A low, hungry moan told screamed at him that time was up. They ran to the nearest car, a midrange sedan that would’ve been entirely uninspiring in the old world but now inspired visions of solid metal and glass between them and oncoming death.
The doors were unlocked; they scrambled in. Hands shaking, Ben tried each key in the ignition in turn as shadows began to move in the murky darkness behind them.
“The doors! The doors are closed!”
“Do YOU want to get out and open them?” He asked, finally slotting the key in and turning it. Mercifully, the engine started; it was loud, very loud, especially by the standards of the time immediately pre-fall. “Why couldn’t this have been an electric? Even a hybrid?”
He jammed it into reverse and backed further into the room. A solid, meaty thump told him all he wanted to know about how close they were. Claire locked her door; there’d never been a known instance of a zombie being able to open a door that didn’t swing freely, but this would be a lousy time to learn they were more capable than people assumed.
Slow pounding began on the back of the car as Ben stopped and put it in drive. Claire snapped her seatbelt in, staring at the large doors ahead. Ben took a deep breath. “This is really gonna suck,” he said, then jammed his foot on the gas.
The car started forward, and as he’d feared, it wasn’t a roaring burst of acceleration. They slammed into the door with enough force to break through, but the impact triggered the front airbags.
Everything went black.