Epilogue

Epilogue 1.06

---Em---

     "Draugr!" I shout over the crackle of gunfire. Too late. Rainer can't hear me over the buzz of his chainsaw as he mows through a cluster of zombies. On such an adrenaline high that he doesn't even notice the draugr until it twists his head right off of his neck. Not that any of us are all that upset to see that sonovabitch bite it, but without anyone to take orders from, the squad starts to fall apart. And the core downtown area is brimming with zombies; we've got nowhere to run.

     Nathan rolls under a minivan and starts squeezing out shot after shot with his Magnum, until the zombies rip him apart. Christine backs herself into a corner and pops herself in the head before the zombies start gnawing through her gut. Zachary attempts to sever his own arm with his machete after getting bit, but it takes him five hacks, after which he passes out from blood loss.

     I rack my brain for a foul enough curse in reaction to their idiocy, but draw a blank. And that's not the only blank I'm drawing. After three hollow clicks, I abandon my firearm. I'm surrounded. To hell with this. I ball my hands into a fist and bash the nearest zombie in the jaw. The head explodes, the rotted bone falling apart amidst the mush of its flesh.

     "Who else wants some?" I take a swing at the next zombie. Scream until my throat is sore. I fight my way over to another dead body—Carlos, I think. Slouched over by a toppled dumpster. "Sorry buddy." I pry the baseball bat out of his cold, dead hands. Not like he's going to need it. "Batter up!" Then I'm hitting homers left and right.

     This gets the draugr's attention. But I'm not about to go down, not like Rainer. My eyes dart all over the place, scouring the collapsed buildings and smashed up pavement for... there. I de-brain a few more zombies to buy me some time. Get a better look around. I count three, no, four of us left.

     "Retreat to the sewers!" I shout, shredding what's left of my vocal cords. And I don't give a damn if they hear me. All I know is that I'm not about to die, not here. I've got to... I get this strange feeling as I fight my way to the sewer entrance. Like I'm forgetting something. Probably going loopy from breathing in all this zombie muck.

     Marshall's first down the manhole. Then Keigan, then Mya, then me. As soon as we're all through, we do what we can to barricade the entrance. Which isn't a hell of a lot. We splash through the sewage until we reach the rendezvous point. Makes me chuckle every time; the stench is more tolerable down here than it is up there.

     Two of Squad B have already reached the rendezvous point: Tristan and some other chick whose name has slipped my mind. My heart stings a little, but then Gail comes bounding over to me. She nearly tackles me into the sewer slush. Our hearts pound against each other as we kiss.

     "That was almost worth it." I grin like an idiot.

     Still clinging to me, she peeks over my shoulder. "Where's Rainer?"

     "Depends. Which part of him?"

     "There's only one part that counts."

     Keigan chuckles. "We all know he never had one of those."

     "Serious time." I say, wriggling free from Gail. Not that I mind the skinship, but I prefer it when it's her skin and not zombie pâté. "Did anyone else notice the draugr?"