Free Aftermath (Book 1): Only The Head Will Take Them Down by Duncan McArdle

inflicted on John’s cheek.
    Luckily for John, this was no bite mark, no last injury that marked the start of the turn to the land of the dead. Unluckily for both of them however, this was a bullet wound, a .45 calibre catastrophe, from an M1911 pistol.
     

Chapter 7: See through the trees
    “Oh my God!”, Andrew yelped, dropping the pistol to the floor as if to separate it from its victim.
“ARRRGGGHHHH!!”, John cried out, unable to control the pain, but still slamming his foot to the floor to at least get the vehicle as far from danger as possible.
    John knew what he was doing, he knew that even in the worst case scenario, he had to do what he could to save the most amount of people, the sort of quick thinking that quickly paid off as more undead creatures leapt at where the truck had so recently been stuck.
    “Oh my God!”, Andrew repeated, still staring in awe at the gushing wound. “Oh my G-“.
“SHUT UP WOULD YOU!?”, John cut him short with an abrupt yell, a yell more akin to a growl that had escaped through gritted teeth.
“But John, your face! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean t-“.
“I KNOW, OKAY? JUST… I know! ”, John cut in again, his eyes seeking the best route around the few remaining obstacles, eventually steering the truck into its first batch of open road since they had begun driving, a sight that would have filled them both with joy, had recent events occurred a little differently.
“Let’s just relax, and g...get somewhere safe so we can l…look at it, okay?”, John stuttered, unable to get through the sentence without reeling from the pain.
Andrew could only nod in response, terrified that anything he said might give John the little further encouragement needed for him to return the .45 calibre favour.
    The two dropped into a world of silence, as John went from looking ahead, to inspecting the map resting on the steering wheel, and occasionally to a brief fit of pain, during which Andrew would tense up, ready to take control of the wheel if needed. Eventually, the silence was broken.
“There’s a patch of w…woodland up ahead. Don’t look too thick but should be enough to cover us up f-for a f-f-few minutes. Have a look r…round for some kind’a first aid kit or something”, John instructed, with an astounding level of calm in his voice that if anything, put Andrew more on edge.
Andrew complied, immediately undoing his seatbelt in order to start scouring the truck for anything that might be of use, and beginning the process of checking every inch from the glove compartment to the roof lining, before eventually ducking into the rear seats to continue his search.
    After some time he emerged once more, still carefully keeping his distance from John, as if expecting him to exact revenge at any moment.
“Got a first aid kit!”, he said, unable to hide the excitement – or the fear – in his voice. “Only got plasters and bandages, but should be enough right?”, he asked.
“Almost, just need something to ste…sterilise it with”, John replied, “Any liquor back there?”, he added, as he briefly removed his hand from the wound, inspecting the damage in the rear view mirror.
“I saw a bottle of vodka I think, that be okay?”, Andrew timidly inquired, like a school child unsure if the answer they were giving was even close to correct.
“That’ll do, get that, treeline is just up ahead”, John instructed, noticing the sight of tree-tops a little further along the road.
    Cutting the engine well in advance – so as to reduce the noise made on arrival – John let the truck roll up to an area of freeway alongside the trees, the pair both attempting to spot the slightest sign of movement, but quickly concluding there to be none. With no wrecks in sight, it was unlikely many people had ‘turned’ in the area, and so the conclusion wasn’t actually all that far-fetched. Applying the parking brake and removing the keys, John stepped out of the truck and headed for the trees,