As They Rise (The Eva Series #1)

Seventeen

“Quick! Get in!” I yelled to Ben and Jo, pushing the door of the RV open as they ran towards it.
“C’mon, Eva!” Said Wyatt as he squeezed my hand.
“I think I have an idea.” I said, looking into his eyes. “Get in and start the RV, I’ll be right behind you.” I promised.
“Are you crazy? If we go now we can make it outta here before they reach us!” Wyatt insisted, tugging on my arm, but I stood firm.
“And leave them to kill or infect others?” I replied, pulling away from him and grabbing the petrol hose from out of the RV.
“Hurry, just go. I handle this by myself.” I pushed him away, but he didn’t move. Instead he stood there, his jaw clenched as he glared at me.
“Eva. I know you can handle it by yourself, but you don’t have to. Let me help.” Wyatt said sternly. 
I could tell he wasn’t going to leave without me.

“Fine. Here,” I said as I handed him the axe. “I need the lighter.” 
Wyatt ran over to the open car door and picked up the lighter, throwing it over to me as he gave Ben the keys to the RV.
“Go! We’ll catch up!” I heard Wyatt say to Ben as he pushed him into the RV.
Catching the lighter in my left hand, I started pouring petrol all over the concrete.
Ben jumped into the driver’s seat and started the engine. Wyatt ran in front of me, holding the axe ready to destroy any zombies who came to close.
I could hear Jo screaming my name, but I didn’t look back.

I hurriedly ran towards the hoard as far the as the hose would let me go, drawing a line with the petrol and leading it back to the tank. 
I grabbed a broom from next to the petrol tank and unwrapped the bandage from around my arm, cringing as it lifted from my wound. 
“Hurry!” Wyatt yelled as I tied the bloodied bandage around the end of the broom and dipped it into the pool of petrol on the concrete.
Holding it away from me, I flicked the lighter and lit the bandage on fire, throwing it onto the ground in front of me. The flames spread fast over the petrol covered concrete. 
“Let’s go!” I yelled to Wyatt, who had just swung the axe into the skull of a zombie.
I hope this works, I thought as we bolted away from the flames, headed for the RV.
Ben had pulled the motorhome to a stop in the middle of the road, far enough away to be safe from the fire.

Jo pushed the door of the cabin open and waited, urging us to hurry. Wyatt made it to the door first and leapt into the RV, landing on the floor in a loud thud. 
He scrambled to his feet to join Jo at the door, holding his hand out to pull me inside.
I glanced over my shoulder as I ran, seeing the flames growing fast, but not fast enough.
Countless zombies were chasing me, their mouths frothing with desire.
The youngest of the infected had the lead of the pack, I could tell they were once teenagers.

A young girl, who couldn’t have been more than sixteen, with curly blonde hair and freckles, had sped up ahead of the others. Her skin hadn’t started to decay yet, so I knew she must have been one of the newest to turn.
Suddenly, I tripped on a crack in the road and fell, skidding onto the ground and sending the axe sliding out of my reach.

I hurried to pick myself up, but my body slammed back into the concrete as the zombie girl pounced on top of me. I rolled over, kicking and punching wildly, doing whatever I could to stop her from sinking her teeth into me, when all of sudden I heard a loud crunch.
It was Jo, furiously hitting the zombie in the head with the crowbar, cracking her skull open. Wyatt appeared beside Jo, pulling the corpse off of me and throwing it to the side.
Jo and Wyatt lifted me off the ground, and together we ran towards the RV without looking back. 
We jumped inside and frantically closed the door, locking it behind us while Ben put his foot on the pedal and we started speeding out of the town.

I stared at Jo with wide-eyes, and hugged her tight. “Thank you. So much.”
“I couldn’t just let you die. You’re like a sister to me, Eva.” She said, holding back tears.
“What the hell was all that, Eva? Were you trying to get yourself killed?” Ben yelled from the driver’s seat.
“The whole town was infected. I saw an opportunity to stop them from spreading the virus and I took it.” I replied, defending myself.
“Don’t you remember what I said earlier? Don’t be a hero! Besides, it didn’t work. You said yourself setting them on fire does nothing.” He glared at me through the rear-view mirror.
“I wasn’t trying to set them on fire.” I replied, grinning at him.
“What? Then… Why?” He asked, confusion spreading across his face.
I didn’t answer. Instead I turned and walked over to the couch at the back of the RV, looking out the window at the fire, which had grown much bigger. 
Jo and Wyatt sat next to me on the couch, staring wide-eyed at the scene behind us.

As the motorhome turned onto the highway, the petrol station exploded into a huge fireball, the flames soaring high into the sky like a mushroom cloud.
“That’s why.” I said, turning to Ben as his jaw dropped open in shock.
Deep down I knew that blowing up one little diseased town wouldn’t stop the virus from taking over the entire country. But I needed to believe it saved at least a few people from being infected or killed. No-one else would be in danger of stopping there and being ambushed like we were.
“Wow.” Gasped Ben, turning off the engine and walking over to watch the flames billowing into the sky. “You know, after everything we’ve been through today, it feels really good to know we just blew up a bunch of those monsters.”

We sat together in silence, watching the fire burn as the sun set in the distance, a mix of vibrant colours painting the sky. It was an eerily beautiful sight, but one that we couldn’t marvel at for long.

“We better go,” said Wyatt as he stood up from the couch and made his way over to the driver’s cabin. “It will be dark soon. We need to hit the road. I’ll drive a bit more, if that’s cool with you Ben?”

“Sure, man.” Ben answered, still watching the flames as they burned bright.
Once again we sped down the road, heading north for Cairns.