“Tell him I’ll be right there,” Zion said, and the small blonde nodded and headed back inside. He got to his feet and offered Cheryl a hand up.
She shook her head. “I’m just gonna hang out here for a minute,” she said. “Just need to collect myself.”
“All right,” Zion said, lowering his hand. “Just one thing, though. I want you on this next load.”
She immediately shook her head, eyes steely. “I’m a leader, which means I don’t leave until everyone does.”
“You may be a leader,” he replied, “but I’m the leader. I’ll be the last one out, which is exactly why you need to go now.” He crossed his arms. “If this last load doesn’t happen, or if I don’t make it out, these people are gonna need you.” She tried to open her mouth to argue, but he held up a hand. “Wendy’s a warrior, same thing with my sister, but you got something they don’t,” he said.
She pursed her lips. “What’s that?”
“You know how to bend people to your will,” Zion explained. “I don’t know how receptive Edward is going to be to everybody coming to town, but I do know that if you got your verbal talons into him, there’s a damn good chance it’ll work out.”
She nodded, defeated. “I’ll be on this trip,” she promised. “You have my word.”
Zion gave her a firm nod before heading into the garage. There was a hive of activity as the four kids worked hard on the mowers. Each of them had a tall metal pole sticking out of the front engine block, with a few civilians helping them out by holding stuff up for welding. A few people brought in weights from the gym, setting them on top of the mowers.
As Zion watched on, he noticed Calvin waving at him beside the truck.
“Tori says we’re under ten from heading out,” Zion said as he approached.
Calvin nodded. “Sounds about right, but I need your help with something first.”
“Ain’t no time to be playing wingman,” his friend teased.
The sniper rolled his eyes. “Well I already got the girl, so I don’t need a wingman,” he drawled. “What I do need is your brute strength, and thoughts.”
“Whatcha thinking?” Zion asked.
Calvin motioned for his friend to follow him to the far corner of the garage. There was a huge stack of cinderblocks there, maybe forty or so.
“I was thinking, we got that rebar in the truck that we were gonna use as a last resort to stab these fuckers,” he said, “but what if we could trip some of them up?”
Zion furrowed his brow in confusion, shaking his head.
Calvin grabbed two blocks, setting them down on the ground about six feet apart, the holes facing each other from side to side. “Now picture that with half a dozen rebar bolts through there,” he said, motioning. “Stack them two high, put a few at the back to reinforce it. Probably ain’t gonna last too long, but it could very well trip up several batches of them. Every minute counts, you know.”
“That’s true,” Zion replied thoughtfully, “but the problem is that there’s not going to be a way to secure them to the ground, so they’re just gonna get knocked over.”
Calvin’s face fell. “No worries man,” he said. “Just trying to think outside the box.” He started to walk back, but Zion continued staring at the blocks.
“Hold up,” he said, forcing his friend to stop. “Your original idea might not work, but we can still use these.”
Calvin turned to him. “How so?”
“These things are heavy and rigid,” Zion said, “so if I was to throw them off of the back of the truck, I could knock some of those things over.”
The sniper grinned. “Zombie cinder block bowling?”
“Hell yeah,” Zion replied with a chuckle. “Go get one of the trucks out of the main lot and bring it around back. We’ll start getting it loaded up.”
Calvin nodded and ran off. Zion perked up when he heard buses honking and made his way outside as Wendy jumped out of one of the shuttles.
“Here for the next load,” she announced.
Zion checked his watch. One hour and two minutes. “Cutting this close, ain’t you?”
“Next time we’ll have to steal something that has more than a go-kart engine in it,” she snapped.
“I’m sure Fingers and Calvin can whip something up,” Zion replied. “Assuming Fingers is still kicking, that is.”
The redhead nodded. “He’s good, as are the rest of the boys,” she reported. “They did good down there.”
“All right, let’s move!” Cheryl bellowed from the doorway. “Move your ass like your people’s lives depend on it!”
Civilians rushed out of the parking garage, carrying bags full of possessions. All they have left in the world.
Zion turned back to Wendy. “Now you hurry back,” he said. “We’re gonna buy you as much time as we can.”
“It was eighty-eight minutes door to door, including unloading at the hotel,” Wendy replied. “Add three minutes to get the next load on here, and five minutes to get past the crossroads.”
Zion wrinkled his nose. “If you want to speed a little, I won’t complain,” he said.
They shared a nod, and she retreated to the buses. He checked his watch again, clearing the timer and putting in ninety-six minutes, clicking start as they drove off. He stared at the ticking numbers, and his heartbeat quickened a little.
The final goal was in sight. They had to make it.
CHAPTER NINE
Two trucks sped down the interstate, ready to encounter the horde. They didn’t have to go far before they ran into Jermaine, who was in the middle of the road, waving them down. They were about three-quarters of a mile away from the crossroads. Calvin and Zion manned the cinderblock truck, and the college kids drove the trailer truck.
“Man, I was starting to get worried!” Jermaine cried as they pulled up.
Zion leaned on the window. “You know I always come through,” he replied. “So how
