Haven Chapter 30

            Chapter 30

            The van became covered in blood, in their desperation to reach me inside the dead had scratched whatever remaining skin off their hands. The smell was disgusting, but I felt strangely calm, resolute. I was going to die here, and I was okay with that.

            But I was wrong

            Apparently the world wasn’t done with me yet, and the scratching and growling slowly stopped, and as it did I could hear the low growl of another engine. I tried to look through my mirrors to see where it was coming from, but the ones outside had been ripped off and my back window was smeared with blood and worse. But I could still make out some shapes. The dead that had given up on me were now running frantically away from me, or more towards another car. They turned the corner, I couldn’t see them anymore. The sounds faded away but still I stared at where they were just a few moments ago. Then a bloody hand slammed against my window.

            I leapt out of the front seat and into the passenger side, I pulled out my gun on instinct, even though it was out of bullets. But my fear was miss lead, as the hand wiped away the blood I could see a face, and it was one I recognised. It was Will. In one swift motion I unlocked the door, opened it and hugged him. I had never been more grateful to see anyone my entire life. And he wasn’t alone “Thank god we made it in time,” It was Nicole, gasping for air, they’d obviously ran. Lauren eventually joined us, in a similar state to Nicole’s.

            “What are you doing here?” I asked, while I was glad to see them I didn’t think joining me on a suicide mission was the best choice

            “Saving you, you ungrateful idiot,” Nicole replied indignantly

            “Connor, at least we think it was Connor, sent us a message,” Will explained, he was all smiles, “‘Save Todd’”

            “It was pretty obvious it was you who stopped the dead from reaching us,” Nicole continued, “then all we had to do was”-

            “Follow the zombies,” the three of them finished in unison.

            “So the car that drove them away?” I was suddenly worried that they put their lives on the line to save me, after I did someone to save their lives

            “The Ute,” Will answered, “Chris, Jade, and Daniel took it as a distraction while Andria took the car to pick up the others”

            “Speaking of the others we better get going,” Nicole began with a serious tone, “They’d have a much better chance at surviving with our help.”

1

            I couldn’t believe they had done this, I thought I was dead, and more than that I thought we had failed as a group. We had lost Brooke even though we thought we were prepared, and then when faced with another threat I was forced to sacrifice myself for them. But now I found out we are stronger than I thought, that even when they were apart my friends had managed to organise a rescue mission. This time they had saved me, but my job wasn’t done yet, not by a long shot.

            I got everyone to wipe down the windows so we could see. Will had brought ammo and weapons so we restocked, then we were off again. I turned down the corner I saw the dead disappear down, but after that there were no other signs of where they had gone. Luckily Will had a radio, as did Daniel. “Daniel, it’s Will, we got Todd where are you guys?” Will sounded afraid

            “Will!” Daniel’s voice came through the radio, he sounded distressed, and you could hear the sound of the engine as well as gunshots in the background. “We’re headed towards Clyde Road, we’re hoping to lose them there but we could use some help!” I grabbed the radio off Will

            “Daniel? Can you hear me this is Todd?” I spoke, trying not to sound afraid, or too desperate to hear Jade’s voice

            “Todd! Thank god you’re alright!”

            “Yeah,” I tried to stay focused, “we’ll come up behind you and split the group in half, once you’re sure you’ve lost them we’ll meet at the warehouse”

            “Haven? Alright,” Daniel finished and the radio just played static

            “Haven?” I turned to Nicole with a raised eyebrow

            Nicole shrugged back, “seemed like a good name at the time”

            “No, its fine”

            “I guess it made more sense before we had to abandon it.”

            Daniel had chosen a good road to lead them to, a familiar one, and soon we could see the stragglers of the dead. Will climbed on top of the van and shot at any that came to close. They must have been practicing while I was away because he’d become a good shot. In fact we got so close I could hear the gunshots of the other’s and then the engine. I wanted so much to simply drive through the zombies to see them, to feel her next to me again. But I had to wait, because what I wanted even more than that is for her to be safe. So I had to wait. There was another reason why Will was on top of the van, he had a better view of the dead, and when we got to a certain point in their group he yelled to me, “now, Todd, turn now!”

            I span the wheel carefully, I needed to be sharp enough to turn around in the space and time given, but too sharp and I would lose control, and that would not be good. Will clung on to the top as we turned, but when we hit the curb the whole van jolted and he lost his balance. His hands still held on to the bar attached to the roof but now his legs dangled precariously. At any other time he might have been able to drop down, or even stand up, but we were still surrounded by the dead, and they were hungry. He pulled his legs up as high as he could, and whenever one of them got to close he’d swing them out to knock them down, but it wouldn’t work forever, and every time he made contact he risked infection via fluid transfer.

            “Will hang on, I’m coming to get you!” I yelled out the window and reached for the handbrake, he had slowed down considerably during our manoeuvre, so I could stop here and get out

            “No you’re not!” Nicole pulled my hand away, “you’ll be eaten alive the second you open those doors, and even if you aren’t the plan would fail and we would all die”

            “We can’t leave him!”

            “We won’t,” with her other hand she grabbed my gun, turned the safety off and fired at the window. Glass shattered covering Will’s legs and I felt a chill, those windows were still covered in infected blood, one scratch and it could be over. But at least we could save him now. Nicole yelled for Will and caught his attention, seeing her plan he swung his legs towards her. She caught them and tried to pull him inside, “Lauren help!” from the back seat Lauren left her huddled position and grabbed Will’s belt. “Will you have to let go!” Nicole yelled out the window

            “Are you crazy?” I heard him yell back. But nevertheless it was his only chance, he let go. Will wasn’t incredibly heavy, but still Nicole and Lauren had trouble holding on, let alone pulling him in. With one hand on the wheel I reached out to help. We were moving faster now, pulling about half of the dead away from the others, and I had to focus, so I let Nicole guide my hand. Finally the three of us were able to pull him inside, but now there was a hole in our defence, if the dead caught up now there would be little to stop them.

            But we were lucky, I might say skilled, but I’m not that confident. After a few side streets we couldn’t see them anymore, and after a few more we slowed down to see if there were any still frantically following us. There wasn’t. I had survived, we had survived. And now we drove to meet the others at the warehouse, the place they named Haven. Where finally I would reunite with Jade.