The Dead Zone (Book One)

Chapter 19

 Bryson and Paige made their way quickly through Bridgeport back to back, knives out, guns at attention, ready to fire at a moments notice should something go wrong here. To anyone watching from the outside, the duo would look as if they were performing some sort of synchronized dance, moving in perfect harmony when they struck out with their blades, right into the skulls of any roamer that came too close, fighting their way through town towards the hospital.

  Each was as attentive as the other, terrified to let anything happen to the person that had their back. The person they loved. The hospital lay in the center of town, on a street called Ingram. If they followed sixteenth street through town, it would almost be a straight shot there.

 Sixteenth street was a long stretch of road lined with houses and neighborhoods, even a school. Bryson's stomach knotted as they passed the older brick building, Fitzgerald Elementary staring proudly back at them in bright gold letters above the front door. He began to wonder about the children that used to attend here, before society collapsed. Where were they now? Dead? Orphaned? ...Roamers? The thought of children turned roamers made him sick. He hoped he'd never have to see that with his own eyes.

 Roamers came at them from alley ways and side streets as they passed, their eyes hungry and crazed. Jaws snapping like rabid animals. There weren't enough roaming the streets to overrun them but it was still enough that there was a small crowd surrounding them. Bryson kicked one square in the chest, pushing it away as he drove his blade into the skull of one that went for his arm. The knife sank all the way down to the hilt, causing him to have to give a quick yank to free it. It sounded something like a suction cup as the blade was freed. Shoving the lifeless corpse at another roamer, he sent them tumbling to the ground as he went for his next victim.

 He desperately wanted to turn around, to check on Paige, to make sure she wasn't getting overrun. But he knew she was capable enough to handle herself. If she cries out, I'll help her.

 But she never did, albeit a few occasional grunts and thuds as she struck out, disabling her opponents, the infectious monsters that terrorized them. She had come a long way since he first saw her standing there helpless on top of that bus, he thought, pushing onward in a fast paced trot, Paige following his lead. 

 Another group of roamers shuffled after them, the awkward half-run half trot of the dead. "Leave them. We don't have time to take care of them all. We need to save our energy."

  He took solace when Paige's hand slipped into his. He glanced over his shoulder at her. Her face was flushed, strands of dark hair matted to her forehead. Blood covered her hands, blending with his. It hit him then that seeing her like that, covered in blood and gore, running through a strange city with roamers on their trail, he still thought she still looked gorgeous. She was fierce and beautiful and strong. A survivor. 

 They were passing a gas station now, pale hands scratching at the windows from the inside, trying yet failing to get to them as they jogged past. Apparently, zombies couldn't open doors. Not that he was complaining or anything.

 "There's a big group up ahead." Bryson breathed, spotting a cluster of roamers heading toward them from up the road, the wind carrying their moans and animalistic hissing through the air. 

 "What do we do?" There was a hint of panic in Paige's voice as she glanced behind, at the roamers that were following them. There was a group coming from both directions.

 "Follow me. "They darted into someones yard, or more like, what used to be someone's yard. He'd never know what happened to the previous owners but he could take a pretty good bet, he thought, as he jumped the fence with ease.