Clear for a moment, Bunny opened the door and dove into the car, slamming it behind her. By the time she twisted herself around in the driver’s seat several had already gathered at the front of the car and were crawling onto the hood, mouths wide in anticipation.
Pushing the ignition key in place, she roared the motor to life and laid on the horn, hoping she hadn't taken too long. More began to cluster, hands streaking across the glass. If she waited much longer, she'd be trapped. Still, by habit, she tapped the rabbit, hoping against hope it would bring her genuine luck.
Dropping the car into gear, she floored the pedal, jumping the old muscle car forward, running over more than a few on the way. Those clinging to the hood flew off when she spun the wheel, skidding the Camaro across the parking lot.
Putting it in reverse, she backed towards the far side of the club, as far from the van as she could get, hand holding the horn down, making all the noise she could. A thud from the back told her she'd hit another, drawing her eye to the rearview.
Not just another, but a cluster of them, coming from the next building over, arms out, growling for the food they heard trying to escape them. Bunny looked at them and clenched her teeth. She just needed to see the van.
Hands pounded at the car as the dead gathered around, searching for a way inside. She knew instantly she couldn't sit like this any longer and shifted gears, spinning the car forward, shaking off the ones clinging to it.
Looking around, she saw more of them coming towards her, drawn by the sound. She was running out of time and still hadn't seen the van. Had something gone wrong? Had they not made it? Was she all who was left?
Rolling the Camaro backwards again, she made some room from the dead, only to find she’d shortened the distance with even more. Cursing, she changed gears again and sped through the knot of them forming in front of her, knocking them aside like bowling pins.
There were just too many. She knew she couldn't keep it up much longer. Sooner or later, they would crowd the car and she'd be pinned down with no way out. Giving it a little gas, she rolled across the parking lot, chewing her lip, growing anxious.
Suddenly, the van swung into sight, coming around the side of the building and heading for the street. With a laugh, Bunny floored it and headed across the parking lot, shooting past the ever-growing number of dead.
She was right behind them as Bruno swung the van onto the street. Revving the engine she swung alongside, giving the bartender a wave and getting one back. Moving in front of the van, Bunny settled back, thinking they had made it. They were in the clear.
She was wrong.
They didn't make it three blocks. Bunny leading the way, the two vehicles sped down the street, weaving through abandoned and overturned cars, dodging the dead as they rose up all around them. For all her planning, Bunny hadn't foreseen what happened when they swung right to avoid an overturned firetruck.
Hundreds of them gathered in the street. Maybe more, Bunny couldn't tell. A wall of hungry corpses.
Slamming on the brakes, she stopped the Camaro short of plowing into them. Behind her, she heard Bruno do the same. The dead turned, looking at her with hungry eyes, and as a wave, moved forward.
"Shit!" Bunny yelped, dropping the car in reverse and smoking her tires as she planted the gas to the floor.
She jumped past the van, already in motion, and swung back into the intersection, picking another route. Making sure Bruno was still behind her, Bunny raced the Camaro forward, dodging the vehicular debris that littered the road.
Again, she hit the brakes, seeing another throng of dead moving her way. Glancing right, she saw an overturned rig blocking the road. No place to go but left, away from their destination.
Swinging the wheel around, she drove on, watching Bruno in her mirror as he chased the van after her. But at every turn, she saw more of the same. Racing through the streets, past burning buildings, blood-stained cars, and the hungry dead, Bunny began to wonder if this had been a bad idea.
Pausing at an intersection, she took stock, and turned the car back towards the north, not wanting to lose any more ground than they had. Bruno followed suit, right on her tail. Behind them, an ever-growing mass of walking dead trailed.
Rolling forward, Bunny scanned the road ahead, as well as the buildings that lined the street. At least once, she saw someone looking from a third story window, watching them as they passed by.
Part of her wanted to stop, to offer help to the people inside, but one look in her mirror, at the sheer number of dead stalking them, told her it would get all of them killed. So, she rolled on past. It killed a part of her to do it, but there was no other choice.
Through the smoke-choked, dead-infested streets they drove, passing the remains of civilization as they went. Struggling with detours, they steadily made their way north, drawing ever closer to hope.
It terrified her in ways she couldn’t describe, to see the city like this. It hadn’t been a full day and already the world she knew had been transformed into a living nightmare. How things could’ve reached this point so quickly, with so little effort, was
