.
    Taking advantage of the BMW occupant’s unwitting sacrifice, the three left the ruined SUV and made for the sprawling industrial buildings on the other side of the highway. Behind them a loud secondary explosion rocked the intersection, scattering and setting a number of the zombies afire. Still, a few of the walkers took chase.
    Dodging the light traffic, they safely made their way across all six lanes. Carl held