Calvin saw this and readjusted his sights to focus on the new threat that had caused the change in course. He quickly took aim, firing several times and taking out the creatures that had surprised his companion. He paused quickly to reload as fast as his fingers would work.
Don’t worry brother, I’ll have you covered, he thought frantically.
Mateo ran over the cars, keeping his focus on the delivery vehicle ahead. The higher vantage point gave him a view of the mass of ghouls in the distance, which terrified him. He didn’t stop moving, though, pushing forward until he reached his target.
As he leapt down beside the delivery vehicle, he rushed up to the car just in front of it, a late model luxury sedan. He did a quick check around it, making sure he was alone, at least for the time being, before concentrating on the gas tank.
Shot continued to ring out over his head, but he didn’t waste time looking up to see how close they were getting. He knew he needed to trust Calvin to cover him. He glanced on the driver’s side, seeing no gas tank, and then rushed around to the other side, relieved to see the tank door flush against the body of the car. That meant it was likely it still had fuel inside.
Mateo ran over and pried at the flap, but it was latched tight. He jammed the tip of his long blade into the locking mechanism, but it was no use, it didn’t budge.
“Time to get tough on you!” he growled, and reared back with his cleaver, slamming it as hard as he could into the center of the flap, slicing it right in two. He pried both halves off and revealed the gas cap, which he quickly unscrewed and threw aside.
He was unable to stop himself from pausing and glancing at the coming horde as the gunfire ceased, seeing that the zombies were only about twenty yards from him. He froze for a moment in fear, but snapped back to the moment as Calvin resumed firing, presumably having reloaded.
Mateo quickly pulled out the shirt and stuffed it as far down into the gas tank as he could. He pulled out the lighter and flicked it several times until a flame was born. He lit the shirt, pausing for a second to make sure it took root. When it began to blaze, he took off like a shot back towards Calvin.
The sniper shifted his aim towards his companion’s escape, scanning the area between him and the running man. When he didn’t see any stragglers, he turned his attention towards their escape, seeing about twenty creatures had begun making their way towards the bridge.
Rather than focus on the closest creatures, he aimed towards groups that were clustered together. He fired several shots into them, thinning them to the point where two running humans could break through if they needed to. After several shots he was forced to reload, and Mateo banged on the side of the large vehicle.
“Come on, let’s get out of here!” he yelled.
Calvin slammed in a few more bullets before hopping down onto the car next to him and hitting the road. As he gathered himself, Mateo lunged at a few close by zombies and carved them up with his blades.
With the immediate threat cleared, the two men ran hard back towards the camp, darting and weaving around the ghouls they’d dodged on the way in. It didn’t take long for them to get clear of the creatures and back to the first road. They stopped in the middle of Main Street, clear of any undead for at least twenty yards.
They looked back at the bridge, chests heaving from the hard running.
“Do you think you got it good enough?” Calvin huffed.
Mateo nodded. “If that shirt was any deeper in there, I wouldn’t have had anything to light,” he replied.
They stood for another moment, and then the telltale boom of an exploding car went off in the distance. A fireball shot into the sky, sending flaming liquid spreading in every direction on the bridge. They exchanged a relieved fist bump.
“With any luck, a few more cars will catch fire,” Calvin said with a grin.
Mateo nodded. “At a minimum, though, we bought everyone a few extra minutes.”
“Come on, let’s get back,” the sniper said, breaking into a jog. “Pretty sure we don’t want to miss the last bus out of town.”
CHAPTER NINE
Zion and Wendy exited out of the south hole in the wall, walking past the two men she’d sent to patch it up. They seemed to be struggling to find stuff big enough to make much of a difference.
“Forget trying to patch it up,” Wendy barked. “Just focus on clearing the debris right in front of it so we can get through, and shoot anything that gets within fifty yards of the hole, you got it?”
The two men nodded and immediately went to work moving the debris that Zion had jumped with his truck earlier. They moved at a brisk jog, knowing their time was short.
“You really got your people whipped into shape,” Zion said as they moved, eyes scanning for ghouls all the while.
Wendy chuckled gruffly. “Years of being a fitness instructor paying off,” she replied. “Nothing like getting paid to yell at people, am I right?”
“You are correct, ma’am,” Zion replied as they ran down a few more blocks. They looked side to side down the streets as they went, seeing several zombies emerging from the neighborhood. They were slow moving and far enough away that they didn’t pose any immediate threat.
When they reached the corner of the park
