Free Zombie Dawn Outbreak by Michael G. Thomas

friend’s helmet.
    “Matt! Matt!” shouted Gary.
    His friend awoke, still dazed.
    “What happened?” asked Matt.
    “We were hit by a van, we have to move!” said Gary.
    He got up and helped Matt to his feet. They grabbed a few shields and batons and threw them out the open hatch onto the road before heaving themselves out. Richards was trying to pull the body of the driver, Jacob, out of his seat.
    “What are you doing?” asked Gary.
    “Jacob is dead, but Rob is stuck down there in the passenger seat, give me a hand,” said Richards.
    It was a dreadful thing to have to do. All of them were friends, and they had been talking to Jacob just minutes before. Now they had to haul his dead body out of a wrecked vehicle, to be tossed aside. Gary took hold of Jacob’s body armour with Richards and yanked his body out of the cab, tumbling it off the vehicle onto the road. They reached in and pulled Rob up out of the vehicle. His leg was cut and bleeding.
    “Can you walk?” asked Richards.
    “Not sure, I’ll do what I can,” said Rob.
    The men clambered from the smashed vehicle onto the road. Rob winced in agony as he landed on his injured leg. They took up the batons and shields from the ground.
    “Can you walk or not?” asked Richards.
    “I don’t think so, Sarge,” said Rob.
    “Matt, Gary, give him some help,” said Richards.
    Richards looked around the area. Cars still whizzed in and around the wreckage of the vehicles, none stopped to give assistance. In all directions what they knew as rioters were shambling about. Most of these people were covered in blood and they seemed to amble aimlessly around.
    “We can be at the station in five to ten minutes if we get a shift on,” said Richards.
    The group set off towards their destination. It was hot and tiring to be constantly on the move in full riot gear, but with people being attacked all around they were glad of the protection. Whilst Gary and Matt helped Rob keep up, Richards took point.
    Richards was a capable man and his anger at what had happened to his officers was about to be unleashed on anyone who dared get in their way. They took a bend to see three people in their path.
    “Step aside!” shouted Richards
    The people didn’t respond. Their skin was pale and oddly wrinkled, their clothes torn. Blood was all over their clothing and they staggered towards the group. They appeared to no longer be human, but brain dead, yet they moved with purpose.
    “Stand aside or we will use force!” said Richards.
    The people gave out groans and didn’t stop. Richards was not ever a man of violence, but these people were responsible for the deaths of his friends and fellow officers. He went forward with his shield and baton at the ready. He slammed the baton into the stomach of the first, causing it to keel over. Before it could recover he hit the back of the shoulder blades, sending the man tumbling to the ground.
    He struck the legs of the next person, a woman. The baton struck her knee cap sending her tumbling to the pavement. Finally he slammed his shield into the third one and shoved him up against the building next to them.
    “Why are you doing this? What is the purpose?” asked Richard.
    The man didn’t reply, but stared into Richards’s eyes. His jaw opened and he fought against his hold, but couldn’t break free of the position he was wedged into. The two people on the floor were already getting up, as if they hadn’t even noticed the injuries or pain they’d received.
    “Hold on to him,” said Matt.
    Gary held Rob up as Matt stepped in to help Richards. The woman whose knee was knackered was kneeling, unable to get back up because of the joint injury. Matt kicked her in the face with his steel toe capped boot, her nose exploded in blood as she was thrown onto her back. He twisted around and smashed his baton horizontally into the other’s face, breaking his jaw.
    “Have that you bastards!” shouted Matt.
    “What are these people?” asked