Chapter 212 Narrow Escape

Chapter 212: Chapter 212 Narrow Escape

Another infected came from above with a loud screech.

It dropped from the rusted roof of a roadside convenience store, hit the top of the truck with a deafening bang and slid across the metal, its nails screeching loudly enough to make every soldier inside look up instinctively.

"It’s on the roof!" one of the soldiers shouted.

Before anyone could react, another heavy impact followed. Then multiple impacts followed.

The roof groaned beneath the weight as the creatures scrambled across it, their claws scraping back and forth while they searched for a way inside.

One of the soldiers near the rear climbed onto the bench beneath the firing slit and raised his rifle toward the ceiling.

"They’re trying to get through!"

A sharp metallic screech echoed above them. The steel roof dipped inward for the briefest moment before springing back.

"They won’t!" Gabriel barked. "Keep your eyes outside!"

His words had barely left his mouth when the windshield exploded beneath another impact.

A snarling face slammed against the glass, black veins spreading across its pale skin as broken teeth scraped against the widening cracks.

The driver swore under his breath and fought the steering wheel as the infected clawed frantically at the windshield, each strike sending another web of fractures racing through the glass.

"I can’t see!" He shouted.

Laurel moved towards the front seat. She braced one hand against the dashboard as the truck swerved violently beneath her feet, lifted her rifle and fired.

The shot punched through the infected’s forehead, and Its body went limp immediately.

For a heartbeat it remained plastered against the windshield before gravity finally pulled it down. It slid slowly down the cracked glass, leaving a thick smear of black blood behind before disappearing beneath the front of the truck.

The driver jerked the wheel back into the centre of the highway, narrowly missing the burned shell of a sedan.

The truck lurched hard enough to throw everyone sideways.

A wounded soldier cried out as his shoulder slammed into the steel wall, but before anyone could help him, another impact rocked the rear of the truck.

"It’s the back door!"

The infected had reached them again. Their fists hammered against the steel.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Each strike bent the metal inward a little farther than the last.

The soldiers nearest the door raised their rifles without waiting for orders. One shoved the firing hatch open just wide enough to fit the barrel through.

"Fire!"

He squeezed the trigger.

The confined space erupted with gunfire, muzzle flashes lighting the inside of the truck as bullets tore through the infected gathered behind the convoy.

One of the infected lost half its face. Another stumbled beneath the barrage only to be trampled by those rushing behind it.

The pounding on the door stopped... for barely a second.

Then the vehicle shook so hard from a sudden impact. The rear doors bulged inward.

"What the hell was that?"

Nobody answered, because no one knew what it was. The pounding returned immediately, joined by the shrill scrape of claws dragging across the metal.

Laurel pressed herself against the wall as the truck bounced over another section of broken highway. Her pulse still hadn’t settled, and every sharp movement sent another wave of dizziness through her head, but she forced herself to ignore it and looked through the nearest firing slit.

"Everyone, hold your position." She ordered.

The soldiers nodded, cracking their guns. Some of them held battle axes, daggers and bags for close combat.

The infected surrounded them. They poured out between abandoned vehicles, rushed across empty lanes and even threw themselves over the wrecks blocking the roadside without the slightest hesitation. Some fell beneath the convoy almost instantly.

The ones behind them ran even faster, stepping over the bodies.

Laurel watched one infected stumble beneath another’s feet. Before it could stand, three more vaulted over it without breaking stride, their eyes fixed entirely on the trucks disappearing ahead.

Her grip tightened around the rifle. Something about them was wrong, but she couldn’t figure out what it was exactly.

They moved with a kind of reckless hunger she hadn’t seen before, as though every instinct except the urge to kill had been stripped away.

"Commander?" Gabriel’s voice pulled her back.

Laurel turned towards him.

He had already reloaded and was watching her instead of the firing slit. "You alright?" He said with a dramatic sigh.

Laurel nodded. "...Keep firing."

Gabriel studied her expression for another moment, clearly unconvinced, but another infected launched itself toward his window before he could press the matter further.

He swung his rifle up and fired. The creature’s body spun away into the darkness.

Gradually... The pounding against the truck became less frequent.

The snarls faded behind them. The infected that had kept pace with the convoy one by one began falling back until only a handful still chased after the last vehicle, disappearing into the darkness as the distance between them steadily widened.

Inside the truck, everyone held their breath. Unsure if they would make it back alive to the fortress.

The only sound left was the steady growl of the engines and the ragged breathing of men who had only just realised they were still alive.

Near the rear, one of the soldiers lowered his rifle with trembling hands. He reached for a fresh magazine, but his fingers shook so violently that it slipped from his grasp and clattered across the steel floor.

Another soldier quietly bent over, picked it up and placed it back into his hand without saying a word.

"Thank you." The soldier trembled.

Gabriel exhaled slowly before turning toward the cab. "How much farther?"

The driver glanced briefly at the navigation screen mounted beside the dashboard before looking back at the road ahead.

"If nothing else blocks the highway..." He paused for a moment, tightening both hands around the steering wheel. "...about an hour."

The answer settled over the truck without another word.

One hour.

Laurel looked through the cracked windshield where the highway disappeared into darkness beyond the reach of the headlights.

An hour should have felt close. Instead, the distance seemed to stretch farther the longer she stared at it. Her hand tightened unconsciously around the rifle resting against her leg.

Gabriel followed her gaze before quietly calling out again. "Commander?"

Laurel never looked away from the road ahead. "Drive faster."

The driver nodded once. Without another word, he pressed the accelerator to the floor.

The engine roared, and the convoy surged forward, racing through the darkness toward the fortress.