seat and put your belt back on.”
Austin squeezed through the bushes and forced the door back against them so he could get in. He closed the door behind him and laid the MP5 in his lap with the barrel pointing at it. “They went by a few minutes ago, east, toward Knoxville.” he said in response to her raised eyebrows and demanding expression. “They didn’t stop, and they didn’t see me.”
“We can leave?”
“If we go west, yes.”
Jessica twisted the ignition key and brought the engine back to life. “Okay, hang on while I get out of this mess.”
It took her four times longer to back out than it had to pull in; both because she was driving backwards as well as because she was forcing herself to go slower now that the danger was past. Finally – after smacking the rear bumper into two different trees, and adding fresh scrapes to the paint on both sides – she made it back to the pavement. She immediately headed west, toward the gas station, and away from Knoxville.
“What’s your plan?” Austin asked calmly as the SUV’s speed built past where she normally kept it. The engine wasn’t roaring at full power, but it was obvious the SUV wasn’t going to be cruising at a simple forty or fifty the way it was sounding.
“Check the map for me.” Jessica said, concentrating on the road ahead. She was gripping the steering wheel tightly to still the quivering in her hands. Everything inside her felt jittery, cut clean through with a high thread of steady alarm. Taking a deep breath, she went on. “Find a route south so we don’t waste time spinning around through loop roads that come back to this one.”
Austin produced his well folded Georgia state road map and opened it to the middle of the state. Jessica finally realized what she was doing to the accelerator and eased off, holding her speed to seventy. There was a limit, even for her panic, even though she felt like flooring it as they whipped past the gas station. The two lanes of pavement were clear, without a car, zombie, animal, or person in sight. She kept checking the rear view mirror, but nothing was behind them either.
“Okay.” he said as he studied the map. “If the next road is Maxwell, then take that. It’ll hit Route 208, where I’d recommend we backtrack a little east before following it southwest for a few miles. Then we’ll be able to get to Route 90, and from there I think we can just barely pick our way south if we keep tacking back and forth to stay out of any towns.”
“Got it. Keep me on the right path.”
“Who were we hiding from?” Candice asked.
“Is your seat belt on?” Jessica asked, realizing she didn’t remember if she’d heard it click.
“Yes.”
“Bad people, Candy Bear.” Jessica answered. “The ones from Knoxville.”
“They didn’t see us Austin?”
“Nope, we’re in the clear for now girlie-girl.”
“Good.” Candice said.
“Yes, good.” Jessica echoed, trying to get a grip on something other than the steering wheel. She wasn’t completely lost to panic – that had happened a number of times since the zombies had first appeared – but she was far from calm. No matter how unsettled and tense she felt right now, she knew that was just nerves and emotion. She was short of full panic. Experience with that had given her enough to recognize she was still in control of herself.
“Keep telling yourself that girl.” she thought as she stared through the windshield.
The encounter had been too close for her state of mind. She had been reckless. They should have left the area entirely, weeks ago. She’d let the rural quiet, with all the isolated roads and deserted houses, lull her into thinking the Knoxville episode was behind them. That, and the need to give Austin time to rest, to heal. Moving around too much would have hurt him. And then, after he’d gotten a couple of weeks of rest in, she’d let herself be lulled by how
Austin squeezed through the bushes and forced the door back against them so he could get in. He closed the door behind him and laid the MP5 in his lap with the barrel pointing at it. “They went by a few minutes ago, east, toward Knoxville.” he said in response to her raised eyebrows and demanding expression. “They didn’t stop, and they didn’t see me.”
“We can leave?”
“If we go west, yes.”
Jessica twisted the ignition key and brought the engine back to life. “Okay, hang on while I get out of this mess.”
It took her four times longer to back out than it had to pull in; both because she was driving backwards as well as because she was forcing herself to go slower now that the danger was past. Finally – after smacking the rear bumper into two different trees, and adding fresh scrapes to the paint on both sides – she made it back to the pavement. She immediately headed west, toward the gas station, and away from Knoxville.
“What’s your plan?” Austin asked calmly as the SUV’s speed built past where she normally kept it. The engine wasn’t roaring at full power, but it was obvious the SUV wasn’t going to be cruising at a simple forty or fifty the way it was sounding.
“Check the map for me.” Jessica said, concentrating on the road ahead. She was gripping the steering wheel tightly to still the quivering in her hands. Everything inside her felt jittery, cut clean through with a high thread of steady alarm. Taking a deep breath, she went on. “Find a route south so we don’t waste time spinning around through loop roads that come back to this one.”
Austin produced his well folded Georgia state road map and opened it to the middle of the state. Jessica finally realized what she was doing to the accelerator and eased off, holding her speed to seventy. There was a limit, even for her panic, even though she felt like flooring it as they whipped past the gas station. The two lanes of pavement were clear, without a car, zombie, animal, or person in sight. She kept checking the rear view mirror, but nothing was behind them either.
“Okay.” he said as he studied the map. “If the next road is Maxwell, then take that. It’ll hit Route 208, where I’d recommend we backtrack a little east before following it southwest for a few miles. Then we’ll be able to get to Route 90, and from there I think we can just barely pick our way south if we keep tacking back and forth to stay out of any towns.”
“Got it. Keep me on the right path.”
“Who were we hiding from?” Candice asked.
“Is your seat belt on?” Jessica asked, realizing she didn’t remember if she’d heard it click.
“Yes.”
“Bad people, Candy Bear.” Jessica answered. “The ones from Knoxville.”
“They didn’t see us Austin?”
“Nope, we’re in the clear for now girlie-girl.”
“Good.” Candice said.
“Yes, good.” Jessica echoed, trying to get a grip on something other than the steering wheel. She wasn’t completely lost to panic – that had happened a number of times since the zombies had first appeared – but she was far from calm. No matter how unsettled and tense she felt right now, she knew that was just nerves and emotion. She was short of full panic. Experience with that had given her enough to recognize she was still in control of herself.
“Keep telling yourself that girl.” she thought as she stared through the windshield.
The encounter had been too close for her state of mind. She had been reckless. They should have left the area entirely, weeks ago. She’d let the rural quiet, with all the isolated roads and deserted houses, lull her into thinking the Knoxville episode was behind them. That, and the need to give Austin time to rest, to heal. Moving around too much would have hurt him. And then, after he’d gotten a couple of weeks of rest in, she’d let herself be lulled by how
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