OUTBREAK (A collection of Zombie Stories) |#Wattys2016|

90 DAYS TO DIE (#3)

Rick drove the old vehicle down the dilapidated highway at a comfortably slow speed, Zeb's car riding right behind him. Behind them was the pseudo-army of Zombies that had attacked the farm. The two of them had led the undead horde quite a ways away, so Rick decided it was time to make a move for it.

The sky was just beginning to lighten up, signaling the end of the night. Rick rolled down the driver's seat window and flipped a 'thumbs up' sign out of the car. This was his signal to Zeb to hightail it out of there. In his rear-view mirror, he saw Zeb's headlights blink thrice, his signal of compliance. With that, Rick revved the old car as fast as it could go, as he began to drive away at full speed form the Zombie horde.

The plan was going quite brilliantly for quite a while. They had left the Zombie horde behind by a good 700 meters or so and were gaining distance on them fast. However, just as everything seemed to look up, the shit hit the fan.

"Rick! My car's broken down!" Zeb shouted from a short ways behind, and Rick saw in his rear-view mirror that indeed, Zeb's old car had shuddered to a halt. This was a slight hiccup in their plans, but was very minor. Rick stopped the car as Zeb got out and ran up to his car. He dived into the shotgun seat and rick cranked the car into top gear and revved away as the Zombies just came back into view.

"Man. That was a close one." Zeb said, "Yeah." Rick replied, "I agree. Now let's just hope the farm is still standing."

"Jesus, dude! Don't be such a negative Nancy!" Zeb jested. Rick laughed and hit the gas. The car drove on the road faster and faster until...

CRRRANK!

An ear-splitting noise of tearing metal shredded the quiet of night and the car did a complete 180!

The car tumbled and rolled, denting it beyond recognition, cracking and smashing windows and denting it to all hell. Rick found himself tossed and thrashed around in the car like a washing machine. He tucked himself in, glad that he had worn his seatbelt.

"GRAA!" Rick screamed in pain as he felt bones break. He hit something hard and felt a warm trickle down his nose.

CRASH! TUMBLE! SMASH!

The car creaked to a halt on its roof. Rick found himself suspended from his seat, his seatbelt jamming into his shoulder blade. He took a moment to regain his bearings. His entire body was racked with pain, especially in his right hand. He could also feel a trickle of blood down his face. He slowly brought his good left hand to his face, and felt something embedded in his right eye!

Rick yelped in fright as he realized that a large shard of glass had impaled him in his eye! Rick moaned in pain, but his survival instincts kicked in as he felt for his knife to cut the jammed seatbelt.

However, as he reached for his knife, he saw a truly horrifying sight.

Zeb lay there on the crumpled roof, his body completely broken. He hadn't worn a seatbelt and his body had been tossed around like a ragdoll in a tornado. His hands were broken, his legs were broken and a piece of the metal frame of the seat had impaled itself in his back. His face was smashed up, teeth littering the roof. Blood pooled from several cuts and deep gashes in his body, and he looked to be as good as dead.

"Zeb!" Rick sobbed as he felt tears streaming down his one eye. "ZEB!" He cried out louder, but to no response. Rick broke down as he cut his seatbelt, falling onto the roof. His right hand erupted in pain, but it was nothing compared to the horror of what happened to Zeb. Rick crawled up to his best friend, who lay broken and bleeding on the crumpled roof.