Page 124
Story: Siege (As the World Dies 3)
“Get to the trucks,” Arnold ordered. He pointed to the nearest ones. “Just get in!”
People ran past him, women, men, and children. All of them were screaming with terror.
Inside gunfire continued.
The soldiers assigned to the escape vehicles leaped into the driver’s seats and began to rev up the engines of the big trucks and buses.
Arnold turned to see Guadalupe being shoved down the ramp toward the parking lot by a teenage boy. She looked terrified and was gripping the armrests of her chair tightly. Arnold wondered briefly if it was because of the zombies or the breakneck speed at which the boy was pushing her.
* * * * * The crush of people running down the Right Corridor slowed them down and more and more fell to the zombies. In the Left Corridor, people were making it out to the back parking lot as the soldiers kept firing into the zombie throng. The dead zombies tripped up their stumbling comrades, but the horde just kept coming.
* * * * * A soldier, defending the fleeing people in the Right Corridor was dragged down three minutes after the initial breach. He pulled the pin on the phosphorous grenade he had clutched in his hand and the explosion resounded through the entire mall. The resulting fire engulfed the surrounding zombies. In their desperation to escape the fire as their primal fear overwhelmed them, the zombies staggered into stores and set cots, blankets and clothes on fire. Soon black smoke began to fill the Right Corridor.
* * * * * In the midst of the chaos, Travis, Katie, and Jenni fought their way out of their store to get out into the Right Corridor. Smoke and fire made the going rough. People were in a panic and shoving and pushing each other.
Travis held tight to Katie’s hand as he pulled her through the throng.
Katie had a tight hold of Jenni’s hand. The three of them were swept along in a crowd of people as the zombies stumbled out of the smoke behind them.
Chapter 19 1. Trapped Jenni held tight to Katie’s hand as they made their way down the mall corridor. She felt she was being crushed from all sides and she could barely hold onto Katie’s hand.
Smoke was rising to the ceiling and was blessedly not overwhelming yet.
“Jenni! Jenni!” a voice called out.
Jenni whipped around to see Amy’s terrified face staring desperately after her. She was struggling to maneuver through the crowd, her three children in her arms. No one around her was even trying to help and Jenni kept losing sight of her.
“Keep moving!” Jenni called out to her.
The corridor widened as they passed the corridor that cut the mall in half and led to the food court. Jenni was shoved so hard into the wall by a man trying to escape, she lost her grip on Katie’s hand and almost fell. She managed to keep on her feet and looked up to see Katie’s horrified expression as she was swept forward by the crowd.
“Jenni!”
Jenni looked back to see the zombies were gaining on the last of the crowd. Gritting her teeth, she struggled to move on.
* * * * * The first of the crowd in the Right Corridor hit the back doors only to find them locked. The blacked out countenance was unforgiving as they banged on the doors and tried desperately to open them. Behind them, people shoved forward, trying hard to get out. A few people were literally smashed to death against the doors by the push of a hundred people behind them. Others were trampled.
Precious minutes were lost as the crowd surged, cried out, and fought at the locked doors. Finally, people retreated leaving the dead victims of the chaos lying before the doors.
* * * * * Travis heard the shouts of “The doors are locked!” and immediately turned back. Skirting the crowd and keeping close to the wall, he managed to get to the food court corridor. Dragging Katie behind him, he ran toward the other side of the mall. Other people began to follow his example and soon they were running down the hall toward the food court.
“Jenni! Jenni! Travis, I lost Jenni!” Katie pulled on his hand, trying to turn back.
“We can’t go back! Keep moving, Katie. She’ll catch up!” Travis kept pulling Katie after him, determined to save his wife and their unborn child. Lydia said choices were to be made and, dammit, his choice was for his family to live.
* * * * * Katie ran behind her husband, his hand holding hers so tightly, she was sure he was breaking a few bones. As she ran, she kept looking around for Jenni, but could not find her. Her stomach clenched tightly as she whipped her head about, looking around desperately.
Fear hit, harsh and strangling, and she fought to keep her senses.
The gunfire, fire, smoke, and screams only made her blood pump harder.
* * * * * Jenni reached the corridor to the food court and struggled to press her way through the crowd. She was at the back of the throng of people and the smoke was beginning to affect her vision.
Looking back she could see the zombies still dragging people down. But they weren’t taking their time to completely consume their victims anymore. They were taking a few bites, then lunging toward their fleeing prey.
Out of the black smoke, two tiny figures emerged near her. Amy’s daughter banged into her hip and Jenni swept her up into her arms. Then Amy’s son gripped Jenni’s hand.
“Where’s your Mom?”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124 (Reading here)
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214
- Page 215
- Page 216
- Page 217
- Page 218
- Page 219
- Page 220
- Page 221
- Page 222
- Page 223
- Page 224
- Page 225
- Page 226
- Page 227
- Page 228
- Page 229
- Page 230
- Page 231
- Page 232
- Page 233
- Page 234