Holding his breath Jake sped down the street with every turn feeling risky. His focus is on driving out of the city. He tries not to think of anything else.

  He feels Ember's grip on his shoulders tighten. He felt Ewell's frantic breath against his neck.

  The bike wobbled beneath him but Jake kept steady, turning towards the edge of town, the evacuation camp was just a few streets from the exit highways, Jake would drive there. Try and weave around the abandoned cars if he had to.

  They rounded a corner easier than the st time, the undead behind them while relentless seems to be forgetting what they were chasing, all the twists and turns Jake made caused it to be more difficult to keep an eye on their prey. Decaying minds losing their object permanence.

  Jake hoped the others would escape. He hoped he'd see them again, outside of the city.

  He turned sharply up the street, past the hotels and cafes, towards hardware stores and general marts. The wheel skids and he cries out a curse, swerving in an attempt to stabilize. He felt Ember's hands tighten on his jacket.

  A blur of movement sped from the alleyways as a trio of undead leapt from shadows of the broken city, crying out in surprise Jake swerved hard, cracked fingernails fshed before his eyes.

  They rode up against the sidewalk but with a chuckle of relief Jake managed to keep them upright and moving. His bike sliding between the hungry Cress determined to devour them.The wind brushed through their hair and whipped at their faces, Ewell let out a faint whine, the sound absorbed by the straining engine and the fast moving wheels, but both Jake and Ember could feel his tense trembles.

  Jake tries to focus deeper, focusing on ensuring the safety of his passengers. The roads zipped by them, dangling streetlights long dead hung above linking together and lining the strip malls and standalone restaurants. It was all a blur to them.

  Another sharp right and he felt the back wheel hop, sparks from the cassis scraping against the concrete. Ember's fingers tense, cwing into his shoulders.

  Winding down the streets Jake held the handlebars so tight he his knuckles paled, he saw the shambling corpses ahead of them and aimed to brace himself, before he managed to pn a path between them suddenly a weight smmed into the bike, tendrils of velvety fern tangled into the wheels as the upper half of an infected undead lunged at the bike, jamming itself in the engines crevasses and the wheels support.

  He hardly had time to scream as the wheel sized. The three of them were thrown from the bike and quickly met the asphalt underneath them.

  There was a sickening snap as Ember's wrist bent the wrong way, feeling Ewell and Jake under he briefly as the three toppled forward, the motorcycle screeched as it slid down the street bowling into a few encroaching undead.

  Crying out in pain Ember held her broken arm and coughed up bloody phlegm from her split lip.

  Ewell was the first to get up, immediately he was scrambling for Ember's axe.

  The world swirled around Ember, she heard the hungry cries and the panicked gasping around her, she blinked excessively, trying desperately to focus. She finally was snapped back to reality when she heard Jake scream.

  Her head spun to see Jake, colpsed, his leg a mangled mess of red road rash from being dragged under the bike, his tight fists smmed against the sunken skull of an undead as teeth gnawed into the meat of Jake's thigh, grip tight on his ripped jeans. "Jake!" Her voice screeched so loudly she nearly went silent, ignoring the pain she forced herself to her feet.

  The sound of flesh squishing beside her made her note Ewell fending off a few undead, her forgotten axe in his hands. She didn't give him more than a fleet pce as she charged forward, limping on a twisted ankle.

  With a roar of anguish she shoved at the undead forcing it away from Jake, ripping muscles tore down his bone as the Cress's teeth took what they could.

  She pulled at his shoulders as he yelled, gripping at his leg and writhing as she attempted to drag him back and off the street.

  "I've been bit!" Jake excims, watching the staggering undead begin to advance again.

  Ember ignored his words, looking behind her as she dragged him, his left leg limp and the other kicking frantically.

  "Leave me!" He pleaded, his bloodied fingers pushing as Ember's cwing grip.

  "Fuck no!" Ember's sharp nails dug into him, so many emotions swirling in her she couldn't focus, she felt a mix of nothing and everything at once.

  "I'm already dead, I'm not taking you with me!" Jake began fighting her pull "You heard those soldiers!" His voice cracks, breaking from pain.

  "Fuck them and fuck you!" Ember protested.

  Ewell was at her side without her even noticing his approach, he hacked at the Cress at Ember's back, she was dragging Jake towards a drug store, the closest door she could see that wasn't broken or barricaded.

  There was so much noise around them, Ewell's panicked gasping, the undead's greedy calls, the echoes of the decaying City, and her own choked sobs. The only thing she could focus on was Jake's voice as he pleaded with her.

  The undead encircled them and Ewell whined in fear, turning to look at Ember.

  Ember didn't think twice as her fist connected with the boney jaw of an undead, jagged teeth exposed from torn lips cut at her knuckles. She knocked it back, away from Jake, her head snapped to Ewell, her expression tight and wild "Open the fucking door!" She demands, her voice angry and low.

  "Ewell!" Jake called, spinning, he tried to force himself up on his feet but his thigh screamed, blood ran down the extensive injuries of his leg and he crumbled down to one knee. Ember went to his side and tried to help him stand, however Jake gripped Ewell's hoodie and dragged him closer.

  Ewell yelped, pulling the axe back against his chest, careful not to cut Jake from the sudden move.

  "Keep Ember safe. I'm trusting you." He says quickly but it seems to just infuriate Ember as she yanks at his arm.

  "Shut up!" She excims.

  Jake seized her shoulders causing Ember to tense in surprise, his eyes wide and teary he hugs her so tightly she thought her ribs might crack "I love you." He whines into her neck, taking a deep breath to try and remember her every essence before he suddenly pulls away "Get inside!" He says as he pushes Ember back.

  She stumbles, so shocked she didn't, couldn't, act.

  Jake pushed past the dizziness clouding him, the pain and blood loss fogging his mind and eyes. He desperately pushes him forward on his bitten leg and waves his arms, shouting, calling out to the charging Cress and making himself a tasty distraction.

  "Jake!" Ember screamed so loud her voice broke, her legs moving under her as Ewell grabbed her arm and pulled. Her eyes focused on his fleeting form as the bulk of the chasing undead followed him. "Jake!" She bellowed, heart beating so fast she felt like she was going to throw up.

  She couldn't breathe. She cwed at Ewell's shoulder as he moved in front of her, pushing her back towards the drug store. Her bloody knuckles smudged against his dirty museum hoodie.

  She hardly processed those few seconds and suddenly she was inside. The harsh light of the city day was repced with the darkness of the powerless store. Ewell threw himself in front of the door, closing it, blocking it with anything he could drag. The windows were mostly blocked already allowing him to focus on the entrance.

  "No," Ember mumbled "No, no, no," her voice got louder with every pained word as she ran towards the door. She fought Ewell, trying to pull down everything he put up.

  Ewell whined, eyes wide and worried "Stop!" Ewell pleaded, trying to push his way between her and the door.

  "I'm not leaving him!" Ember cries out.

  "He's already gone!" Before the words finished leaving his lips Ember's open palm struck him hard, spping him across the face with a painful sting.

  Tears ran down Ember's scaled cheeks "Don't say that!" She sobbed, then looked down at her hand. At the blood that dripped between the webbing of her bckening fingers.

  She saw the teeth marks. Her heart dropped, mind racing but unable to come up with a single thought. She was infected too.

  She wanted to ugh but her body was frozen.

  "I'm already fucked." She said bnkly. "You can't help me runt, let me go out there and die with him." Her voice left her lips coldly. No emotion in her ft tone.

  Ewell fervently shook his head "No!" standing in front of her but she did not seem to care, shoving him aside she reached for the barricade, her hand briefly resting on the counter.

  The sudden pain was surprisingly numbing, Ewell brought the axe down so hard it cracked into the faux countertop splintering the pster and severing Ember's hand half way up the forearm.

  The disembodied hand twitched, fingers contracting like a dying spider as the beginnings of sprouts browned, the limb going still.

  Ember barely had a moment to look at Ewell's teary face before her world went bck.