The sun was shining in through the windows. With the blanket still on me, I was sweating profusely. I put the blanket in my backpack to have just in case.
My mouth was so dry; I took a long refreshing sip of water. I didn’t drink as much as I wanted though. I was trying to conserve my rations. Unable to brush my teeth, I popped a piece of gum in my mouth.
There was a pack of wipes I kept in the car for Jackie when she had snacks in the car. I used one to wash my face and rinsed under my arms with it in an attempt not to feel completely disgusting. I added the wipes to my backpack.
I ran a brush threw my hair and put it up in a ponytail. I was trying to busy myself and feel normal. I didn’t want thoughts of the day before to creep into my psyche. Not yet. With any luck, I’d be at the Navy base in about an hour’s time.
I climbed over the center console back into the driver’s seat. It took a moment to find what I had done with my keys and after ten minutes of searching, I found them wedged between the passenger side seat and the center console.
I put the keys in the ignition and turned, the engine however, did not. It made that sad little noise it had made all month but this time it didn’t kick into life after its complaining. I let go of the key and decided to wait a moment.
I looked out into the distance. About a hundred yards away sat a zombie eating on some kind of animal. I felt uneasy and just wanted nothing more than to get a move on. I turned the key again but nothing.
I kept at it but all I got was a choking noise before she stopped giving me anything at all. It was dead and gone. Just another addition to the list of things I had lost in less than 24 hours.
I tried not to panic but I felt like I was being crushed. That I couldn’t breathe. What was I going to do? It would maybe take a day or two to walk to the base if I made good time but I didn’t think I could do it. How would I survive that journey with all these monsters that wanted to eat me?
“Now is the time to be strong,” I whispered to myself.
I took a deep breath and opened the door. I got out of the car as quietly as I could. The zombie down the road never looked up from her meal as I got my bag and closed the door.
I put my jug of water on the hood while I adjusted the backpack so the weight would distribute evenly since it was such a far walk. I was messing with the bag and didn’t notice anything unusual. Not until I felt something pull on my bag.
I turned to see another female zombie growling and grabbing at me. I reached for the gun at my hip only to discover it wasn’t there. I looked into the car to see that it was sitting on the backseat. The knives were located in the bag.
I quickly ran to the other side of the car. The zombie chased after me. I tried to get into the car but I didn’t have the time. The zombie was very close to grabbing me when I put my hand on the handle of the backdoor. I ran again with no idea what to do next. If I didn’t have time to get into the car to grab the gun, I didn’t have time to grab the knives. I couldn’t believe my lack of planning. I was not at all prepared for this and I should’ve been. I knew what the stakes were getting out of car and yet I let myself be blindsided. It was like I had some kind of subconscious death wish.
Gaining my senses a little bit I realized a way to outsmart the zombie. I should be able to outsmart it; after all, I was the one still alive.
I went around one more time and stopped when I got to the back door on the passenger side. I unhitched the door but didn’t open it all the way. When the zombie got close enough I opened the door quick.
The zombie had no sense or reflexes really and ran right into the door as I had hoped she would. She fell backwards and thumped hard on the ground. Her growls became louder and more annoyed. I knew I didn’t have long before she managed to roll over and either crawl or stand and walk after me.
I grabbed the gun and clip off the seat. I put the clip into the gun quickly. When I took my head out of the back of the car, there was no growling. The zombie was making no noise at all. I looked up and saw the reason why.
A woman with black as night hair, almost black eyes, and beautiful dark skin was standing about 6 feet away from me by the head of the zombie. She had put a spear through the zombies head.
“You looked like you could’ve used some help,” she said as she took the spear out of the zombies head.
“A bit yeah,” I said back.
“Phoebe,” she said and outstretched her hand.
I took her hand and shook it, “Shelly.”
“Are you all alone?”
“Yeah, I was headed to the navy base when my car broke down. I was going to try to make it on foot.”
“Well, my group is headed to a beach over that way. Would you want to join us?”
I was surprised by
