"It appears that we are free to leave,"

Lucas looked out the window as he turned to the left.Richard Cotton, a massive man with a lot of muscle, had come up and parked his vehicle next to Lucas's.His eyes were still fixed on the faraway hallway and the creatures trying to force their way down it as he nodded in response to what he had just said.He smiled as he turned to face Lucas.What are your thoughts?

Lucas concurred, "Well, I see no reason why we should wait around here."

Which of us ought to wait for the child?Elaine inquired.She was sitting in Cotton's SUV's passenger seat, close enough to Lucas that he could touch her.He wanted to grab her by the neck when he heard the comment.Comments like that only served to increase the risk rather than reduce it.The kid had wanted to put his neck in danger.What ought to concern them?

Richard agreed, "Elaine is correct."What if his vehicle isn't working?We shouldn't just abandon him here.Not after the way he assisted us.

Lucas clenched his teeth but remained silent.Even if they didn't want to say it, he knew what they were really saying.He would have to stay behind because he was the only one with a spare seat.

"Yes, I'll do it," he replied.As he threw his cigarette to the ground outside, Lucas growled.Will you just leave this place?”

Cotton gave a nod, opened his window, and set off.The others quickly followed in his wake.A black feJakeng grew in the pit of Lucas's stomach as he watched the four cars drive by with a deep-set frown.He put the gear into drive after they had vanished from view around the bend.

He gave Ryan, who was in the passenger seat, a funny look.What are you engaged in?I thought you said we'd wait until the boy came, right?

"We're not going to wait for Jake?"Francis said, stumbling out of her seat and forward.

Lucas turned around with a scowl.No, we are not sitting around.Of course, not here.We had all previously agreed to wait at the nearby strip mall.It is the child's decision whether or not to commit suicide.We are concerned about our own children.

Naturally, he was referring to Tyler and Andrew, who were still in the back seat.Nevertheless, he was more concerned with Nancy, their mother, who was seated in the middle of the row alongside Ryan's brother Rob.

The first to turn had been Nancy's husband.Or, at the very least, one of the first, from what the group knew.Before anyone knew what was going on, he had contracted the virus during the initial outbreak.He had just returned home one night with a severe arm wound.He naturally declined Nancy's request to visit the hospital, as is his nature.Instead, he just cleaned and wrapped the wound, which he claimed he got from cutting himself on something, but he wasn't sure what, when a jerk pushed him down on a sidewalk.He was sick and dizzy by the time he got to bed that night, but he assured his wife that all he needed was a good night's sleep.She had gone to sleep alongside him.

He was dead by morning.

She had called the hospital for an ambulance, screamed and pleaded for it not to be true, and then, with nothing else to do, she had wept.

He suddenly got up and tried to eat her at that point.

The woman, who had just a few moments earlier been devastated by his death, suddenly found herself desperate for anything that would make him stop moving.

She had barely made it out of that predicament alive.Her two children were all that remained of what had appeared to be a perfect life: a loving husband, a nice two-story house in a pleasant neighborhood, and her children.

Although Lucas told himself that if those three people weren't in his car, he wouldn't have been willing to put his life in danger, the truth was that he probably would have found a way to avoid the danger regardless of who was there.Still, Nancy's warm smile and softly spoken "Thank you" made it seem like everything was worth it.

Rob said suddenly, "Oh dear God."Following his gaze out the front window to where a large group of the creatures were exiting a hallway, all eyes turned to him.This was the same group that had just minutes earlier followed Jake out of the parking lot, despite the fact that they had no way of knowing it.They stumbled back now, perhaps attracted by the engine noise, spilling out of the hallway and down the short path to the parking lot.

“Shit!”While returning to his seat, Lucas yelled.The vehicle quickly left after he slammed the gas pedal as hard as he could down.See, this is the reason we don't split up and why we don't wait!He yelled.

One of the creatures slammed into the hallway from the opposite side of a parked car.The car's passengers were unaware that it was there.Lucas only acted rather than thought.If the creature had been a real human being rather than what it was, it probably would have saved someone's life.It dove for the vehicle and slammed into the front wheel right away because it was dead.

The undead corpse got caught in the centrifugal force and got stuck in the wheel well as Lucas tried to steer clear of the monster.Lucas lost control because the vehicle was so heavy, the engine was running, and a body was now securing one of the wheels.They fell to the ground on their sides, making a terrible noise as they skidded across the pavement.

Everything suddenly went black for Lucas.

Jake sensed a problem as soon as he left the hallway.He had circumnavigated the complex's exterior by following the gate until he had gained some distance from the creatures he hoped were still attempting to enter the pool.He cut through one of the buildings to get back to the parking lot once he was comfortable doing so.Although it was almost as if he sensed the overturned SUV, he did not immediately notice it.One of the dumpster sites in the complex had two large city dumpsters enclosed by brick walls, preventing it from reaching his location.He only had to walk a few steps before he saw the clearly upside-down portion of the vehicle sticking out from the dumpster block.He took a few more steps, and he saw something strange and reflective lying on the ground. Another few steps revealed the object's identity.

Sunglasses with aviators.

Jake recognized Lucas's aviator sunglasses right away.This meant that Francis started to run.Run wasn't even close to being sufficient.In his entire life, Jake had probably never moved so quickly.He didn't even give it much thought.He had forgotten about his worn-out body and aching limbs.They were a thing of the past and had long since disappeared from history.He had no idea that there were undead creatures all around.They had also become non-entities.For him, the overturned SUV and its contents were the only things that mattered.

In the hope of seeing the passengers, he skidded to a stop right outside the front window and leaned in close to look inside.One of the side doors opened after a brief period of time.

Jake stood up quickly and dashed over to the open portal.From within, a hand and arm extended.He pulled on it and helped the person get out of the car.Rob was it.He shoved the man to the side and crept up to the doorway, grunting inannoyance.

"I... I believe everyone is fine.Jake didn't pay any attention to what Rob was saying because "we weren't going that fast."He was too preoccupied with the current task.

He could see Francis through the opening.She was kneeling over Nancy's prone body, whose window had broken and her head was now in a small pool of blood.Francis! "In an effort to get her attention, he called.We must leave!

Her eyes welled with tears as Francis glanced up.She replied numbly, "She is unconscious."She won't wake up.

Jake took a good look around as he turned his head.He had lost a large group of zombies at the pool gate earlier, and now they were slowly but surely making their way to them.Within a few seconds, they would be on them.Francis could tell by the look on his face that he had dropped his head and looked back through the door that they were in.

To peer into the vehicle's rear, she bent over the seat's side and stood up as straight as she could.She asked, "Help me with the kids."She mumbled a few words he couldn't quite make out as she squirmed around the seat and into the back, out of Jake's view.The only indication that the children were still alive was the quiet sobs coming from within the vehicle.Tyler appeared in front of him shortly after, his arms unsteady and reaching up.

Jake gritted his teeth and pulled on the young man.The boy had to squeeze through an awkward angle and only had precarious footing on the sides of the seats in order to get out of the car, making the effort difficult.The two eventually managed to free the young man after some effort.Jake immediately gave the kid off to Loot, who fortunately was ready to help.

Jake called, unsure of what to say other than "Okay, next."He saw Mandy's terrified face before his own almost immediately.He pulled on her with as much assurance as he could muster and smiled.This time, the procedure was completely different, surprising him.He quickly freed her from the car, finding that her smaller frame and lighter body made the process much simpler.He quickly turned back to the car door after handing her over to Rob.He reached down to assist her as Francis was already climbing over the seat's back, but she clearly had other plans.She pushed his hands aside and retreated inside the car to the ground.She waved him away while frowning as she looked up.