Chapter 13

Several police officers were standing by the barricade’s perimeter, but none of them had even drawn their weapons yet. The one standing closest to the zombies had one hand on his holster as he raised his other hand.

“Stop! Do not move or we will open fire!”

I wasted precious moments staring at the sheer idiocy of these cops who stared death in the face and still hesitated to pull the trigger. Their brains probably couldn’t comprehend the macabre magic that must be compelling mutilated corpses to arise again and come to reap their lives.

Then again, could I really blame them? Even after everything I’d been through in these past few hours, I could hardly believe my own eyes.

Zombies. Damn Charon had thrown zombies at us.

Not just a few, either. Just at a glance, it looked like every single corpse in the goddamn mall had turned into one of these things. That brought a chill to my veins. I had seen thousands, tens of thousands of people earlier today. Just how many of those people had a few dozen blood-thirsty terrorists armed with automatic assault rifles managed to gun down in 15 minutes?

A hell of a lot more than I cared to face with just a shotgun and a machete, that was for damn sure.

And still these idiots refused to fire, for fuck’s sake.

“This is your last warning. Stop or-”

BANG

The now familiar roar from Allie’s bolt action rifle cut the cop’s words short, her shot striking one of the zombies high in the chest. The power of the impact slammed it back against the ground. Only then did the cops finally draw their guns, but even then some had the audacity to point them at Allie.

“You idiots, they’re zombies, not people! Shoot them now before it’s too late!” I shouted, even as I raised my own shotgun.

Thank god none of these morons had managed to take our guns away.

Even as the words left my mouth, I took careful aim and pulled the trigger. At nearly 90 feet, it was a tough shot for my mediocre skills. Thunder roared and I missed my target. Thankfully, a shotgun’s a particularly forgiving weapon. That was precisely the reason why I preferred it over other guns.

The pellets missed the chest area, but the right leg of one of the zombies at the front of the pack suddenly spurted blood. The zombie was sent sprawling to the floor, skidding back along the smooth tiles and leaving a bloody trail behind.

“Start shooting before they eat us all!”

I had no idea if they would actually eat us. That’s just what I’d seen in the movies. At this point, I couldn’t care less. I just hollered the first thing that came to my mind, and it worked.

My words seemed to have at least some effect, as sporadic fire from the cops began pelting the zombies, slowing their advance. To my dismay, that was mostly it. Most of the cops were only armed with pistols. Against normal humans, a couple bullets to the chest would stop them cold on their feet, even if they didn’t manage to kill them altogether.

These things, however, were clearly already dead. Even when struck by bullets, they only rocked them back slightly, after which they would resume their insane dash with renewed ferocity.

Fuck movies, pistols were just shit against zombies. They barely slowed them down at all.

That speed was the most alarming part. These weren’t shambling groups of uncoordinated corpses stumbling forward. They were ravenous beasts rushing at a full sprint, ambling along the ground like a pack of vicious hunters thirsty for blood. Even as I continued to empty shell after shell into the incoming pack of undead, it quickly became clear just who was the predator and who was the prey.

It wasn’t just me, either. The cops began backing away, even as they continued to fire. As the zombies swiftly closed the 100 feet gap to the barricade, more and more shots began to miss as fear began to spread among the ranks.

Allie and I gave a far better accounting for ourselves than most cops. Each of my shotgun blasts would take at least one of the zombies off their feet. The same was true for Allie. It was like she couldn’t miss. Shot after shot continued to hammer at the zombies, thinning their ranks.

It still wasn’t enough.

One cop fired his last bullet almost at point blank range. The zombie in front of him reeled back for a moment, but then leapt over the waist-high barricade and pounced upon the man. It sank its teeth into his neck and blood was sprayed out in a grisly mess, cutting off the poor bastard’s dying screams in a choked gurgle.

That did it. Survivors began screaming and running for their lives while more undead vaulted over the barricade. The police were panicking, many of them being taken down by a zombie even as they fumbled for a fresh magazine for their empty gun.

I had just run out of shells when one of the zombies leapt at me from the pack. I smashed the butt of my gun against its face, then followed up with a kick to its chest. The zombie stumbled back, but quickly regained its balance and sprang at me again. I dropped my shotgun with a growl and unsheathed my machete, delivering a brutal chop against its unguarded head that nearly split its skull in two.

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Hearing a growl beside me, I turned around to see a zombie rushing toward the SWAT team member. He was using an MP-5 submachine gun instead of an actual assault rifle or a shotgun, and he paid dearly for it. The man was a true professional, landing nearly all of his shots on target even under such high stress. Not that it did him any good.

It was like the zombie didn’t even give a damn about the burst of bullets that had just been emptied against its chest at point blank range. It charged at the man and bore him screaming to the ground.

Shouting at the top of my lungs, I rushed forward and smashed my machete down upon the back of the zombie’s neck. It bit deeply into flesh, but the zombie didn’t even seem to notice as it continued to claw at its victim. The man was barely managing to hold it off.

I took another swing, this time striking its head. The blade sunk halfway into its skull before the zombie finally came to a stop with a shudder. I kicked it off and reached down, pulling the officer back to his feet. Fortunately, I'd intervened in time and his wounds didn't look serious.

“Aim for their heads,” I said, turning around to scan for threats. After a moment, I slowly lowered my machete.

The last of the zombies were finally being gunned down, but not before taking at least a dozen or so victims with them.

“What the hell are these things?” asked the SWAT team member with a trembling voice.

“Zombies,” I said flatly, sounding far calmer than I felt.

“Zombies? B-But that’s impossible,” he said, staring at me in horror. “There has to be another-”

“You almost got your face chewed off by this thing after emptying your gun into its chest. Now wake up and do your job,” I growled, and ignored the shudder my words produced in the man.

“Kai, we need to go.”

Turning to Allie, I furrowed my brows. “What?”

“We need to go. Now,” Allie repeated, checking her magazine before popping it into her rifle and pulling the bolt lever back.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, incredulous.

“There are no weapons here except for handguns, too many civilians, and with all this noise there are probably hundreds of zombies on their way here right now,” Allie said calmly, looking me in the eyes.

“We can’t just leave all these people,” I said, horrified.

Allie leaned in close then, whispering right beside my ear. Her voice was filled with a cold finality that chilled me to the core.

“We can’t do anything for them, they’re already dead.”

“But-”

“Five,” she said simply, as though that one word explained it all.

“Five?” I repeated stupidly.

“Only five survivors for this stage, Kai.”

That’s when it hit me. Only five vials of antivirus were available. I looked around me in mute horror, all the blood draining from my face. The police officers tending to the wounded, the survivors still reeling in shock and terror from the attack, even the little girl sitting at the corner crying for her mother - Allie was right, they were all dead men walking.

“Kai, we need to get moving.” Allie said again.

I nodded numbly, even as I wrestled with the weight of all the dead and dying around me. Allie pulled insistently on my hand, and I finally began to move.

“Let’s try to at least warn them-” I began, but Allie cut me off.

“No, we can’t. They’re dead and I won’t let them pull us down with them. We’re leaving while we still can.”

I frowned at her words. There was an undertone that hinted at something I didn’t quite understand, like a hidden meaning behind her words. Still, I knew better than to ask right now. So, I obediently followed behind as she pulled me by the hand.

“Hey, where are you going?” I heard a man call from behind.

Allie ignored him, resolutely moving forward.

“Where are they going?”

“T-They’re leaving.”

“What? No, somebody stop them!”

Very quickly a commotion rose behind our backs. I tried to ignore it as best I could, but that only seemed to encourage the mob. They began to close in around us, each of their words growing louder and angrier than the last.

“How can they just leave?”

“Don’t be so selfish!”

“We have to stick together!”

The situation quickly escalated and before we knew it, things were getting out of hand. The crowd was shouting angrily while forming a circle around us and blocking our way.

Allie didn’t even slow down, releasing my hand and hefting the rifle in both her hands. The meaning of her actions was obvious.

We were nearly on top of the crowd when a police officer stepped out in front of us.

“Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to lower your gun and step back,” he said evenly, but I noticed that his hand was on his gun holster.

“Step aside,” Allie said flatly. “We’re leaving.”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that. It’s dangerous out there.”

“Are you placing me under arrest?” Allie asked.

“What? No, of course not,” the police officer replied.

“Then step the fuck away from me. One way or the other, we’re leaving right now,” Allie growled, tightening her grip on her rifle. By her stance, it was obvious she wasn’t bluffing.

The police officer swallowed dryly while his hand drifted toward his gun.

“Let them through,” came the sudden order from behind us.

I turned my head around and nodded gratefully to the SWAT team member.

“But they have a rifle and a shotgun,” a man called out from the crowd.

More voices quickly joined in.

“Yeah, we need them. They can’t just walk away!”

“At least take their guns. Your pistols ain’t doing shit against these.. These things!”

“Yeah, we have women and children here. We need those guns!”

“Stop them!”

“Stop them!”

“Don’t let them leave!”

I stared as the crowd began closing in on us with anger and madness twisting their expressions until they began to resemble zombies themselves.

BANG

The sudden gunshot almost made me jump out of my skin.

Allie stepped forward while leveling the smoking muzzle of her rifle toward the crowd with cold, pitiless eyes.

“If any of you sorry bastards think you can take my gun from me, then step up right the fuck now so I can pump your balls full of lead,” Allie said softly into the silence that followed.

The crowd froze in their tracks, each set of eyes glancing at the person beside them, but none daring to step forward. They had all seen just how deadly a shot Allie was against the pack of zombies.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so,” Allie said. “Now get the fuck out of my way.”

No one said another word as the crowd parted and we walked away.