He pulled one last time, harder than he’d done before, and the shard slid out. He threw his arm back before stabbing it in once more. This time, to his utter relief, he felt the beast slump to the ground, dead.
“Are you…?” Raegan threw her arms around him, hugging him close. That had almost gone so wrong, her heart was still racing with fear.
Miguel was suddenly overcome by hysterical laughter. Elation flowed right through him. He picked Raegan up, and swung her in the air, all the while, bellowing with humor.
“That… that was so cool!” he finally yelled, before allowing her body to slide down his.
Just as everything was about to take a serious turn, they heard the hoard descending once more.
Eight
“Run!” Raegan yelled, and to be honest Miguel was glad. Killing one had been one thing but that many… hundreds… no way, he didn’t stand a chance.
“Can you run?” he asked. “With your leg?”
“We’re about to find out!”
Raegan took off and Miguel followed. He wasn’t actually that surprised to see that somehow, she was still so much faster than him, even with the injury. Of course she was. That girl was wonderful, inhuman in her crazy abilities.
If he had met her under any other circumstances, he would be falling in love right now. It wouldn’t even matter that they barely knew much about one another.
But this wasn’t a different situation, and he had to keep his emotions in check.
“What’s that?” Raegan yelled behind her. Her breaths were ragged and her voice a little stilted, but Miguel could sense the excitement reverberating off her tongue. “Is that the exit hole?”
He had no idea what she was talking about, he couldn’t see it, but he didn’t have the same phenomenal senses that she did. He might have killed an enemy, but he didn’t yet have her mad skills.
“I freaking hope so.”
Surviving the zombie apocalypse for the few minutes that they’d been here was enough. Playing it as a game was okay but the reality was horrible. The stench of the undead blood and gore all over him was nearly enough for him to vomit everywhere.
Once upon a time, he was just a boy existing. On the outskirts of the group, doing as little as possible and surviving well. Now, with Raegan, he had the potential to be so much more.
“Yes, it is, look.”
Raegan reached her hand out behind her and Miguel grabbed it eagerly. He was going to always look forward towards this moment if it meant he could have this human connection, and with someone, he thought so highly of as well.
Just as they were about to fall, Raegan span and she gave him the most adorable smile, almost tearing his heart right from his body.
Then they tumbled into the abyss. They fell together, hard and fast. Both of them were consumed by the relief that they were escaping that nightmare, an actual scene from a horror movie, but they feared where they would end up next.
The possibilities were endless.
“Oof,” Raegan cried out as she slammed against the floor. Grass tickled her skin and for a brief moment, she was transported back to a simpler time. A time when it was her and her father, hanging out, having a picnic, just living a simple life on Earth.
“Earth!” Miguel cried out as if he could read her mind. “Look, we’re here!”
Her eyes snapped up, hope almost consumed her, she nearly vomited with excitement. This was Earth, the edge of Central Park to be exact, they had made it back home…
But was it home?
It was hard to believe that it was home with all the people racing around them. There couldn’t be this many people around after the nuclear war, not that many who survived. And even if there were how did they all end up back on Earth? How did they all find the exit hole? That made absolutely no sense. Also, why did life seem so busy? Surely there would be a lot of rebuilding needed fist.
Raegan probably wouldn’t have moved from where she lay on the ground if a man with his face glued to his cell phone didn’t almost trip right over her. While he cursed her, she jumped up with Miguel not far behind.
They didn’t fit in here with the humans. This was what they had so desperately been looking for but now that they had it, it was all wrong. They were all dirty, feral, survivalists, but the people around were clean and in suits, ready for their day.
“Two thousand fifteen?” Miguel cried out. “But how is that possible? That’s in the past.”
Raegan wasn’t sure either, but with everything that she’d seen she would believe anything. “Maybe this is an alternative version of Earth. Or the nuclear bomb ripped a hole in everything, so we have gone back in time.”
“We could… stay here?” Miguel enquired. “It’s home, isn’t it?”
“We could but then we would be just waiting for the war. Wouldn’t we?”
“We could see our families again.” Miguel got a faraway look in his eyes. “We could warn people, stop the nuclear war from happening, we could save humanity before it gets torn apart.”
Actually, that was a little bit tempting. Raegan was tired of the fighting, of the surviving, maybe it was time for something new.
But before she could get too lost in this new fantasy of hers, a sound from behind gripped her and wouldn’t let her go. She span slowly, her heart in her mouth, icy fear clinging to her.
“Oh no.” She shook her head rapidly. “This cannot be happening.”
But it was. The stench of the undead filled the air, the sounds of screams, of bites, of the world she had just left behind. It had tumbled through the exit hole with her and found here.
“What the…?” Miguel demanded, just as struck as she was. “What do we do now?”
The busy, metropolis city became chaotic. It completely surrounded them. Screams, blood, carnage… whatever version of Earth this was, whether it was the past or an alternate timeline, it was gone now. Lost to the undead. This seemed to be the sort of virus that a planet couldn’t escape from.
“I guess we can’t stay here anymore,” Raegan declared as they saw the hoard growing. “Our hunt continues. And right now, we need to run again. Do you have it in you?”
“We don’t have a choice,” Miguel replied. “We have to get out of here.”
Panic transformed into action and both of them took off, each individually wondering if this cycle of fear was ever going to end.
Nine
“This is a nightmare, Miguel.” Raegan paced the hotel room floor, panicking. “Because of us, this place is ruined. Whatever reality this is, it’s done now.”
Miguel wanted to point out the good parts. The fact that they had food, warmth, a place to stay, but he remained silent. He knew it wouldn’t matter. This wasn’t about what they did have. It was about the ever-increasing number of the undead outside.
This was not a game any longer.
“This cannot be our version of Earth,” he offered, trying to make it better. “I don’t know much about time travel, but surely if the human race dies here then we just don’t exist.”
Raegan tried to wrap her head around this one, but it was far too complicated. Unhelpful too. Even if they worked out this crazy question, it wouldn’t change anything. She had always focused on survival and that needed to stay the same now.
“I don’t know what version of Earth this is. I just want to get out of here. I want to continue on with the journey of finding my father. I can’t imagine an existence where he doesn’t exist anymore.”
Miguel didn’t know what to say to that one, so he grabbed the TV remote off the bed and brought it to life. Endless reports of zombie attacks filled the news. Right now, it seemed to be isolated to New York, but both of them felt like it wouldn’t last too long.