Sunday, October 6, 2019

Day 06: Splintered


“We have to go back!” Aisha declared as Portia checked her rearview.

“Hold on,” Portia said, performing a quick U-turn and gunning it back toward the alley.

Matthew pushed at the mob of undead, swinging and slashing with his knife, he severed fingers, ears and even a nose. The blade met true with a few skulls but he hesitated to really reach into the group for fear of being scratched or worse, bitten. Deciding it best to run for cover and wait for help to arrive, he turned up the alley and ran, gaining much needed distance between himself and the horde behind him. The sound of their ravenous moaning fell into sync with the beating of his own heart as his feet pounded the pavement. Turning down another corner of the alley he was abruptly faced by a dead-end as the pack of rancid zombies grew steadily closer behind him.


His only choice would be to try and get underground once more. But without his gear, flashlight and weapon, he didn’t favor that choice. Before he put much more thought into it, he heard the sound of an engine roar and hazarded a peek around the corner. Portia zoomed the large SUV down the alley toward the group of walking corpses, slamming them into the front bumper, smashing some against walls and ripping others apart beneath her tires.

Grinding over brittle bones and soggy flesh, the wheels hit a slick and the vehicle spun out. Portia overcorrected and the rear of the truck fishtailed into a dumpster causing it to roll. Matthew rushed back into the corner as the large automobile came careening toward him, rolling a few more times before coming to rest against the back brick wall of the passageway.

“Portia? Aisha?” Matthew called as he ran toward the overturned vehicle hoping its two occupants were alive and uninjured. Reaching into the broken out driver’s side window, he found Portia’s hand and checked for a pulse. 


“Matt?”

“I’m here, Portia. Can you move?”

“I think so. How’s Aisha?”

Moving to the back window, he looked inside but all he found was blood. It covered the seat, the window, the floor and the roof. Aisha had been thrown free of the truck. In a haste, he rounded the other side and found her lying face up near the chain-link fence. “Aisha?”

Afraid of moving her, he checked her as well for a pulse. Her hand closed around his the moment they made contact. Her weak squeeze flooded him with terror, overshadowing everything. Her eyes opened but, her body didn’t move. Aisha’s eyes pleaded. “You’re ok. I’ll get you out of here,” Matthew said, trying to reassure her.


Meanwhile, Portia tried to pull herself free of the upside-down vehicle. The truck shifted and debris rained down on her. The smell of gasoline made it to her nose before she was able to even get the seatbelt undone and survival instinct kicked in. The latch stuck and the belt would not release.

With her free hand she gripped a piece of broken glass and worked on cutting herself loose. Portia fell fast from her seat, the impact shooting the air from her lungs. Agony seared a path across her back. She rolled, bumping up against something unforgiving as she struggled out of the busted window.

Scrambling to her feet, she moved over toward Matt and Aisha, stopping in her tracks as she noticed the teen still had not moved from where she’d landed. “Matt? Is she…?”

“She’s gonna be alright. We just need to get her home.” Matt looked over his shoulder as he heard the other SUV returning.


Natalie didn’t wait for the vehicle to come to a complete stop before she hopped out and rushed toward the scene. JC quickly followed. “Oh my god,” Natalie exclaimed.

“JC, help me get her into the backseat.” Together, they worked on resting the teen in the truck.

“This is all my fault. What if she’s seriously hurt?” Portia whined.

“We won’t know until we get her home so let’s move, ok?” Natalie said, pulling Portia toward the truck.

The group piled into the vehicle, everyone fearing the worst as they started for home. Sitting in the seat behind Aisha, Portia tried to remain positive and hoped Aisha’s lack of movement wasn’t the result of a spinal cord injury.

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1 comment:

  1. You faked me out! I thought Matthew was a goner, but nope. However there are still issues and lives at risk. Seat belts people. This is why you wear seat belts.

    ReplyDelete