Numerical Apocalypse

ten

The dad whistled. "Nice."

I half-smiled as Theo pulled up in front us.

"Go!" The mom ended her countdown, and the kids raced into the van.

Theo tossed the keys to the dad, who bundled the little boy into his seat and closed the door behind both of them.

Just as the mom closed the passenger door, a mutant lunged around the corner of the car.

A shiny hand grasped the mom's finger.

I lunged forward, but Theo was faster, backhanding the creature across what seemed to be it's face.

As if his defense was the last straw, a wave of zombies so dense it looked like a translucent tide emerged from the woods, gaining on us.

As I stuffed more bullets into my gun, the family drove off.

"Hey, time to-" my words got cut short as I saw Theo was surrounded, fighting desperately.

I stumbled backwards and raised my gun, but every time I moved to pull the trigger, Theo was lined up with the barrel.

"Shoot." I kicked the ground and jammed the now useless gun into my back pocket. It collided with something metal, and I took out a knife.

How did...?

Without a second thought, I ran towards the growing pack of zombies.

Tearing aside body after body, I realized something: the mutants had no brains left. They just kept edging towards their prey, using their claws regardless of whether their own kind fell underneath them.

They didn't even look back at me.

I was at Theo's side in seconds.

"Hey, you're supposed to be-"

"Shut up, I'm trying to save your life." My knife suddenly seemed like a tiny weapon in comparison with the flock of zombies that seemed to be growing every second, but I didn't stop.

I slashed another zombie, making Theo duck, cradling his left arm. "Seriously, back up! I don't need any help. I'm perfectly capable of handling this myself."

I turned around to stare at him. "Yeah, right. Maybe you're just too stubborn to accept help."

Claws dug into my forearm, and I punched the attacker in the face, wincing when my knuckles met cold, slimy flesh.

He pushed away another attacking creature, wincing. I raised my eyebrow at his arm.

"Like I said, I can do this! I'm aware my arm is probably-" Theo awkwardly tried to lift his arm and winced, pain flashing through his eyes. "-is definitely broken. But it's fine! It's not really necessary for the process anyway."

"What in the world are you talking about?" My knife went left and right, but I knew I was done for. "You need it to fight, don't you?"

I looked at him just in time to see the evil smile Theo flashed. "Not for this kind of fighting."

"Wha- ugh." A creature stabbed into my side, tearing through flesh. I felt the burn and nothing else as I doubled over, my vision clouded.

"See, this is why I told you to stay back," Theo winced as he tried to get me back on my feet while keeping his arm out of the way.

I held my sides and gasped for air, trying to will the searing pain away.

Theo supported me with an arm around my waist. "On three, we run."

"This is giving me deja vu..." I mumbled, trying to stay straight.

"One." He counted, edging away from the zombies. "Two."