By the time Ben had steered back toward the less crowded sidewalk, the others had already seen what he’d seen. Fifty yards away, running in the opposite direction, Ethan was being chased by two different groups. The first, and much more massive crowd moving toward the end of Bridge Street, had already begun merging with the second group. They appeared to be coming in from the north end of town. He had less than thirty seconds to get to his friend.
“Everyone hold on, I’m going to push through and come out on the right side near the big gate.”
Griffin gripped the door handle and nodded. “Okay, then what? You planning on pulling alongside Ethan? Don’t think that’s gonna work.”
“No, I’m going straight through. Taking out the gate and giving Ethan a bit of breathing room. When we get close, you’ll need to get out.”
“Come again?” Griffin said.
Ten seconds from the corner of Bridge Street, Ben picked his spot. “You’re gonna have to get out. Get Ethan moving off the street and into the parking lot.”
“Boy,” Griffin said. “You’re as lost as last year’s Easter egg.”
Ben kept his gaze out the windshield. He clipped three Feeders, sending them back into the street and chuckled. “Wait, what did you just say?”
“Kid, you’re crazy. I’m not getting out, just get us close enough and I’ll handle the rest.”
Cora, Shannon, and Carly held tight to the seatbacks and rocked from side to side as the armored vehicle bounced along the crowded sidewalk.
Looking away, Cora flinched as they plowed into a group of six head-on. Three of the smaller bodies were hit first. They were thrown out away from the front of the truck and slammed as one unit into the brick storefront. Continuing forward, the next three were knocked to the ground and crushed into the stained sidewalk as the massive armored vehicle rolled over them.
Without the ability to roll down the window, Griffin looked at Ben and pointed out through the windshield. “Over there. Just get us right over there. I’ll make sure Ethan goes the right way. But don’t slow down—not at all. Once we get past the gates, I’ll hop out and bring him back.” Turning to the others, he said, “Everyone else stays put… got it?”
No one answered.
Ben pointed the front of the vehicle toward the center of the twenty-foot-wide gates and for the first time was noticed by Ethan. Out into the intersection, he sped toward the parking lot as Ethan slowed to a jog and then to a walk.
Looking tired and confused, Ethan stopped at the center of the intersection and watched as they rushed by. Turning, he yelled out and began following as the truck drove up into the driveway and hurtled through the locked gates.
As they slid to a stop, Griffin opened the door and jumped out. Before closing the door, he said, “Get this thing turned around. We’re out in ten seconds.”
Ben shifted into reverse and backed up over the first row of parking blocks. He briefly looked back at the women and then grinding the gears, slammed the truck back into drive. Looking out the passenger window, he watched as Griffin and Ethan connected near the driveway and fought off a small group of advancing Feeders.
Stepping on the gas, Ben maneuvered the truck around to the right and away from a group of four abandoned cars. Angling back toward the drive, he could see the larger horde splitting off into two groups. The closer of the two turned in off Bridge Street and were entering through the downed gates.
Moving to the passenger side rear window, Carly noticed the same thing. She gasped as Ethan and Griffin ran away from the horde and were chased toward the truck. “Ben hurry, they aren’t going to make it.”
Pushing the pedal to the floor yet again, the armored vehicle lurched forward. Glancing off the late model sedan to his left, they moved out into the center of the lot and drove straight toward their friends.
With thirty yards to go, Cora jumped into the passenger seat and grabbed the pistol from the dash. She dropped the magazine out, shook her head and slammed it back. Reaching for the door handle, she turned to Ben. “Slow down.
“Why?”
“Slow down, they need help.”
“No, there isn’t time, you can’t help them.”
“Oh yeah?” Cora opened the door and began to step out. Ben slammed his foot down on the brake and Cora leapt out away from the truck. Closing the door, she ran to a spot twenty feet away and leveled the weapon.
“Two shots,” she said. “Make them count.”
Ethan and Griffin were running when she lined up the first shot. At least three dozen Feeders were in close pursuit and she choose the heavyset man out in front. Her internal debate of where to place the bullet lasted less than a fraction of a second.
Breathing out slowly, she sighted the injured left leg of the pursuer as it appeared to move with a shorter range of motion. She pulled back on the trigger and watched as the bullet penetrated the beast’s kneecap and then exploded in a red mist out through the back of its leg.
Before she lined up her next shot, the obese Feeder fell to the left and took down four others. A domino effect ended up taking out six more as they piled in from behind and dropped to the asphalt.
Ethan and Griffin had now pulled away and would make it to the truck untouched. As they continued to run and nodded in approval, Cora moved back to the truck and climbed in through the passenger door. Placing the weapon back on the dash, she smiled at Ben. “Next time you drive a little better and I won’t have to save your ass… cool?”
He didn’t answer.
Ethan moved quickly to the open rear door and climbed in. Griffin followed. They were both out of breath as they closed the door and sat in the rear cargo area. “Thank you,” Ethan began. “You guys really saved my—”
Carly leaned in toward the men, reached back, and slapped Ethan. “What the hell was that?”
Standing over him, Carly was furious. Madder than he’d ever seen her and he knew why. He looked up at her, but didn’t immediately respond.
Her face was bright red and she was breathing harder than he was. “Explain yourself,” she said. “Right now.”
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t think—”
“No, you didn’t think. Not at all, you not only put yourself in danger, but the rest of us too. So, the next time you have some idiotic plan to go out on your own… don’t.”
Ethan paused form a moment.
“Well?”
“I went to bury David.”
“I can’t believe—” She stopped herself and took a deep breath, allowing what he’d said to wash over her. She waited a few seconds and then attempted to start again. “David would have been proud of you, Ethan, but he would have also told you to ask for help.”
“It was something I needed to do by myself.”
Carly shook her head. “Thank you, but no one here is on their own. So please don’t ever do that again, okay?”
Ethan simply nodded. “I’m sorry.”
Again on the move, Ben guided the truck back through the downed gates and crept out into the street. “Hey guys, we’re starting to draw a crowd. What are we doing?”
Ethan leaned away from the rear door and held Carly’s hand. Craning his neck, he looked toward the cab. “Ben, take us back to Main and Third. And go the long way, we need to get away from this crowd.”
“Okay, where to?”
“Let’s go back to the station. We’re getting into that building tonight, and then we’re driving the hell out of this town.”
Light slipped in through the slender void between the lobby doors. It did little to illuminate much beyond a three-foot arc, although Frank’s eyes had become accustomed to the growing darkness. Moving into the far corner, he figured he’d be hidden from anyone or anything that entered the hall. At least for a minute or two. He just hoped that whoever or whatever had entered the building would come and go without catching a glimpse of him huddled against the rear wall of the cell.
He estimated that three of those crazed individuals were now inside. He’d yet to see them, although as they crashed one by one through the large picture window in the chief’s office, their sound was unmistakable. The low monotonous growling that had been muffled by the walls of the station over the last several days was now filling the interior of the building.
Even in the dark, placing a location on the trio wasn’t hard to do. From one area of the building to the next, their slow pronounced movements and reckless behavior acted as a virtual GPS for Frank’s mind.
He pictured them breaking through the window and then struggling to find their way out of the chief’s office. They could be heard slamming into walls, overturning office furniture, and finally progressing out into the hall. Moving from one area to the next, the sounds of destruction quickly moved away from the opposite side of the station and out into the lobby.
As their lumbering footfalls grew close, Frank watched the doors. He held his breath and pushed back into the block wall, hoping to fade into the pronounced darkness. And as the sliver of moonlight disappeared from between the doors, he knew someone was standing on the opposite side. He couldn’t yet see them, but he could hear their deep labored breathing.
. . .
On their second pass, Ben slowed the truck and turned to Ethan. “So, we good?”
“Yeah,” Ethan said. “But I’d like to try something else this time.”
“What are you thinking, plow right through the front doors? Rip the place apart, grab whatever weapons are left, and then drive away?”
Ethan smiled. “Well… we’re gonna need the front doors intact for what I have planned, but I really do appreciate your enthusiasm.”
“Okay, so?”
“Let’s go around to the back and pull right up to the doors. We can pop the locks and use the truck to seal off the entrance.”
Ben paused briefly and then just shrugged. “Okay, sounds good to me.” He let off the brake, wheeled into the parking lot and backed to within three feet of the rear doors.
Griffin moved quickly from one side of the truck to the other, looking through the badly stained windows for any wayward Feeders. “It looks clear, but that may not last long, so let’s get in there quick. And let’s do this right—I’m done running, at least for today.”
Retrieving a tire iron from the cab, Ethan stood at the rear door alongside Griffin. He turned to the others and spoke quickly. “I’ll pop the door and Griff will go in. If it’s clear, we’ll all fall in behind—check out the rest of the building. Stay close and be alert. Ben will back the truck up even with the building and then he and I will come inside.” Back to Griffin, he said, “Ready?”
Gripping the twenty-four-inch metal pipe in his right hand, Griffin nodded. “Let’s go.”
Ethan opened the rear door and stepped out. He went to work on the set of double doors as Griffin stood beside him, scanning the lot.
Wedging the blade end of the tire iron in between the doors, Ethan leaned back. He was careful not to apply too much pressure—he still needed the thick glass panels intact. With the blade less than an inch from the lock, Ethan slowly increased the pressure with which he torqued back on the tire iron.
“How’s it look?” Griffin asked, his voice coming out higher than normal.
“Thirty seconds, maybe less. Why, you have somewhere to be?”
“Just think that our luck has got to run out at some point. I’m dog tired—we’ve been runnin’ for five days straight. I think we could all do well with at least one solid night’s sleep, and this is as good a place as any.”
“Sleep?” Ethan said. “What’s that?”
Ethan cranked down on the tire iron and giving it one last tug, pulled the lock apart. The left side swung out as Griffin stepped to the side and slowly pulled it open.
Standing back and craning his neck around the blood smattered door, Ethan looked inside. Two feet away was Officer Ralph Tompkins, motionless and lying in a dried lake of his own blood. He was awkwardly positioned and missing a large chunk of his skull. Beyond that, the building was dark and empty. At least as far as he could see. He nodded to Griffin and then looked back at the others. Held up his hand and whispered, “Hold up, just until he clears the hall.”
Griffin moved around the door, stepped around the body and then paused. He closed his eyes for a moment, allowing them to adjust to the darkness. It was quiet. Deadly silent. Opening his eyes again, he held the two-foot section of pipe, moved quickly to the next set of doors, and reached for the handle. Pulling the door back, he quietly looked through into the adjoining hall.
Before stepping in, he paused momentarily, leaned back, and slowly closed the door. Turning back to Ethan, who’d already stepped into the building, Griffin shook his head and hurried back. “We’ve got two, maybe three just past that next set of doors. I think you and I can take care of it. Have the others hold off for a minute.”
“Okay,” Ethan turned back to Cora and said, “What’s left in the gun?”
“One round, not much good.”
“Okay, stay here and only fire if you have to. They get past us and you guys drive out of here… good?”
“Good.”
Following Griffin to the doors, Ethan switched the tire iron to his left hand and stayed along the right side of the hall. “I’ll go in, take out the first one. Wait until I swing on him before you go by me. Don’t want you taking a shot that was meant for them.”
Holding the door back, Griffin waited as Ethan moved through. A pair of Feeders stood at the opposite end of the hall twenty feet away. They turned and began staggering away from the lone jail cell as Ethan raised the tire iron over his head.
The first moved in quicker than he’d anticipated and lunged forward as Ethan twisted right, dipped his shoulder, and swung hard. The rounded end of the tire iron contacted the beast just below the jaw line and pushed its head awkwardly back and to the right. Its neck now obviously broken, it appeared to be staring straight up at the ceiling and as Ethan swung a second time, it fell backward to the cold linoleum.
As Ethan moved in to finish the job, Griffin stepped around him and kicked the trailing Feeder in the chest. Giving himself a bit of room, he moved to the left, grabbed the badly disfigured former postman, and shoved the metal pipe into his ear. The body dropped to the floor just as the doors to the lobby parted, revealing a third attacker.
“I’ll get this one,” Ethan said. “Check the lobby.”
As Griffin stepped aside, Ethan swung quickly, sending the Feeder face first into the metal bars of the jail cell. He stepped to the right and grabbed it from behind. Holding onto a handful of hair, he repeatedly slammed its face into the metal bars.
Allowing the third body to drop to the floor, he held the doors to the lobby open and nodded to Griffin. “So, how’s it look?”
Griffin appeared out of the dark corner at the opposite end of the lobby peering through another set of doors. “Uh, I can’t really see anything from here, but it doesn’t sound like we have any more company.”
Ethan stood in the doorway. “Okay, let’s get the others and secure this place. You may just get some sleep tonight after all.”
Turning back into the hall, something off to the right, inside the jail cell, caught his eye. Something moved. Something or someone was in there. And as he turned to face the cell, there was a voice. A familiar voice. “Ethan?”