Dark Realms(179)

“Eva? Are you okay?” asked Kristie.

Eva was staring out the window. After replacing her contacts and getting her first real glimpse of the zombies wandering the streets, she’d been horrified of how close she’d been to death.

I touched her shoulder gently. “Eva?”

She turned to me with tears in her eyes. “Um, sorry…I just don’t really know what to do at this point. I’m just so worried about my mom.”

“Do you have anyone else you can call? Your dad or a grandparent?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No. My father is somewhere in Asia. I haven’t spoken to him in years. All my grandparents are dead. It’s just me and Chi Chi.”

“Did your mom get the vaccine?” I asked.

“No. Neither of us did.”

All of a sudden Bryce slammed on the brakes and we all lurched forward in our seats.

“What the heck?” I yelled at him.

“Stay here,” he said and jumped out of the SUV with his rifle.

“Oh, good God! Look at that poor puppy!” cried Kristie.

Several zombies were closing in on a young golden retriever. The dog was on a leash that appeared to be tangled on a rickety fence in front of an old church. Its frantic barking must have temporarily confused the zombies because they were staying back, although I knew it wouldn’t be long before their hunger drove them closer.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Bryce will save that poor little dog,” said Eva.

Bryce raised his rifle and started shooting.

“Look!” pointed Kylie. “More zombies are coming from behind that trailer!”

A motorhome was parked in a neighboring driveway and Bryce was about to be attacked by a larger pack of zombies.

“I’m going to help. Lock the door behind me,” I said.

Luckily Bryce had fixed my gun and it was ready to go again. I opened the door and jumped out. “Bryce, watch out behind you!” I yelled and started firing it at the new group of zombies. By the time I used all my bullets, however, I’d only hit two in the head. The others were getting back up.

Bryce hollered at me. “Just get back in the truck!”

I watched in horror as another wave of zombies approached Bryce from the other side of the church. I knew he didn’t have enough ammunition for all of them. He started shooting again and it didn’t take long to empty out his rifle.

“Shit!” he raged, tossing it to the ground. The next thing I knew he was striking out at the zombies with his feet and hands, sending them crashing to the pavement. Unfortunately, they were getting back up almost as quickly.

I ran to the SUV and grabbed the metal bat and the war hammer.

“Here!” I screamed, throwing the bat towards him. He picked it up off the ground and began swinging. Decaying zombie brains began paving the sidewalk in front of the church; which seemed so immoral and sacrilegious. Then I remembered how badly these things wanted to eat us, and held firmly to the war hammer.

I took a deep breath and then moved in to help Bryce.

“Oh, God!” I groaned as I brought it down on the first zombie’s skull. Zombie blood sprayed everywhere and I gagged. Shooting them was by far a lot less gross.

“Get back into the SUV!” barked Bryce, bringing the bat down on a zombie who was dressed all in Goth and had jet-black hair.

I dislodged the hammer and swung it at a tall, skinny zombie woman who was missing half of her face. Now the other half matched.

“You need my help!” I screamed, raising the hammer again, this time I swung it at a dead cheerleader that I recognized from school; we never had gotten along.

“I’ve got this!” he replied angrily as he rushed towards another zombie closing in on the dog.

“Yeah, I can tell,” I mumbled, heading towards someone who was about to rush Bryce from behind. I stuck my tennis shoe out, tripping him. He then flopped face down onto the ground where I quickly finished him off.

“Cassie! Watch out!” screamed Kristie from the SUV.

Three new zombies were staggering hungrily towards me while I was attempting to dislodge the hammer from the zombie’s brain.

“Shit!” yelled Bryce when he noticed the stooges. He had his hands full with two others coming at him.

The next thing I knew, Kristie punched the gas on the SUV, crushing the three under her oversized Goodyear tires.

“Six points!” cheered Paige and Kylie from the open window.

Kristie backed up and smeared another small group wandering towards us.

“Ten points, mom! Woot! Woot!”

When we’d finally taken out all of the zombies, both Bryce and I were exhausted.

“Next time…do what I tell you. You could’ve…been killed,” he said, trying to catch his breath.