For the first time ever, she zipped past the station without halting. After a brief rumble as they passed over the seam connecting the roadway to the bridge, they were hurtling across the moat. The water sparkled on either side of them, its surface only a low barrier and an eight-foot drop away, its depths inky and glacially cold. At this speed, they’d reach Zone B in maybe ten seconds, assuming nothing went—
“Shit.” For the second time that day, Max stomped on the brake pedal, and he flung an arm across her chest as the vehicle shuddered, skidded to a halt, and threw her violently against the unforgiving cage of her seat belt.
There were now zombies pouring through the giant open door leading to the neighboring zone, sprinting in their direction. A dozen. Two dozen. Maybe more.
That was one question answered. The pack had already made it across the moat.
“Hold on.” He slammed the SUV into Reverse and began backing up as quickly as he could.
It wasn’t enough. The zombies were gaining on them, racingon all fours, gaunt flanks heaving with each panting stride, and she frantically twisted in her seat to see how far Max still had to drive before they were back on solid ground, where they could find a hiding place.
“Max, behind us!” she yelled.
Apparently not all the pack had crossed yet, because another clutch of the creatures had just rounded the security station and begun bounding toward them in full flight.
His knuckles shone white on the steering wheel, but he didn’t slow down. “If they trap us on the bridge—”
“We won’t have anywhere to go but the water,” she finished for him.
With the accelerator pressed all the way to the floor, they barreled directly into the group of zombies behind them. The jarring impact rocked her in her seat, and the SUV’s momentum tossed aside or trampled almost a dozen of the creatures before the vehicle slowed to a near halt, their bodies becoming speed bumps beneath its wheels.
She and Max panted in the sudden stillness.
“Maybe if I—” He shifted to Drive, then floored the accelerator again, but managed only a few feet of progress before the first cluster of zombies reached them and easily stopped their minimal forward momentum. “Dammit.”
The two parts of the pack converged on the vehicle, and the onslaught began.
The SUV shuddered, and metal screeched and glass thumped as the creatures howled and beat on the temporary shelter. Their open jaws, all sharp teeth and slavering hunger, clicked against the windshield and side windows, their features deforming asthey tried to somehow press through the transparent barrier. Claws scraped and shrieked, and the interior grew dim as the swarm blocked the light. She and Max were entirely surrounded.
A buzzing began in her ears, and she couldn’t catch her breath.
More creatures leapt on the rear bumper and began to climb atop the roof, stomping and smashing, frustration urging them to even greater violence.
“The glass…” Why wasn’t it breaking?
“Bulletproof.” His face had twisted into a snarl. “It may eventually crack, but it shouldn’t shatter.”
Get your shit together, Brandstrup, she frantically instructed herself.
The roof began to creak and indent, and she hurriedly ticked off their few remaining options. “If we leave the car and confront them on the bridge, we’re dead. So we can wait here and find out whether they’ll eventually crush us from above or break through the glass, or we can somehow get in the water and hope the reports are right.”
“That they’ll eventually drown.”
She nodded. “Preferably before killing us.”
And hopefully before we drown too, she allowed to remain unspoken.
“They won’t give up.” He kept looking down at the water and then back at her, his grim expression carving deep lines on his misleadingly youthful face. “Not unless they spot alternative prey or get attacked by someone else. Neither of which may happen soon enough.”
Various scenarios played out in her imagination, flashes of chaos and death. “I don’t think you can work up enough speed to make it over the bridge’s barrier rail.”
Funny how the SUV crashing into the water, a prospect that had terrified her only minutes before, was now the best of all possible options, and eventhatwasn’t feasible. She’d laugh if she weren’t too busy trying not to hyperventilate.
“Agreed.” He suddenly straightened. “But what if I got us right next to it?”
She turned to him, following his train of thought without difficulty. “We can open the windows on that side only and jump into the water from there.” Assuming she could squeeze through the opening. It was going to be a tight fit despite the generous window size. “Making it to the barrier rail won’t be easy. Even if we somehow manage to get right up against it, zombies will be trying to reach us from the roof and every other side. But…it’s still our best chance of survival.”
“Agreed.”
