Becoming Them: A Zombie Novel

Thirty-Two

     The clouds began to disappear and the sky darkened as we made it in front of the bridge.

     "So they mentioned that they were going to come back here for the stuff inside?" Ava asked.

     I nodded. "They're already here," I said as I recognised a familiar row of cars on the side of the road.

     Ava followed my gaze. "Those are theirs?"

     "Yeah, most of them are from the bikers."

     "Oh, right." Ava stared at the bridge. "Do you have a plan?"

     "No."

     We were finally here, but all I wanted to do now was stand on the spot. Multiple questions were whizzing through my mind, like how was I going to confront them? What if they retaliated? What if Ava was caught in the crossfire? What if a zed came up from behind and bit into me? What was I going to do?

     "What do I even tell them?" I asked aloud.

     "You just tell them whatever's on your mind at that moment," Ava replied. "I think we should leave our bikes here for a quick getaway if we need to. What do you think?"

     "Uh, yeah, that would be good." I turned to her. "You can wait here if you want."

     "Did you think I'd come all the way here with you, scared out of my mind, if I was just going to stand at the sidelines while you confronted those killers?" she asked, raising a brow.

     "A 'No, I'd rather go with you' would've sufficed." I rolled my eyes.

     We dropped our bikes off at the side, then took our pistols out and loaded them. We pocketed spare magazines and knives. After that, we began our journey across the bridge.

     Halfway across it and I turned the safety of my gun off. I gripped the gun tight.

     I felt Ava slip her fingers through the fingers of my other hand and when I looked at her, she sent me a reassuring smile, silently telling me she was going to be right by my side through this.

     "Thank you," I said to her.

     "What are friends for?" she said with a smile.

     As we edged closer, her grip on my hand tightened.

     Towards the end of the bridge, I noticed the outside of the building was empty. A dim light still flickered in the building, shining on the multiple zeds that were inside.

     "Wow," Ava said in awe. "That's more than we've seen on the way here combined. Actually a lot more than that."

     One zed caught sight of us and pressed its body against the glass doors. It began to claw at it, baring its teeth at us. Soon others followed.

     "Quick, we need to get out of their sights," I said as I grabbed Ava's hand and pulled her to the side where I had hidden with Adrian and the others. After the zeds stopped we perched ourselves down on the floor. "They're probably still inside. We'll just wait for them."

     "In the meantime, we can come up with a plan." Ava rested her head on my shoulder.

     "Tired already?" I asked.

     "All that riding was tiring. Do you blame me?"

     I let out a quiet laugh. "I guess not."

     She grabbed my hand and laced her fingers through mine and we sat quietly for a minute as if forgetting that we needed a plan. After that, she sat up abruptly.