The WashingTone-Locians had not gone far when Joel shouted out "Look there's a
man on the roof!"
"Look below," Erica said solemnly, "that's why he's up there."
She pointed to the crowd of zombies scratching at the brickwork.
Tone slowed down and slid his window down.
"Tone, there's nothing we can do," Erica spoke the harsh truth, "keep going!"
Tone shouted to the man, "We see you, we'll send help!" He didn't believe there
would be any help, but he couldn't leave the man without some recognition, without
some hope.
"They're coming!" Erica shook her husband's shoulder.
"Okay," he pressed on the accelerator as the dead lumbered close to the car.
"Tone," said Erica urgently, "we can't afford to take any chances. This is serious."
"I know, I know, Erica, but it was serious for that poor guy too."
Erica sucked her teeth, "You're not just risking your life. What about Joel and
Nathan? And me?"
Tone had to slow down to take a tight corner at the bottom of the hill.
They seemed to come from nowhere.
Five or six creatures slammed into the passenger side of the car.
The windshield cracked and the passenger window shattered.
Pale hands were grabbing at Erica. One had ahold of her hair, and used the grip
to haul its head and shoulders through the window and into the car.
The children were hysterical. Erica was screaming. Tone struggled to keep control
of the car. He had never felt so helpless in his life; he could not help Erica
and he could not stop or they would be overwhelmed. A zombie ran straight at the
car, head on and crunched into the grill. It stuck there for a few moments, its
hands reaching forward for the occupants, then it was sucked underneath, and
bumped under the wheels.
Erica's screams reached a crescendo as the zombie bit into her cheek, just below
her right eye.
Tone held on to the steering wheel with his left hand and tried to push the
creature off with his right. The car swerved wildly.
The creature was momentarily pushed backwards, taking a chunk of Erica's face
with it.
The smell of blood filled the car, metallic and sickening. Tone felt bile rise in
his throat. His head was pounding in rhythm with his furious heartbeat.
The creature snapped at Tone's hand and caught the skin between his thumb and
index finger. He tore his hand free, but in doing so pulled the creature further
into the car.
He steered the car onto the sidewalk then deliberately scraped along the side of
a wall. The creature was sheared in two at the waist; the passenger seat filled
with its spilling entrails.
The zombie was now able to maneuver itself into a sick parody of an embrace with
Erica. She managed to use one hand to open the car door and tried to push with
the other.
Joel crouched back in his seat crying pitifully. Nathan was pummeling the creature's
head with his small hands.
The zombie found Erica's neck, and tore into it ravenously.
Blood sprayed over the inside of the windshield. Tone had to lean low over the
steering wheel in order to see where he was going.
With a last, desperate burst of strength Erica pushed the thing off her and in
one motion it slipped out of the flapping door.
Erica clutched her neck as hot blood pumped rhythmically between her fingers. Her
voice was a gurgling whisper, "Take care of the kids." Her breathing was labored,
"I love you. I love all three of you."
Her hand slumped as the last of her blood trickled away.
Everyone was sobbing. Tone had to use his sleeve to clear a patch of windshield
to see through. It smeared and smudged; his wife's blood did not want to come off.
He had just cleared enough to gain a better idea of where he was going when Erica
started to move again.
"Mommy!" the boys cried in unison from the back seat.
"Erica?" Tone's voice was disbelieving.
Then her seatbelt locked as she jerked forward to try and bite her husband.
Her eyes were dead, but her mouth was a snarl of hunger and rage.
The car skidded to a halt.
Half a block away, two zombies looked up from the still warm body they were
devouring and started towards fresher meat in the stopped car.
Tone raised his feet and started to kick wildly at the woman he loved. She caught
him by the left ankle and took a chunk out of the flesh of his calf. He screamed
and kicked with redoubled urgency.
He felt her neck snap.
The children were beyond hysterical, as he unbuckled their mother's seatbelt and
pushed her out of the car.
He had no time to say anything to them as two more creatures approached the open
door.
He ground the gears into reverse and shot backwards down the street.
One of the zombies had the door in his grip, and the door was twisted clean off
as Tone clipped into a parked car. Through his rear window he could see the whole
street filling up with the undead. He crunched the gears again and came to a
brief stop, wheels spinning, before shooting forward at as fast as he could.
Tone's brain did not have the capacity to take in what had happened to Erica. It
was too horrible to allow in. He just thought about getting away to safety.
There were creatures coming towards him from everywhere. The road behind was a
sea of bloodstained monsters. He accelerated.
His hand was bleeding freely. He did not want to look at the wound Erica had made
in his leg but he could feel its dull ache as he pressed the accelerator.
He felt light headed. He was aware that he was going into shock. He couldn't
afford to be unfocused now. His children's lives depended on it.
A speed camera flashed. He already had eight points on his license he could get
a suspension. He laughed, hysteria rising to the surface. He had meant to avoid
any major towns, but he found his frantic escape had taken him to Silver Spring.
He tore down the road, zombies still visible through the rear window; then as he
skidded through a traffic circle, he saw the road ahead was blocked by a jack-
knifed eighteen-wheeler that was burnt-out and smoldering.
Tone hardly slowed as he spun the car in a screeching U-turn, the right-side
tires smashing into the curb and up onto the sidewalk before thumping back onto
the road. The street was full of creatures running towards him with inhuman
determination and hunger.
With the passenger door missing he felt twice as vulnerable, and he knew he had
no chance to get through them. The only escape was up the ramp into a multi-story
parking lot. He twisted the steering wheel and headed upwards, praying the way
was not blocked.
He knew it was a dead end, he knew it was hopeless, but he couldn't give up the
fight just yet.
The lot was almost empty. No one was going to work today.
He smashed through the barrier; he had always wanted to do this, but he could
feel no emotion, as the plastic arm twisted and fell limply to the ground.
Looking back he could see the zombies starting up the ramp. He drove up and up,
full speed to the top floor, scraping his car against the walls.
He reached the top. He hoped that being out of sight might distract the creatures.
WashingTone-Locian got out of the car, and gently and tenderly urged Joel and
Nathan out. They were both quiet now, but tears were flowing freely down their
ashen faces.
"Okay, now, boys, we are going to try a new adventure." He tried to make his
voice sound enthusiastic, but he was shaking. "At times like this daddies have a
very special magic, that we can't use normally."
Joel's eyes were wide; he believed his daddy could find a way out for them.
Nathan stood hugging himself, his face blank.
"Sometimes, when everything seems lost daddies can fly, and they can make their
children fly too."
Nathan opened his mouth, he looked like he was about to be sick, but he made no
noise.
"Okay, if these bad people come up here I want us to jump off."
Nathan whimpered, "No daddy."
Tone looked deliberately from Nathan to Joel. Nathan realized that his dad was
telling him to be quiet for the sake of his little brother. Fresh tears poured
down Nathan's cheeks.
"If the magic is enough, we will fly, maybe we will fly to heaven." He looked to
Nathan as he spoke the word. A mature understanding passed between them. It was
the first time they had really dealt with each other as "man to man."
Joel was smart for his age. "Are you telling me to kill myself, Daddy? I don't
believe in real magic."
Nathan let out a quiet whimper.
Tone took his sons in his arms. "Sometimes a father who is in real life-or-death
trouble has magic for the people he loves. Believe it boys. Close your eyes when
you jump. Keep them closed tight." Tone's voice cracked. His next words were lost
as he tried to swallow his sobs, "Don't die in despair."
They heard the sound of approaching feet, and the hungry snarls of the approaching
zombies.
Tone helped his sons up to stand on the ledge that surrounded the car park. He
looked down over the dying city.
Nathan tried to look back at the approaching crowd, but his father pulled him in
tight.
"Close your eyes my beautiful boys. I love you so very much."
And pulling his children with him he jumped.
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edit: added html-friendly quote marks and apostrophes
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2010 11:19PM by Mr Misery.