'Yep. They saw us.' Said Ruben reaching into the truck to pull out his rifle, 'Damn it, I wanted that car.'
Ruben rolled down the ditch into the tall grass and took a knee, everyone else was watching him as he fired a three round burst into the side of the vehicle. The gunshots seemed to act as a catalyst for the rest of them and they sprang into motion. Stewart was the fastest, she had her door open and her rifle propped up on it before the others even moved.
Max and Bill unslung their rifles and mimicked Ruben only on the opposite side of the truck. Javier scrambled into the bed of the pick-up and fired over the cab. Ruben's steady fire had knocked out all the windows in the side of the car facing them and some inaccurate shots came back at them from the Escape. The driver didn't wait to turn at the intersection, he took the vehicle right into the ditch and bounded through it with enough speed to get off of the ground as he raced the Escape straight towards them.
Stewart, braced as she was, fired a one shot, two shot pattern. The first bullet sent spider webs through the windshield and her next two struck the driver square in the face, putting the zombie to rest forever. The Escape didn't stop, it barreled into the pickup head on. Stewart attempted to dodge out of the way, but was clipped by the door and sent rolling down the off ramp towards the highway. Javier was thrown into the windshield of the Escape as it impacted; he disappeared in a cloud of debris and dust. Ruben and Max stared at each other as the truck disappeared from between them, shoved out of the way by the force of the Escape.
'Fuck. Help, Max!' Bill called. He had rolled out of the way, thinking the Escape might slide sideways. The slope he was on was steep and still damp and Bill could not stop himself from going all the way to the bottom. 'Gimme a hand here, this grass is slicker than chicken shit.'
'Stay there!' Max yelled, running to the back of the Escape. His hand was on the rear door handle, just about to try and open it, when it was kicked open forcefully from within.
A tall, thin zombie in a black trench coat pushed his way out of the door and slapped Max's gun aside. One of the thing's arms was hanging loosely at its side and it stumbled and fell to the pavement after trying to walk on its shattered legs.
When it hit the ground Max jumped it, attempting to stomp its head flat. The zombie's good hand blurred through the air and knocked Max's feet out from under him. This landed Max with his thigh on the zombie's face. He rolled quickly to prevent a bite and tried to bring his rifle around again for a quick shot. Ruben was faster, the old man had come around the back of the Escape and fired a double shot, startling Max.
Ruben's shot didn't stop the zombie, only after the other body fell across the man on the ground did Max realize the old man hadn't been firing at the one on the ground. A third zombie leaped out of the back door to tackle Max. The broken legged zombie on the ground thrust itself up into Ruben while the old man was trying to get a bead on the zombie who jumped Max.
Both men were tossed like rag dolls into the side of the Escape, Max's rifle barrel was bent at a ninety degree angle, Ruben had lost his entirely. The other zombie, a woman dressed in a halter top and sporting short spikey blond hair was struggling with it, trying to figure out how to cock it and fire.
Without hesitation Ruben drew his long combat knife and stabbed her. His training came back to haunt him though and he stabbed for her heart, landing what would normally be a killing blow. They were pressed together for an instance and she belched forth a thick, black goo that splattered Ruben's face and caused him to pull back. However, he retained enough sense to take his knife with him
The trench coat zombie was up on two legs again, wobbling, but standing. He sneered at Max and pulled out a knife of his own. Max reached for his combat knife, only to remember he had taken it off his belt when they were in the truck, it had been digging into him all morning on the ride. His hand came up with his canteen instead.
The zombie gave him a puzzled look of bemusement, then was hit from the side by a snarling Stewart. She grabbed his head and twisted as she flew over him, swinging the zombie over entirely. She ended up on her feet and the zombie's body continued its movement while its head was held in her vise like grip. The resounding crack that split the air made Max wince, the zombie became a twitcher in her hands and she dropped it to assist Ruben.
The blond and Ruben had squared off, she was using the rifle as a club, held by the barrel, he still had his knife.
'I haven't seen five humans outside of a camp for weeks.' said the blond. 'Where'd you escape from?'
'We ain't from around here, darling.' Ruben responded.
The blond swung the rifle at Ruben's head, thinking that with the added reach it would be a quick take down move. Ruben ducked sideways, taking a blow that deflected off the side of his head in order to get in close and slash at the woman's throat. His blade went deep, tearing a ragged furrow that exposed the inner workings of her esophagus to the world. Choking, she put her hand to the wound, a purely human reflex. Ruben followed up on by planting his combat knife into her left eye. The woman stayed up for a moment, held there by his knife, then he pushed her backward, where she slide off of his blade to crumple onto the ground, still clutching her throat.
Max approached the door of the Escape, trying to sense any other zombies that were still active. The only thing he sensed was Javier. The young man had been thrown through the windshield to land on both of the front passengers. His combat boot was embedded in the front passengers head. The foot on that side was also twisted around completely and dripping a steady stream of blood into the car. Javier was unconscious and Max resisted his first instinct to pull the young man out.
'Stewart.' Max said, 'The zombies are all dead. Help me with Javier. Ruben, go see if Bill needs a hand out of the ditch, please.'
Stewart came to the open door and looked inside. She stepped back, pulling Max with her. 'Shit, I don't know what to do. He's fucked up.'
'Do we move him?'
'Do we have a choice? We can't leave him there.' Stewart said, 'Better to move him now, while he is out, than to do it when he comes around.'
'I don't think we'll be able to get the front door open.' Max said.
'Fuck that, just drop the front seat back, that will let us pull him out through the back door. We really need a back board or something, in case his back or neck is broken.'
'We'll have to risk it.'
'Javier?' Bill said, huffing as he came around the back of the Escape.
'Not good.' Stewart said, 'We need to get him out of there.'
'You have a plan?' Bill asked.
Max and Stewart nodded.
'Let's do it, quickly.' Bill said, 'Ruben do you see any other cars? We just took it up the ass as far as vehicles go. See what you can find.'
Max hadn't even noticed, but what Bill said was true, the 'good' truck, had been hit head on and was leaking fluids all over the ground beneath it, worse it had been pushed back into their other truck, which was also leaking green fluid, even though the damage from this latest assault didn't look that bad.
Bill and Stewart had both of the front seats of the Escape lowered back as far as they could get them and had taken a hold of Javier by the shoulders.
'On three. One. Two. Three!' Bill said. They pulled Javier out of the truck, eliciting a groan from the young man.
Max grabbed his legs as he came out and helped lower him to the ground. After he was put down, Max twisted Javier's foot around until it looked more or less how it should if it were not damaged.
'I don't think you are supposed to do that Max.' Stewart said.
'We heal faster, he might too. I don't want his foot healing up facing backward.'
'Ah, yeah, okay, gotcha.'
To one side of them Ruben was moving their limited gear from the more damaged truck to the windowless one behind it.
'We can still take this one, for a few miles. I don't see anything leaking other than the radiator fluid. It will heat up and burn out soon, but we won't have to walk while we look for a new vehicle. Load him up in the bed and let's get out of here.'
Max pulled a shotgun and a rifle out of the Escape, to replace his damaged gun. He only found a few shells
