"And I am," Jason said. "But I don't want to lose my only family member. My only Mom."
Jenni looked at him and gripped his hand over the back of her seat tightly. "I'll not lose it again. I'll be strong."
Katie pushed her sunglasses up on her nose and sighed with relief. "We just can't let our emotions rule us. We just can't. We have to keep calm."
She could see out of her peripheral vision that both of them were nodding. A little of the tightness in her belly lessened, but her hands still felt shaky inside.
Glancing at the fuel gauge she exhaled slowly. It was going to be tight.
No deviations.
No detours.
Straight on.
To safety.
To their new home.
And then…
The truck crested a hill and for a moment Katie couldn't draw a breath.
"Fuck," Jason blurted out.
"No," Jenni whispered in horror.
"Gawddammit!"
Katie slammed on the brakes.
Running full speed was the enormous crowd of zombies from Emorton flowing down the next hill, rushing toward them. It had to be the same crowd that had pursued them just hours before. Children, old people, young people, adults, all bloodied, all chewed up, all screaming, moaning, screeching as they raced down in an enormous crowd that filled the narrow farm road and spilled out into the trees.
Jenni began to sob. "No, no, no."
Katie pounded her fist on the steering wheel. "They fucking followed us.
They fucking followed us!"
"What are we going to do?" Jason asked, his voice edged with panic.
Jack began to bark.
Katie grabbed the CB. "Ralph, Nerit…we have a situation."
"What's wrong?" Nerit's voice said calmly, but tinged with worry.
"There was a shitload of zombies in Emorton. They pursued us when we went through the town. Evidently, they kept running after us in the direction we had gone. Right now, they are about a mile away and closing fast. They are filling the fucking road all the way into the trees."
"Can you gun it and get through them?" Ralph's voice asked.
Katie looked at Jenni and Jason. They both looked afraid, they both looked desperate, but they all knew the truth.
"No. We can't. Too many. They might flip us." Katie rubbed the back of her hand over her mouth and tried to swallow. Her mouth was so dry. "We have to…we have to turn around."
"Katie…" Ralph's voice was soft.
"Sorry, Ralph," her voice caught, "we wanted to make it back."
"Turn around. Go to FM 1226. Keep out of their sight. They'll keep going straight on hopefully. Take FM 1226 to CR 1113. That'll bring you back here," another voice said.
Probably the cop.
There was some discussion over on the other end.
"…not enough gas…"
"…drive out to them…"
"…risky in Ashley Oaks…"
"We're doing it," Katie finally said, then handed off the mouthpiece to Jenni.
The zombies were closing fast. She could see they were desperate to get to the truck, roll it, break it apart, and eat what was within. A few in the front stumbled, fell, and were crushed beneath the onslaught of those behind.
Katie reversed, swung the truck around, and aimed back in the direction they had come, and floored it.
"Pray for us," Jenni said into the mouthpiece."Just keep moving…until you can't no more. We'll come get you," Ralph said.
Katie's eyes flicked to the rear view mirror and the enormous wave of zombies cresting the hill behind them. She pushed the gas pedal to the floor.
They had to keep calm. They had to keep strong. They had to survive.
It was as easy as that.
Chapter 7
1. By the Pricking Of Their Thumbs…
Jenni furrowed her brow and traced the farm road they were on with her finger. They were speeding away from the road that led to Emorton at top speed. Jason leaned over and pointed to a little dot on the map marked Ashley Oaks. Jenni frowned a little, then glanced over at the boy. She could see his eyes narrowing as he concentrated.
"That adds approximately ten miles to our trip." He glanced at the gas gauge. "Possibly doable."
Jenni nodded. Jason was good with figures and she trusted him. "Ralph will come get us."
"We need to not be too far out when we do hit empty," Katie said. "We really don't know what the situation is out here. We're hoping for a low number of zombies but Emorton taught us a fairly bitter lesson."
Jenni could feel the heat of the sun pressing down on her and she glanced toward it. It was lower in the sky. They were running out of time. She felt it.
"What does it look like?" Katie asked.
Jason took the map and studied it. "No towns except the one Ralph talked about. At least not in the direction we're going."
Jenni barely glanced at the occasional house or trailer along the road.
Most of them looked boarded up anyway. No cars anywhere. The world was as good as dead now it seemed. At least here in rural Texas.
She was trying hard not to panic. Trying hard not to feel overwhelmed.
She reached out and gripped Jason's hand tightly in her own. Yes, they had left the relative safety of the hunting store, but they had saved Jason. She had done her duty and that gave her a strange sense of calm. But now they had to stay alive. They had to figure this all out. Otherwise, their rescue of Jason would be fruitless and they would die out here. Yesterday, on that doorstep, Jenni had almost given up. Almost given in, but not now. No, not now.
The truck roared down the narrow country road. The scenery flashed by the windows. Katie's knuckles were white as she gripped the steering wheel.
They all felt it, Jenni knew. They were running out of time.
The tearing of cellophane sounded behind her and Jason wordlessly handed her a Danish. She took it and began to eat ravenously. The day was slipping by faster than she liked and they had forgotten to eat. Jason then handed one to Katie and they all ate in eerie silence.
If they catch us and tear us open, will they enjoy the sugary goodness inside, Jenni thought grimly.
The vision of all those zombies running toward them was too horrible to think about, yet she couldn't help but think about just that. What if something inside of them let them know that the truck had pulled off the road onto the one they now traveled?
"I gotta pee," Jenni said abruptly. It had hit her suddenly. She had the urgent need to go and felt annoyed by Katie's sharp look in her direction. She was a little surprised when Jason and Katie both said, "Me, too."
"Looks clear," Katie continued.
The road was so narrow that the truck almost took up the whole width.
Katie stopped in the middle of the road, lifted the shotgun off the console and looked at Jenni. "You first. Take your gun. I'll cover."
Jenni frowned and shook her head. "This is fucking annoying. Not being able to go without an armed guard."
Jason cleared his throat and said, "What about me?"
"I'll cover for you. Jenni can cover for me." Katie gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm a lesbian. It's okay."
"Really?" Jason's eyes somewhat lit up.
Katie just shook her head and flung her door open. She slid out muttering something about all men being alike.
Jenni found it uncomfortable going, squatting in the tall grass and summer wildflowers, while Katie hovered over her, safety off on the shotgun.
She tried hard to concentrate on the far horizon, staring across the wide valley of farmland. It was then that she realized she could see across to the country road they had been on previously. And the crowd of zombies was still racing in the direction they had last seen the truck. If one of them should look over and see the bright red truck perched high on the hill across the valley…
She yanked up her pants. "Katie," she whispered and pointed.
Katie looked, studied, and realized what the dark swarm of ant-like creatures on the far road was. "Fuck." She motioned to Jason. "Empty your bladder now. We're outta here."
Jason realized what they were looking at and hopped out and took care of business without a single complaint about the two women hovering at his sides. Jack bound out as well, looked at Jason, and decorated all four tires with a nice little stream and left a tidy little brown package behind the truck in the middle of the road. He immediately followed Jason back into the truck, giving Jenni a doggy grin that told her he had found satisfaction.
"Hoping a zombie steps in it, huh," Jenni said with a little smile.
She could have sworn Jack's smile got bigger.
Casting a wary glance at the distant running throng that was steadily working its way across the road in the far distance, she whispered a silent prayer. Katie shifted into gear and they continued down the road, a thin line of trees and the valley of farmland separating them from certain death.
"What if one of them looks this way?" Jason's voice sounded a little on the high end of the scale.
He's terrified, Jenni thought. And she had to admit she was, too.