Free Zombies and Chainsaws (Book 2): Dark Roads by Mike Evans Page A

I mean — maybe two. Please don’t leave me here—I’m not a survivor. What can I do?”
    Jude said, “Oh, for God sakes, can we quit fucking talking and get the hell out of here?”
    "I can take you to the helicopter pilot for the station!" Helen burst out. Everyone stopped.
    "Take us to him," Jude said.
    Helen led them through a door behind the news set, into a breakroom with one occupant huddled behind a table, clutching a helmet like a shield.
    "Sir," Jude barked. "Hey, are you a pilot, buddy? Do you fly the news chopper?"
    The man stood when he saw Helen, nodding. “Call me Jon, or call me Spielman, but don’t call me sir. Christ, that makes me feel old. Yeah, yeah, I do. Why? What the hell's going on out there?”
    “Fine, Jon, because we need to get out of here, and these fuckers haven’t learned how to fly just yet. Can we ride with you? If you have any reason to land, minus a full on army being with you, we're the next best thing.”
    “Yeah, yeah, we can go. Damn chopper's been having issues, though. I can’t promise it'll make it out of state.”
    Jude said, “Jon, just get me out of the city, and you and I will be just damn fine, thanks.”
    Jon looked at Jude and his equipment and nodded. “Yeah. Alright, we need to give it a couple minutes to warm up. Is that okay with you?”
    “Do I have a choice in the matter?” Jude asked.
    Jon actually laughed at this. “No, not unless you want it to crash.”
    “Let’s have it warm up as much as it needs to. You lead the way.”
    Chuck and the rest of the group, now including Helen, ran behind the pilot, following him out a back door and to the stairs above.
    Jude noticed a phone as he was passing a large group of offices. “You guys keep going, and I'll be up there in a few minutes. If I don’t call home I’m going to lose my damn mind. I need to know—I need to know if I need to go home.”
    Chuck said, “You all go on up there, damn it, we'll be up in two shakes.”
    The girls didn’t look too pleased about splitting up, but went anyway. Jude had not done wrong by them yet, they sprinted up the stairs with Charlie and Helen, following the pilot. Jude said, “You should get your ass up there, Chuck, that’s a guaranteed ride, brother. Don’t go passing it up.”
    “Well, if I go home without you," Chuck said, "Maria is going to royally kick my fucking ass! So why don’t you get going on your little phone call so we can go up and meet them.”
    Jude picked up the receiver, dialing the number. Each spin of the wheel seemed to take a year. By the time he was done, he was ready to smash the phone, knowing that he was wasting precious time. Each unanswered ring of the phone made his heart sink lower in his chest. Finally, after seven rings, a voice answered, just barely audible.
    “Hello? Jude, Chuck, who is this?”
    Jude, unable to control himself, gave Chuck's shoulder a celebratory punch. Unfortunately for Chuck, Jude had not been focused on limiting his strength. Chuck rocked back, losing his balance, tripping over an office chair, and landing on his ass. Jude yelled, “Oh, shit, Chuck, sorry, I was just so excited that I — well, I don’t know what I was thinking.”
    Chuck rubbed at his shoulder. “Yeah, well, I’m super-excited, too. Let me give you a nice celebratory kick to your balls; I'll try to refrain from kicking you too hard. How does that sound?”
    Jude took a few steps back, shaking his head. “Maria, is that you?”
    “Jesus, Jude, who else would it be? Tell me you're almost home, that you're on your way here right now!”
    Jude looked up at the ceiling, thinking about his answer, and said, “Well , we actually went west instead of north.”
    “Were you lost, or stupid?”
    “I’m fighting zombies with fucking chainsaws. I'd say I’m probably crazy. We wanted to warn people; we figured going to a big city and getting on the news would be the easiest way to do it. We just did it, and now we're going to fly home. We