Bucky took point, scouring the area as they moved forward. The dying light revealed the infected ambling and swaying in sporadic patterns around them.
“There’s too many,” Aaron grimaced as they walked onward.
“Keep going!” Johnny snapped. “There’s gaps between them. We can make it.”
Pain seared through Bucky’s foot for a moment as he stepped on top of a stone. His socks became damp as they trod across the rain-laden grass. Collective groaning from the people around them filled the air. The motionless bodies upon the wasteland now came to life and began moving toward the kids.
Aaron shook his head. “We haven’t got any weapons, we’re sitting ducks!”
“Keep going!” Bucky ordered. “We’re not dying now. Not after everything we’ve been through.”
A young man in a cap and hoodie reached out. Bucky pushed the rotting carcass away. He checked back to his friends. They still bounded across the field.
“Bucky!” Aaron shouted.
A woman thrust herself toward the trio. She secreted black ooze in an uncontrollable manner. Aaron pushed her back with one arm, gaining a black sleeve for his efforts. Bucky ran behind her, grabbed a shoulder strap from the dress she wore and swung her away. Around them more infected appeared. From every direction they came, descending upon the trio like pack of ravenous vultures.
“Keep moving,” Bucky told them. Lacey grimaced. Her trouser leg now bore more blood than it had back in the factory.
As they continued across the field, a stone appeared above the grass line. Bucky reached down and took it with his right hand. A bearded man strutted toward him. Blood and blackness oozed from his eyes and mouth. Bucky clenched the stone and smacked him about the head. The man dropped. A fireman approached still clad in uniform and helmet. Behind him an axe dragged through the long grass. Bucky bounded across, punched him square in the face and took the axe as it slumped from his grasp.
He turned to Aaron. “Now we are,” he said, displaying the weapon.
The trio made their way toward him. Lacey struggled. Her face bore an expression of exhaustion. Behind them more infected appeared. There were no other outlets of escape. They’d been surrounded.
Bucky walked beside Aaron. Lacey yelped.
“Are you okay?” Aaron asked.
“Yes,” she gasped. The strain on her face told them otherwise.
A suited man appeared beside Johnny. Bucky dashed across. With one swipe he decapitated the body, launching the head across the field.
The school drew closer. Torchlight appeared at the perimeter.
“Hey!” Bucky shouted, waving his free hand. “Hey!”
A naked, dark haired woman stumbled up behind Lacey, grabbing her ponytail. Lacey shrieked. Bucky ran across as Johnny and Aaron attempted to fight the lady away. More infected closed them down.
“Watch out,” Bucky yelled. With a swift fell he swiped the axe down. Bucky sliced both hands off with one motion. He yanked the fingers away that still clung to Lacey’s hair.
“Go!” he shouted, pushing Aaron forward. A delivery driver took Bucky’s arm, attempting to bite it. Bucky pushed him away. A black veined fisherman launched toward him, crashing to the floor as Bucky smashed him with the axe.
“Bucky!” Johnny screamed. He looked up. His friends were there, but had been separated from him. Between them a group of white eyed, ooze dribbling crazies stumbled his way.
“Bucky!” Lacey screamed.
His stomach sank. From all sides, the pale skinned abominations surrounded him.
“Go!” Bucky replied. “Get the hell out of here! Go!”
Bucky moved. His right foot remained stationary and he lost his balance, falling to the damp ground.
“Bucky!” Lacey screamed once more.
The fisherman had taken hold of his foot.
“Go!” Bucky screamed. His fight back became futile. He punched and pushed the infected away from a seated position, but there were too many of them. Pale, rotting faces descended upon him. Black teeth appeared from behind decomposing lips. Eye whites glared lifelessly upon him as they descended toward his flesh. Bucky closed his eyes as the first hand took hold of his jacket and prayed that it ended painlessly and quickly.
Day Zero: Two Months Later
It was white, bright white. A warm, pleasant breeze danced across his skin. He floated, unable to feel the body he once travelled inside. It was a comfortable, enlightening feeling that swirled inside him. Something took hold of his hand. He squeezed at it, attempting to figure out what it was. There came a muffled noise. Something blurry filled his vision and vanished in an instant. A bustle occurred around his being. Another shape came into view. Bright lights appeared before him. Strange sensations took hold. The whiteness came into focus. The muffled noises cleared.
Bucky aroused in a bed. About him people appeared. The smiling, tearful face of Lacey focused from the blur of shapes.
He opened his mouth but offered nothing more than a croak. “Am I in heaven?” he croaked.
Lacey giggled as tears streamed down her face. Johnny and Aaron both appeared from his bedside.
“No, you stupid idiot, you’re not,” Lacey replied. “You’re here. You made it.”
He remembered. The hardware shop. The barn. The car they hid away inside. The football stadium. The factory. He attempted to sit upright.
“No, Bucky, stay down,” a man said. Bucky heeded the stranger’s advice and lay back down. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“A little spaced out. What happened?”
“You have this man to thank,” Johnny said, pointing to a soldier.
“That’s Sergeant Drake,” the other man explained. “I’m Doctor Ealing. He saved you from the zombies outside, I healed you. Your friends tell me we make a good team.”
“You should have seen it,” Aaron began, “he was like a ninja. Bam! Bam! They all got put down. He dragged you out of there and then more soldiers came, got all of us back into the school. It was the most amazing thing I ever saw.”
Bucky looked to the soldier and extended his right hand. “Thank you,” he whispered.
Drake smiled, leant in and shook his hand. “My pleasure. Glad to see you awake.” The doctor gestured toward Drake. “Anyway, I have
