Rather than deliver a vicious blow, Zion gently shoved the monster with his weapon, sending it falling straight back off of the stairs. There was a loud crack as the back of its head impacted on the edge of one of the stairs.
With the path to the first floor clear, the two men headed down, treading as lightly as they could to minimize the noise. As they reached the bottom, they could see into the mall where hundreds of zombies lumbered around just outside of the store. They made the turn towards the truck, stopping at the sight of a handful of creatures still in the store.
“Run through them to the truck,” Zion whispered. “I’ll load up the mowers and you handle anything that comes our way.”
Calvin nodded and held up his bloody shovel, approving of the plan. They darted out from cover, running as hard as they could down the aisle to the truck, passing half a dozen creatures browsing the various garden departments looking for brains. The footsteps alerted them to fresh meat, causing them to turn and head towards the duo.
Zion reached the truck and quickly dropped the back gate to the trailer, giving him a ramp. The first mower was a beast, forcing him to use every ounce of his strength to get it moving. Calvin glanced over with concern as he heard his friend grunt with the strain.
“Keep watch, I got this!” Zion hissed as he heaved the machine onto the trailer.
Calvin nodded and went back to sentry duty, watching the zombies they’d passed coming their way. He quickly checked side to side, to make sure there was no other threat, and then moved up to attack the first ghoul. With a quick swing of the shove, the first attacker was down. Rather than continue moving forward, the sniper retreated to the truck.
Zion got the first mower up, hopping off and immediately pushing the second one. Calvin watched the half-dozen zombies swell to about twenty in the main aisle. With the lead creature about twenty yards away, he swallowed hard, knowing this was getting out of hand quickly.
Before he could move up to attack, he heard movement from his right. A trio of zombies moved through the potted plants, knocking over long-dead plants with smashes and clangs. He frantically looked back and forth at the two front threats before dropping his shovel and retrieving his rifle.
“They’re on to us, I’m going hot!” he barked.
Zion paused with the second mower and surveyed the situation, nodding. “Do it!” he cried, and continued to push.
Calvin aimed at the main aisle zombies, quickly squeezing off two shots, hoping that the fallen would trip up a few. He turned his attention to the plant section, the trio having grown to half a dozen and getting closer, within fifteen yards.
He quickly fired, taking out the closest two before frantically shifting back to the main horde, which had swallowed up the fallen easily. He fired two more times, but heard Zion struggling with a gigantic mower, far bigger than the previous two. It looked like an industrial sized one for mowing football fields.
Calvin glanced back at the oncoming threat, knowing that no matter what he did the enemy would be on them no matter what he chose to do. He broke from his defensive position and rushed back, throwing what little weight he had behind the mower. Despite his lean frame, it was just enough to get it moving up the incline. As soon as it was in place, Zion slammed the gate shut.
“You’re driving!” he said, and they bolted for the cab.
They slammed the doors shut, breathing heavily as rotting flesh pawed at the windows. Calvin turned the key in the ignition, and both men let out a sigh of relief as the engine roared to life.
“Buckle up,” he said. “This is going to be a bumpy ride.”
He popped it into gear and they started moving, a little slower with all the weight they were pulling. The corpse hands slid against the windows as they pulled away, leaving trails of goop and slime in their wake.
The duo drove down the back aisle before making the turn on the opposite side of the store to head back to the mall. As they approached the entrance, they saw a horde of creatures in the hundreds standing in front of them.
“That is some densely packed trouble right there,” Calvin said, swallowing hard.
Zion licked his lips. “All you can do is floor it and hope, brother,” he said, extending his fist.
Calvin bumped it and then revved the engine a few times before punching the gas.
The truck gained speed, hitting thirty as they crashed into the front edge of the mass. Bodies flew about, a few embedding themselves into the front hood, brethren smacking off of their backs as the truck plowed through.
Zion looked back, seeing a couple of creatures reaching out, their hands shattered as the mowers slapped them on the way by.
“Come on baby, come on baby,” Calvin muttered to himself, “you can do it.”
The engine whined loudly under the strain, the constant mass of rotted flesh keeping their speed low. The truck bumped about as they ran over creatures, the sound of broken bones and moans coming from an undead carpet below.
As they plowed through, they could see light at the end of the tunnel, but the truck began to slow down. Calvin dropped the truck into four-wheel drive, giving them a little extra boost of power. Just before the edge, the truck groaned mightily, and the duo held their breath.
Calvin closed his eyes and mentally urged the vehicle forward, and then the truck finally punched through the other side of the creatures. They let out a sigh of relief, and Zion turned to make sure the mowers made it. They were all still on
