the ringing in my ears, but I knew she was screaming. We were in the animal trailer, with the walls on either side of us lined with chained zombies, all of them snapping their jaws and scrambling to break their binds and devour us. Every bump in the road threatened to shift us into their grip.
"Are we on fire?" I asked.
"Everything is," said Kim. "Can you see?"
"No. What happened?"
"There was fuel leaking out, and that flashbang lit it. The whole damn place is on fire," said Kim. She was kneeling beside me and I heard her eject the magazine of her pistol. "I'm out of bullets."
The truck smashed into something on our right as we faced the backend, and I heard glass shatter before an odd scraping noise came from the side of our trailer. I slid to the side as the fluid beneath me shifted. We'd hit a tree. The scraping that I'd heard were the branches clawing at the perforated side of the trailer, and now we were tilting precariously to the opposite side. There was an awful squeal coming from the vehicle as it struggled not to tip over.
"Hold on," said Kim as gravity pulled us toward the wall where the chained zombies were waiting for their meal. I tried to grab on to something, but I wasn't able to stop from sliding to the wall. I collided with a body, and felt it writhing beneath me. The zombie's hands gripped my arms and I felt its mouth clamp down on my shoulder. Kim screamed out from above me and then I heard her sliding across the metal. She thudded down beside me as I lay against the creature, and then the zombie's teeth were pulled away from my shoulder. I could feel the vibration of its head smashing against the wall over and over until its hands stopped digging at my flesh. I didn't need to see to understand that Kim had bashed the zombie's skull in.
"We're going down," said Kim. "Hold my hand."
I grasped her arm as the truck overturned. I heard the calamitous crash of the cab hit the ground first, and then we were jerked off our lopsided trajectory and were pulled down as well. The wall beneath me pounded down and dirt sprayed up through the holes. The blood, bile, vomit, feces, and urine sloshed across us in a vile wave.
I blinked away the pale, and my vision slowly returned. I couldn't see well, but I could make out shapes that were more detailed the closer they were, as if everything was enveloped in a thick fog. The first thing I saw was the splattered brain matter of the zombie Kim had killed. The pulpy, pink meat was sprinkled with stark white fragments of bone, and the viscous blood clung to it like syrup might stick to a shattered plate.
Above me, the zombies that were chained to the opposite wall were left hanging from their bindings. Their eyes bulged as their necks were tied back, and their bodies dangled, secured loosely at their waist by another chain. They floated in and out of my hazed vision as if swimming up at me from a polluted lake.
"Get up," said Kim. She took my arm and pulled me up, unforgiving and unwilling to let me falter. She was uncompromising in her determination to save me, and I was too dazed to argue. I glanced down, and saw the boy I'd met earlier, Griffin. He was covered in fluid and dirt, and half of his head was missing. He was looking at me, and the right side of his face was torn off. I could see the cavity where his brain should've been.
"Come on." Kim took my arm and pulled me along. We had to duck to avoid the hanging creatures and the smoke made it hard to breath. That’s when I realized it wasn't just the flashbang that clouded my vision; there was smoke everywhere. The ground around the trailer flashed with orange flame that illuminated the thick smoke, and I coughed as I pressed my arm over my nose and mouth.
Thin red beams of light pierced the bleakness, dancing across the wisps of smoke as mechanical voices screamed out for us to surrender. Kim cried out a warning as a man materialized in the haze, but the stinging smoke must've blinded her because she wasn't
"Are we on fire?" I asked.
"Everything is," said Kim. "Can you see?"
"No. What happened?"
"There was fuel leaking out, and that flashbang lit it. The whole damn place is on fire," said Kim. She was kneeling beside me and I heard her eject the magazine of her pistol. "I'm out of bullets."
The truck smashed into something on our right as we faced the backend, and I heard glass shatter before an odd scraping noise came from the side of our trailer. I slid to the side as the fluid beneath me shifted. We'd hit a tree. The scraping that I'd heard were the branches clawing at the perforated side of the trailer, and now we were tilting precariously to the opposite side. There was an awful squeal coming from the vehicle as it struggled not to tip over.
"Hold on," said Kim as gravity pulled us toward the wall where the chained zombies were waiting for their meal. I tried to grab on to something, but I wasn't able to stop from sliding to the wall. I collided with a body, and felt it writhing beneath me. The zombie's hands gripped my arms and I felt its mouth clamp down on my shoulder. Kim screamed out from above me and then I heard her sliding across the metal. She thudded down beside me as I lay against the creature, and then the zombie's teeth were pulled away from my shoulder. I could feel the vibration of its head smashing against the wall over and over until its hands stopped digging at my flesh. I didn't need to see to understand that Kim had bashed the zombie's skull in.
"We're going down," said Kim. "Hold my hand."
I grasped her arm as the truck overturned. I heard the calamitous crash of the cab hit the ground first, and then we were jerked off our lopsided trajectory and were pulled down as well. The wall beneath me pounded down and dirt sprayed up through the holes. The blood, bile, vomit, feces, and urine sloshed across us in a vile wave.
I blinked away the pale, and my vision slowly returned. I couldn't see well, but I could make out shapes that were more detailed the closer they were, as if everything was enveloped in a thick fog. The first thing I saw was the splattered brain matter of the zombie Kim had killed. The pulpy, pink meat was sprinkled with stark white fragments of bone, and the viscous blood clung to it like syrup might stick to a shattered plate.
Above me, the zombies that were chained to the opposite wall were left hanging from their bindings. Their eyes bulged as their necks were tied back, and their bodies dangled, secured loosely at their waist by another chain. They floated in and out of my hazed vision as if swimming up at me from a polluted lake.
"Get up," said Kim. She took my arm and pulled me up, unforgiving and unwilling to let me falter. She was uncompromising in her determination to save me, and I was too dazed to argue. I glanced down, and saw the boy I'd met earlier, Griffin. He was covered in fluid and dirt, and half of his head was missing. He was looking at me, and the right side of his face was torn off. I could see the cavity where his brain should've been.
"Come on." Kim took my arm and pulled me along. We had to duck to avoid the hanging creatures and the smoke made it hard to breath. That’s when I realized it wasn't just the flashbang that clouded my vision; there was smoke everywhere. The ground around the trailer flashed with orange flame that illuminated the thick smoke, and I coughed as I pressed my arm over my nose and mouth.
Thin red beams of light pierced the bleakness, dancing across the wisps of smoke as mechanical voices screamed out for us to surrender. Kim cried out a warning as a man materialized in the haze, but the stinging smoke must've blinded her because she wasn't
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