Restless

Chapter 9

Eleni felt groggy. She didn't know which way was up or where she was. Consciousness hit her like a bag of rocks, but it was the searing pain across her abdomen that woke her with a shriek. Smoke filled her nostrils, and she coughed and hacked violently, suppressing the urge to retch. Blisters and gashes decorated her arms, and she felt nauseated having to look at her marred skin. The second thing to register other than the distress she was in was Neri. With a gasp, she turned to her side.

She was still unconscious. The airbag had crushed her face, and her nose was bleeding profusely. The seat belt had made a deep cut in her neck, and Eleni figured that with one more flip, Neri would've been decapitated. The dashboard had nearly shattered into bits and was pinning Eleni to her seat, like Neri.

Eleni groaned as she punched open the door next to her, and realized their position. The Honda Civic was on its side, so the passenger door was pinned shut. Eleni's door was a climb straight up, and then she would have to hop down and push the car over to get to Neri. The moonroof had been shattered as well, and deformed in such a way that it loomed over Neri's head, and right next to the pavement of the road.

Eleni's eyes watered, both from the smoke and the possibility that her friend was dead. She undid her seat belt, and managed to pull her leg out from under the dashboard. When she finally got that far, she sat atop the vehicle and quickly hopped down after sensing the heat from the flames consuming the back of the car.

Oh my God, Eleni thought worriedly. The fire is going to draw Restless, Neri isn't awake, she's trapped, and the car's on fire! Tears started to flow for real this time, and she limped to the other side of the vehicle to attempt to push it over. The ground spun under her feet, and dizziness almost knocked her to the ground.

As her hands gripped the roof of the car, she heard a groan.

"Neri?!" Eleni looked through the moonroof at Neri, to see her bleary grey eyes blink open. "Hang on, Neri! I'm going to help you, okay?"

"El...eni..." Neri moaned, before her eyes snapped open from the blaze that was beginning to travel from the back of the car to the front.

She couldn't crawl through the moonroof because it was bent irregularly, making it big enough to pull out Neri halfway, but her legs would be stuck after that.

Another growl was heard, and Eleni gasped as she whipped around. Restless on the edge of the highway began walking forward, drawn to the light of the fire and the smell of fresh meat.

"NERI!" Eleni called, trying to get her to crawl out.

"My legs are stuck underneath!" Neri cried, desperately trying to claw her way out. "Kill the Restless first!"

Eleni nodded despite her sniffles, and grabbed for her gun. The first Restless suffered a shot to the head, and the second was right in the chest cavity. Another shot from Eleni hit it in its right eye socket, pushing it down for good. They came from all angles, and were beginning to sneak up behind the car as well. More than twenty were already drawn to the area.

She held her arms out straight, firing bullet after bullet, until only a hollow click was heard. The AK-47 on her back was the next best option, so she grabbed for it and aimed. They grew closer yet, and one even got within three feet of Eleni. She backed closer to the car, continuing her onslaught even though flames were beginning to slowly burn Neri to death.

The constant bangs began to make Eleni's ears ring, until she lost track of time. One after another after another filed onto the highway, but she wasn't aware of the ones approaching from the other direction.

An empty click was heard, and Eleni's heart leapt to her throat. All the remaining ammo was in the gym bags they'd brought, and were trapped in the back of the Honda if they hadn't already burned.