Kody Boye - Sunrise

Chaos stormed their lives as dawn cracked the shell of the horizon.

“LOOK OUT!” Dakota screamed.

A group of infected tore out of a gas station parking lot and hurled themselves in front of the bus. Forced to impact with the flailing, once-human creatures, the bus lunged forward, then back, sending Dakota flying up the middle of the bus and Ian into the seat in front of him.

“FUCKING HELL!” Ian screamed. “SOMEONE GET THESE CUFFS OFF ME!”

“NO!” Steve roared. “Nothing’s coming off of him until I fucking say so!”

An infected slammed into the side of the bus, screaming as it first wrapped its hands around the barbed wire only to be tossed aside as the metal sliced its hold away. Another group—this one larger, but just as troublesome—stumbled into the road and reached for the bus. A few of their arms were instantly destroyed upon impact with the vehicle barreling down the road.

Struggling to regain his composure, Dakota sank his fingers into the leather seat hard enough to tear holes in it, then grabbed hold of Steve’s chair. He pulled himself up just in time to be pushed into the man’s side as he rounded a corner.

“STEVE!” he screamed.

The tail end of the bus skirted the corner, struggling to follow its front half.

Ian flew into the seat opposite him.

Dakota slammed his head into the dash and nearly blacked out.

At that moment, Dakota thought the bus would tip onto its side and they would all be crushed under the unbearable weight of fifteen-hundred tons of metal.

Somehow, some way—through an act of God or a stroke of luck—Steve managed to correct the vehicle.

“DAKOTA!” Steve screamed.

Stars flashed over Dakota’s vision and what felt like blood was running down his forehead. “We have to do something.”

“I’m working on it! I’m working on it!”

“We have to untie Ian.”

“Don’t do you dare, Dakota.”

“He’s completely helpless! He just flew into the side of the bus!”

“You let him go and I swear I’ll—”

Dakota didn’t let Steve finish. He turned and barreled down the center aisle, desperate to find the ex-con.

Where are you? he thought, panicking, eyes darting over the seats and into the tight spaces along the floor. Goddammit! I just saw you! Where the hell are you?

A trembling figure wedged into a seat came into view.

“Ian! Ian! Listen to me!” Dakota said, falling to Ian’s side. “Snap out of it!”

“I’M FUCKING SCARED OUT OF MY MIND!” Ian screamed, tears coursing down his face.

“I know! I know! Here, stand up. I’m untying you.”

“What?”

“I’m fucking untying you!” Dakota cried. “Get up!”

Dakota leaned forward, grabbed the man’s undershirt, and pulled him out of his seat. It took little more than a few pulls and tugs to release Ian’s wrists from their bonds.

“You’re fucking kiddin’ me,” Ian said, staring Dakota straight in the eyes. “You have to be.”

“I’m not,” Dakota paused. Steve barreled over an infected and accelerated down the street. “I don’t know if I can trust you, Ian, but I’m fuckin’ hoping I can.”

“You can,” Ian said, “because I’m not going to do anything to either of you.”

“HOLD ON!” Steve screamed. “I SEE PEOPLE AHEAD!”

“PEOPLE?” Dakota cried.

Steve slammed his foot on the gas.

Dakota and Ian went flying forward.

“What the fuck?” Erik breathed.

“What’s going on?” Jamie stood up to get a better look.

“Look at all the zombies.”

A booming sound in the near distance stopped Erik from speaking. Unsure of what to say, Erik paused, frowned, then lifted the radio at his side. “Sergeant. Come in Sergeant Armstrong, over.”

“Sergeant Armstrong here. Over.”

“Corporal Marks and I just heard what sounded like a crash in the distance. It may be civilians. Over.”

“A crash? Over.”

“A crash, sir. I think you should send Kirn and Wills out here. Over.”

“They’re moving up the road,” Jamie said, raising his gun and setting the butt of the rifle against his shoulder. “It sounds like tires.”

“Tires?”

“Yeah. Something moving. Fast.”

“Corporal Marks reports the sound of a moving vehicle,” Erik said. “Over.”

“Who the hell could be moving out there?” Sergeant Armstrong asked. “Over.”

“I don’t know, sir, but I think we should—”

A bus barreled around the corner and began heading straight toward them.

“REQUEST TO OPEN PERIMITER GATES TO LET CIVILIANS IN!” Erik screamed. “OVER!”

“YOU ARE NOT OPENING THOSE GATES!” Sergeant Armstrong screamed back. “UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE!”

“THEY’RE GOING TO PLOW THROUGH THE FUCKING GATE IF WE DON’T LET THEM IN!” Jamie roared, swiping the remote from Erik before the sergeant could finish. “WE HAVE VISUALS OF A DOZEN INFECTED TRAILING BEHIND THEM—FRESH, RUNNING INFECTED. THEY ARE GOING TO PLOW INTO THE GATE IF WE DO NOT OPEN IT! I REPEAT, THEY ARE GOING TO PLOW INTO THE GATE! OVER!”

“Corporal, if you disobey my orders, I swear I’ll—”

Jamie pushed Erik aside, hurled his rifle over his shoulders and threw himself down the ladder as fast as he could.

The sergeant’s orders notwithstanding, they’d either open the gate and let the civilians in or they’d die. There was no question about it.

Running as fast as he could, dodging around hunks of loose metal and boxes of military supplies, Jamie pushed himself across the apartment building’s parking lot as fast as he could, desperate to outrun the barreling vehicle and open the gate. Behind him, Erik struggled to make his way down the ladder, but was hung up by his military fatigues in the process. With no time to wait, Jamie grabbed onto the gate, pulled apart the intermixing locks and chains, and hurled the gate to the side.

A moment later, the bus came barreling toward him.

He had just enough time to jump out of the way before the vehicle tore into the parking lot in a scream of rubber and metal.

“Is everyone all right?” Steve gasped, looking back at them.

“I’m fine,” Ian breathed. “Dakota?”

Dakota nodded, reaching up to wipe a bead of blood off his face. He came back with the side of his wrist covered in red. “Yeah, I’m ok,” he managed, finally able to take a breath

“My name is Private Erik Roberts,” a voice outside the bus said. A lean man in military fatigues stepped forward and knocked on the side of the bus. “I request that you remain inside your vehicle until we have more personnel present for your own protection.”

“Our own protection?” Ian asked. “What the hell are they talking about?”

“They’re military,” Steve said. “It’s standard procedure.”

“How do you know?”

“I used to be a marine.”

“ Used to be?”

“It’s a long story.”

Dakota closed his eyes. Outside, the soldier who introduced himself as Private Roberts began calling to someone, only to be silenced a moment later by a screaming voice that came out of the building in front of them.

“Sounds like they’re in trouble,” Ian said.

“They probably didn’t have clearance to let us in,” Steve suggested. “Oh well, we’re safe. That’s all that matters.”

The three men that came out of the building immediately stepped toward the bus. One man—presumably the commanding officer—gestured the other two to the front, while Private Roberts stood at the side, waiting for further instruction. The man Dakota had seen open the gate came forward and stood at Private Roberts’ side, lips pursed and face devoid of expression.