Free Web NovelChapter 198: Chapter 198 - Help
The sun was harsh out here.
It hit the street hard, bouncing off broken glass and metal, making everything too bright. Iyisha squinted as she stepped out, pausing just enough to check both sides before moving.
They went deeper.
The damage showed more the further they got. Buildings weren’t just worn down. They were pushed. Walls cracked straight through, parts of structures leaning like they never settled back after the blast. Some roofs were gone, the inside exposed, left to rot under the open sky.
No one had been here for a long time.
Or at least no one stayed.
The stores told the rest.
Shelves uneven. Back doors broken. Things taken in pieces, not clean. People had tried to live here after everything happened. Took what they could.
Then moved on.
Iyisha kept her pace steady.
"Stay close," she said.
There were fewer trees now. Less cover. Longer lines between buildings.
Harder to move unseen.
Iyisha stayed low as they edged forward, keeping close to the line of broken cars. The open stretch toward Manhattan was blocked. An apartment had collapsed across it, concrete and steel piled into a jagged wall.
Good.
Malcolm’s words stayed in her head. If you can see Manhattan, they can see you.
She crouched and picked up a chunk of debris, weighing it in her hand before tossing it off to the side.
It hit metal.
The sound rang out sharp.
A few walkers turned.
"Go."
They moved immediately, slipping across the open space in a low run, feet careful, bodies tight.
Aljun threw next. Farther this time.
The sound pulled more of them away.
They crossed another stretch and slowed behind a row of overturned cars.
Closer now.
The building came into view.
The red sign still stood, faded but stubborn. The structure behind it was larger than anything around it, the front torn open and parts of the roof missing.
Marybeth exhaled under her breath. "Too open."
Iyisha didn’t answer right away. Her eyes tracked the road leading to it.
Cars littered the street, some flipped, some crushed, others sitting still with bodies slumped inside. A few of those bodies moved, heads twitching, hands dragging weakly against glass.
"Shit, there’s no clean path," she said under her breath.
Iyisha looked at Aljun. "Can you throw farther? Opposite side."
"I’ll try."
He threw.
The stone hit, but only a few turned.
Not enough.
They dropped back into cover between two cars, crouching low.
Iyisha scanned the block again, slower now, forcing herself to think past what was in front of her.
The mall was too open. Even if they made it, the inside would be worse.
Iyisha shifted slightly and looked across the street, piecing the layout together from memory. A sporting goods store sat on the opposite side of the same block, tucked behind the row of buildings and out of view from where they were.
Odelle’s.
She couldn’t see it from here, but she knew it was there. It had to be.
Better than walking straight into that open front.
Her eyes moved to the side road leading to it. Still filled, but not as heavy as the one in front of them. There was space between bodies. Not much, but enough to move if they were careful.
A better chance.
She let out a slow breath through her nose.
"Other side," she whispered. "There’s Odelle’s Sporting Goods."
Marybeth glanced at her, then toward the open street again. "We’re surrounded. And it’s still a long way."
Aljun spoke low. "Sporting goods store will have what we need."
He reached down and picked up a piece of metal, weighing it in his hand before looking at Iyisha.
She gave a small nod.
He threw.
The clang cut through the street, louder than before.
He dropped low as heads snapped toward the sound. Walkers turned, more of them this time, even the ones pressed into cars dragging themselves free.
The pull spread fast.
Iyisha’s eyes widened as she glanced at Marybeth. Even the ones from the corner were moving now.
Too loud.
They couldn’t stay there.
Aljun pointed at the nearby cars.
They moved.
Quick. Low.
Aljun slipped into one car.
Marybeth reached another and slid inside.
Iyisha followed, dropping onto the backseat floor, keeping her head below the window line.
She pulled the door.
It creaked.
She stopped and left it slightly open.
A low growl sounded just outside.
Her grip tightened on the gun.
A walker passed between their car and the next, stepping through the space they had just been in. She saw the torn fabric of its dress, the way its leg dragged wrong with each step. If she even glanced up through that gap, they’d be exposed.
She didn’t move.
Another shape crossed the other side.
Then more.
They froze as the sound pulled them in.
Iyisha tracked the movement through the narrow opening, counting without meaning to.
Too many.
At least ten.
All around them.
The car boxed them in tight.
She pressed herself lower against the seat, breath shallow, controlled.
The walkers slowed.
Then stopped.
They lingered near the cars, shifting slightly, heads tilting as if listening for something that was already gone.
The tinted windows helped.
But the door was still open.
Iyisha lifted her eyes slowly.
Marybeth was already looking at her.
Iyisha tilted her gaze toward the door, just a fraction.
Marybeth inhaled quietly, then gave a small nod.
Outside, the walkers hovered in place, shuffling without direction, waiting.
The noise had faded.
Nothing pulling them forward.
Iyisha steadied her hand and inched the door inward, slow enough that even the hinge barely made a sound.
One walker twitched.
She froze.
It tilted its head, listening.
Seconds stretched.
Then it turned away.
Iyisha finished closing the gap just enough.
And stayed still.
They weren’t seen.
But they weren’t going anywhere either.
They were stuck.
Too many bodies. Too close. No space to move without brushing against one.
Iyisha kept her head low, eyes fixed on the thin line of the door. The walkers stood just outside, shifting, waiting, listening for something that wasn’t there anymore.
This wouldn’t hold.
They needed a pull. Something louder. Something far enough to drag them off.
Her grip tightened on the gun.
Think.
Nothing.
No loose metal. No clear throw. No way to make noise without stepping out.
If they stayed, they’d get found.
If they ran, they’d get seen.
Her jaw clenched.
They needed something.
Something that would make a sound.
Her head throbbed.
Sharp.
A sudden sting flared behind her eyes, like pressure building from the inside. A thin ringing crept into her ear, steady and high.
She swallowed hard, holding back the sound rising in her throat.
Not now.
The pressure built fast.
Her fingers curled tighter against the floor. Breath shallow. Eyes squeezing shut for a second.
The ringing grew louder.
Her vision flickered.
She needed help, not this.
The pain spiked.
Iyisha’s breath hitched as the pressure in her head surged, then twisted sharp.
Her hand shook.
"Move, Iyisha."
Marybeth grabbed her arm and pulled.
The ringing cut out.
Just like that.
Iyisha gasped as the pressure snapped, her head dropping forward.
They pushed out of the car.
The space around them had opened all of a sudden.
Walkers were further away, clustering toward the other side where a slamming echoed. She blinked.
Aljun slipped out from the other car, already moving.
"What happened?" Iyisha asked, breath uneven.
Marybeth didn’t look back. "Don’t care. Move."
Aljun gave a quick shake of his head, eyes scanning. "Go."
They ran.
Iyisha glanced back once.
The horde had gathered around a car across the street, bodies pressing in, heads turning toward the source.
Iyisha turned forward again, chest tight, pulse still racing.
What the hell was that.
Was anyone alive in there?
