"We can outrun them," Lisa whispered. "You good?"
"I'm good."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure!"
Keeping close to the buildings on their right, they set off in a light jog towards the exit. Almost immediately, the infected in the alleyway lifted their heads and started to moan and move towards them. The group in the doorway began to move as well.
As they passed the walkway, they saw two more at the end of the alley on the right. They lifted their heads and joined the pursuit. She glanced at Anita as she picked up speed, but the girl was already running.
They entered the alley at full speed and burst out onto the road. There were more infected on either side of them. Many more! She tried to count. 20, 30, maybe 40. Shit!
The street ahead was clear. Anita sprinted past her, heading for it.
"Run, Lisa! Run!" she shouted.
Lisa sprinted after her. She could see the bar … see her street.
She flashed past the entrance to the gated community, Park Mews, that faced their house. Nearly there! A few more steps! Her lungs were bursting.
Anita was slowing ahead of her. She stopped. She looked back at Lisa.
"Keep going! Keep going! Left! Left!" Lisa shouted.
But Anita didn't move. She actually took a couple of steps back.
Lisa reached the end of the street. She could see her house. But she stopped running, too. She stood beside Anita.
In the street, right in front of her house, was another large group of infected. The entrance to the parking area beside their house was rammed with a barricade of cars and furniture.
The horde saw them and began to move.
There were infected closing in on them from all sides. They were coming from the other side of the bar now, too.
All she could hear was their moans. The air was filled with the cries of a thousand anguished voices. She wondered if this was what hell would sound like.
"NEIL!" she screamed. "NEIL! IT'S ME! LET ME IN, NEIL! NEIL …!"
Anita grabbed her by the shoulder and tugged at her to move.
"What are you doing, Lisa? We can't go that way. It's suicide!"
Distraught, she shook her off.
"I have to. I have to," she wept.
"We've got to GO! There are too many!"
Anita started back down the street they had just come from.
Gasping and sobbing, Lisa followed her. Through her tears, the girl was just a blur in front of her.
Then Anita stopped again. She leant against the wall of one of the buildings, leaning on her stick for support. Panting, she pointed down the street.
"It's no good! Were trapped. I can't … I'm done … We're done."
Lisa felt a wave of rage rush through her. No! This couldn't be how it was going to end! Not here, like this. A stone's throw from her front door! Adrenaline surged through her. The pedestrian entrance to Park Mews was just ahead. It was a short alley with a wrought-iron gate at its end. Maybe, just maybe, the gate would be open.
She grabbed Anita's good arm and dragged her into the alley. They ran to the end. Lisa grabbed the gate and pushed at it. It didn't budge. She shook it and rattled it, screaming in fury.
Anita sank to the ground. She was spent.
The first infected turned the corner into the alley. Lisa stepped in front of Anita and raised the pointed stick out in front of her.
The infected advanced towards her. There were more behind it.
She thought she heard voices behind her.
Lisa thrust the point of the stick into the face of the infected. She grunted with effort as she speared it through the eye. It crumpled to the ground.
She heard Anita's voice. "Help us! Please! Let us in!"
A woman's voice called back, "I'm sorry! I can't."
She tried to wrestle the stick free, pushing against the head of the corpse with her foot.
The others were closing in.
"Please!" Anita wailed. "We're going to die!"
The point of the stick broke off. Lisa lashed out at the next infected with the blunt end. It staggered backwards with the force of the blow, only to move forward again.
She heard more voices. Arguing. Anita pleading.
The infected, a woman in a tattered blue business suit, was reaching for her. Its tights were shredded, and it was only wearing one shoe. Once stylish blonde hair was now matted and falling out in clumps. It gripped her shoulders pulling its face towards her, mouth open, teeth bared, snarling. The smell of death and decay engulfed her. She pushed her hands against its chest, her fingers sinking into the putrefying flesh. Anita was screaming.
Suddenly, something exploded beside her head. She felt pressure and everything slowed down. The voices and screaming became low and distorted. Another explosion, and another. A wave of dizziness forced her to close her eyes. Her ears were ringing. She was sinking. Hands were grabbing her. Pulling at her. Dragging her. Far away, she could still hear Anita screaming. She let herself slip into darkness.
She regained her senses to the sound of the same arguing voices, but this time they were closer.
"Just hang on. Hang on!"
"But we agreed not to let anyone else in."
"For God's sake, they were going to be killed in front of our eyes. Where's your humanity?"
"The girl's been bitten. Look at her hand!"
Lisa sat up quickly, in spite of the spinning in her head.
"She's not been bitten! She was shot," she cried.
A crowd of fearful faces looked down at her from
