.ten.
Carefully, the four of them practically tip- toed across the wooden plank to the other store. The hungry growls of the zombies below created fear and panic amongst the group. On top of that, they were racing to get down to meet the trucks at the end of the street. That was their only chance at surviving this.
Somehow, the zombies were getting smarter as they noticed the four living beings cross over to the top of the other building. Luckily, not all of them had caught on yet, but enough to make things difficult.
Isaac led the way to the fire escape of the wig store and began to climb down.
At the moment, the zombies had not made it to that side of the building buying them just enough time to make it to the ground safely.
Seconds later, one of the undead rounded the corner, spotting its prey just as Taylor jumped down from the ladder. Guns in hand, Ava was the first to shoot knocking the corpse dead once again.
“Okay, now we run!” she commanded them before any more zombies found out their location.
Isaac and Taylor ran ahead, leaving Zac and Ava to make up the back. For not having shot a gun in their lives, the boys were finding it to be a lot easier than they originally thought.
Weaving through mazes of crashed vehicles and jumping over decaying bodies, Zac looked over at Ava again and then at his brothers who were aiming their guns at approaching zombies. He suddenly felt like they were heroes. A feeling of victory overcame him as he saw the trucks up ahead. They were so close now. Almost there. And then it happened.
Ava stumbled and fell to the ground. She had lost her footing and her entire foot was stuck in a pothole in the road.
Tugging hard she struggled to get free, but to no avail. That’s when Zac noticed that she was not beside him anymore. He stopped and turned around making Taylor and Isaac come to a halt as well. Zac saw Ava trying to pull her foot free as the crowd of zombies came up behind her. They were stalking forward hungrily moaning at the victim that awaited them.
“Ava!” Zac yelled at her so she’d turn around and defend herself.
As fast as his own feet could carry him, Zac flew to where Ava was and bent down to try to pry her foot from the hole.
“No, Zac just leave me!” she told him. “You’re almost there! My foot won’t budge.”
“I’m not leaving you,” he assured her.
“But Zac you guys will miss- ”
Before she could finish her sentence Zac placed his lips upon hers. He gave her a quick kiss causing her to stand motionless. What just happened? She wondered as she regained her senses. Because of the kiss Ava had not even noticed that he had pulled her foot loose.
“Let’s go!” Zac took her by the hand as they caught up to the other two.
Run now, think later. Ava told herself deciding to ignore the extra attention that Zac was giving her.
Together, the foursome finally caught up to the last truck in the line. One of the soldiers spotted them and had the rest of the soldiers cease fire so they could advance to the back of the truck.
Limping, Ava ran as fast as she could with Zac helping her the whole way. As they neared the soldiers by the truck, Zac and another guy in Army attire helped her into the back. The brothers got in behind while the troops made up the rear.
The group watched as they drove away from the oncoming swarm of undead beings. Safe at last. They all breathed sighs of relief as they rested on the benches silently. Words could not even begin to express what they all were feeling at that moment. It was finally over.
* * *
The caravan of Army vehicles squashed any zombie in its path and picked up other survivors along the way. The group was surprised to learn that there weren’t too many people left in the cities, but there were more survivors out in the rural parts of the country.
More and more tanks, trucks and even airplanes above joined in on the undead cleanup. It seemed like the government had gotten control of the situation now.
Fortunately, by the time they got out of the city, some of their cell phones began working. They all made calls home as Ava made arrangements with a troop of soldiers who were heading towards her hometown. The sun was beginning to rise over the horizon before they left again.
The brothers of Hanson travelled down to Ava’s horse farm and met her family who had been hiding in the shelter the entire time along with other people who worked on the farm.
Hired cooks prepared a celebration feast for Ava’s return and fed not only her newfound friends but the soldiers too.
“So, you’ve talked to mom?” Taylor asked Isaac as they all sat at a large dinner table to eat.
“Yup, and everyone is ok. They just hid in our basement as soon as they heard the world was going to hell,” he reported somewhat happily. “I’m just so ready to get home.”
That was the first time any of them had felt relieved in days.
“Thank God no one was hurt,” Zac added glancing over at Taylor who was making a face at the mention of the Lord’s name.
Taylor no longer felt religious. His outlook on life was very different and didn’t feel like he had God on his side anymore. Zac and Isaac knew that it would take a long time for Taylor to recover from this tragedy, but they would take care of him along the way.
Ava stared at the three boys sitting across from her. She never knew that during all of that craziness she would end up gaining new friends. Her gaze shifted over to Zac and the memory of the kiss came flooding back.
Zac felt eyes on him and looked up to meet Ava’s glance. They smiled at each other and looked away flirtatiously.
After dinner, Ava had arranged for her father to fly them to Tulsa so the boys could be with their own family.
In the helicopter, Taylor had a pen in hand and a blank notebook on his lap. He jotted down notes and lyrics as they flew back to Oklahoma. He wrote down everything he was feeling and all of his thoughts on the recent death of his beloved wife.
Isaac rested his head against the seat pillow cushion and was fast asleep within five minutes after take off.
As for the other two, they just sat hand in hand and talked quietly about what had happened. Before they knew it a couple of hours had passed and the helicopter was landing at the airport where another set of soldiers were waiting for the brothers. Ava’s father had called and pulled a few strings to ensure his daughter’s new friends safety.
Once the chopper was on the ground, the guys got out and were greeted by a few men in uniform. Ava hopped out to stand next to Zac.
“I’m glad everything is ok with your family too,” she told him before nodding at Taylor. “What was he writing about? You think he’ll be all right?”
“It’ll be tough for a while I’m sure, but that’s how he deals with his emotions, by writing them down,” Zac explained to her as he took both of her hands in his. “Enough about him though…”
Ava smiled at Zac as he pulled her closer. He wrapped his arms around her tiny frame to where their mouths could easily touch.
With a big grin on his face Zac had to say, “So, about that kiss this morning . . .”
Knowing precisely what he was hinting at, Ava took the lead and placed her lips on his this time kissing him more deeply than before. They embraced each other and both of them suddenly had a hard time letting go.
Unfortunately, Ava’s dad was in a hurry to return home so she pulled away from Zac. He looked after her longingly.
“Will I ever see you again?”
“I’m sure I’ll see ya around, darlin’,” Ava nodded with a grin and a wink before jumping back into the helicopter.
Zac and his brothers watched as they lifted off and flew away.
There went one of the most intriguing girls Zac had ever met, but he knew that some day they would meet again. Hopefully, under very different circumstances.
Well I just can’t seem to pity
‘Cause my heart’s too numb to feel
And the smile does all the talking
Though the pain is all that’s real
With the way that you keep screaming
I can hardly hear to think
And I feel the bridges burning
Underneath my feet.