All of the infected had entered the store hoping to get a part of the meal, so we were able to load into the van. Ben gunned the engine, and the vehicle roared forward.
Suddenly, the infected poured out of the shop behind us. Too many.
Ben spun onto the road and floored the gas.
In the side mirror, the swarm flooded the parking lot like ants from a kicked hill.
I was beginning to think the people who had died were the lucky ones.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
ADRIAN
The van’s engine screamed as Ben pushed it past what the road could take.
We fishtailed through the intersection and shot down a side street, the infected shrinking in the mirrors behind us.
For the moment.
Lucas twisted in his seat, watching another swarm spill into the road behind us. “There’s more, and they’re following us.”
“They can try,” Ben muttered.
His voice sounded funny.
“Fuck!” The sleeve of his jacket was soaked red.
Lucas noticed a second later. “Ben?”
He didn’t answer.
Lucas leaned forward. “Ben, you’re bleeding.”
Ben shifted his grip on the wheel. “It’s just a graze.”
Blood dripped from his elbow onto the van’s floor.
It wasn’t just a graze.
I reached across the seat and grabbed his wrist.
“Pull over.” His blood loss was worrying.
“I’m fine,” Ben grumbled.
I pulled his sleeve back. The fabric peeled away from his arm, wet and sticky. Several small punctures marked the flesh just above his bicep.
Shotgun pellets.
The bleeding was steady.
Lucas swore under his breath. “Jesus.”
“It’s not fatal,” I met Ben’s eyes, “But it needs to be treated.”
The van bounced over a pothole, and Ben winced. That was the first honest reaction he’d had to the injury.
“He needs the hospital.” Lucas leaned over the seat to get a better look.
