running before he said that.
We run along the gravel road at full speed, barely getting away from the car as the first wave of undead moan and groan and bump their slimy, oozy bodies along the Suburban. My heart sinks and races at the same time. I had really believed Ryan would get the tire changed in time and save the day.
“We should get off the road,” Megan pants as we run four-abreast along the gravel road. The zombies are not that far behind us, though we momentarily have the advantage of speed. They, however, have the advantage of never getting tired.
Ryan points to the opposite side of the road, and we race down the ditch. He holds the barbed wire apart with his foot and stretches the other one up with his arm. Megan dives underneath, followed by Abby, and then me. Megan holds the wire in turn, and I nearly scream when Ryan’s backpack gets caught on his way through. He tugs a little harder, and then it releases with a small rip of fabric before he tumbles across the grass. He gets to his feet really fast though, and I thank God for that.
Some of the zombies are almost to the fence already, and are leaning against it, moaning and gnashing their teeth with their arms upraised.
“We have to get moving!” Ryan yells to be heard over the noise, and we take off again.
I have no idea where we are going—we’re just running across a huge, grassy field that looks like it goes on forever. We run for a solid twenty minutes before my legs start to feel like jelly, and my lungs burn in agony. I’ve had a cramp in my side for the last ten minutes, but it’s crazy what you can ignore when you are being chased by something that wants to kill and maim you. We have outdistanced the zombies a bit, and I can’t go on. I slow to a walk and double over, clutching the stitch in my side.
“Jane,” Ryan grabs me by the arm and tries to propel me back into a run.
“I can’t,” I gasp in agony. I don’t want to die, but I can’t run another step without a rest either. Ryan looks behind us before slowing to a walk with a resigned huff.
“Thank God,” Abby moans, clutching her side. Even Megan has a red face and is puffing like she’s about to die.
“We can’t slow down for very long, or they will gain back the bit of ground we’ve put between us,” he warns.
Ryan doesn’t let go of my arm, and I force myself to walk through the agony—at least it’s not running, I tell myself. I focus on steadying my breathing while digging in my bag for a bottle of water. I take long, chugging swallows. Everyone else does the same.
“What are we going to do?” Abby whimpers, and I know how she feels.
“Run until we find somewhere safe.” Ryan says.
I am not a huge fan of that idea, but it’s not like we have a choice. We walk for another five minutes before Ryan says the words I’ve been dreading.
“Alright, breaks over.”
All three of us girls groan as we force our already stiffening muscles back into longer strides.
Sweat is pouring off every inch of my body, making me itch, but I force myself to ignore it and attempt to focus on the barely-there breeze that is somewhat fanning my forehead. We come to another section of fence and cross through it into another field of grass. This grass isn’t green and thick, it looks more like grazing land with yellowing grass that has been chewed down to a nub.
I force myself to keep going as I try to think of anything else to make me forget the pain in my body.
“There…has to be…a house….somewhere,” Megan pants.
I shake my head in dismay. We are in the middle of nowhere with hundreds of zombies on our tail.
“What’s that up ahead?” Ryan slows his gruelling pace back to a walk.
I try to blink the sweat out of my eyes enough to focus on the lone figure ahead of us.
“Do you think it’s someone who can help us?” I ask hopefully. My dreams are crushed when I run an arm across my eyes and see that the figure has the same staggering gait as the monsters
We run along the gravel road at full speed, barely getting away from the car as the first wave of undead moan and groan and bump their slimy, oozy bodies along the Suburban. My heart sinks and races at the same time. I had really believed Ryan would get the tire changed in time and save the day.
“We should get off the road,” Megan pants as we run four-abreast along the gravel road. The zombies are not that far behind us, though we momentarily have the advantage of speed. They, however, have the advantage of never getting tired.
Ryan points to the opposite side of the road, and we race down the ditch. He holds the barbed wire apart with his foot and stretches the other one up with his arm. Megan dives underneath, followed by Abby, and then me. Megan holds the wire in turn, and I nearly scream when Ryan’s backpack gets caught on his way through. He tugs a little harder, and then it releases with a small rip of fabric before he tumbles across the grass. He gets to his feet really fast though, and I thank God for that.
Some of the zombies are almost to the fence already, and are leaning against it, moaning and gnashing their teeth with their arms upraised.
“We have to get moving!” Ryan yells to be heard over the noise, and we take off again.
I have no idea where we are going—we’re just running across a huge, grassy field that looks like it goes on forever. We run for a solid twenty minutes before my legs start to feel like jelly, and my lungs burn in agony. I’ve had a cramp in my side for the last ten minutes, but it’s crazy what you can ignore when you are being chased by something that wants to kill and maim you. We have outdistanced the zombies a bit, and I can’t go on. I slow to a walk and double over, clutching the stitch in my side.
“Jane,” Ryan grabs me by the arm and tries to propel me back into a run.
“I can’t,” I gasp in agony. I don’t want to die, but I can’t run another step without a rest either. Ryan looks behind us before slowing to a walk with a resigned huff.
“Thank God,” Abby moans, clutching her side. Even Megan has a red face and is puffing like she’s about to die.
“We can’t slow down for very long, or they will gain back the bit of ground we’ve put between us,” he warns.
Ryan doesn’t let go of my arm, and I force myself to walk through the agony—at least it’s not running, I tell myself. I focus on steadying my breathing while digging in my bag for a bottle of water. I take long, chugging swallows. Everyone else does the same.
“What are we going to do?” Abby whimpers, and I know how she feels.
“Run until we find somewhere safe.” Ryan says.
I am not a huge fan of that idea, but it’s not like we have a choice. We walk for another five minutes before Ryan says the words I’ve been dreading.
“Alright, breaks over.”
All three of us girls groan as we force our already stiffening muscles back into longer strides.
Sweat is pouring off every inch of my body, making me itch, but I force myself to ignore it and attempt to focus on the barely-there breeze that is somewhat fanning my forehead. We come to another section of fence and cross through it into another field of grass. This grass isn’t green and thick, it looks more like grazing land with yellowing grass that has been chewed down to a nub.
I force myself to keep going as I try to think of anything else to make me forget the pain in my body.
“There…has to be…a house….somewhere,” Megan pants.
I shake my head in dismay. We are in the middle of nowhere with hundreds of zombies on our tail.
“What’s that up ahead?” Ryan slows his gruelling pace back to a walk.
I try to blink the sweat out of my eyes enough to focus on the lone figure ahead of us.
“Do you think it’s someone who can help us?” I ask hopefully. My dreams are crushed when I run an arm across my eyes and see that the figure has the same staggering gait as the monsters
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