Emergent

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

We stepped out of the car and heard screaming. It sounded like an older woman,

which I know shouldn’t have made it any better, but somehow it did. John quickly moved

around the car and ran inside the front door. It was still light inside as the café didn’t close

until eleven at night. I got inside just in time to see John pull the shotgun to his shoulder and

blast one of them right in the arm. It didn’t go flying or anything like that, instead it just

stumbled slightly to its right and looked over at us. It started heading for us instead of the

women behind the counter. “What the hell?” John shouted while he pumped the shotgun.

The shell flew out, smoke drifting from it as it swirled through the air, then it collided

directly with my face. I gasped at the impact and was still wincing from the sound of the gun

firing. To which John looked over and said “Sorry.”

He took aim again and this time put sights straight on its head. I covered my ears this

time in anticipation of the gun shot. It was still loud through my hands, but I guess that was

the underwhelming part. The shell blew its head practically to bits, what was left whipped

back, then rolled forwards. There wasn’t much left of its face after the shot. I wouldn’t say

its head exploded, more like caved in from the front. Although it did still paint the tables

behind it with bits of skull, brain, and a copious amount of blood. It fell to its knees first,

then to the ground. When it didn’t show any signs of stirring, John got the idea. “Alright,

shoot them in the head I guess.” He worked the pump action on the gun again, this time

lifting the barrel of the gun so as not to hit me with the shell. There were three more zombies

trying to crawl their way over the glass counter to get to the women behind it. John raised

the gun, then put it back down. “I can’t get a clean shot.”

He rushed over to the counter and tried to pull one of them back so he wouldn’t have

to risk shooting one of the girls. They were doing their best to keep the zombies from

coming over the counter, shoving them back with the cash register, and whatever else they

could grab. John yelled at me. “Mark help me pull ‘em away so I can shoot the fuckers!” He

was having trouble because he only had the use of one arm while holding the gun. I ran over

and grabbed a hold of one of their legs. With a hard yank, it fell face first onto the floor. I

lost my balance when it let go of the counter and I dropped backward. John pulled the gun to

the back of its head and blew red paste out the other side.

The zombie that was closest to us stood up from leaning on the counter, turned and

grabbed John. He was pushing it back with all the strength his arms could muster, but when

he reeled back and put his foot to its ribs he sent it flying, almost comically into the other

zombie knocking them both down to the floor. John put two more shells into each of their

respective faces. “You fuckers.” He said under his breath and wiped off his forehead. “Are

you two ok?” He looked over the counter at the women who were still frightened.

“Y-yes I think we’re fine.” Said the older of the two. She was a brunette with hair that

went just past her shoulders, and I called her boss when I wasn’t using her name, Shannon.

“Thank goodness you two are alright.”

“Mark is that you?” The short haired blonde asked.

“Yeah, we stopped to save you.”

John rolled his eyes and started to talk to himself. “That’s what, four shots right?” He

was too busy trying to keep count of what was left in the gun, but he eventually snapped out

of it. “Ok, we’re good Mark?” I knew what he was really asking, She’s the one right?

“Yeah we’re good to go.”

“Good, let’s get the hell out of here before things get…” He turned toward the front

door, only to see another zombie coming inside because of the commotion it heard.

“problematic.” He shouldered the gun again and fired. This time he just barely missed

shaving the left side of its face off. It didn’t seem too thrilled about it. It made that gurgling

hissing noise, that just didn’t sound right. John made a grimace. “That’s five.” He slung the

gun over his shoulder on the strap and reached for his pistol again. He pulled it out and took

his time to aim. Right dead center of the forehead, it was a good shot. “As I was saying, let’s

go!”

The women climbed out from behind the counter. I helped them down on the other

side. I was trying so hard to be a gentleman, but in hindsight, I was no knight in shining

armor. John did most of the work saving the girls, and if it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t

have been there to help them. We ran outside to the car. Shannon got in the front with John,

while Elizabeth and I got in the back. John started the car and we were moving.

“Ok, no big deal… We’ve still got time.” John was talking to himself again.

“Thank you.” Elizabeth said to John. I was a little jealous that I wasn’t the one getting

the thanks, after all, I was the one that convinced John to help save them. But I didn’t think

it appropriate to tell them that John was trying to dodge his duties.

Shannon was breathing heavily. “Yeah… Thanks.” Her voice was quiet as she spoke,

which I thought was odd at the time. I always remembered her as a very loud and brash

woman. She collapsed backward into her seat.

“So where are we going?” Elizabeth asked.

John sighed. “We’re heading out of town.”

“Is she ok?” I asked no one in particular. John looked over at her and took a hold of

her wrist.

“Weak heartbeat… Does she have a bad heart or something? It’s like she’s in shock.”

John said putting his eyes back on the road.

“Not that I know of.” Elizabeth answered.

“Is she going to be ok?” I leaned forward to ask him.

“Maybe… maybe not.”

“We’ve got to get her to a hospital!” Elizabeth cut in loudly.

“Oh no.” John was resolute in his words. “We are not going to a hospital, not now.”

“What are you talking about? Of course we’re going to the hospital.” At that moment

Shannon started to stir.

John glanced over “See, she’s fine.”

I interjected. “I think he’s right…” I didn’t want to say why, but I had my fill of

violence for the night, hell for a lifetime, and at that point, I was starting to agree more and

more with John, running was our best option.

Elizabeth was unsettled by the conversation. “You too? I understand that she’s always

been thick headed and doesn’t want to see a doctor…” She broke her train of thought to

address the woman in the front seat. “No offense Shannon, but we should at least have them

look her over. Besides, she said someone bit her on the arm earlier. I imagine a doctor would

want to at the very least have it disinfected and bandaged.”

Shannon started to make that gurgling noise we had heard earlier, followed by a long

drawn out moan. John slammed on the brakes, causing the tires to shriek. The car’s rear end

lurched to the side as we slid to a halt. Shannon had not put on her seatbelt, which sent her

smashing into the dashboard, while Elizabeth and I did much the same into the steel mesh that separated us from the two in the front seat. John reached for his gun, but Shannon… or I

should say it, reached out and grabbed a hold of him.

We could tell the struggle was not an easy one for John. He was trying his best to keep

her from taking a bite out of him while attempting to get a spare second to grab his weapon.

Meanwhile Elizabeth and I watched from the backseat. “Shannon? What are you doing?”

Elizabeth cried, not fully understanding what was going on.

“It’s not Shannon anymore!” John yelled still trying to force her back.

“What do you mean it’s not Shannon?” But John had since stopped trying to answer

her.

“We’ve got to help him” I tried to open the door, but found myself confused. I looked

at the side panel desperately. “Where’s the door handle?” I reached around and fumbled in

the dark hoping that I just couldn’t see it.

“There isn’t one!” John grunted. “It’s a cop car, the door has to be opened from the

outside.” John punched his attacker in the face trying to stun her for a second, but it had

little effect.

That’s when the panic set in. There was nothing we could do to help, we were stuck

there, trapped… If John couldn’t do this on his own, then we weren’t getting out of that car

till someone else came to help us. That’s when I remembered what I did in his situation.

“Jam something in her mouth!”

“Huh?” John didn’t quite grasp the concept.

“Put something she can’t bite through in her mouth! They don’t spit things out!”

John got the message but struggled to find anything in the car worth grabbing to stop

her attack. It wasn’t as though he had time to look, but the car was kept clean either way.

That’s when he reeled back and pushed her hard. It gave him only a fraction of a second, but

he was able to get a hold of the car’s radio receiver and thrust it down her throat. She

chewed and gnawed that radio in her attempt to consume it. This gave John the little bit of

time he needed to wrest his gun from its holster. He pulled it up to her head and sprayed red

chunks all over the passenger side window.

“No!” Elizabeth cried out in terror of the situation. I would have been more startled by

it too, but I was already starting to get the picture. Things were bad, as John said, and this

was just the beginning. Elizabeth turned her head from the scene.

John was gasping for air, and obviously riding the tail end of an adrenaline rush.

“Fuckin’ b***h…” His words were not hard to hear even though my ears were still ringing

from the sound of the gunshot.

After a few seconds John turned toward us. “Did either of you get bit?”

I waved him off, but Elizabeth was panicking. I grabbed her shoulder. “No…” she

replied softly.

“Good…” He turned back around and sat there staring out the front window. When he

had regained his composure he checked to see that the car wasn’t surrounded by those

things. “I’m not riding around with this next to me.” He got out of the car and walked

around to the other side. He pulled the corpse out and let it flop to the floor with a sickening

wet thud.

When he got back into the driver’s seat Elizabeth spoke up. “You’re not just going to

leave her there are you?”

He locked the doors on the car and turned around to face her. “Do you want to drag

her back into the car?”

She didn’t like his response. It was clear she was not taking the situation well, but I

couldn’t imagine a person who would. It was nerve wracking, watching things break down

around you. The world as we knew it was coming to its end, but we were still alive. And the

moment you quit trying is when you end along with it.

John put the car back in gear, and we took off.