SURVIVAL

Upon reaching the second bridge, Nora felt her heart sinking.

"Oh god…"

The bridge was in similar condition to the previous one. Equally desolated, equally full of ruins and car wrecks, and equally populated with shamblers. If anything, it was even worse, since the midsection of the bridge was completely blocked with several totaled trucks, with cars piling up around them all over the place. Besides, the nearby streets were also infested with zombies.

"We can get across this one. Look underneath." William said, pointing to the lower sections of the bridge.

Upon more detailed inspection, Nora noticed what he was talking about.

"Oh…! I see, we can use that…!"

Running along the entire lower section of the bridge was a structure of metal beams and catwalks, most likely for maintenance purposes. It was empty; a metal gate had seemingly kept the shamblers out.

"The previous bridge also had a similar structure below, but that one was destroyed. Probably some kind of sabotage to aid in the quarantine efforts, who knows." After locating a nearby fire escape, he put down his backpack and started rummaging through his supplies. "Get ready to move. We'll clear the street, but I don't think we can completely clear the area near the bridge. On my signal, we get down and run for that maintenance catwalk like a bat out of hell."

Nora gulped. The idea of running around the shamblers wasn't exactly appealing. But they had no other choice. She watched as William pulled out an old mobile phone. It was a classic model, with a keypad and a lid.

"Every phone works for this purpose, but I prefer to use the old ones. Compact, sturdier, more likely to survive the process. It sucks when you go retrieve it later only to find it in pieces." he added, as he finished setting up the phone's alarm.

He closed the lid, pulled several strands of foam and a roll of duct tape from the bag, and proceeded to cushion and package the phone with several layers. Then, he got up and threw it down the street, away from the bridge.

"It should ring in a couple of minutes."

Nora followed him down the fire escape, floor after floor, until they got to the very last platform before hitting the street level. Several shamblers spotted them, and started dragging themselves towards the building.

"William…! They've seen us!" she said, in a fearful tone.

"It's inevitable. Don't worry, they can't get to us here, as long as we don't drop the ladder." The bottom platform had a ladder that needed to be deployed downwards in order to reach the ground. "We don't do anything until the alarm rings."

"But we won't be able to get down anyway if they're beneath us!"

"Remember how they left your car alone when they heard the alarm? They are more sensitive to sound than their own sight. High-pitched noises can easily shift their focus. Stay calm, and wait."

…

It might have been only a couple of minutes, but they felt like an eternity. Nora felt the cold sweat stream down her face. The growls and squeals of the shamblers below them sounded more disturbing as time went by. Every second that passed, she found herself more focused on them. She felt shivers down her spine. Most of them were still wearing ragged and blood-soaked clothes, that did little to hide their disfigured bodies. Gray skin, terrible wounds and bite marks that wouldn't heal but wouldn't get infected or rot either, empty white eyes that stared back at her filled with primal hunger. All of it was only a shadow, a remnant of what they once were. These were normal people six months ago, and nothing but mindless cannibal monsters now. And she had to get down there and run among them? Now?

'Oh god, oh god, oh god… Come on, Nora, you need to calm down…'

She couldn't help but think about Claire and Lilian. They needed her. There were too many things at stake, she couldn't afford to leave them alone. Not like this. Her breathing started getting faster and faster.

All of a sudden, a grip on her arm made her look away from the shamblers and snap out of it, to the point that she even let out a subtle yelp.

"Don't lose your shit now. Breathe, and for god's sake do not stare at them. Specially if you're not used to it." William's tone was a bit abrasive, but he didn't look annoyed. As a matter of fact, he looked like he had gone through that exact situation many times before.

"Ah… yeah… Thank you…" She closed her eyes and let out several deep breaths. "It's strange… Back when they surrounded us in the car, it didn't feel as dreadful as it does now…"

"Adrenaline can do that to you. But this is a calculated and premeditated situation, things hit different when you don't get thrown into them by surprise. And trust me, it's better that way. Now stay focused, it's almost time."

She did her best to ignore the growls from below, and concentrated on counting time instead. She could almost hear the clock ticking in her head. Tick, tock, tick, tock… All other sounds seemed to deafen and die out, a low ringing taking their place in her ears instead.

Until the real ringing happened. Down the street, the phone's alarm started blaring at full volume. Like a synchronized wave, drawn to the sound, heads started turning all over the street, bodies tumbling one over another towards its source.

Without a second thought, William released the latch on the ladder, which quickly hit the now clear ground level.

"Now, get moving!" he yelled, almost flying down the ladder.

Nora followed him down and started running for the bridge after him. As they closed their distance with the structure, she could hear growls all around, she could feel their gazes coming from every direction. Yet she set her eyes solely on William, she'd rather not look back.

Emerging from the shore sidewalk, a flight of concrete stairs descended towards the bridge's foundations, and connected with the maintenance corridor underneath. William reached it first, and descended in a hurry, after taking a quick look at Nora. As she did the same thing moments later, she looked back. And what she saw wasn't good news.

"William, they're coming this way!"

"I know! The sound isn't as loud this close to the bridge, it's not dragging them away effectively!" he shouted, as he frantically looked for something in his bag right in front of the gate that led into the catwalks. "I'm not even sure the alarm is ringing anymore!"

Some seconds later, he pulled out some bolt cutters, which made quick work of the lock on the gate. They both rushed onto the metal platforms, as a wave of shamblers poured down the concrete stairs after them.

"Hurry! To the other side!"

Gasping, without even a moment to catch her breath, Nora ran. She could feel the catwalk shaking in a dangerous manner as the horde gave pursuit behind them. She could hear the splashes deep below, as countless bodies tripped off the platforms and fell into the river below. They were quickly gaining distance on the shamblers, but after a quick glance behind, it didn't feel like it. All she saw was their hungry faces creeping towards them.

"There, there's a door ahead!" William shouted. About the midsection of the bridge there was a small box-shaped metal structure, with a closed door leading into the catwalk they were in. "We'll bust it open if we have to! Hurry!"

They pretty much slammed against the door. The room had no windows, so there was no way of knowing what was inside, but it was most likely better than what was behind them at the moment. William fumbled with the doorknob, and to his surprise, it was open. Yet the door didn't give way, as if something heavy was blocking it from the inside.

"Push! With all your strength!"

Nora got her shoulder against the door and pushed as hard as she could, putting all her weight against it. She gritted her teeth as it started to open, inch by inch. Then, the door suddenly gave in. Whatever was blocking it had gotten out of the way, prompting both of them to stumble their way inside.

William lunged forward and fell sideways, but she fell flat on the floor, nearly hitting her head in the process. As she tried to adjust her eyes to the darkness and look around, she felt around with her hands, and touched something soft. Something that moved.

"Don't just stand there!! Move, you fool!!"

By the time she could react, it was too late already. She had fallen right beside a shambler, and that same shambler was now on top of her. Nora screamed and fought as hard as she could. She grabbed the head of the zombie with both hands and tried to push it away from her, but it wasn't working. She could feel its immense strength, almost inhuman. No wonder the door was so difficult to budge.

The thing was growling directly to her face, its eyes staring at her with animalistic rage, almost shining in anticipation of the fateful bite. It was directly grabbing her shoulder and torso, so she couldn't get away. It was on top of her, too heavy for her to shrug him off. Its face got closer and closer, with strength so overwhelming she couldn't manage to fight back. The smell was revolting, to the point it felt like she could faint from it. She couldn't help but yelp and scream as she struggled.

'No, no, no... Not like this...! Not like this, oh god, please…!! Somebody help…!!'

Then, the shambler got thrown away to the side. William had kicked it as hard as he possibly could, causing it to lose its grip on Nora and go flying against nearby furniture. However, it managed to grab hold of William's leg, causing him to lose balance and fall down as well.

As everyone struggled on the floor, Nora looked over and saw some tools scattered around. She didn't think too much about what was going to happen next. In her eyes, it was all a blur. In her mind, nothing but a fleeting thought. Instinct took over her body and senses. The instinct to survive no matter what. She could barely hear herself groaning and screaming with every blow she delivered. She had no idea how long that moment of rage lasted, she only knew she had to do it.

"…ra! …ora! …at's enough, …out of it! Nora!!" William's screams finally got her out of her trance, and she stopped right on her tracks.

She looked down, and instantly got to the verge of throwing up. She was sitting on top of the shambler that attacked her, but its head had been completely shattered, destroyed, as if sent through a meat mincer. Blobs of congealed blood covered the floor, and soaked her clothes and the hammer she was holding. She backed off the corpse in a hurry, and started retching heavily.

"Stop freaking out and get up, now!" William had locked the door again, and was dragging a heavy-looking shelving unit in front of it.

Fighting through her exertion and her vomiting urges, Nora stumbled back up, and started pushing against the shelves, which were now right in front of the door. She couldn't know for sure, but from the way William looked at her, she didn't look good.

"Listen, you need to focus on what's happening right now, focus on what you need to do to survive, you understand? Just push. Push as hard as you can, as if your life is at stake. Don't make a sound, and don't stop pushing, you hear!?"

She nodded. Moments later, a myriad of banging noises came from outside, and the entire wall of the room started shaking.

They could feel the incredible strength of the horde slamming itself against the side of the room. Every blow shook them to the core, threatening to bust that door open again, to destroy everything in the way so they could feast upon them. The choir of angry growls was never-ending.

Nora closed her eyes and just let her body do the work. She didn't think about the situation, she didn't want to think. She was still shaken up, covered in cold sweat and blood stains. She could feel her legs trembling. She just ignored the sound of the crowd, ignored the unrelenting banging, and just kept pushing.

Until there was no more banging, no more growling, just an ominous silence. William laid back against the wall and breathed deeply, as Nora dragged herself down and sat on the floor.

"First time getting up close and personal, am I right?" he asked.

Close and personal? No, that wasn't the only thing on her mind. Sure enough, staring at death's face so closely was a terrifying experience. Yet there was something else digging at her subconscious.

"I just killed it. Just like that, gone."

"And it was the right thing to do."

It was easy to think about it from the safety of a shelter. They were just zombies, mindless monsters. You'd see similar stuff in fiction all the time. They always made it look simple. But, actually doing it? Watching a human body go limp after severe trauma, hearing the bones crack as the stench of blood and death fills the room…

She looked at William in the eye, as if looking for acknowledgement and acceptance of her actions.

"Was it…? This was a normal person not so long ago…"

"Exactly, it was. You can't look at them like people anymore. They certainly won't look at you like people either. If you hesitate, you're asking to get eaten, just like a moment ago."

Nora looked down. She was still gripping the blood-soaked hammer. Even when she was pushing those shelves, she didn't let go of it. A couple of tears streamed down her cheeks.

"The first time is always the hardest one. It gets easier afterwards. And I know what you're probably thinking, everyone thinks like that at some point. But this isn't about morals anymore. It's about survival. The sooner you get used to it, the better."

It gets easier afterwards? It didn't feel like it so far. Her grip on the tool got even harder, she was almost hurting herself by clenching on it.

'Fuck, this is hard… I'm sorry, Lilian… Big sis keeps acting tough, but… I'm just a big liar…'

******

William looked at Nora as she wept in near silence. He knew they couldn't afford to loiter around, but for once, he didn't rush her. He just let her compose herself, and smoked through an entire cigarette while doing so.

It had been a while since he could smoke a full cig in one sitting.

He threw the butt away, and stared at his partner. She had stopped crying, and was spaced out, immersed on her thoughts. Yet he noticed something that caught his attention.

The skin on her fingers was pale from the pressure she was exerting on the hammer handle. She hadn't loosened her grip even for an instant.

'You're scared shitless… yet look at you. Seriously, what's the deal with you…?'