The explosion made the zombies carrying Izzy suddenly freeze.Their filthy hands unlatched from her limbs so abruptly that her bloodied body dropped hard onto the concrete.
Thud!
Pain erupted through her spine from the impact, sending shocks up her back.
"Damn it,"Izzy gritted her teeth, inhaled deeply, and rolled out of the cluster of zombies who were now standing motionless—like statues.
Her breath came fast and shallow. Eyes wide, she stared at their shifting posture, instinctively reaching for a weapon on her belt.Her fingers gripped the handle of a hidden knife.
The horde of zombies, once mindless puppets, slowly turned toward her.They grinned hungrily, rotten saliva oozing from blackened teeth like sticky resin.
"Well, shit."
Stunned, Izzy forgot the pain. She didn't know what had changed in them—but it didn't matter.There was no time to think.
She yanked the knife free just as the nearest corpse lunged at her.Fueled by adrenaline, she dodged nimbly.
Schlick!
She drove the blade into the side of its head like a mantis striking prey and yanked it back with savage force.Black blood and rotten meat burst from the wound as it crumpled.
A shriveled-breasted zombie woman came at her from the left.Izzy slashed its face diagonally, making it stumble back.
"Die!"She kicked it in the chest. A burst of foul pus exploded from the impact.Pivoting to the right, she dodged another—a bloated chef in a stained apron barreling her way.
"Son of a—"She snarled through clenched teeth, swatting away its rotten hand that nearly caught her throat.
"DIE!"
She screamed, plunging the blade into its eye socket like a cobra strike.
Schlick!
It twitched violently, then collapsed in a pile.
What the hell is going on?She struggled to steady her breath—too many.Too many of them.Zombies were closing in from every direction.
The adrenaline was fading, replaced by exhaustion and despair.Her knees buckled. Her legs trembled.
"AAAHHHH!"She screamed as she stumbled over a dismembered arm and fell onto her back.
"NO!"She shrieked, flailing the knife in blind panic as the monstrous shadows loomed above, blocking out the sky.
Beep!
The sudden honk of a car horn echoed up the hill—snapping the zombies' attention away from her.
CRACK!
A bullet from afar blew apart the head of a teenage zombie leaning toward her.
Crack... crack... crack-crack!
More shots followed, exploding skulls left and right.
"Lemo…"
Tears welled up as Izzy turned and saw the bearded old man stepping out of a single-headlight Hummer, still smoking from battle.
"Did you get bitten?"Lemo asked urgently, checking her body.
Molly had been driving—poorly.They'd hit a zombie down the road, and it had busted the front light.
Izzy looked up at him. His face glistened with sweat.The wound on his shoulder made the revolver in his hand look twice as heavy.
"I don't think so."She wiped her tears. Lemo's eyes scanned her closely.There were many wounds—but none from zombie bites.
"God bless."He made the sign of the cross, breathing a deep sigh of relief.
"Ms. Izzy, Mr. Lemo, hurry up and get in!"Mari called out from the Hummer's passenger door.
Lemo and Izzy looked up—more zombies were approaching.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Mari fired a burst, mowing down several approaching dead.
"Get in now!"Minada shouted from the other side of the Hummer.
The glamorous actress fired her pistol, knocking down stragglers coming from behind.
Izzy leapt into the backseat.She glanced around the crowded cabin before asking, breathless:
"Where's Gantsuke?"
The question made the whole car go silent.
"He's there,"Lemo said, pointing toward the house up on the slope—the same one Izzy and Gantsuke had stormed to save Dr. Sophia.
"Tiger, do you copy? Come in."Lemo pressed the radio, again.He'd tried this a hundred times already—but nothing but silence.
Everyone in the car sat in anxious silence.
Then—static.
"I thought my radio was busted,"Gantsuke's voice came through, slightly winded.
Thank God...Lemo exhaled in relief.
"Are you alright?"He asked quickly.
"Still breathing. Just blew up that purple freak,"Gantsuke replied.
"Is it dead?"
"No idea. I didn't stick around to find out. But it caught the whole damn grenade thinking it was a rock."
"Where are you now?"
"Just got over the back wall. You didn't see me on drone?"
"I'm in the village. With Mari, Izzy, and Minada."
"What happened?"
"Long story. We'll talk in the car."
"Roger. I'm heading toward the road now."
"See you soon, Tiger."
"Copy that."
"Ready, everyone?"Molly glanced at Mari, Minada, Izzy, and Sophia, all crammed into the back.
This car's too small for us now,she thought with a faint smile and stepped on the gas—driving toward the man with the iron leg who stood at the curve below, flashlight in hand.
Lemo didn't need to explain what had happened to Gantsuke.The women had heard everything over the radio.
"Let's go home,"the old man said, his eyes glinting with something rare:Hope.
Jonathan was dead. His beloved truck was damaged.But that's life—good and bad, chaos and calm, all tangled together.