Chapter 72- Jousting the dead

My fuel light was illuminated and I probably only had another gallon before it was empty.  I needed to eat and sleep and the longer I drove in circles around this block the more zombies seemed to join this little group I had training behind my vehicle.

I looked in the rear view mirror.  There had to be at least 15 infected following me, maybe as many as twenty.  They hobbled about fifty feet away, their undead faces emotionless but their bodies determined to reach me.  I stopped the van and stepped between the seats, climbing into the back.  The sun was beginning to fade and its light through the window danced across the dust in the air.  The smell of sawdust and oil seemed to cling to everything.  I looked around, remembering that there had been a tool belt with a couple hammers hanging on a hook.  With all the jostling turns almost everything was now on the floor, and I rifled through the mess now strewn across the ground.  Underneath a large plastic bin I found the tool belt.  Lifting it back onto the hook I saw the two framing hammers still hanging from metal loops.  I grabbed them both, quickly returning to the driver's seat.

Glancing back at the rear of the vehicle I could see the walking dead advancing quickly.  "Time for a little modern day jousting" I said to myself, making a three-point turn and facing my van directly at the pack ahead of me.  I gripped the handle with my right hand and steeled myself.  My rumbling stomach and dry mouth reminded me of how urgently I needed to get inside the compound on the other side of this fence.

I rolled down the window with my left hand and hung my arm outside.  Stepping on the accelerator I felt pull me toward my attackers and I stifled the fear in the back of my throat.  Ahead of me a young girl, no older than 20, moved rapidly ahead of the pack, faster than the others behind her.  She would have been attractive in life, but one of her plump cheeks now bore a large sore and her cropped hair was matted with dark, dried blood.  I cut the wheel to the right and came alongside her.  She turned and reached for me just as I swung my hammer toward her head.  It bounced off one ear and she stumbled to the side but did not fall.  My blow was weak and glancing, I guess I had much to learn about killing another human. 

I pushed that thought from my mind.  She wasnt human, not anymore.  Looking up I realized I was heading directly into the pack, and I swung the van left and right, weaving deftly between the pack, taking one out with the front bumper and knocking another off its feet with my side view mirror.  I was almost through them, and they turned as I passed, grabbing at me with their withering, sun baked hands.  One managed to grasp the bars holding my rear view mirror in place and I slammed my hammer at its ragged knuckles. They were bloody and scarred, as though they had been used to tear at things with no regard for self.  I shuddered as I heard the sickening crunch of breaking bones and breathed a sigh of relief as its grip released and it dropped to the ground.  

I was free!  I had successfully navigated a pack of zombies.  I had expected some glorious battle where I hammered the skulls of the undead with amazing skill.  Reality was quite different.  I barely drove through the group, and didnt do more than slow a couple of them down a bit.  I glanced in the rear view.  They were still coming, and I still needed to find a way to keep them away while I made my way into the gates on the other side of the block.  Beyond those gates was my salvation, several storage units filled with food, water, fuel, and survival supplies.  

I pushed on the accelerator, determined to drive to the othe side as quickly as possible.  The van lurched, sputtered, and died.  I was out of gas.