Burning Up

Coming Back Down

Peyton felt Yuri's ruined neck for a pulse. There wasn't one. He let his hand drop away and informed Jill and Terri.

"Jesus christ..." Jill turned to face the railing Alice and Rain went over, watching as Terri slowly started walking closer to it with her camera ready. "I thought there was something strange about those two, but I didn't expect that..."

"Yeah, I don't think any of us did." Peyton went to pull Yuri's dog tags off.

Unexpectedly, the dead soldier lurched upright, snarling as his fingers closed around Peyton's arm.

"Shit!"

Jill and Terri whipped back around, finding Peyton trying to wrench himself free while simultaneously keeping Yuri's face away. Jill unholstered her Beretta. "Move your hand!"

BAM!

Yuri fell limp again, a hole blown into his forehead.

"Thanks."

"Let's just get to the school and find the kid before this night gets any shittier."

Once again, Terri attempted to approach the railing. "Wait, I want to get—"

"No time. Sunrise isn't going to wait for us." Jill seized the woman by the sleeve of her blazer, dragging her along as she continued down the overpass. "Come on, Peyton."

...

Once Alice, still restraining Rain, began to fully tip backward, she knew one thing: When they landed, she needed to take the brunt of the impact. The virus had sped up the rate at which her body could heal, and Rain... Well, it was clear that the changes she underwent were not the same as those Alice did. Alice wasn't entirely sure how well her partner could handle directly hitting the dirt and gravel below, and she didn't intend to find out.

Not even halfway into their plummet, Alice collided with a piece of concrete jutting out of one of the support beams. She could hear something in her body crack. Pain exploded throughout her chest and immediately flared up again with every breath. They spun once before making contact with the ground. The second impact was worse than the first. Alice landed directly on her shoulder. A numbness spread through the arm attached to it soon after. She released her grip without meaning to.

Before long, Rain was back on her feet. There was a slight clumsiness to her movements. The kind that zombies often displayed, but with a surprising quickness. If she had been injured anywhere near as bad as Alice was, it wasn't immediately apparent.

She went in for the attack. Alice managed to hold her off with her good arm. Moving the numb one was proving to be a challenge.

Up above, a gunshot rang out.

Rain was stronger than Alice remembered.

Luckily, so was she. She pushed her off and, with difficulty, got herself standing. Everything hurt. She had definitely broken something. Multiple somethings.

"Rain..."

The other woman charged at her. She stumbled out of the way just in time.

"You've gotta snap out of it."

Rain gave it another go. Alice was a hair too slow and Rain got ahold of her. An arm wrapped around her front, and Rain's momentum swung her so that she was pressed against Alice's back.