In Harm's Way by Shawn Chesser Read Free Book Online Page B

hairball. Sasha gasped and pinched her nose tight, trying to deny the noxious air entry into her lungs. The odor preceding the zombie horde was an invisible wall of eye-watering stench like nothing they had ever inhaled before.
    “Drive, Wilson, it’s staring at me,” Sasha said with a nasally-sounding twang. Her hands palsied as she clumsily unbuckled her seatbelt. The lithe teenager scrambled over the center console and squeezed her small frame into the back seat, where she cowered on the floor trying to escape death’s gaze.
    ***
    “Good Lord, that smells awful,” William exclaimed. He hitched his shirt over his nose and tried to breathe only through his mouth.
    “William, lock your door!” Ted screamed over the din of the approaching zombies. Then he cursed the slow moving car blocking the road in front. “Fucking piss or get off the pot,” he muttered. “The first chance I get, I’m going to pass those two,” he warned William. Self-preservation was first and foremost on his agenda.
    “Take this.” William thrust the shotgun, pistol grip first, in Ted’s direction.
    “What do you expect me to do with it?” Ted asked. His grip on the steering wheel was white knuckle tight; there was no way he could pry a hand off to accept the offering.
    “I don’t like guns... they scare me,” William whined.
    “Do they scare you more than those rotting corpses?” Ted arched an eyebrow. “Listen. I can drive... or I can shoot. I cannot do both at the same time. As much as I’d like to think so... I’m not Mad Max.” Ted sensed that William was losing it. He pried his attention from the steadily encroaching mob while he addressed his partner. “It’s time to put on your big boy pants.” Ted patted the shotgun on the ribbed pump. “You just pull on this to chamber a shell, point the gun, not in my direction though , and shoot. Rinse and repeat.”
    William examined the weapon with a skeptical eye. After a moment of careful consideration he turned it around and took hold of the pistol grip, then tentatively pulled the slide chambering a round. The resulting metallic clack made him jump.
    ***
    Wilson wheeled the truck in between stalled cars and around a large cement planter that had been fractured into several jagged pieces. Brilliant red and yellow pansies lay trampled, their colorful petals scattered amongst the spilled black soil. A multitude of dirty footprints leading down the street drew his attention to his battered Mustang. The old girl’s rear bumper lay directly in the Suburban’s path. Without thinking twice he rolled over the top of the obstacle.
    “We’re almost to the freeway Sash. Check and see if Ted’s car is still behind Megan’s friends.”
    Sasha looked through the smoked rear windows. “James’ truck is too big, I can’t see anything beyond it,” she replied anxiously.
    “Once we get up this elevated onramp you should be able to see everything behind us. Hopefully it’ll be safe enough for us to wait and let them catch up. First things first. I have to get this boat between those cars; it’s going to be a tight squeeze. If you hear a crunch... don’t worry... it’s a rental.” Wilson’s attempt at humor flew miles over his sister’s head.
    The sign above the freeway entrance read “ I-70 South, Denver International, and Colorado Springs. Right Lanes Only .”  
    Wilson eyed the onramp, lamenting the tiny sliver of a lane he was going to have to negotiate in order to access the much wider four lane tollway. He stole a glance in the side mirror. Ted’s blue Subaru popped into view. Two of the wheels hopped the curb and it sped up, quickly overtaking the two middle vehicles. To Wilson, it looked like a slow motion NASCAR move as Ted tucked his Subaru into a tight drafting position between the Suburban and James’ Tacoma. Wilson noticed the reason for Ted’s aggressive driving. The zombies had caught up to the slow moving caravan and now the walkers were about to