Authors: William Kenney
"If they can't get across the river, we'll be safe, right?" asked on of the kids from just behind Klaus' seat.
"Not for long, I'm afraid," said Klaus. "St. Louis isn't the only city this is happening in, I'm sure. They'll be coming from the west as well. In fact, there are probably zombies here already and destroying these bridges may cut off a much-needed means of escape."
"Take this exit, Bo," Aiden said, leaning forward to get a better look out the window. "Take the overpass and head down 94. Just a few miles down is where I live."
"All right," Bo replied.
Along the highway, everything appeared normal. In fact some commuters seemed absolutely oblivious to the new state of the world. For now there was still electric power, though it probably would not take long for the whole grid to go down. St. Louis was dead, the outlying cities would soon follow.
Fast food drive-thrus were still choked with customers and Bobo turned to the others with eyebrows raised.
"Yo, we all know what's in store. Burger run while it's still possible? Stock up a bit?" he asked, hopefully.
The other glanced at each other with nods.
"Let's do it," Conor said. "We need to be quick about it, though. A couple of us run inside and right back out again."
"Right," Bo said and took a right on Pralle Lane. Just down the service road sat the bright and glowing structure of a White Castle restaurant. The van skidded to a halt and Klaus, Conor and Aiden jumped out, running inside and joining the line at the counter.
It all seemed so surreal after the night they had suffered through. Each of them were splattered with blood, clothes torn, yet no one seemed to pay it any attention. These people had no idea what was waiting just over the horizon.
"Everyone," one of the employees called out. "Our credit card machine is acting up for some reason. I apologize, but for now we can only take cash."
"For some reason..." Aiden said with a grin. "That reason'll be bitin' you on the ass in just a few."
"Good thing we played tonight or I wouldn't have a penny in my pocket," Conor said, fishing his money out of his jeans.
"Just buy a shitload of food, man," Aiden said, staring at the trays back behind the counter. "I need to get to Mara. Make sure she's all right."
"What can I get ya?" asked the perky redhead behind the register.
"Uh, how many burgers do you have ready back there?" asked Conor.
"What?" she asked. "What do you mean? How many do you need?"
"I want whatever is ready, whatever you can just toss in a bag right now. We are in a really big hurry."
She called back to those preparing the food and after a short conversation addressed Conor once more.
"Right now we have sixty-three burgers, twenty-eight chicken, thirty-one fish-"
"I'll take all of it," said Conor.
"All?"
"Yep."
They could hear the crackling of the intercom as an outside customer began to relay their order.
"Yeah, give me three fish sandwiches and a large Coke. Do you guys-" came the voice.
"Yes, Sir?" asked the young kid standing at the drive-thru window.
No answer.
"Sir?"
"Oh my God! What? Aaaaah!"
Conor and Aiden looked at each other in realization. The zombies had arrived.
Just then the girl handed them several bags full of food and Conor slapped down the cash.
"Keep it," he said and they ran to the parking lot, the sound of a horrendous car accident filling the air. Then the ground shook as the bridge into the city exploded and collapsed into the river.
They reached the van, seeing an approaching group of the undead making its way onto the parking lot, moving toward the restaurant.
"Go!" Aiden shouted and the tires squealed as Bobo swung the van onto the street, jumping a curb and racing onto the highway.
"This may be our last decent meal for some time," Klaus said, handing out burgers to the kids. "Don't waste it."
From the trees to the east, hundreds of zombies began to emerge, colliding with vehicles, body parts flying into the air, cars veering off the road, many crashing to be instantly shrouded in the creatures.
"How far to your place, man?" Bo asked, pulling the wheel to avoid a female zombie as she reached out for the van. She caught the side mirror, the momentum tearing her arm from her body. "We ain't got much time."
"Two more exits, then make a left. Couple miles down," Aiden said as he finished a cheeseburger. "Best burger I've ever had. I'll run in, get my girlfriend and get the hell out."
Highway 70 soon became choked with horrified drivers, cars going in the wrong directions and dead things feasting on their fresh kills. Somewhere dogs were barking crazily, adding another dimension of anxiety to an already-tense situation.
Bo flew through two lights and made a left, maneuvering the van around a group of police cars, the officers standing in absolute confusion, their handguns drawn. Down a steep hill the van went, smashing a zombie that shambled off the shoulder, its head breaking into pieces as it struck the front windshield.
"Turn right at this stop sign," Aiden called out and Bo complied, pulling into a subdivision. "The white house, fourth one down. Wait - where the fuck is my car?"
"Your front door's open..." Conor said as he opened the passenger door, the van coming to a sudden stop.
"Shit," Aiden said and jumped out, running into the house with his brother on his heels.
"Careful, man," Conor said as they entered the living room area.
"Tina?" Aiden called out, moving toward the dining room. The place had been recently ransacked, the table flipped on its side, chairs broken, refrigerator standing open with jars and bottles shattered on the floor.
"Tina!" Aiden shouted, turning for the stairs that led to the second floor.
"Someone might still be in here," Conor warned as Aiden ran up the stairs at full speed. He called out Tina's name a few more times as he explored each room, finding nothing.
They ended up in the master bedroom and Aiden began to dig through the top drawer of his dresser, coming up with a large screwdriver. He knelt at the side of his bed and started loosening screws in the side of its wooden frame.
"Fuckers got my 9mm out of the drawer, but they didn't get the good stuff," said Aiden as he began to work on a second screw. In moments, he had pulled off a section of the bed frame, revealing a hidden drawer full of guns. He pulled it out with a laugh.
"AR-15, two more 9s, Sig Sauer 40 cal and plenty of ammo," he said, handing his brother a Glock.
Someone knocked hard on the back door downstairs, both brothers looking at one another, then rushing down. Upon reaching it, Aiden pulled the door wide-open, rifle pointing out. A young girl, perhaps fourteen, jumped back with hands in the air.
"Whoa!" she cried out.
Aiden lowered the gun.
"What do you want? You're the girl from down the street, right? Your brothers are the local hoodlums."
"Yeah, but... I'm not like them."
"Sure..." Aiden said.
"It was them that took your car and..." she began.
"And what?"
"Your wife," she said.
"What?!"
Aiden grabbed her by the front of the shirt and yanked her inside the house.
"What happened? What the fuck did they do to her? Tell me everything!"
"They took her..." she paused for a moment, unsure how to continue. "Beat her up a bit. Stole your car and took off with her. They saw the news. They were talking about looting and stuff."
For a moment, Aiden considered hurting her out of revenge, but quickly calmed. She was innocent.
"Where were they headed?" Conor asked. "Did they say?"
"I don't know..." she said. "I'm sorry."
"Those motherfuckers have always been trouble," Aiden grumbled. "If they hurt her, I'm going to kill every last one of them."
A section of fence around his backyard fell in, followed by a dozen zombies, slobbering and moaning upon seeing the three people within the doorway.
"Damn," Conor said, pulling the door shut and locking the deadbolt. "Gotta go."
"Think, Justine. That's your name, right?" Aiden said as they moved through the kitchen toward the front door. "Where would your brothers go? What were they talking about?"
"Ummm... lots of nasty stuff about your wife-"
"Girlfriend. We're not married," Aiden cut her off. "Come on. Where were they headed?"
"Wait. Guns. They were talking about getting guns," she said.
"Hmmm. Nearest place for guns is Bass Pro Shop on Fifth Street," Conor said.
Aiden's eyes lit up with hope.
"Let's go," he said and turned to Justine.
"Thanks, Justine. Good luck. Find yourself a place to hide. These things want to kill us all. They're attracted to noise, remember that," Conor said as he shoved the front door open, holding the Glock at the ready. Justine squeezed past him and ran down the street toward her house.
The brothers ran back to the van, jumping inside as the windows of Aiden's house shattered outward, undead monsters crawling through the openings.
"Head back to the highway, Bo," Aiden said, handing a gun to Klaus and placing the last one on the seat next to Bobo, who gave him a thankful nod. The van screamed backwards out of the driveway and as Bo threw it in drive, Conor hazarded a glance back and regretfully saw Justine fall beneath a sudden swarm of zombies, who began to viciously tear her to shreds. He closed his eyes tight and turned away.
Panic had finally hit the residents of Aiden's neighborhood, families hectically loading cars, but far too slowly, most eaten with their belongings still in their arms. The streets became a chaotic scene, people running in all directions, chased by the newly risen corpses, who now bore inhuman strength and a hunger impossible to satisfy.
"Where we goin'?" Bo asked, turning the van up on a sidewalk to avoid a stalled SUV, crushing two mailboxes before moving onto the street again.
"Sons of bitches kidnapped my girlfriend..." Aiden growled. "Stole my car. I think they're headed for Bass Pro, to steal weapons."
As they sped back onto the highway, they soon passed the White Castle that they had previously visited. In the few minutes that they had been gone, the place had been totally destroyed, every window shattered, the place now overflowing with zombies, no sign of a single living person.
The highway, on the other hand, was a different story. Vehicles were racing past, weaving in and out of those that had crashed or been stopped by the thousands of undead that had now appeared, some shambling slowly, others charging toward the next possible feast.
"These fools are driving like assholes," Bobo said, narrowly avoiding a Ford truck that had crossed the center line into his lane. Several zombies bounced off of the van as he accelerated, veins popping out at his temples as he concentrated on keeping them moving safely forward.
A loud squealing sound could be heard ahead of them as a semi jackknifed, tires skidding on pavement as the driver tried his best to get the rig back under control.
"Shit! Look out!" Klaus called out, pointing. The truck was blocking the entire highway as it lurched to a stop. "Take the exit, man!"
Bobo side-swiped three cars getting to the shoulder and drove across the grass and dirt, the others bouncing in their seats as he reached an exit to get them off the highway. He had to slam on the brakes suddenly as several cars blocked his way, the occupants staring to the north as the semi attracted zombies by the hundreds.
Bo rolled his window down enough to be heard.
"Stop starin' and get the fuck out of the way! Ya'll wanna die here? Get yo ass outta here, now!" he screamed, motioning with his arms. The commotion had the kids in the van sobbing, huddled together in the back with Trish as she attempted to calm and comfort them.
"Ram 'em, dammit!" Aiden said, fidgeting in his seat, rifle across his lap.
Bobo shrugged and pushed the van forward, smashing into the side of an Impala, crushing the back end and shoving the car to the side. They could see the driver's angry expression as he shouted and extended his middle finger.
The van rocked to the side as the sound of zombies slamming into the vehicle reached those within.
"Go, Bo! Fuck this guy! Get us outta here!" Aiden shouted.
"Hang on," Bo said and gunned it. The smell of burning rubber reached them as the van gradually pushed the Impala out of the way. Undead hands and faces appeared on the front windshield as they drove down a hill and took a sharp left into a shopping plaza, passing a Pasta House Restaurant and an auto repair shop on their right. They flew through the parking lot, careening off of parked cars, knocking zombies free. Bobo watched them hit the pavement behind them in the rearview mirror.
A man stepped out of the St. Charles Guitar Exchange just ahead with a sandwich in hand and lettuce hanging from his mouth as he stared at the van driving by, three skeletal things hanging from the side mirrors, scratching at the glass. He was then attacked and was dead and partially consumed before he hit the pavement.