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Ava did the same, and just as our eyes returned to the front, three infected broke free from the tree line, trudging through the long grass toward the road.
My back straightened as the frontrunner stumbled and fell straight into our path.
“Watch out,” I said, reaching for the wheel.
Ava swore, knuckles whitening as she wrenched the wheel too hard and launched us into a spin.
The tyres dragged across the bitumen, and the smell of smoking rubber filled the car. Kirby screeched loud enough to burst an eardrum, and half a turn later, the fucking car flipped.
Airbags deployed, and loud, metallic clangs came from the back as the momentum flung the duffle bags and the loose weapons around.
My stomach fell out from under me, and I fumbled for the handle above the door, clenching it while the world turned upside down.
The car rolled once, then stopped halfway through a second turn, landing with a hard thud on Ava’s side.
For a beat, nothing happened, the seatbelt and my grip on the handle the only things stopping me from falling straight onto her.
Ava braced herself against the door and unfastened her seatbelt, forcing her arm out from under the strap. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I can’t believe I did that. I’m so sorry.”
“Shut up,” Kirby said, although there was no heat in her words. “I don’t want to hear any sad sackery.”
Our strained breaths competed with the hiss coming from under the bonnet.
Moaning came from nearby, low and gargled, getting closer by the second. We’d landed in a ditch, with clumps of grass wedged under the windscreen wiper. The glass had cracked in the top right corner, and Ava’s side window had shattered on impact.
“Anyone hurt?” I waited for the pain to register, but nothing came.
“I got hit on the head.” Kirby shifted in the back. “There’s blood. Not much.”
“It’s those tools floating around.” I braced my foot on the console, holding myself in place while I released the seatbelt. “Help Kirby while I take care of the infected,” I said to Ava. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
I lowered the window all the way and pulled myself through the opening. Three of the dead were coming, only metres away now. Decomposing flesh mixed with the smell of dirt and grass, and the leader’s mouth opened in a silent yawn.
“Any weapons near you?” I asked Kirby, my palms flat on the frame.
“A few. I can’t reach.”
“Wait. I can.” Ava clasped the back of my thigh, fingers pressing into denim as she leaned through to the rear.
The first infected reached for me, strings of spittle dripping from its chin. “Ava. Now.”
She grunted and made a last lunge, pulling back and shoving a metal object under my arm. “There.”
My hand closed around the head of the pipe wrench, and I flipped it over in my palm, smacking the dead man’s temple hard enough to crack bone.
My stomach rolled, and I swallowed a rush of saliva.
As soon as the body collapsed, I dragged myself through the window.
One foot hit the road, then the other. Breath wrenched from my lungs, and before I’d found my balance, an infected tween girl made a grab for me.
With her hoodie wrapped around my fist, I yanked her close, unable to make myself look into her vacant eyes.
She bared a set of teeth covered in metal braces, and after a beat of hesitation, I brought the entire weight of the wrench down on her head.
Her growl cut off partway through, and she fell, clumps of blonde hair draped over her eye. Cartoon kittens decorated the front of her hoodie, and neon pink laces were double knotted in her sneakers.
Fuck.
