Free The Rot (Post Apocalyptic Thriller) by Paul Kane Page B

over the roof. It was then that I felt a rumbling beneath me, the car vibrating, followed by what sounded like an explosion going off. The next thing I knew, a crater the size of a small pond had appeared in front of me; a massive hole in the road! Was that what they were doing, had they set some sort of trap for me, like natives in a jungle? They’d never shown any kind of aptitude for working together before – in fact quite the reverse – but…
    I tugged on the steering wheel to swerve round the hole, sideswiping more of the affected as I did so. One woman’s face pressed up against the glass on the driver’s-side door and I looked right into her eyes as she slid off; they were wide and bloodshot – pleading or murderous, I couldn’t tell which. And I noticed something else… Then she was gone again, replaced by another body – but I was facing front again, watching out for more craters.
    None came, but I saw in my mirror that huge cracks were spreading from that hole – reminded me a little of the glass back at the facility, and I knew what came after that.
    In this case, it was so much worse.
    The cracks reached the buildings on either side of that street, one in particular which looked like a law court or something, then up the sides of them. Eyes flitting from the crowds in front to the rear view, I saw enormous zig-zag streaks travelling up those buildings. It sent shudders along the road, which again I felt through the tyres and the metal of the car’s frame.
    I stamped on the accelerator, trying not to care as I rammed into more of the affected. One barrelled over the bonnet and smacked against the windscreen, splintering it. For a few moments I was completely blind, until the shape rolled off again… and I had to swerve quickly to avoid a collision with a wall.
    That was the least of my problems, though, because just behind me the buildings were starting to topple. Only one at first, but then another and another. They came crashing down as surely as if they’d been marked for demolition – falling on top of many of the affected, crushing them so completely I didn’t feel guilty anymore about driving through them. The collapsed buildings were causing more cracks to appear in the road, chasing me just like the affected had done.
    The bridge… I had to get to the bridge. I couldn’t be that far away from it, either. I had to be nearly there, had to be…
    Then I saw it, like a mirage in the desert – the way out. I coaxed more speed from the car, shrugging off any stragglers I’d picked up along the way that might be slowing me down. There was a cloud of dust and smoke hounding me now as well, from the felled buildings, threatening to overtake me and make me blind again. The ground was still shaking as I revved the engine and made it up and onto the bridge. Looking back I saw the cracks outrun the dust, starting to creep onto the bridge itself.
    “Bollocks!” I hissed through my teeth.
    If the bridge went at that end, I’d definitely go with it. There were no more affected attached to the car anymore, and I couldn’t see any behind me for the plumes – but I could still only go so fast.
    I was almost halfway across by the time the bridge started to collapse. I felt the car begin to tilt, nose upwards, but could do nothing except carry on and hope for the best. The car’s engine was protesting, but I pushed it further – praying the momentum would get me across. It wasn’t like the movies, where I could do some sort of stuntman leap to get me over. This was more of a leap of faith, if anything.
    By the time I was almost at the other side, the car was on an incline and the bridge was rapidly disintegrating behind me. If I made it over, at least none of the affected would be chasing me – those who’d crawled out of the rubble, anyway. I admit, I closed my eyes for the final push – waiting for gravity to drag me backwards, and for the car to fall into the river below. And it was quite a