Chapter 4 The Chase

Zombies banged on the hood in an effort to climb toward her, knocking her out of her shock. She surveyed the sides of the street, but the downpour limited her vision. Left with no other choice, she floored the police car, spinning the rear tires for a moment before they grabbed.

The engine roared, struggling against the solid wall of rotten bodies. Unfortunately, unlike her previous zombie ramming, the cop car lost grip, spinning the rear tires again. Refusing to give in, Elysia rotated the steering wheel, trying to find any weak points, but the dense wall of zombies left no openings.

She slammed the car into reverse, impacting the tree a dozen meters behind her. While staring down the wall of zombies, she shifted to drive, stomping on the gas pedal, lurching forward. The police car collided with the wall of zombies, splattering guts on the windshield as she plowed through the walking corpses.

The rear end fishtailed but kept pushing forward. This march slowed to a crawl as more and more zombies piled on. She shifted into reverse to give it another try, but failed to gain traction. A glance out the rear window filled her with terror. She let off the gas pedal before grabbing the shotgun, clutching it to her chest as hundreds of zombies pounded on the police car.

Any outside light disappeared under the pile of zombies, but the reinforced car held its ground against the deafening banging. She clenched her eyes closed, hugging the shotgun for dear life.

After several minutes of beating, the windshield spider-webbed before crumbling inward under the weight of several zombies.

Elysia squeaked in fear as she leveled the shotgun at the windshield, finger trembling on the trigger. The sound of shattering behind her startled her, releasing an explosion of buckshot at the windshield. Rain poured through the now zombie free opening on the left side of the windshield, allowing her a momentary view of her surroundings, only filling her with more dread.

A second later, a zombie filled the gap, reaching through the hole. She pumped the shotgun, shooting the half skeletal zombie in the face, obliterating its head. The zombie bent back from the impact before reaching again, unbothered by its missing head. Her eyes went wide in disbelief as she pumped the shotgun again, aiming for the arm, pulverizing it. This time, the zombie flew out of the now much bigger hole only for another zombie to replace it.

A skeletal hand grabbed her right arm from behind, shooting buckshot through the ceiling. She fought against the ironclad grip as her left hand grabbed for a pistol. Without looking behind her, she fired blindly, peppering the plastic rear seat with 9 mm rounds but the hand held firm, yanking her right arm awkwardly behind the seat. She rested the butt of the shotgun on her lap, pumping it with her left arm before leaning it over the seat and pulling the trigger. This time the zombie released its grip, allowing her to grab another shotgun, spinning in her seat before releasing several blasts of buckshot, spraying the Swiss cheese plastic backseat with zombie guts. The zombie’s pulverized body twitched as it fought to reach her, now missing both its arms and half its chest. She pumped the shotgun again just as an arm shot through the driver’s side window, scratching at her waist.

With a quick twist, she lined the barrel up with the intruding arm before pulling the trigger, shattering the rest of the window, and propelling the clinging zombie backward. Unrelenting in their pursuit, another zombie dove through the gaping windshield, earning itself a shotgun blast.

Water poured in through the shattered windows, washing away the zombie guts as Elysia panted, pointing the barrel at each hole, waiting for the next zombie to enter. This time zombies crawled through the back window, windshield, and driver side windows simultaneously, forcing her to release three consecutive shots before tossing the empty shotgun aside to grab another, now down to four loaded shotguns.

The dark street lit up bright blue as an Earth rattling thunder crack pierced through the never-ending banging and moaning. Numb to sudden sounds, Elysia released several shots out the windshield, momentarily clearing off the hood. She took advantage of the reprieve mashing on the accelerator as she released round after round out the front, thinning the sea of zombies just enough for the car to roll forward. Emboldened by her success, she tossed aside the depleted shotgun, grabbing another to continue her assault, pulverizing the zombies in front of her.

An arm shot through the driver’s side window, causing the car to swerve to the right, stalling her momentum. Beyond the point of fear, Elysia leveled the shotgun at the intruding zombie, propelling it out the window before continuing her assault at the rotten wall in front of her. She swerved back into the thinned out lane down the center of the street flooring the car, using her knees to steer while both hands worked to shower the path with lead. The latest shotgun clicked empty, so she tossed it aside, grabbing a fresh one just as the path cleared enough to see past the horde. A moment later, more zombies filled the gap, but one view was enough to give her hope.

Rain pelted through the now nonexistent windshield, obscuring her vision, but she refused to let up, even though her shoulder spasmed in agony only kept going by adrenaline.

Charge 25.

Despite the adrenaline propping her up, her vision blurred as her thoughts became muddy. Still, her single-minded goal of crawling forward prevailed as the gap opened once again, this time allowing her to shoot through. She swayed on her seat but kept the pedal floored, shaking off the clinging zombies as the car propelled itself northward toward the cemetery. The horde of zombies gave chase, but they were no match for the battered car swerving down the road.

Her vision dimmed momentarily, forcing her to shake her head, careening the car to the right. She yanked the steering wheel hard to the left, narrowly missing a tree sprouted through the curb. The rear end slid out, sending her sideways into an uncontrolled power slide. Helpless to stop the hydroplaning vehicle, Elysia held on for dear life as the car slid sideways onto Settler Lane, smashing hard into the curb. The left side of the vehicle lifted into the air as Elysia launched into the passenger seat, not wearing a seatbelt. Her head slammed hard into the passenger side window, causing her to black out as the car returned to earth.

Her brain rebooted a second later just as the zombies neared her car. She groaned before snapping back into focus at the sound of the approaching zombies. Her blurry vision spotted the silhouettes of the horde five meters away. With a force of will, Elysia shoved the passenger door open and stumbled out. She grabbed the last remaining loaded shotgun, slinging it over her shoulder before grabbing two pistols, stuffing several magazines in her soaked shorts pockets.

Her unsteady legs forced her battered body down the sidewalk just as the horde reached the destroyed car.

Charge 15.

She stumbled, legs growing numb, resting her hand on the fence bordering the cemetery. The sound of shambling footsteps through the downpour forced her forward. Her breath came in short, labored spurts, struggling to intake enough oxygen to support her failing body.

Elysia tripped over the curb, tumbling to the flooded street. She gritted her teeth as she forced herself upright, ignoring her skinned knee, which joined the long list of pains. Several splashes behind her sent her into a stilted jog, stumbling every other step as she crossed the street. She glanced over her shoulder to find a dozen zombies following her.

Upon reaching the other side of the street, her right knee buckled, forcing her to lean against the traffic light. A grimace flashed across her face as she dropped the pistols on the rain-soaked sidewalk before grabbing her shotgun. She leveled it at the approaching horde, waiting until they were a couple of meters away before unloading while leaning heavily against the traffic light for support, unable to bear the kick.

The dark road lit up from shotgun fire as the nearest zombies flew backward, toppling over those behind it like bowling pins. Afraid to let up, Elysia released another blast, pulverizing the head of one zombie and half the chest of another. She targeted two zombies on the left on the verge of standing up, knocking them over once again, only for the others to recover. Realizing shooting for vitals wasn’t working, she next targeted their legs, pulverizing six pairs before the shotgun clicked empty. She tossed it aside, then bent down to grab the pistols, groaning as her back and knees protested.

By the time she stood up, the six zombies with legs shambled within two meters as the other zombies crawled behind. With trembling hands, she unloaded both pistols into the zombie’s chests, but other than jerking back, they appeared unaffected.

Charge 10.

Elysia clutched the empty pistols in her hands as she turned tail to run, but her body had other ideas. The numbness spread through her body, sending her in a drunken zigzag, just barely remaining upright. She made it a block before leaning against a white picket fence.

After a glance back at the approaching zombies, she fumbled with her pistols, releasing the empty magazines before digging out new ones. Reloaded, she turned toward the smaller horde before unloading her pistols, once again focusing on their legs. Unfortunately, her impaired vision caused her to miss a majority of her shots. Two zombies lost a leg below the knee, sending them crashing to the sidewalk, but the other four continued to shamble forward.

Elysia released the spent magazines popping in her last two. A whimper escaped her numbing lips as she forced her lead body across the street.

The gimped zombies fell behind, unable to keep up with their two-legged brethren.

Charge 5.

She crossed another street, now shuffling, unable to lift her legs. Her arms swung limply at her sides, clinging on to the pistols for dear life. Her left foot caught on a gap in the uneven sidewalk, sending her tumbling to the ground. The pistols fell out of her hands, skidding down the sidewalk as she slammed hard on her right shoulder.

Stars danced in her vision, but the splashing of the zombie’s steps forced her into action. Her blurry vision scanned the sidewalk for her pistols, finding them a meter away. She pushed herself on her hands and knees, crawling forward before reaching out grasping the slick grips.

Her legs gave out, dropping her on her stomach as the zombies bore down on her. She forced her protesting body on its back, then aimed both pistols at the blurry silhouettes.

Charge 4.

Her arms swayed, struggling to lift the pistols as she opened fire, aiming vaguely at their shuffling legs. The first dozen shots missed, but several hit the nearest crawling zombies a dozen meters away. She held her breath and narrowed her eyes, zeroing in on the blurry legs before pulling the trigger on each gun.

The farthest right zombie got kneecapped, crumbling to the pavement, followed by the zombie just to its left with a shattered left shin.

Charge 3.

Black encroached at the edges of her vision as she turned the smoking barrels to the left zombies. Elysia entered the zone, cutting out everything but the two standing zombies. With careful shots, she fired at the moving narrow targets, causing one to collapse from several shots peppering its right leg.

Charge 2.

Uncaring of its fallen brethren, the final zombie shuffled forward now less than a meter from its prey.

Charge 1.

Elysia’s eyes fluttered closed for a moment, reopening to find the zombie standing over her. She willed her arms to lift, but they refused to respond.

Her darkening vision stared up at the sky as the rain stopped and clouds thinned, allowing the sun to peek through, revealing a beautiful rainbow.

Charge 0.

Elysia’s eyelids drifted closed as her body went limp.