World of the Dead

Safe Haven

Quinn gasped and coughed as she sprinted, narrowly avoiding obstacles that would appear in the beam of her flashlight. Despite having ditched one of the bags she had barely gained any speed. She had managed to overtake Paul and Debbie, but that was only due to them trying to stick together with Kevin slowing them considerably. It wasn't his fault, but Quinn couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed at the stumbling, crying boy.

As she hurled past the shadowy outline of a van, an infected burst out and grabbed at her. With her limited options and her tired brain not making good choices, she stopped and swung her wrench at his head. It connected solidly with a dull crack, sending him sprawling. She only had about two seconds to catch her breath before the hungry wails of their pursuers compelled her to force her tired legs to move again.

By this point she guessed that they had made it about a quarter down Titan Drive, which meant that the parking lot entrance would be coming up. She swung her head around, squinting through the darkness. Doing so only succeeded in her clipping her hip on the edge of a bumper, sending her stumbling. It was a miracle that she didn't go sprawling onto the ground. Not wanting to test her luck any further, she focused on the road and hoped that she or Liam would spot the school.

Liam was doing the best out of all of them. Even though he still had two bags on him, he continued to charge ahead at a steady pace. He even managed to take down one or two of the infected as he ran, keeping the road clear for them. Quinn was impressed but would never admit it.

"Come on Kevin we can't slow down!", she heard Paul scream. Glancing back, she saw that the child was going even slower. Then Debbie suddenly dropped everything and stooped down into a crouch.

"Get on, hurry!", she bellowed as Paul stopped as well to defend the two. Kevin clambered onto her back, and she didn't wait to stand and take off once more. If they weren't being chased by a hoard of blood thirsty people, it would look like a mother giving her son a fun piggyback ride.

Quinn faced forward just in time to dodge a tipped garbage can. Jesus are you trying to get yourself killed? she chastised herself. She seriously needed to work on her survival skills if she was going to live through this.

"There it is! Come on!", Liam yelled suddenly, pointing. They were only a few yards away.

Quinn nearly wept in relief, but they weren't out of the woods yet. She repeated what he had said back to Debbie and Paul, who were definitely having a hard time keeping up. Not wanting to leave them behind, she paused at the edge of the lot entrance, shouting encouragement to them as they ran. These few moments also gave her time to catch her breath, which was coming out in short wheezes and hacking coughs.

Debbie made it first, surprising Quinn. When Paul made it through, she got moving once more and ignored her protesting joints. He stayed beside her, which gave her some comfort knowing that she at least had some backup. But she could tell he was near his limit as well; he was staggering a lot and his breathing was extremely labored.

She really hoped that the broadcast was right. If it wasn't, she didn't see them getting out of this.

Liam was at the school doors, pounding on them and screaming. Debbie was also there with Kevin off her back with a shattered look on her face. Quinn felt her heart drop into her stomach as she approached, having a feeling as to what was wrong.

"Let us in you fucks, we have a kid with us!" Liam shouted shrilly. 

"Oh my God, it was wrong. We're gonna die." Moaned Debbie, clutching Kevin to her. 

Paul looked numb while Quinn joined Liam in slamming against the door and hollering. She could feel hopelessness settling into her chest as the sounds of the infected got closer, knowing that their agonizing deaths were basically sealed by this point.