Zombie survivor

[10] Apocalypse live stream

The group's tense waiting was shattered by a shrill scream echoing across the parking lot. Jean whipped his head around, his heart sinking as he spotted Brittany "Bri" Summers, the pink-haired influencer, running with a selfie stick held high, her phone broadcasting live.

"OMG, besties, this is INSANE!" she shrieked, stumbling as she tried to keep the camera pointed at herself. A horde of zombies was right on her heels, their decayed hands reaching out as she backed away, stumbling.

"What the hell is she doing?" Jean muttered, gripping the fire axe.

Lucas shook his head, disbelief etched across his face. "Are you kidding me? She's live-streaming this?"

Brittney's followers filled the screen with panicked emojis and comments, but she was too busy trying to look dramatic for the camera to notice the danger approaching from behind. Just as she took a step back, her foot caught on a piece of cracked pavement, and she tumbled to the ground. Her phone and selfie stick clattered to the side, leaving her defenseless as the zombies closed in.

"Help! I need backup! IRL backup!" she screamed, scrambling on the ground, reaching desperately for her phone.

Without hesitating, Jean charged forward, his fire axe in hand. "Hang on, Brittney!"

He reached her just in time, swinging the axe with all his strength into the closest zombie's head. The blade buried itself in the creature's skull with a sickening crunch, and it dropped instantly. Jean didn't stop. He kicked the next zombie back, yanking the axe free with a grunt before hacking into the second one.

With two zombies down, he quickly grabbed Brittney, ignoring her indignant shouts as he hoisted her over his shoulder. She started flailing, reaching out toward her phone, which lay a few feet away on the ground.

"Put me down! My phone!" she yelled, her voice shrill as she tried to twist in his grip. "I need to go back for it! My fans need to see this!"

Jean gritted his teeth, making a beeline back to the bus as he shouted, "Forget the damn phone, Brittney! You're about to get eaten!"

"But—my livestream! This could go viral!" Brittney whined, her hands clawing toward her phone, even as he carried her to safety. "This is, like, premium content, and I can't miss it!"

Ethan, still hunched over the driver's controls, looked up as Jean sprinted back to the bus, Brittney slung over his shoulder, kicking and thrashing. "Are you serious right now, bro?" Evanshouted, barely containing his laughter. "She's mad about her phone?"

"Just get this thing started!" Jean yelled back, practically throwing Brittney into one of the seats as he slammed the bus doors closed behind them.

Brittney scrambled up, pouting as she clutched at her now-empty hands, her eyes wide with outrage. "I had, like, two thousand people watching, and you just ruined it!"

Jean rolled his eyes, exasperated. "Would you rather be famous or dead? Because right now, you were about to be lunch!"

Brittney crossed her arms, still sulking. "Famous, obviously. If you'd grabbed my phone, this could've been a perfect rescue moment for my TikTok."

Lucas snorted, shaking his head. "Wow, priorities. You almost became a hashtag."

Evanignored the chatter as he concentrated, finally pulling the last of the wires together. The bus engine sputtered to life, coughing once before roaring to full power. He let out a triumphant whoop, his hands flying up in victory. "We're in business, boys!"

Tyler gave Evana slap on the back. "Nice work, dude! Let's get the hell out of here!"

Jean took a quick headcount, making sure everyone was aboard. "Alright, buckle up and hang on. We're getting out of this nightmare."