Free Ravage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel by Iain Rob Wright Page A

caused cars to swerve and crash around them, or mow them down
completely.  The whole scene was a disaster-zone as the healthy fought
desperately against the sick and burning husks of automobiles continued to pile
up like twisted sculptures.
    “Think we can make it through?” Nick asked Dave.
    “I don’t know.  The motorway entrance is totally
blocked, but I might be able to stay on the island and get round onto the A
road.”
    “Do your best.  If we get stalled then we won’t be
able to get moving again.  Those crazies will be all over us.”
    Dave took a deep breath and held it.  He stamped
down on the accelerator, choosing speed over caution.  If any of the
people out there on the road managed to get caught up in the bus’s wheels they
would grind to a halt and have no escape.  Speed was their best option.
    Dave steered to the right as a body flew out in front of
them, arms flailing in the air.  Nick could not tell if it was one of the
crazies or someone normal pleading to be picked up.  They couldn’t afford
to slow down and find out.
    A woman clutched her bloody arm against her chest, up
ahead; it was missing a hand.  She screamed at the bus to help her as it
sped by, but there was no way to do anything for her.  Nick looked back
helplessly as a mob of crazy people engulfed her.
    “Holy shit!” said Eve, who had silently joined them at
the front of the bus.  “They’re like packs of piranha.”
    Dave steered the bus through a gap between an overturned
people carrier and a gold and black Mini Cooper.  They scraped against the
Mini and exchanged paintwork.  Nick figured it was the least of anybody’s
concerns right now.
    The bus jolted as the tyres crunched over something and
swerved slightly.  Fortunately, Dave kept a tight grip on the steering
wheel and held them straight.
    “What was that?” Nick asked.  “What did we run over?”
    “You don’t want to know.”
    They got halfway around the roundabout and the roads
seemed to clear a little.  Mangled bodies littered the verges, but there
was no one walking around there.  The car wrecks were also at a minimum.
    “I think we’re through the worst of it,” said Nick.
    “Yeah,” Eve agreed beside him.  She sounded
relieved.
    Dave put his foot down in reply and the bus lurched on
its axels.  While Nick couldn’t be sure, he had a feeling that the guy’s
unflappable manner was actually masking a great deal of fear; fear that was
currently manifesting as a heavy right foot.
    “Hey, buddy.  Slow down a little.”
    “It’s fine, we’re clear.”
    “I know,” Nick said, “but we don’t know what’s around
the next bend.”
    “Hey, this is my bus.  I picked you up, remember?”
    “I just don’t want us to have an accident.”
    “We won’t.  I know how to drive.”
    Something collided with the front of the bus.  Dave
slammed on the brakes.  The bus fishtailed, its tyres slipping.  The
left side of the vehicle rose up off the road, making Nick feel weightless and
tossing him to the other side of the aisle.  Eve screamed and then landed
right on top of him.  For a few terrifying seconds, the swaying interior
of the bus was silent as the passengers held their breath and waited. 
Nick was sure that the vehicle was about to tip over onto its side and end up
in the ditch.
    But it didn’t happen.
    Thank God.
    The bus came to a stop with a pained screech of its
tyres.  Nick climbed to his feet and headed back to the front of the
aisle.  Dave was staring ahead in a trance.  He had gone deathly
pale.
    “Are you okay?” Nick asked.
    Dave continued to stare forwards.  “I-I’m
fine.  W-what did we hit?”
    “I don’t think it matters,” said Nick, pointing. 
“Look!”
    In front of them was a group of maybe ten or twelve infected
people.  They glared at the bus and let out a single, collective
screech. 
    As a single entity, they rushed forward.
    The first body to collide with the bus was that of a
child.  The