Winter's Salvation (20 page)

They had to climb over a few cars to get to the middle and each time they climbed they timed it so the ghouls were turned away from them.  On the down side of the bridge there were obvious signs of a fight and there were a lot of casualties.  They started making tracks in the coagulated blood between the cars
; checking every vehicle they passed while trying not to be seen. 

In their slow moving caution, they both jumped when a gnarled hand darted
from the front of a car’s bumper just three feet from Eric’s foot.  It grabbed a piece of intestine from a lucky corpse that was too badly eaten to become animated.  If it were not for Eric standing next to the tire he may have been spotted. 

He signaled Drew to step backwards and move between the two cars on their right to go behind this undead passenger.  They moved slowly never turning their backs on the zombie.  As Eric stepped in between the cars
the ghoul could be seen with the organ shoved in its mouth.  The back of its skull was exposed and part of its grey skin was pulled up over the top of its head.  

Moving between the tight squeeze of the cars to the right
, Eric was focused on getting behind this one and putting it out of its misery.  With bat in hand he moved forward toward the eating undead.  Just then Eric felt himself lifted off his feet and he was pulled back to the car on his right.  As he was pulled back toward the car, he slipped on the coagulated blood that was spread in deep puddles next to the car.  He was forcefully pulled against the car making the horn go off. 

Drew saw the hand reach out from the
red Impala’s window and pull his backpack into the car.  With each pull of the backpack the ghoul inside hit the horn making it blast.  He recognized Eric was in no immediate danger. His backpack was large and the zombie would not be able to fit him through the window with his backpack attached, so Drew quickly scanned the bridge.  Undead appeared in every direction.  Either twisting around a car or standing from behind one to see what the commotion was about.  One was walked directly in front of them from down the bridge.  No cars were between them and the surprised undead and the ghoul took off in a sprint running up the bridge toward them.  It had been a while since they had seen a runner and as it ran, it let out a screech.   

The horn blasting with each pull acted as a dinner bell for every zombie on either side of the bridge.  Drew thought that the undead from the town on the other side of the bridge were leaving their houses just to visit this dinner.  He took his hatchet, from his belt and tried to get a shot on the unbreakable hold of the ghoul’s hand, but the backpack was pulled into the window too far.  Eric struggled to get it off, but every time he went to stand, the tug of the backpack made him slip on the coagulated blood.  Drew opened the back door and climbed in behind the undead driver. 

              The ghoul, still buckled into the driver’s seat, was reaching across it’s body and grabbed hold of Eric’s pack with his right hand.  The damage that was inflicted on the ghoul looked as if the zombies ate his entire left side.  He was missing his left arm, with nothing but loose ripped clothing left to cover his exposed left side of his body.  The ghoul opened and closed it’s mouth trying to groan, but was silent from it’s throat being ripped away.   

             
Drew raised his hatchet as much as he possibly could and swung it down on the ghoul’s head.  He connected, but did minimal damage because the head rest blocked most of his swing.  The undead driver let go of the backpack and twisted in its seat and grabbed at Drew; as if he were an angry parent reaching to slap one of his kids.  Drew flinched back, hitting the back seat hard rocking the car.  

             
Now that Eric was not being pulled back, he shook his backpack off.  To his right he saw the running zombie moving faster and the crouching zombie behind the car, stand up, as the organs it just ate fell from its ripped open stomach and flopped onto the car’s hood.  Eric quickly thought that this undead could constantly eat the same meal over and over again by simply picking up the contents that fell from its stomach.  

             
Shaking, Eric reached into his belt trying to pull the pistol from the front of his pants.  The running ghoul was getting closer.  It wore black pants with no shoes or socks and had a bare chest that revealed multiple deep gashes that spewed lines of black blood.  It tore at the cars pushing itself forward in an attempt to reach its victim faster.  Blood and gore sprayed from its mouth as it continually bellowed out it’s piercing screech. 

             
He began to skip backward while trying to pull his stuck pistol from his pants.  After he pulled it he lined the iron sights of the pistol with the ghouls face and pulled the trigger.  The hammer fell, but no bullet fired.  Eric skipped faster creating more distance, pulling the trigger franticly, but got the same result and the creature got closer with each step.

             
   Eric turned and began to run.  He knew the ghoul was getting closer because the sound of his feet hitting the concrete was getting louder.  He tried to examine the pistol while he ran and hit a crashed car parked in front of him.  He began to climb over the car when he felt two powerful hands grab hold of his shirt and pulled him down off the hood of the car.  Eric saw that the gun was missing something and quickly realized the safety was on.  He flipped the safety revealing the red dot arming the pistol and pulled the slide loading another round. 

             
The ghoul pulled at him, as if he were weightless, sending him flying in whatever way the zombie pleased.  Eric tried to slip from his shirt like a sleeve, but his right hand that was holding the pistol got stuck in the sleeve. 

             
Drew dodged the flailing ghoul strapped into the driver’s seat.  It reached behind into the back seat trying to twist and free itself, but the shoulder strap and lap belt kept the zombie tightly in the driver side seat. It arched its back attempting to break the strap, trying to scream, but black and crimson bubbles gurgled from its mangled throat. 

             
Drew swung his silver hatchet at its face, but most of the swings were stopped by the head rest.  Only a few actually connected and the ones that did dug deep into the creature’s skinless face.  He took another swing with the hatchet and noticed something moving toward the window to his left.  Multiple ghouls were making their way toward his window. 

             
They hit the window making him jump back to the passenger side, while hugging the back seat to avoid the wild swing and reaches from an almost blind zombie; due to the multiple hatchet wounds.  He pressed against the back door and then heard something shuffle behind him.  Drew was too slow to react to the hands that reached through the window and grabbed hold of his shoulders.  The boney cold dead fingers dug deep into his slender shoulders and began to pull him out of the car.  Drew tried to slide down into his seat, but the ghoul’s deathly tight grip kept him from getting away. 

He swung the hatchet above his head and connected with the ghoul as it tried to bite down on him.  He pulled the blade out and felt thick blood with the consistency of syrup pour over his head.  The ghoul’s blood slowly rolled over his eyes.  He shut his them as tight as he could and began to wipe franticly.  He knew he could not get the blood in his eyes or mouth or he would change.  He shoved his axe straight up to the car’s roof connecting with the ghoul again.  With his eyes closed he pressed up with his axe creating some distance between the creature’s hungry mouth and
it’s grip.  Drew slid to his back and tried to raise his legs in an attempt to press them against the ghoul. 

He pressed his feet up to the roof of the car and found the creatures head.  Drew could feel the ghoul fighting the pressure he was putting on it.  He strained his legs trying to crush it’s skull between his feet and the roof of the Impala.  The ghoul in the driver’s seat grabbed at his legs and tried to pull them toward it.  He pressed hard ignoring the driver and felt the cushions of the back seat compress under the weight he was pushing.  He ducked his head under his shirt and strained to crush the zombie’s head.  He felt a snap and suddenly his left foot got a little closer to the roof of the car.  The creature continued to struggle, but Drew let out a grunt, released the pressure and pressed hard again.  The skull of the ghoul felt as if it was a soda can compressing under his feet and then cold thick blood began to crawl down his pants legs.

Blood was still on his face and he used the bottom of his shirt to remove as much of it as he could, but he was still hesitant to open his eyes.  Squinting through loosened eyelids he looked to the driver’s side windows and saw a sea of bodies banging at the back window and more reaching through the driver’s side, climbing over the buckled driver.  Hands were reaching around the ghoul that was now being held up by Drew’s feet pressing on the roof.     

             
The ghoul scratched at Eric and he continued to swing around keeping his distance and pulled the pistol up.  He let a few shots out and they all hit the ghoul, but all landed in the stomach or the chest.  This slowed the ghoul, but not enough.  Quickly the zombie regained it’s composure and continued to wrestle it’s victim. 

             
  Eric stumbled backward trying to get out of his shirt, as the ghoul grabbed a hand full of blond hair from the top of his head.  The creature pushed down on his head causing him to fall and then it picked his head up trying to pull it into his mouth.  Eric twisted to his back and grabbed hold of the creature’s neck.  Every muscle in the ghoul was firing and Eric could not come close to matching it’s strength.  He pulled the pistol up and fired it above his head wildly.  Eric found the ghouls face with the end of the pistol and then pushed the barrel into its mouth. 

             
The zombie pushed on the pistol, trying to get closer to his head, caring nothing of the gun being pushed down it’s throat.  The metal of the gun dug into Eric’s scalp, as the ghoul pressed closer to his skull.  The rough metal began to scratch his scalp.  He fired and recoil of the pistol struck him in the head and the slide caused a deep gash on the top of his scalp.   Then he felt the full weight of the beast lay on top of him.                        

             
He pushed the ghoul off of him and rubbed his head.  The tips of his fingers were lined with bright red blood from his scalp.  Blackness started to close in on him, but he forced himself to sit up and look around to see what was going on around him.  Ahead of him was a group of undead, trying to force themselves into the red Impala Drew was in. 

             
“Hey!  Hey!”  Eric screamed at them trying to get their attention.  He then he realized he was still sitting on the ground.  Forcing his feet under him he attempted to stand.  The bridge and cars spun in front of him, but he hollered out again.  Drew was in that car and he could not let Rod down.  He was left in charge of Rod’s son and he could not let him down.

             
The few behind the hoard that was hanging in the window turned their attention to Eric.  Now he knew he had to do something, so he crawled to the closest car to his left.  He stumbled, but when he grabbed the car he climbed over and rolled off the other side, hitting the concrete hard.  The undead behind were moving quickly, but he stopped to shake his head trying to stop the bridge from spinning.  The thought of the few undead turning their focus toward him gave him a slight relief knowing they were not going after Drew.  He stood up just in time to see the ghouls reaching over the front of the car. 

             
Feeling his blood make its way back into his legs he jumped up onto the car behind him and then began jumping across the hoods from one car to the next, making his way back to Drew.  The growling and moaning coming from the angry mob made it impossible to hear anything from inside the car and none of the undead turned toward him with the exception of the few chasing him.  He began to travel to the car in front of the Impala and noticed bodies quickly making their way up the bridge.  Standing on the car in front of the one Drew was in, he was able to make out a body in an awkward position stuck in the back seat. 

             
  There were three ghouls on the driver’s side of the car and two of them were trying to squeeze past the driver through the front window and one beating on the glass of the rear window.  On the passenger’s side one was trying to shove its body past the dead zombie being held up by Drew’s feet in the back passenger’s side window.  The only clear shot was the one looking through the back window.

             
Eric walked up behind the ghoul at the back window and pressed the gun against the back of its head.  Pulling the trigger, it instantly dropped at his feet.  The two in the front window began to recoil from the car.  Eric grabbed hold of the first ones dirty brown collar and as soon as its head was free from the opening he pulled it up, and dropped it with a quick bullet to the brain.  He quickly grabbed the next one just in time to control it’s body and executed this one the same way.  The ghoul in the driver’s seat continued to grab at Drew’s legs and as soon as the hot barrel touched the back of its head it turned.  Eric waited until it was completely facing him and pressed the barrel in between its eyes and pulled the trigger. 

             
The slide of the black pistol opened indicating it was out of bullets.  The ghouls he ducked just moments before were quickly making their way toward him.  Eric opened the back door.  “Come on!”  He screamed, but Drew continued to hold the ghoul at bay with his feet.  Eric reached in and grabbed hold of his leg and pulled, but he was no match for fighting Drew’s fight or flight response and his fight response was currently in overdrive.  His legs were as strong as iron beams holding the ghoul’s crushed skull against the roof of the car.