GARDEN OF THE UNDEAD - A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE ROMANCE & ACTION TALE

chapter sixteen

The drive into town was a quiet, long and unnerving one. My body was fighting to overcome the adrenaline rush it had just experienced, my arms and legs still experiencing frequent tremors. I hadn't realised the full extent of destruction till we had gotten off the straight country road. Even a small town like the one we were navigating towards was in ruins. It was as if all human life had vanished as well as the animal kingdom. It was hell on Earth. 

I'd never seen crows so plump in my life, they were perched on the side of the road feeding on what looked like the minimal remains of an unlucky middle-aged woman who had broken her leg whilst trying to escape from something and was devoured by a pack of the undead. 

We were in the final hours of sunlight by the time we had gotten remotely close to the nearest town ahead. 

"Relax Eden" Kaiden soothed placing his hand on my thigh running soft traces of circles along its length. Looking over to him, his eyes held a reassuring gaze, as if to tell me everything would be okay.

As much as I knew that was unlikely. His gaze implored me to believe it would. 

So I did.

My body began to unravel, the tremors became much less frequent and I began to sink into the car seat, was it always this comfortable?

"How do you do it?" I asked, kicking my feet up on the dashboard whilst turning to look at his face that was so focused on the road ahead, "How are you not out of breath? How are you so calm even in a situation like this?"

"I was in the army for quite a few years so my cardio is pretty much impeccable" he proclaimed smugly flashing me a cheeky grin, " When you see a few things on the battlefield, it becomes second nature". 

"What have you seen?" I asked. I couldn't even imagine being in a warzone. Having to constantly look over your shoulder and others as well. To shoot and be shot at and see so much bloodshed? I could never voluntarily.

"Children with explosives strapped to their bodies being thrown into battlefields, children being sold as child brides, women being raped and so much more" he replied, an instantaneous flash of anger on his face.

"Is that why you helped us that day?" I questioned, looking down to my hands awaiting his response, "In the diner?". The car began to accelerate down the  road at a faster rate, looking up, Kaiden's face had once again contorted to an expression of anger, as if he was trying to push away a sour memory. In front of us the road was split into two. One road lead to the town and the other to farm land and other towns further out.

"I helped you that day because-", Kaiden couldn't even finish his sentence.

The sheer volume of the undead that sprung to life at this splutter of the car engine was unimaginable. This was a moment where you had to be there to believe it had happened. The town was completely overrun. All of what had been a rural town was lurching itself at us, but we weren't going to stick around to be a very delicious five course meal.

 I barely managed to pull my feet off the dashboard as Kaiden instantly swiveled the car around and began to accelerate back down the road.

"Fuck" he roared as we drove back down the road putting some distance between us and the undead. As we neared the merging of the split road, I noticed a sign that read 'Shelter of The Living up ahead' pinned under the road sign.

"Kaiden! Look" I pointed at the sign causing him to momentarily stop and read the sign as well, "We can go there to wait out the horde, no?" 

"Its a gamble, but it may be our best bet" Kaiden sighed with relief as he kept driving down the road at high speed till we lost the zombies.

"Can we listen to music? Surely this car must have a CD or two?" I asked looking in the glovebox and pulling out a pink CD that read 'Shakira', "Bingo!"

"Only you would say something like that after us almost dying" Kaiden laughed rubbing at his forehead, "Sure but keep it on the lowest volume"

"Perfect" I smiled, wiping the CD clean and inserting it into the CD player.

END 

A/N: Hey guys! Exams just finished for me so I'm able to write for you all a bit more. 700 reads! Thank you so much to everyone who continues to read my book I hope you will continue to read on! Please don't forget to vote, comment and add this book to your reading list!