Sorrow's Gift

Chapter Four: Noah

Noah ran toward the small red car, shooting the heads off two zombies standing in his way. They fell like ragdolls.

"What were you thinking?" he shouted, fear rushing through him. He moved in front of Parrish to shield her from the wave of zombies headed straight for them. "You'll have every rotter in a five mile radius headed this way."

She climbed out of the car and jumped onto the hood, sword in hand. "I know," she said. "But it's the only way he's going to get that gate open. We'll be fine. Just kill fast and don't get bitten."

He cursed under his breath and got to work. She was probably right, but did she have to go announcing their presence to the entire neighborhood? Couldn't she have just beat her sword on the side of the car or something instead?

He glanced over at the Humvee and saw Crash dart from the truck toward the gate.

All they had to do was hold these things off until Crash got the Humvee inside.

Well, that and pray that he and Parrish were still alive when he did.

Noah reached for his bat, then remembered he'd left it on the hood of Crash's truck. He secured the shotgun in the straps across his back and reached for the two guns he'd shoved inside his belt loops. The rotters were too close for any kind of long-range weapon and a shotgun was way too slow right now. He'd never tried shooting with his left hand before, but there was no better teacher than an insatiable need to survive.

He held both guns out, straightening his arms and aiming as best he could. He shot once with his right hand and then with his left. Two zombies fell to the pavement and he let out a surprised cry of relief.

"Switch places with me," Parrish called down to him. "You can pick them off from above and I can slice and dice down there."

He hated to put her in close range with these monsters, but it was a good plan. With any luck, he could kill most of them before they got close enough for Parrish to even need her sword.

He popped off two more shots and climbed onto the hood of the car. Parrish jumped down, her boots landing firmly on the pavement below. She put two hands on the hilt of her sword and spun around, her pigtails like whips. She took the head off a large man with a single slice.

Noah moved to the roof of the car, the metal and plastic groaning against his weight. He planted his feet firmly and started shooting into the row of rotters on the front lines of the attack. Bodies fell, but more just kept coming. The pile that formed near the car slowed the others down. They tripped and stumbled and climbed their way through, but there was nothing that would stop them. Nothing but a bullet or a blade.

Noah glanced at Crash. He'd managed to open the lock and was pushing the gate wide enough for the truck to pull through.

They didn't have much time.

The few dozen that had been here at the start of the fight had multiplied into several hundred. Noah could see them shambling through the streets in clusters, pouring from every alley and open doorway. If he and Parrish didn't move in the next few minutes, they would be surrounded. And he wasn't sure how many bullets he had left in these guns.

Not enough for all of them, that much was certain.

He wished Parrish could blast these things with light like she had done back in the office building, but he had no idea how those powers had worked. Had it only been a response to the super zombies? Some kind of upper-level human evolution that no one had ever had to use before? He wanted to ask her, but the question sounded stupid in his brain. Part of him wondered if he'd just imagined it all. None of this felt real.

Still, when he looked down at her, he noticed a faint blue glow around the blade of her sword. Whatever these powers were, she was using them in some way now, even without the super-zombies here.

A sick feeling twisted his stomach.

Unless they were close. What if there were more of those things heading their way right now?

He scanned the crowd, searching their eyes as he aimed for the sweet spot in the middle of their foreheads. He didn't see any glowing eyes, but he had the uneasy feeling that they were in a lot more danger than they realized. Were they being watched?

The engine of the Humvee revved as Crash pulled through the gate. Noah caught Parrish's eye and took a few more shots before he jumped down from the roof of the car.

"Let's go," he shouted.

The horde of rotters had already formed a circle around the red car and he had to crouch as Parrish swung toward the closest one. Its head made the most disgusting squish as it fell at Noah's feet. He stumbled backward, and before he could catch himself, a rotter seized him from behind. Brittle nails cracked against his skin as the zombie grabbed him and pulled him further back, off his feet. His head smacked against the pavement as another reached him and collapsed at his side, drool pouring from its open mouth.

Noah screamed and closed his eyes as the first rotter grabbed his arm and bit down.