Probably should run

“Don’t slow down, they’re still coming!” Paige yelled from ahead. Kathryn would have screamed an expletive at her, but she couldn’t quite find the breath to do so. Running had never agreed with her, and it seemed running for her life wasn’t any different. Sweat poured out from her, and her legs and chest burned with exertion. Paige wasn’t having the same issues as Kathryn. She’d gapped Kathryn by at least twenty five meters and didn’t seem to be slowing down. Her encouragement didn’t mean much to Kathryn, the knowledge that slowing down would mean zombification was enough to keep hergoing.

Kathryn had no idea how long they’d been running, the darkness obscuring their surroundings. They had to keep running though, as the zombies showed no signs of slowing down. For how slow and disoriented they seemed before, once they had prey in sight they were ravenous. There wasn’t any opportunities for escape either. The sides of the road were steep and rocky, not the best footing for a quick escape. One tumble and it was be a very quick, although not unpleasant end for either one of them.

So the only option was to keep running, and keep running, and keeping running. Down this god forsaken highway into endless night. Kathryn could barely see her surroundings, the town hadn’t installed any lights when they built the road. She had no idea where exactly they were, regardless she knew they were moving away from Hailey.

Kathryn suddenly realized that the running was starting to hurt more. Her quads were burning, and her breathing was becoming even more labored. Paige was fading ahead into the darkness, her gait not slowing. “Wait, please,” Kathryn gasped, struggling to get the words out.

Paige turned, slowing to almost a halt. “We just need to get up the hill and then we can disappear into town. Hill? Kathryn realized that the two had ran all the way to the edge of town , about three miles from where they had started. It was honestly impressive that Kathryn had made it this far in the first place, but it was about to get a lot harder. The road curved upwards as it exited town, leaving the valley the town was situated in. Which meant now not only was Kathryn running more than she had in her life, she was now running uphill.

Which was a problem, because now the zombies were gaining on her. They didn’t seem bothered by the steepening terrain, after all a zombie’s brain feels nothing but pleasure. By now Kathryn had slowed to the point where what she was doing could barely be considered jogging. Paige had run back to her, but her cries of encouragement didn’t do much to speed Kathryn up. It wasn’t as if she could make her legs stop shaking of carry her up the hill.

“We’re not dying here,” Paige said, taking Kathryn’s sweaty hand. “Deep breaths, here we go.” With a jerk, Paige attempted to pull Kathryn forward, but if she was trying to be motivational it wasn’t working. The only thing she was accomplishing was slowing herself down. By now Kathryn could hear the zombies’ ragged breath, their foot steps rising in a horrifying thunder behind them. Kathryn could see the lights of the exit at the crest to tell they weren’t going to make it.

They were too close behind, getting closer with every second. If it came down to it, Kathryn might have to throw Paige to the zombies and try to save herself. She didn’t want to do it, Paige seemed like a nice enough girl, but sometimes you have to make ugly choices. Unfortunately there didn’t seem to be another way out, so Paige would have to take on for the team.

Kathryn tightened her grip on Paige’s hand, and prepared to throw her to the wolves. She was about to wretch Paige to the ground when a blinding light suddenly fell over them. A vehicle had just crested the hill, its headlights shining down. With a screech, the vehicle came to a halt about 100 meters away, before it spun around and began reversing towards them. “Oh my god, we might not die,” Paige gasped. Kathryn wasn’t as sure, still contemplating if she needed to use Paige as a distraction.

The vehicle, which the girls could now see was an ambulance, stopped and the back door opened. A woman with Raven hair, dressed in a navy paramedic’s uniform stood in the back waving at the two girls. Paige picked up the pace, practically moving Kathryn herself at this point. The open back beckoned, promising safety. With a last burst of speed Kathryn managed to push through the pain, her hand findings the Raven girl’s. She and Paige were practically pulled into the back and Ambulance sped off leaving the zombies behind.