YOU'RE NEXT |
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YOU'RE NEXT
A second place contest entry by Doug Brunel
"I think we'll make it," Jackie told the young married couple in the backseat of the stolen Honda Accord. "It's two miles."
"Wish we could open the windows," the male, Steve, complained. The stink of rotting flesh didn't leave that as an option, however.
Jackie glanced back at the twentysomething couple she had come across at a drug store on Market Street an hour ago. She offered them a ride because the man said he was carrying a .44. She hoped he knew how to use it.
"I thought the San Francisco Port Base was closed," the wife, Leandra, said pointedly.
Jackie nodded. "We can holD up there, though. They must have left supplies, and maybe we can radio someone for help." She swerved out of the way of a zombie in a three-piece suit who was wandering the street. His gray, peeling hands reached for the car as it whipped by.
"We should've went for one of the bridges," Steve told Jackie.
"Bridges are closed off," Jackie reminded him for the third time.
"Besides, they're like zombie central. It's too risky."
"So's this," Leandra mumbled.
The Accord slid around a corner, and Jackie laughed with excitement.
"There it is!"
The large abandoned base, which consisted of five gray buildings surrounded by a chain link fence topped with barb wire, was straight ahead. An empty guard shack stood at the gated entrance like a lonely sentinel.
"How will we get in?" Leandra asked. "The gate's closed."
Jackie pressed down on the gas. "Just like the movies," she whispered to herself.
"Look out!" Steve yelled, his arms going up in front of his face.
Jackie never saw the female zombie step off the curb in front of the car. All she saw was dead eyes and decaying flesh as she locked the car''s brakes.
The car hit the zombie, sending her cartwheeling up over its roof as the vehicle spun sideways. Jackie struggled to maintain control of the car, her right wrist snapping as the steering wheel jerked out of her hand.
Leandra let out a loud scream as the car rolled onto its roof, spinning in wild circles as it crashed through the gate of the decommissioned military base.
Jackie pulled herself out of the upside down car as soon as it slid to a stop. Using her left hand, she pushed herself to her feet and looked back at the car, its wheels still spinning. "You two okay?" she called.
She was answered by Leandra, who could only scream, "Steve!"
Jackie bent down and peered through a broken window into the backseat.
Leandra was bloody from a cut in her forehead, but was otherwise uninjured.
Steve wasn't so lucky. His neck was broke, and he wasn't breathing.
"Get his gun and get out of there," Jackie quickly ordered.
Leandra, her eyes wild with fear, looked at Jackie as if she were insane.
"What are you talking about?""His gun," Jackie repeated. She looked back toward the demolished gate. The zombie they had hit was dragging herself toward them, her legs splayed out behind her. Another zombie, this one a young boy in his underwear, stepped out of an apartment building and began to follow the crawling zombie.
"We lied so you would give us a ride," Leandra sobbed.
Jackie watched as more zombies wandered out into the street. There were eight of them now. She turned back to the car and offered Leandra her hand.
"I should leave you here for that, but come on."
Leandra screamed, but offered no resistance as Jackie pulled her from the car.Jackie pointed at the crowd of zombies, their numbers growing to a dozen.
"He'll be one of those soon enough. Let's go."
Leandra, tears in her eyes, let herself be dragged toward the closest building. It was two stories high and looked like it housed offices. "What if it''s locked?" she asked.
The zombies began to claw through the car, not touching the fresh corpse inside. The boy zombie began pressing the car's horn, pleased at the loud noise it made.
Jackie tried the door to the building. Locked. A quick glance back gave her a rough count of thirty zombies. The woman they had hit was no longer visible, either. Jackie figured the others had trampled her.
"We're dead," Leandra said, wiping blood from her face with the back of her hand.
"My wrist is broke," Jackie told her, holding up her right hand. "How are you at fighting?"
"I never fought."
Jackie cursed under her breath. "Running?"
"I can do that."
"Good. I'm going to assume the other buildings are locked."Leandra gasped. "Run past ... them?"
Jackie shook her head and pointed to a military truck parked fifty feet away, its cargo space facing them. "I can hot wire it. Same as I did the Honda. Let''s go."
The two women sprinted toward the green truck, zombies moaning after them. As they reached the vehicle, Jackie ran to the driver''s side door.
She stopped abruptly and cursed again.The hood of the truck was up, and the engine had long since been removed. Leandra walked around to the other side of the vehicle, saw the problem and began to cry.Jackie went into the truck and checked the glove box. She hoped to find a gun, a knife ... anything. The old candy bar that was there would not help, though.
Leandra''s choked scream caused Jackie to look up out the windshield. She couldn't see the young woman, but realized what happened to her as cold hands wrapped around her own legs and pulled her from the cab.
Jackie watched as a female teenage zombie bit into Leandra''s neck. She could feel something biting into her left leg and looked down at her attacker. It was the dead boy. He had a chunk of her flesh between his teeth and was chewing it like his mother had taught him.
The last thing Jackie saw before she passed out were men on the roof of the building they had tried to enter. Men in combat fatigues casually holding rifles.
"See if they leave after they're done with the women," Jackie heard a man on the roof command."If not, open up on them."
Jackie met the officer's gaze. He didn't look away. "Stupid civilians," he mouthed.
Jackie mouthed something back, but the man did his best to ignore it. "You're next" was just too damn disturbing.
The End.
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