One hour earlier.
Nov. 24th, 2006 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
secret_historySara held the small tire iron she’d found in a death grip, poised at the door of the small booth, crouched low so as to be completely invisible to the outside observer.
“You ready?” she asked.
“Stop asking me that. Let’s just get this over with, okay?”
Sara bit her tongue. The girl was obviously scared out of her wits, and that was enough to make anyone snappish. Besides, Jordan was going to serve as bait, and that probably wasn’t helping her nerves any.
“Okay, Jordan. Whenever you want to start, just go for it.”
Jordan nodded, her blond hair swishing against her coat. She made her way over the the far side of the tiny booth, and Sara could just make out the silhouettes of the zombies following her on the outside. The girl took a deep breath, and began pounding as hard as she could on the wall of the booth.
“Hey! Over here! Come this way, you dead freaks! Over here! This way!” she yelled, fear lending a hysterical quality to her tone.
The zombies shuffled further along, and Sara could hear the moaning getting louder and more insistent as Jordan kicked and yelled and smacked the wall with her gloved hands. There were so many of them out there, and there wasn’t that much room in the booth —it was a long shot at best, but she didn’t see what choice they had. Sit there and wait to be eaten, or try and make a break for it. She waited for a few more moments, listened as Jordan’s voice began to grow hoarse, then opened the door just wide enough to slip through and hurled herself out into the parking lot, pulling the door shut behind her. She could still hear Jordan screaming, her voice muffled now by the walls of the booth and almost drowned out by the drawn-out moans of the zombies.
Almost immediately the zombies began to converge on her. They had been attracted by the noise and the presence of live humans in the booth, but Sara had thought it best to take the calculated risk of having them all in one place rather than spread out over the parking lot. So far, her gamble was paying off: she was faster than they were, and although the teeming mass of decaying bodies was close on her heels, she was almost sure she could get to the car before they reached her. She swung the tire iron at the face of one of the creatures which had proved slower (or perhaps smarter) than its brethren and was waiting for her in the parking lot, and was rewarded with the wet crunching sound of breaking cartilage as she smashed in its face. The thing staggered backward, but she hadn’t been strong enough to do any real damage to its brain, and so she gave a leap that would have impressed her tenth-grade gym teacher and began another sprint, splashing through the deep puddles in the uneven asphalt toward the lime-green car parked less than ten yards away now. If nothing else, at least her target was visible in the downpour.
She snatched the key ring from where she’d been holding it in her teeth (the better to keep her hands free for the tire iron), uttered a quick prayer of thanks for modern cars which used the same keys for the locks as for the ignition, and slid into the driver’s seat just as the first of the horde reached the car. Another five seconds and the doors were all locked and the key turning in the ignition, the windshield wipers flapping as fast as they could go in the driving rain, and she jammed one foot against the clutch and drove off. For at least a minute she drove in vague circles at the other end of the parking lot. Looking through the car’s passenger-side window, she could see Jordan’s frightened face peering at her through the smudged glass of the booth.
Sara gritted her teeth, and forced herself to drive slowly, glancing often in the rearview mirror to check that the zombies were still stumbling after her in the hopes of getting her as their breakfast. Well, they’d be leaving unsatisfied, if she had any say at all in the matter. She drove further away from the booth, driving just a bit faster than the zombies could shuffle, and grinned to herself as she saw just how well her hastily-cobbled-together plan was working so far. Don’t worry, Jordan, she thought to herself, I’m not planning on leaving you behind. Just don’t panic. Trust me, and don’t panic. She switched gears, and pressed the accelerator almost to the floor, feeling the nervous little Beetle leap forward under her like a skittish horse, and couldn’t help but utter a whoop of triumph. The zombies scattered like leaves behind her, the tires of the car squealed in protest as she wrenched the steering wheel around and aimed the vehicle directly at the booth.
Jordan hadn’t yet opened the door to the booth, which was probably a good thing, Sara thought: you never knew if something might not be lurking where you couldn’t see it. She brought the car to a screeching halt just outside the booth, unlocked the passenger-side door (thank every god and goddess for automatic locks controlled on the driver-side door!) and waved frantically to the girl to come out. Jordan didn’t need to be told twice, leaving the door to the booth hanging open on its hinges in her haste to get into the car. She giggled a bit hysterically as the car sped off down Peel street.
“We made it!”
Sara shook her head, though she was still grinning. “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, honey. We’re not safe yet. But at least we have wheels and,” she checked the gauges on the car, “enough gas to last us for a good long while until we get out of the city. I wish I knew a safe place to go to. We need to get away from the crowds, out somewhere where these things won’t be able to get to us in large numbers. Buckle your seatbelt, honey,” she added. “Just because we’re running away from zombies doesn’t mean we should ignore basic safety. It would be really stupid to escape being eaten alive only to die because you weren’t wearing your seatbelt.”
Jordan obediently tugged at the belt strap over her right shoulder. “We could go to my parents’ place.”
“Where do they live?” Sara made a point of driving at a reasonably slow speed. There was no use in driving so fast that she wouldn’t be able to avoid a head-on collision, or spin out of control on the wet pavement. She tested the brakes on the car, making sure they weren’t hydraplaning.
“Well, their country place, I mean,” Jordan amended, pulling her hair away from where it had become caught under the seatbelt strap and arranging it over her shoulders. “Like, up North?” she made it sound like a question, although what Sara was supposed to answer she wasn’t sure. “It’s, like, pretty deserted up there. It’s, like, a hunting lodge kind of thing, except that my Dad hasn’t been hunting in, like, years. It’s like, maybe two hours away if you drive over the speed limit. It drives my Mom nuts when Dad drives really fast, but he doesn’t like spending all that time in the car. Mom says he just likes to waste gas.”
“Okay, okay, wait. So your parents have an isolated country place up there?”
“Yeah. That’s what I just said.”
“Do you know how to get there?”
“Sure. Kind of. I’ve got a map, anyhow.”
“Is there food there? Can we hole up for a while?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, I haven’t been up there in, like, a while, but they go there all the time, and they keep it really well stocked. They give parties up there every now and then. Like, you know, invite a whole bunch of people up for the weekend to go walking around in the woods and whatever.”
“Sounds nice.”
Jordan shrugged. “Yeah, whatever. I’m not much of a country person...” she broke off with a shriek as a zombie appeared almost out of nowhere. Sara didn’t even bother to swerve, and the body rolled over the hood of the car to land in a broken heap in the road several yards away. Jordan buried her face in her hands. “Oh, God...”
Sara reached out and patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. “Hang in there. I’m going to head for the nearest bridge and get us the hell off this island. After that, we’ll figure out the rest.”
“You ready?” she asked.
“Stop asking me that. Let’s just get this over with, okay?”
Sara bit her tongue. The girl was obviously scared out of her wits, and that was enough to make anyone snappish. Besides, Jordan was going to serve as bait, and that probably wasn’t helping her nerves any.
“Okay, Jordan. Whenever you want to start, just go for it.”
Jordan nodded, her blond hair swishing against her coat. She made her way over the the far side of the tiny booth, and Sara could just make out the silhouettes of the zombies following her on the outside. The girl took a deep breath, and began pounding as hard as she could on the wall of the booth.
“Hey! Over here! Come this way, you dead freaks! Over here! This way!” she yelled, fear lending a hysterical quality to her tone.
The zombies shuffled further along, and Sara could hear the moaning getting louder and more insistent as Jordan kicked and yelled and smacked the wall with her gloved hands. There were so many of them out there, and there wasn’t that much room in the booth —it was a long shot at best, but she didn’t see what choice they had. Sit there and wait to be eaten, or try and make a break for it. She waited for a few more moments, listened as Jordan’s voice began to grow hoarse, then opened the door just wide enough to slip through and hurled herself out into the parking lot, pulling the door shut behind her. She could still hear Jordan screaming, her voice muffled now by the walls of the booth and almost drowned out by the drawn-out moans of the zombies.
Almost immediately the zombies began to converge on her. They had been attracted by the noise and the presence of live humans in the booth, but Sara had thought it best to take the calculated risk of having them all in one place rather than spread out over the parking lot. So far, her gamble was paying off: she was faster than they were, and although the teeming mass of decaying bodies was close on her heels, she was almost sure she could get to the car before they reached her. She swung the tire iron at the face of one of the creatures which had proved slower (or perhaps smarter) than its brethren and was waiting for her in the parking lot, and was rewarded with the wet crunching sound of breaking cartilage as she smashed in its face. The thing staggered backward, but she hadn’t been strong enough to do any real damage to its brain, and so she gave a leap that would have impressed her tenth-grade gym teacher and began another sprint, splashing through the deep puddles in the uneven asphalt toward the lime-green car parked less than ten yards away now. If nothing else, at least her target was visible in the downpour.
She snatched the key ring from where she’d been holding it in her teeth (the better to keep her hands free for the tire iron), uttered a quick prayer of thanks for modern cars which used the same keys for the locks as for the ignition, and slid into the driver’s seat just as the first of the horde reached the car. Another five seconds and the doors were all locked and the key turning in the ignition, the windshield wipers flapping as fast as they could go in the driving rain, and she jammed one foot against the clutch and drove off. For at least a minute she drove in vague circles at the other end of the parking lot. Looking through the car’s passenger-side window, she could see Jordan’s frightened face peering at her through the smudged glass of the booth.
Sara gritted her teeth, and forced herself to drive slowly, glancing often in the rearview mirror to check that the zombies were still stumbling after her in the hopes of getting her as their breakfast. Well, they’d be leaving unsatisfied, if she had any say at all in the matter. She drove further away from the booth, driving just a bit faster than the zombies could shuffle, and grinned to herself as she saw just how well her hastily-cobbled-together plan was working so far. Don’t worry, Jordan, she thought to herself, I’m not planning on leaving you behind. Just don’t panic. Trust me, and don’t panic. She switched gears, and pressed the accelerator almost to the floor, feeling the nervous little Beetle leap forward under her like a skittish horse, and couldn’t help but utter a whoop of triumph. The zombies scattered like leaves behind her, the tires of the car squealed in protest as she wrenched the steering wheel around and aimed the vehicle directly at the booth.
Jordan hadn’t yet opened the door to the booth, which was probably a good thing, Sara thought: you never knew if something might not be lurking where you couldn’t see it. She brought the car to a screeching halt just outside the booth, unlocked the passenger-side door (thank every god and goddess for automatic locks controlled on the driver-side door!) and waved frantically to the girl to come out. Jordan didn’t need to be told twice, leaving the door to the booth hanging open on its hinges in her haste to get into the car. She giggled a bit hysterically as the car sped off down Peel street.
“We made it!”
Sara shook her head, though she was still grinning. “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, honey. We’re not safe yet. But at least we have wheels and,” she checked the gauges on the car, “enough gas to last us for a good long while until we get out of the city. I wish I knew a safe place to go to. We need to get away from the crowds, out somewhere where these things won’t be able to get to us in large numbers. Buckle your seatbelt, honey,” she added. “Just because we’re running away from zombies doesn’t mean we should ignore basic safety. It would be really stupid to escape being eaten alive only to die because you weren’t wearing your seatbelt.”
Jordan obediently tugged at the belt strap over her right shoulder. “We could go to my parents’ place.”
“Where do they live?” Sara made a point of driving at a reasonably slow speed. There was no use in driving so fast that she wouldn’t be able to avoid a head-on collision, or spin out of control on the wet pavement. She tested the brakes on the car, making sure they weren’t hydraplaning.
“Well, their country place, I mean,” Jordan amended, pulling her hair away from where it had become caught under the seatbelt strap and arranging it over her shoulders. “Like, up North?” she made it sound like a question, although what Sara was supposed to answer she wasn’t sure. “It’s, like, pretty deserted up there. It’s, like, a hunting lodge kind of thing, except that my Dad hasn’t been hunting in, like, years. It’s like, maybe two hours away if you drive over the speed limit. It drives my Mom nuts when Dad drives really fast, but he doesn’t like spending all that time in the car. Mom says he just likes to waste gas.”
“Okay, okay, wait. So your parents have an isolated country place up there?”
“Yeah. That’s what I just said.”
“Do you know how to get there?”
“Sure. Kind of. I’ve got a map, anyhow.”
“Is there food there? Can we hole up for a while?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, I haven’t been up there in, like, a while, but they go there all the time, and they keep it really well stocked. They give parties up there every now and then. Like, you know, invite a whole bunch of people up for the weekend to go walking around in the woods and whatever.”
“Sounds nice.”
Jordan shrugged. “Yeah, whatever. I’m not much of a country person...” she broke off with a shriek as a zombie appeared almost out of nowhere. Sara didn’t even bother to swerve, and the body rolled over the hood of the car to land in a broken heap in the road several yards away. Jordan buried her face in her hands. “Oh, God...”
Sara reached out and patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. “Hang in there. I’m going to head for the nearest bridge and get us the hell off this island. After that, we’ll figure out the rest.”
