Now it was time for Emma to do hers.
Gripping a handhold outside the door, she swung herself down to the ground, landed with a thud, and drew her weapon.
The immediate area around the bus was free of shambling zombies, but there were some falling from above. The strong winds carried the zombies closer to the bus, tossing them like dolls as they fell. Luckily, most of the ones striking the ground either bashed their heads open upon impact, or were so mutilated they could barely move.
The herd that had followed the Fort crew down the hill swiftly closed in on their location. The gunfire from the front of the bus culled the numbers, but there were far more than Emma had realized. The herd must have come up the other side of the hill, drawn by the activity.
Rushing toward the cousins, she called out, “Monica, help Juan carry it! I’ll cover!”
With a curt nod, Monica holstered her weapon and grabbed the edge of the heavy chunk. Arm muscles straining, she helped her cousin move at a faster pace.
Emma fell in in beside Monica and Juan. Another zombie plunged toward the road. As it fell, Emma studied its arc. It was going to miss them, so she relaxed slightly until it landed a few feet behind the trio, exploded on impact, and splattered them with guts and blood. Emma winced when a meaty chunk hit her cheek and rapidly brushed the foul-smelling thing away with one gloved hand.
“Fuck!” Juan exclaimed.
“Right on my favorite jeans. Freakin’ flyin’ zombies,” Monica muttered.
“This apocalypse couldn’t get any weirder.”
Juan clucked his tongue at Emma. “Don’t give it any ideas and jinx us! It’s already breaking a lot of the zombie rules!”
Ted returned to the doorway despite Emma’s earlier admonition. His sunburned face twisted into an angry grimace. “Keep moving! We have to get out of here! You’re taking too long!”
“Shut up!” Monica snarled. “We’ve got this handled!” A dark shadow passed over the road.
“Nerit! Kurt! Watch out!” Emma shouted.
Another zombie landed on the roof of the bus. Nerit dodged inside while Kurt leaped out onto the road to avoid it. The zombie was older and burst apart on impact, leaving a deep dent over the entrance.
“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit,” Juan grunted.
“Dammit! The door is stuck!” Since the roof had caved, the buckled metal blocked it from closing. Nerit kicked it a few times from inside while Kurt tried to pry it loose. “Juan, get us out of here!”
“Working on it, Nerit!”
“With this door jammed like that, the bus is an all you can eat buffet,” Monica said, huffing with exertion. “Maybe we should run for it.”
“I trust Nerit to kill anything getting close to that door. We can do this,” Juan countered.
A zombie crawled toward them. Skin and muscles tore apart, leaving its bottom half behind and dragging entrails in a bloody, gooey wake. Emma shot it in the head and aimed at another farther away trying, but failing, to walk on broken legs. Because it wasn’t a direct threat, she held her fire to conserve bullets.
Juan and Monica reached the rear tire hanging over the edge of the road with Emma in their wake. She positioned herself near the rear of the bus where she could easily see down the road and also spot the falling zombies. There were figures shuffling through the trees along the top of the hill.
Working together, the cousins started to push the mass of asphalt and concrete under the wheel.
“It’s a good fit,” Juan announced. “Just need to shove it under a few more inches so the tire can get traction.”
“You need to hurry!” Ted screamed from the open rear doorway. “They’re coming!”
“Shut up, Ted!” Belinda appeared next to him, unsteady, her face b
eet red, and furious. Shoving him with both hands, she knocked him back onto the rear seat. “Now stay there!”
“Thanks, Beli,” Juan called out to her.
“I know you’ve got this, Juan,” Belinda said, positioning herself to keep Ted at bay.
“Emma, give us a little help here,” Juan directed.