Agents of the Apocalypse

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 7

COULSON POV

We were holed up in the gas station for 3 more days after Jemma insisted that we waited for Skye's fever to break. As much as I wanted the her to get better, I was also anxious for us to start moving as the longer we stayed put in an exposed area, the longer we were at risk for attack. The first day it was clear that Skye needed to rest. She was barely conscious for most of the day and her fever spiked overnight. By the second day, her fever had broken and she was awake for a decent amount of time. On the third, May spotted a horde of zombies coming our way while she was keeping watch. They were a long way out but would get to the gas station within the day.

"We gotta get packing up guys." I said after speaking briefly with May. Skye gingerly pushed herself upright from where she was lying down, Jemma protesting softly.

"What's wrong?" she asked, wincing softly but trying to hide it.

"We've got a horde of zombies coming our way." May explained, grabbing her sleeping bag and rolling it up.

"How far out?" Bobbi asked, starting to get up and following May's example.

"4, maybe 5 kilometres out. So we've got about an hour and a half, provided that they're all normal zombies, no runners." May calculated. Just as she finished her sentence, Hunter came running in.

"We've got runners."

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"C'mon guys, they're coming in hot!" Trip yelled, urging everyone ahead as we frantically packed all of our supplies. Runners move as fast as your average human sprinting. That cut down the amount of time we had to get outta here to about 15 minutes. I did a sweep through the garage to ensure we got everything.

"Alright onto the horses!" I ordered. I turned to Skye who was getting helped up by Mack.

"Can you ride alone?" I asked. She nodded, a grim look of determination set into her face. I climbed up onto my own horse and snapped the reins, taking off in a run.

Trip was in the lead, having the fastest horse and I glanced behind us as we rode away. The runners had sensed us and were about 400 meters behind us.

"Keep going fast! Head into the woods and try to lose them!" I yelled, urging my horse faster. Thankfully, the woods weren't too far away from the gas station. We were hurtling through the woods, weaving around trees to create some distance between us and the zombies.

"Stream coming up!" Trip yelled from his position in the lead. The others in front of me hurdled over the stream and I jerked the reins up, coaxing my horse to jump. The back hooves of the horse briefly splashed into the water but it recovered quickly, continuing to run. I looked over my shoulder again and didn't see any zombies in sight.

"I think we lost them!" I called. Everyone ahead of me slowed down to a trot and I slowed my horse too.

"Thank God. I don't think I could take another encounter with zombies." Skye breathed, a light sheen of sweat on her face. She seemed a little pale and I brushed away the worry in my chest, knowing that she'd been pale for the last few days.

"Where to now, Boss?" Mack asked, surveying our surroundings. I reached into my backpack and pulled out a wrinkled map.

"The town we were heading for before is about a day's journey from here. We'll have to find somewhere to stay for the night since it's already pretty late." I explained, examining the circled town and guessing our whereabouts.