I'd expected them to leave us.

I really did. Considering who was in that other vehicle, I may have been tempted to leave them. So it came as a bit of a shock when the pickup made a hard turn and sped back in our direction.

The blood was rushing through my head so fast I could hear it. The outside sounds seemed to be muffled, like they were coming from far away, or I was under water. The smell from the burning tire had filled the suv. Several zombies still scrabbled against the outside of the vehicle. Rex, having completely lost his cool, was lunging from one side of the vehicle to the other, barking madly.

Our tiny portion of the world was in complete chaos, literally burning to the ground around us. It was time to get out of there.

Tires screeching against the pavement, the truck zoomed past us and made another hard turn around, before pulling to an abrupt stop ten feet away. That was when I noticed that the leading edge of the crowd of zombies that had gathered behind us was getting much closer than I'd thought. There wasn't much time, seconds really, before the handful of zombies outside multiplied exponentially.

"Go!" Bill shouted as he flung his door open, knocking a small zombie back.

Everything seemed to slow down. My brain was somehow able to compute too much detail. My hand registered the rough nylon strap of my backpack, including the tear made by zombie teeth, as I held on to the bag in a death grip. The zombie outside my door was going to make it impossible to get out without getting bitten. Making a decision, I scrambled to the other side, following Shawn out his door.

The thick cloud of smoke burned as soon as I inhaled my first gulp of outside air. Coughing uncontrollably, I dodged the zombie that Maya had just shoved out of her way. The rough fur of the dog brushed me as he bounded out of the suv and tackled the zombie that was still regaining it's balance.

On the other side of the vehicle, Bill was trying to handle both the small zombie that he had shoved, and the one that had been staring in my window. It wasn't going well, and he had resorted to just desperately trying to avoid both sets of teeth until help came. The big man was still not one hundred percent after being shot and I knew that he still didn't have full motion or strength back in one arm.

Maya, seeing her husband's predicament, bolted around the front of the suv. With my heightened state of mental clarity, I decided that her shoving that zombie made sense. She probably had no idea that she'd sent the creature tumbling my way, her whole focus trained on Bill.

Still near my feet, it had only been a split second since I'd jumped from the vehicle, Rex yelped as the zombie managed to sink it's teeth into his shoulder, before renewing his attack with a new frenzy. Jumping forward, I wound up and kicked the zombie in the head with all of my strength. The zombie let go of the dog, shaking it's head like it was stunned.

Somewhere very nearby, there was a gunshot. Yelling for the dog to follow, I turned and ran around the back of the suv.

The horde of approaching zombies was close enough that the sounds of many feet on the pavement and their shrieks and growls made the hair raise along the back of my neck. I didn't spare them a look. Something told me that there was no time to slow down for even a second.

Another gunshot rang out and I rounded the back of the suv in time to see Sam leaning out of his open truck door, a handgun in hand, aiming at a zombie that had tried to sneak around behind Maya. He was an impressive shot, because he fired again and the zombie dropped.

Just feet ahead of me , Shawn swung a tire iron at a tall zombie. If the rivulets of fresh blood running into it's eyes were any indication, it wasn't the first time he'd hit it. This time the zombie went down and he ran the last few steps to the back of the truck.

Inside the cab of the pickup, Marcus was shouting to hurry up. The sounds of approaching zombies were getting louder by the heartbeat. Shawn flung his own bag into the bed of the truck before turning around and reaching to grab for me. The grip around my waist almost hurt, as he picked me up and tossed me into the back of the truck. I landed in an uncoordinated heap on top of my backpack.

Shawn climbed into the truck right behind me and Maya came up and over behind him. Rex vaulted over the tailgate and landed on top of where I was still trying to get myself upright. Through the fur that was now in my face, I saw Shawn reach down and grab Bill's hand, helping pull our friend on board.

Bill wasn't even fully in the back of the truck when the vehicle lurched forward. He ended up tumbling to the bottom of the bed and joined Rex and I in the tangle of limbs that was preventing me from getting up. I caught a glimpse of a zombie reaching the side of the truck, hands stained with dried blood reaching out to try to grab one of us, before the truck gained enough speed to leave it in the dust.

It was silent in the back of the truck for a few long seconds, everyone out of breath and just taking stock, making sure that they were ok. Finally able to get up, I pushed myself upright and looked around with wide eyes.

We'd made it. The slowly burning suv was quickly disappearing behind us, it's cloud of black smoke rising high into the air and marking how far we had come.

"Is everyone ok?" My own voice sounded strange to my ears.

"I think, yeah."

Shawn was checking my own arms and legs for bites, ignoring himself at the moment. He'd answered me too fast to know for sure that he was fine. I pushed him away, a little annoyed.

I was pretty sure that I was ok. Rex's toenails had gouged long scratches into my side when he landed on me, and I was just now noticing that one of my toes hurt on the foot that I used to kick the zombie, but I was sure that I hadn't been close enough to any of the creatures to get a bite.

"I'm ok," I told him , trying to placate him.

"We're good, too," Maya told us, dropping down to sit heavily next to her husband. "What about him?" She jerked her chin toward Rex.

Remembering his yelp, I pulled the dog closer to inspect his shoulder. The bite was fairly deep, but it could have been worse. Blood had stained his fur, matted down the hair, and ran down his leg. The flow seemed to have stopped though. I was going to have to clean it up and treat it to try to avoid infection, but I thought the dog would be ok.

"I think he's ok. It looks like the bleeding has stopped already." It wasn't the first time the dog had tangled with a zombie and ended up bloody. Fortunately, he seemed to be immune to the infection, and the dog was tough.

"Good," she nodded.

A loud tap on the back window of the truck drew our attention to Sam. "All good back there?" He shouted through the tinted glass at us.

"Yeah, all good. Thanks man," Bill told him.

I was pretty sure he was talking about Sam's taking out the zombie that had tried to sneak up on Maya. Even I had to admit, the guys had come through for us.

A screaming zombie chose that moment to charge the truck, swinging wildly at us before we outpaced it. It brought attention to the fact that four adults, one large dog, and a couple of full survival bags took up all of the space in the bed of a pickup. There wasn't much room to get away from the sides. We were frighteningly exposed. We were going to have to figure out a solution, sooner rather than later.

Taking stock of the supplies that we hadn't left behind to burn was disappointing. Shawn and I were the only ones that had managed to bring along our bags. Maya had dropped hers in her hurry to help Bill, and having been driving, Bill's bag had been in the back with Rex. All of the extra food, water, and gas that had been piled into the back was lost as well.

We'd gone farther with less, I reminded myself. The important part was no one had been seriously hurt. Sighing, I settled back, shielding my eyes from the overhead sun, on the lookout for zombies that were quick enough to make a grab for us over the sides of the truck.