The Last Alive

Chapter Seven - Wading Through the Zombie Hoard

Chapter Seven

Wading Through the Zombie Hoard

"This is unbelievable!" Meaghan fired into the sea of undead.

"Shut up and keep shooting!" I yelled back at her.

"I told you two not to leave!" Arty hollered back as he helped us take down the infected.

"Arty, seriously, shut up!"

The undead seemed to just come from everywhere. I raised my bow and aimed at one of the used-to-be women. She moaned and reached out for me. Her hazy eyes trained on me.

Can they see? Am I just a fleshy blur of food? I couldn't help but wonder if she could see me through the cloudiness. I stopped though. I stood where I was and waited. They were so slow. I signaled to S team to the left and R team to the right. We were outnumbered. They seemed to come from everywhere.

"We can't get them all," I shouted.

"Stop shooting," I called to everyone.

"What? Are you insane?" Meaghan arched her brows at me and fired two more shots into the crowd.

"No, just stop. Watch them. They're slow."

"Yeah, and?"

"We can run past them."

"Why would we do that?" She had a funny look in her eye, crinkled her forehead, and bit her lip. You would have thought I sprouted a second head, turned green, and was dancing a jig in the middle of the zombies.

"To save our ammo. I don't know what it's like in Oakland. It might be worse. Put the guns away, and let's just run." I looked up at the guard tower and saw Arty looking at us. "You keep shooting. If any of them get to close, take 'em out. Okay?"

"Sure thing, Emma." He waved, raised the guns scope back up and took aim at an undead that got a little too close for comfort.

"You're insane!" One of the guys on S team shouted, holding his pistol shoulder height.

I put the bow on my back and ran to him. "Trust me."

He closed his eyes and hesitantly lowered his weapon. "Fine. But if I'm bit, you're the first I'm eating."

"Stop yer gabbin' and start running!" A loud pop echoed off the buildings as Arty shot an undead that was right in front of us.

We listened and ran. The streets were so familiar but looked so different. I hadn't been far out of the city limits in years. The few streets of downtown had really become home unfortunately. The sidewalks were cracked, and trees grew in the middle of the streets. It looked like some crazy movie set had taken over the world. I longed for our farm and the wide-open spaces. I wasn't meant to be cooped up within those few streets. I grabbed Meaghan's arm and pulled her closer to me. I could tell she was trying to act brave, but she was scared shitless. I pulled her down to the ground and we crawled down under a large piece of cement rubble. It was either a part of a building long destroyed or a bridge. It didn't matter now. It was a place to hide. It was a place of safety in a world of dangers. We dug around the edges to gather as much loose dirt as we could to push up to the hole we crawled into; a meager attempt to conceal ourselves. We hid under the massive rubble as a few undead staggered past. They didn't seem to notice us, or they couldn't figure out where we were.

"Can they smell us?" Meaghan's hushed voice was barely audible.

"I don't know," I whispered back.

"Maybe they'll keep going."

"Maybe, but let's stay here until they do. I don't want to risk it."

"We're already risking it by being out here," John hissed.