S. Davis - 900 Miles

“NOTHING is going to stop me from getting back to MY SON! NOTHING!” I brought the hammer down across the closest creature, turned and sprinted the short distance toward the hill.

Feeling the Zs reaching for the hair on the back of my head, I reached the incline.

“Grab my hand! Grab it now! ” Seeing nothing but an arm in the darkness, I grasped it at the wrist and was yanked up the steep incline just as another of the dead wrapped its arms around my leg. My boots took a nice bite, but it wasn’t hard enough to break through the leather as the arm I was holding pulled me up and away from the death below.

Even the moonlight didn’t shine brightly enough to help us truly understand how steep the hill actually was. Nor did it reveal that amongst the thick trees the ground was almost completely covered in bowling ball-sized boulders. It was nearly impassable. Nearly being the key word. We could move up it, but not at any quick pace. Fortunately, it appeared too steep for the mindless monsters below to be able to navigate. They were piling up at the edge of the incline, crawling over each other to try to climb toward their prey.

From time to time, I would see one make it a few yards up, but these creatures, especially the slower, more decomposed ones, didn’t have the dexterity to navigate the jagged terrain.

Looking up to the man who had grabbed my shoulder, I made eye contact only to realize that it was the taller of the two boys, Mr. Ammo. After making sure I was set on a sturdy perch, he started to fire the last of his rounds into the creatures clawing at the bottom of the vertical pass.

As his bullets ran out, we both turned toward the peak to start our ascent. Glancing above us, I briefly made eye contact with Kyle, who with a grunt was dragging Jarvis behind him. They had made it, and it seemed that I was the laggard of the group. At least that was what I thought before hearing another burst of weapon fire from below. The stocky boy’s machine gun was screaming out into the night.

Spinning around, I heard Mr. Ammo crying out as we realized the stocky boy was nearly surrounded by over twenty Zs. About to be overrun, he quickly reloaded with what I’m sure were the last of his rounds. I could see the creatures being mowed down all around him. Split in half, heads blown off, the bullets passed through their weak flesh and into the forest around him.

He was screaming over the sound of the rapid fire as I watched a tree just beyond him splinter into a million pieces and start to fall. I couldn’t see where it landed, but it only seemed to draw more attention to where he was making his stand.

By the time the tree hit the ground, all I could see was his arm reaching up through the blood-covered Zs crowding around his body. I can’t be sure exactly, but I think that for the briefest of seconds, I saw him pull his face above the sea of creatures, almost like a man getting one last breath of air before sinking beneath the water to his death.

His eyes were white and reflected nothing less than terror back at us. Then he was silent.

“Keep going!” I finally heard Kyle scream back to us. “We need to make it to the summit.”

The climb was hell, and I fell flat to my face in the darkness more than once, smashing my chin and forehead into the jagged rocks. Mr. Ammo was ahead of me, and I could hear him cursing himself with each step forward. He knew he was fucked in a billion different ways, and his journey to safety didn’t end at the top of the hill.

Kyle and Jarvis flipped over the peak first. Losing complete sight of them, I pushed harder, being more careless, taking more lumps trying to catch up. With all the madness, for some reason not being able to see them had me unnerved.

Surprised that they did not look back down at us after they’d made the climb, I found myself even more crazed as I lifted my feet and arms in unison, taking advantage of the fact that I had the hammer to dig into the ground for leverage.

If there was a horde up there, we’d be finished. There would be no escape. No running after this climb. I was done, and I damn well knew it. Even with each step, I was practically spitting dry saliva out of my mouth, still whispering the word “NOTHING” with each breath.

At that point, I knew there was nowhere else to go. Nothing could have prepared me for what I found at the summit.

NOTHING.

Reaching up into the heavens above us, practically begging for God’s help.

My muscles burned with every painstaking movement as the top came into sight. Beneath each step, the ground became slick and more brittle with sticks that cracked under the weight of my arms and legs. Between fatigue and the fear of the creatures below, it was no wonder I didn’t realize what I was crawling through. How could I have?

Staring up toward the summit, I watched through the darkness as Mr. Ammo pulled himself over the ledge. Still no one looked back down at me. My heart raced at the thought of what lay ahead, but there was nothing I could do about it.

I nearly lost my balance when my foot slid backwards on one of the rocks. I could hear what sounded like a piece of metal rolling down the hill behind me.

The crackling from the fire below almost overshadowed the moans from the creatures yearning to come up the hill after me. Almost.

Just a few more feet before I’d learn what fate lay ahead. Still, I pushed through. There were no other options.

Digging the sharp end of the hammer into the ground at the summit, I slowly pulled my aching body over the edge. Wide-eyed, I shot glances back and forth, trying to find my friends through the darkness. The fire was far below and try as it might, the moon wasn’t able to break through the clouds passing above. Between that and the smoke still tearing up my eyes, I simply couldn’t see jack.

Unfortunately, the creatures had no problem seeing me.

As my eyes adjusted, they were there, all low to the ground… staring up at me with those dead red eyes. They jerked and snapped in my direction, but for some reason, did not advance toward me. Jumping up, I nearly slid backwards, but managed to catch the groove of the hammer between two rocks on the summit.

I didn’t make a noise. Not because I didn’t try to scream. Hell, I opened my mouth and let out what I imagine would have sounded like the unmanliest scream on the planet, but nothing came out. My mouth was dry as sandpaper, and my throat was even worse.

They could see me, smell me, and sense me, yet something was clearly holding them back. As the tears cleared from my eyes, and my mind started to recover with the help of the much-needed oxygen being pulled into my lungs, I started to understand what this was.

Just as it all came into focus, one of the creatures tore its torso free from the rest of its body, which was securely strapped into a pair of chairs tipped over sideways just ten feet from my face. The monster was dressed in a beat up gray business suit, with a loose tie that was flipped over its shoulder.

I watched in horror as its entrails leaked out through the open wound of its stomach, and streaked across the rocky summit like a mop pushing through mud. The Z’s mouth was gaping open, salivating some sort of puss as if I was the first meal it had ever seen. One hand over the other, it pulled toward me, letting out a moan that seemed to fuel the rest of the creatures.

Squeezing my fists together, I put one hand on my knee and pushed myself to my feet. As I slowly rose, all of the creatures’mangled red eyes followed me in unison, unwavering from my tasty flesh.

With nearly nothing left, I fought for the strength to raise the hammer above my head. I could only hope that I had enough to put this creature down with one strike. It was clear I wouldn’t have the strength for a second.