Eight Minutes
1701 Words
We had followed Wilbur to the roof and found that we were surrounded on all sides.
"Alright, so what exactly are we supposed to do here?" I said, not asking anyone in particular.
"Damned if I know. I barely had a chance to grab y'all and pull ya in. Them sumbitches are everywhere!" Wilbur said.
I looked all around us and couldn't believe the amount of bodies surrounding us. I hadn't seen this many before. There were hundreds of them meandering around us. They surrounded not only our building but the entire block as far as I could see. We were stuck. I could see the school off in the distance and wondered if Scott had already boarded us out.
"How long do we have?" I asked Branson.
"Thirteen minutes." He answered. f**k, I thought to myself. He gave me a knowing look.
"What if we caused a diversion in that direction?" Jimmy piped in. We all glanced at him immediately.
"Diversion? What were you thinking?" Branson said. Jimmy got that self assured smile on his face again.
"Well, there's those cars parked over at the end of the block right? I bet I could take the tires out with my rifle. Tires go boom, airbags go boom, big booms draw those bastards the other way. We'd probably have to act quickly, not gonna have a big window where they're not lookin out way." It sounded like a better plan than what I was thinking. There was one problem though.
"How are we going to get out though? Even if we keep them interested in that direction, there's no way the alley will be cleared before they figure out there isn't anybody there." That was a huge hole in this plan. Jimmy lost his grin.
"Well, s**t. I didn't think about that part. The alley has funneled them and they won't be out and away from that door fast enough." He scratched his head.
"We use the roofs." Branson said suddenly looking at us all excitedly. "These old buildings are pretty close together and the school is to the west of the alleyway. There's usually some kind of ladder system that leads to the roof. We could jump across, throw over supplies and make our way there. Jimmy can stay back and make the car alarms go off but shooting out the tires, then we can get down the ladder at the last building. If Jimmy only has to carry his firearm, he should be able to meet us all on the ground before the zombies know they've been fooled" We all thought about it for a moment.
"If we move quick enough, that could work." Wilbur said.
"Let's just go make sure there's a ladder first." I said. Everyone laughed and it felt nice to be laughing with people in the midst of so much death. While most of us headed downstairs, Jimmy went to check for a ladder and set up his little spot to shoot from. We heard him call down the stairs that he had found the ladder and we started grabbing supplies as quickly as we could. Pamela and Chloe seemed scared, but they each loaded up a backpack and marched up to the roof.
Leaving behind what wasn't necessary we all gathered up top. Jimmy had his rifle set up in the corner of the building, ready to go.
"It's not a far jump across the buildings, but Chloe won't make it on her own. The ladder is on that side of the building." He pointed to the last building in the row, on the street side corner. Wilbur and Patrick jumped across first. We threw our bags and supplies over to them before Pamela jumped over. Branson picked up Chloe and tossed her over to her parents. He jumped over next, making sure to catch me on the other side. As the others repeated the same thing over to the final building I turned to Jimmy.
"Be quick, sharpshooter. Good luck." I told him. He grinned at me.
"Thanks, Darlin'. See ya on the other side." He winked which caused an unexpected blush to hit my cheeks. I nodded at him and then followed the others to the ladder. Looking down, we could see that it ended about ten feet off of the ground. It was going to be a decent little jump to get down.
There were zombies everywhere, looking for ways into the buildings and making strange jerky movements.
"As soon as it's clear, we start moving. Put the backpacks on as tight as you can. Keeping them closer to our center mass will make it easier to run and make less noise. Don't put them on so tight that you can't squeeze out if you're caught. The supplies aren't worth your lives. I'll take the lead when we're on the ground and Laura will take the rear and wait for Jimmy. Pamela and Chloe, you stick in the middle of the group. If we take the most direct path, we might reach the school in time." Nobody argued with him. Wilbur and Patrick understood he could get us through this. I wasn't sure how I felt having to take up the rear but it was probably smart. We know that most of them from this side of town had congregated in our little area. I was the most likely to survive an encounter if they caught up to me which would allow the others to get away. I didn't bring any of this up but from the glance Branson threw my way, he had thought the same thing. "We have eight minutes." He looked at his watch when he said this and I couldn't help but wonder if we would make it in time.
With a sharp whistle, Wilbur signaled Jimmy to start shooting. The first shot echoed all around us, almost hiding the next handful of shots. After the second shot and the resounding blasts of air exploding from tires, the zombies became frenzied. They made their way towards the cars that had began beeping loudly, looking for their next victim. The area cleared momentarily and we moved. Everyone started climbing down the ladder at a surprisingly fast pace and I had to admire how calm Chloe was. She was a brave little girl. Our feet hit the ground and we shot across the street to the next alleyway, the other kept following Branson as I hung back. I waited as Jimmy appeared at the top of the ladder and began sliding down. Literally sliding down, like he was in some action movie or video game. This guy was impressive.
"GO!" He screamed as he bolted towards me. He grabbed my arm and didn't slow one bit as he ran to catch up to the group. I was a bit startled until I heard it. I turned my head back to see a lone zombie standing in the alleyway, calling the others before making a dash in our direction. We pounded pavement and ran as fast as our feet would carry them. The breath burning in our lungs.
I saw the others round a corner up ahead and recognized the buildings as the ones right before the school. Almost there. As we rounded the corner just moments behind the others I saw Chloe fall. She hit the ground hard and immediately started to cry. It was obvious she was trying not to but as her mom helped her to her feet we could see the bloody gash in her knee. I could hear the zombies not far behind us and I began to yell.
"Don't stop! Run! Just run!" Branson turned around as I started to shout and saw Pamela trying to encourage Chloe along. We wouldn't make it at this pace. Something on Branson's face told me that the zombies had just came into view. He ran back towards Chloe.
"I got her Pamela! Go!" He shouted as he scooped Chloe up. He ran back towards the school shouting orders at the group but I couldn't hear what he was saying above the sounds coming from behind me. Jimmy had begun to slow, causing me to slow to maintain my position in the rear.
"Jimmy, f*****g run!" I shouted at him, spurring him to move a bit faster for a moment.
We had reached the school grounds now and I could see Branson and the others at the door banging on it. Please open, please open. I silently prayed. The door swung open and the group began to pour inside. Jimmy and I reached the door and I shoved him in ahead of me, grabbing the door to close it behind me. As it swung shut, a hand reached in and grabbed me by the wrist, trying to yank me out.
Everyone was screaming around me and the zombies were making loud snarls, causing a cacophony of chaos. I pulled against the hand as Branson and Scott came to help me push on the door. Jimmy grabbed me by arm and attempted to pull me from the grasp of the zombie. Before I could get free, a woman's decayed head popped in and teeth latched onto my hand. I screamed in pain and my flesh tore, ripping my arm free and sending me flying backwards. The door slammed shut and the men began to secure it again. Not stopping until it was boarded back up. When they were finished everyone turned to look at me. Patrick pulled his gun out and aimed at me.
"She got bit. She's gonna turn into of them. I'm real sorry to tell y'all but I gotta deal with this before it becomes a problem." Patrick had such a determined look in his eye when he said this. I knew he was about to shoot me.
"Well...I guess we should have a talk now." Branson said awkwardly as he stepped between Patrick and I. He glanced back at me. "You wanna tell them or should I?" With a sigh I got to my feet, hugging my hand to my chest. With a steadying breath I spoke.
"Hi, I'm Laura, and I'm an Angel."
- Writer
