BRAINS: with a side-order of Flesh., Siagrrl [best e reader for epub TXT] 📗

a dead end, which was a rocky mountain side. One to the left, which led to the pier, and the other to the right, which curved around the mountain base and disappeared from view.

The sound of automatic guns gets louder and louder nailing the 4-wheel drive from behind and everyone’s face fell when there was a sickening jerk as one of the back tires is hit and explodes.

“What do we do?” Hope cried. “They’re gaining on us!” The mountain side loomed above us as we sped towards it, and Ms Faeshar speeds up.

“Seatbelts!” She demands.

Everyone straps in, which was hard since I had to share with Gahnt, and Hope had to share with Mercy, but nonetheless we still did it. In a split second the car, lurches forward again, going almost 200mp/h, full-throttling down the remainder of the highway, and instinctively I grabbed the support beam above the window and held on for dear, precious, sweet life. Gahnt puts his arms around my shoulders reassuringly and also grabs the support bar.

Roger whistles appreciatively. “You go, Ms!”

Just about 20 metres from the T-section, Ms Faeshar slams on the breaks and careens the car 90 degrees to the left, barely scrapping by the rocky surface and heading down the path that led to the pier. I couldn’t help but notice something out of the corner of my eye, down the right path.

“The pier?!” Kieren shrieked. “This car can’t sim, Ms!!”

Everyone was panicked. The pier was just as sturdy as the road, but not as long.

“Shit. We won’t stop in time!” Roger said, rightly. Ms Faeshar swung the car hard to the right and slammed on the breaks, attempting to 360 the car to a stop. We impact hard, hitting a docked white stream-liner, leaving the back end ploughed in and dented. The metal of the car screeches in pain as it grinds against the hard surface of the boat. We are all rocked forward against our seatbelts. The 4-wheel drive seemed to jump forward, the back tires lifting a few feet of the ground before slamming back down on the bitumen, and finally after a few tantalising minutes of terror the car clunked to a halt.

Without word, or notion Ms Faeshar jumped from the car and circled round it to the boat at the end of the pier – one we hadn’t managed to hit – and jumped on-board, disappearing for a few moments.

The car had been turned around, and now we were facing the road which we came from and the black car that was closing the distance between us.

“Mathieu!” Ms Faeshar ordered from inside the boat. “Distract them!”

Being already somewhat dead, Mathieu nodded. “You. All of you.” He demanded looking back at the rest of us. “Out. Grab the supplies and head for the boat. Load them up as fast as possible. Now, hurry!”

Bullets continued to fly in our direction and the front windscreen imploded shattering glass all over us. We didn’t need any more convincing. Grabbing as many bags and supplies as we could carry we undid our seatbelts and practically leapt from the car. No sooner, though did the 4-wheel drive rev itself to life.

“What the??” Mio freaked as she was still only half out the door when the car took to life and revved carnivorously. We all headed for the boat. A white and silver cruiser the size of a house. Roger helped me hobble to the entrance while Gahnt carried my share of the supplies. I noticed a small script print on the side of the boat.

S.S. Ederle.

I heard the car spring forward and most of us turned to look. Mathieu had taken the wheel and started speeding towards the commodore. They were neck and neck for both to survive one had to stop. But neither did. The distance between them shortened. Mercy grabbed Hope and jumped aboard the boat distracting her from what was about to happen, Mio voluntarily boarded the boat and rushed in side to avoid the sight, and Roger with supplies, also sprinted for the boat.

50m . . . . . 40m . . . . . 30m . . . . . 20m . . . . . 10m . . . . .

The crash was deafening. Metal against metal shrieked in angst, lights and windows smashed, the fronts of both cars, squashed and melded as if to become one. The two cars collided with such a force that caused both too spin out of control, and veer helplessly into other docked boats.
The black commodore’s engine exploded on impact, obviously not made for so much damage, while the 4-wheel drive sprang oil and started to combust. From here, we could see Mathieu slumped over the steering wheel, bloodied and in pain. Surprisingly though, he wasn’t unconscious.

There was a sigh of relief that swept through our group, which was quickly dispersed. A large group of infected had come from around the mountain and were making their way across the pier. Some faster than others. Within seconds, everyone was unfrozen moving again, hurrying to fill the boat as fast as possible. I, though, didn’t move. Unsure of how to respond to the situation. There were a few clicks, and then suddenly the boat was brought to life. I glanced behind me watching everyone hurry to get away from the pier and blinked. Somehow, everything was a lot harder to process. The car door of the 4-wheel drive flew from its hinges and landed a few feet away from me, and I watched Mathieu crawl from the wreckage. Landing on the ground with a stomach turning, wet thud.

He shook himself off and slowly got to his feet, limping his way over to the boat. The infected were still pretty far behind him, but at the pace he was going, it wouldn’t take long. Not that there would be too much to worry about since he isn’t technically still alive. But still.

“Alexis!!” I spun back. Hope was waving to me. “Come on! The car isn’t going to last long.”

What did she mean by that?

Then it occurred to me. Ms Faeshar had seen the zombies before we reached the T-section. She knew this would happen. The cars were now both in flames and created a barricade between us and the infected. I wasn’t quite sure if Hope meant the cars wouldn’t last long as a barricade, or the car itself wouldn’t last long, but either way she was right. It was only a matter of time before they both exploded. Ms Faeshar was a lot smarter than I gave her credit for.

During my thoughts, I hadn’t noticed Mathieu had limped his way over to me. “Come on, Alexis. She’s right. Let’s go.” I put his arm over my shoulder and helped carry him the rest of the way to the boat. “Aren’t you yourself in need of assistance? You shouldn’t be carrying me.” He pointed out. I remained silent and got Gahnt to help me slide him over the railing and into the boat. The groaning and snarls got louder, I noticed, when I was finally on the boat myself.

“Ms! We’re ready to go now!!” Faith informed her. “Let’s get out of here.” Roger pulled up the anchor and threw it besides the railing on the inside of the boat. The boat eased forward slowly but steadily, and just seconds before the cars both exploded, sending us all flying backwards into the boat. Then everything went black. Chapter 11.5 - Sudden Circumstance

 

 

 

Color came back into the world very slowly. At first, I thought the blast had somehow made me color-blind, but it wasn’t long before I realized that it was well and truly night fall, quicker still to realize how warm I was. I tried to sit up only to find an immovable heaviness on my chest. When the blobs and blurs finally started to form into actual objects, things became clearer. What looked to be Mathieu lie across my stomach, head propped up against the side of the boat – unconscious. I paused for a moment, listening for any indication of life, but nothing, apart from the gentle sway of the still afloat water craft, could be heard. It was almost too quiet.

 

Even after such a small amount of time, I’d learned by now that a combination of eerie quiet, and lying out in the open wasn’t a good idea. I squirmed my way out from under the body and shoot to my feet, alert and anxious. After a quick wave of dizziness and a stumble later, I was awake enough to take in all the bodies. As if strewn haphazardly by some fire based demigod, each sported burns and more than a few had open wounds. As the boat swayed with the ocean, a torch previously under the largest body, most likely Ms. Faeshars’, rolled to a stop at my feet. Fighting the urge to collapse to the floor, I picked it up and flicked it on – bracing myself for the damage. The first thing of note was the old blood; dried and clotted around each of the members of our group. The second thing of note was that none of the bodies were recognizable. Burnt faces, and charred remains, it was a wonder no horrid smell had permeated the air.

 

I turned back and checked the closest body to me; Mathieu. Except it wasn’t.

 

I took note of the long braided hair and significantly lighter shade of skin. A girl, or young woman, easily older than I, that I’d never seen before. She lay still and quiet. Were it not for the gaping hole in her shoulder and completely charred left side, one could assume she were asleep. Upon first instinct, I leaned in to check her pulse and grew as cold as she when I did not find one. I checked her breathing and found no more help. She was dead. And judging by the pale gray of her skin, that I now took notice of, it had been for some time. Blood was dried around her fingernails around a large wound on her shoulder.

 

A bite.

 

Frantically I grabbed hold of the next nearest body and rolled it with as much might as I could muster. Most of the face was missing, and the scalp had been burned so deep you could see bone. The skin that wasn’t burnt, albeit it wasn’t much, had an oddly blue hue to it. One would almost think it had been dead for some time now. It was the eyes that eventually gave it away; matte red eyes with engorged pupils. Somehow they’d remained intact throughout whatever ordeal it had been through. Dropping the cranium and jumping back I watched it in horror.

 

A zombie.

 

But it did not stir. Not even a flicker of its eyes. It simply lay where I dropped it looking up at me with crimson indifference. I recalled briefly my first encounter with the undead and the way that its eyes faded to a bleak darkness after it had been successfully put down, and remained still