Dorm Life by Camille Picott

Author:Camille Picott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Post-Apocalyptic, zombie, zom-poc, science fiction, ultrarunning, running, Action & Adventure
Publisher: Camille Picott
Published: 2019-03-27T16:00:00+00:00

24

Beat It

JENNA

Humboldt County isn’t known for wealth. Unlike the town where I grew up, there aren’t fancy SUVs and electric cars at every turn. A newish car—meaning anything with a paint job that isn’t scratched or faded—is a reason to be noticed.

Finding an older car with a CD player or a tape deck isn’t hard. The hard part is finding one with keys still in the ignition and not surrounded by zombies. It also needs to be far enough away to draw the zombies from the plaza, but near enough to be heard when we blast the music.

“That one.” I point down the street at a battered brown four-door. It sits in the middle of the street five blocks from the plaza. Only two zombies mill near it.

“I’ll take the one on the left,” Carter says. “Reed, you get the one on the right.”

Color has returned to Reed’s face after our earlier near-misses. He still looks like he might pee his pants, but when he brandishes his spear and kitchen knife, there’s determination behind his eyes.

“I’ll take care of the window.” I heft a small rock out of a front yard.

We advance down the street. Carter and Reed branch off, each of them moving toward their targets.

Carter’s eyes follow me. My throat is tight with worry. I swallow and force myself to give him a small smile. He smiles back. If I wasn’t so tense, I’d probably appreciate his smile even more than I already do.

I pull off my sweat jacket, wrapping it around the rock. There’s a chance the door is unlocked, but I don’t want to waste time checking. The car sits askew in the middle of the road, as though the owners jumped out and fled on foot. Not so different from what we did when we were forced to abandon our bikes. Around the car are a few bodies, all of them felled by headshots.

I smash my rock through the glass, shattering the window. The glass makes soft cracking sounds and tinkles onto the seat inside. I open the door, glass crunching as I rest a knee on the cracked leather.

I glance up long enough to see Carter ram his spear up through the neck and brain of his zombie. A sick squishing sound follows as he pulls the spear free. Our eyes meet through the windshield of the car.

Everything inside me loosens at the sight of him standing safe on the other side of the car. I return my attention to the dashboard.

An old tape deck sits before me. Dangling out of it is a wire that leads to an honest-to-God Disc Man, one of those old-fashioned portable CD players. This is the way my parents used to listen to music back when they were teenagers.

There are no keys in the ignition. Damn. I check the cup holder, glove compartment, and visor. Nothing.

By this time, Reed has also dispatched his zombie. “What are you waiting for?” His eyes flick up and down the street, shoulders hunched.

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