Page 25 of Resurrection
Aly
“Holy shit!”
My daydreaming ends abruptly at Hawk’s profanity and the sudden jarring of the vehicle. I look around, noticing everyone else looking out the passenger side of the car. Hawk’s unnerving response can be seen on everyone’s faces: wide eyes and gasping breaths, pursed lips and furrowed brows, piercing vengeful eyes and clenched jaws. But amongst the collectively chaotic emotions, utter silence.
As we cross a bridge, moving slowly around the disabled vehicles in the way, the highway lanes reduce from two on each side to just one. When I turn my head to see the cause of such reactions, I, too, cannot keep my horror contained. It’s not what’s on the bridge that captures our undivided attention, it’s what’s under and beyond it.
Thousands, if not tens of thousands, of zombies are pouring out from the direction Jacksonville is. The vast number of them so great, I can’t see where they end. A massive army of the undead swarming directly towards our location.
The edges of my vision blurs. Dizziness setting in...
Pressure on my leg causes me to look down, finding Cole’s hand squeezing my thigh in a firm grip. It’s not until then that I realize my entire body is shaking. So much so that my teeth are clattering together as if I were cold. But instead of the weather overtaking my senses, it’s blinding fear that consumes me. “Breathe, Aly. Look at me, not at them. Breathe with me. You can do it.” His large hands frame my face as he takes a deep breath, mimicking what he's asking of me. His shoulders rise and fall with the steady motion. I copy him, holding my breath when he does, until my shivering finally subsides a few minutes later. “That’s our girl. It’ll be ok. I promise.” He moves closer, pulling me into his chest and wrapping his arms around me. The cocoon of him enveloping me so tightly feels like a security blanket.
I’m safe. It’ll be ok.
The words bring me back to when I first found the little town where they, in turn, found me. I had a similar panic attack and needed to say the same words in order to pull myself out of it. Apparently, this time, just like at the cabin, I was too far gone to do it myself.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jax turn around, silently inquiring Cole. He doesn’t respond, just nods back and receives the same vague nod in return. Jax turns his eyes to me, smiling gently before dropping the middle part of the front bench seat—creating two bucket seats—so he can reach through and rub my knee, comforting me with his touch. He then turns his attention to Hawk in the driver’s seat. “Let’s get out of here. Stay away from the cities and offramps for a while. At least until we can confirm we’re out of the epicenter of whatever bullshit this is.”
“Sounds good to me.” Hawk bobs his head quickly and steps lightly on the gas, slowly maneuvering around the dead, discarded traffic. We’re barely crawling at a snail’s pace but at least we’re movingawayfrom the death march.
This was one of the main reasons why I chose to walk from New York rather than use a vehicle. Road congestion was a pain in the ass to deal with. Once you had a vehicle, it was only a matter of time before you, inevitably, had to ditch it. Congested roadways, lack of fuel, dead batteries, and other various car problems occur at a rate too high to contend with. After my third vehicle change, I saidfuck itand decided to hoof it the rest of the way. You would think walking half of the east coast would take longer than driving. Under normal circumstances, it would, but when everything is against you, it’s best to take the options you have the most control over.
Cautiously and extremely slowly, we maneuver off the bridge. Not only due to the close proximity of the stranded vehicles, but also to not draw the attention of the immense horde. This car is old, and as such, loud as hell. Hawk’s barely putting any pressure on the pedal, but it’s still much louder than the surrounding silence. My heart pounds in my chest, the pulse echoing in my ears as we slowly sneak away. I’m sure I’m not the only one on edge. I can almost feel our collective adrenaline running high as we look out our respective windows, the undead army far enough away yet still so close.
It's strange, even the trees seem dead. It’s practically summertime, but their limbs are sparse and empty, preventing them from swaying in the breeze. If there was a breeze, that is. It’s as if even the wind has abandoned this place. There’s no wildlife to be heard. No life. No movement. It almost seems like the plague might have affected more than just humans.
Death, in all forms, makes time stand still.
The loss of normalcy is pungent in the air. I can feel it, taste it, smell it. Life isn’t sweet here, anymore. It’s stagnant, like water pooling in a shallow hole. It becomes infected, putrid…dead. It suffocates you. Pulling you under until you join in with your own untimely demise.
I can’t breathe….
I feel Cole’s hands again, massaging the base of my neck and then rising up to do the same against my scalp. I didn’t even realize we had separated. “We’ve gotyou, beautiful. Give it to me. Breathe it out. Don’t hold it in.” He turns my reluctant body away from the window once again, pressing his chest fully against mine and positioning my head in the crook of his neck, allowing me to breathe in his scent and divert my focus.
Before I know it, Jax maneuvers himself into the backseat and presses himself against my back, joining Cole’s efforts. His large, muscular frame and his woodsy scent surrounding me. The pressure between the two calms me almost instantly. It’s like when Cole used his ropes this past winter. The limited air I’m able to take in, as well as the heaviness of their bodies… It’s like falling without fear.
“In and out, baby. Just like that. Good girl. One more time.” Jax kisses me softly, just below my ear in that sensitive spot he loves, whispering his support and praise each time I do as they say. I can feel myself melting in between them. Calming down, just as they intended…
Until we follow the sharp bend in the road…
“Holy fucking shit! Guys, heads up!” Hawk says urgently. The brakes suddenly squeal in protest, throwing us violently against the seats just before we crash into something in front of us. As our momentum stops, the only sounds around us are the car’s engine puttering out with a hiss, and the unmistakable growls of the undead.
With my body and face pressed between Cole and Jax, they don’t let me look. In fact, they press in tighter. But I don’tneedto look. Not even their soft voices cansway my focus away from the barely smothered urgency in their tones. Not when they gasp and whisper,
“Holy mother of fuck…”
“Sweet Jesus...”
and,
“Baby, stay down. Just stay down.”
Chapter Fourteen
Hawk
We’re swarmed, caught in the middle of a damn horde that we had no idea was there; the sharp bend in the road concealed them until the very last second. I turn the ignition, trying and failing to get the car to restart, all the while the undead in the immediate vicinity converge upon us. Their gruesome maws snap and bite at nothing as they race over to our position.
