The Beginning of the End (Book2): Road to Damnation by Sean Kidd

of the
door and yelled for everyone to run.
    The bus crashed into
the building, smashing the glass exit door and filling the room with
dust and debris.
    Destiny screamed as
Kaden covered his head expecting the roof to come down on top of him.
It took a few seconds for the dust to settle.
    The five stood up and
patted themselves off, engrossed in the bus that was now a few feet
inside the building.
    The rear emergency door
swung open. Daniels stood there with a smile on his face, “Are you
guys going to stand there all day staring at me, or do you want to
get the hell out of this place. Cecilia climbed up the back of the
bus and threw her arms around Daniels, “I knew you wouldn’t leave
us.”
    “Don’t worry,
honey. I’ll never leave you, but for now, I’m going to get all of
us out of here. Now let’s go, everyone on the bus.”
    Bunker was the last one
on the bus and locked the door behind him. Once the door was secure,
he made his way from the back of the bus, climbing over a heap of
dead zombies, which were blocking the aisle. He sat down behind the
driver’s seat, next to Daniels, who was slamming the bus into gear.
    “Did you have a
little trouble commandeering the bus?” Bunker asked, looking back
at the aisle.
    Daniels glanced up at
the oversized bus mirror, “Nope. No problem. Nothing a few rounds
couldn’t fix.”
    Daniels slammed on the
accelerator, and the bus took off. The center of 45th Street was
clear. Zombies lined the sidewalks, but few ventured into the road.
The ones who did were no match for the 65,000-pound bus.
    “Why are they staying
on the sidewalk like that?” Bunker asked.
    “What am I, some sort
of zombie aficionado?” Daniels snapped.
    Daniels paused for a
moment after his outburst, “I’m sorry Bunker. I’m just upset
about Cooper. I'm not used to people dying on my watch. I don’t
know why they’re staying on the sidewalks. Maybe the same reason
some of the zombies in business suits are carrying around briefcases.
Something deep inside of their brains must be telling them it’s
just another day, business as usual.”
    “Except for
occasionally eating some brains.” Bunker joked.
    Cecilia and Kaden
joined the two men in the front of the bus. Daniels glanced at them
in the mirror. Worry and concern painted their faces. He knew he had
screwed up when he left them.
    “Hey guys, I’m
sorry about what happened after Cooper died. I hope you didn’t
think I was leaving you. I was just upset and needed some time. He
was my friend and responsibility. I felt like I let him down.”
    Cecilia touched his
shoulder, “We understand. I knew you’d never leave us, but I was
afraid you were going to get yourself killed out there.”
    “I didn’t, and I
don’t want you to worry. I’m going to get us all out of here.”
    Daniels lifted a finger
pointing through the bus windshield, “See that bridge right there?
It’s the GWB. That’s our way out of here.”
    Destiny called out from
the back of the bus. She had been going through the pockets of the
dead zombies, looking for money and anything else that tickled her
fancy. “I thought you was gonna get us out of the city, sugar?”
    “That’s what I’m
doing,” Daniels said.
    “Well, you’re goin’
the wrong way, baby. You gotta drive halfway across the city to get
to the GWB. The Lincoln Tunnel is just a few blocks behind us. I
thought y’all wanted to get out of town. Even more now with them
there creatures coming at us.”
    Destiny was right. The
mundane, repetitive ritual of the dead was altering. They were no
longer living on their old nine to five memories. They became more
aware of the bus barreling down the street. Something seemed out of
sorts to them. Their paths began to turn inward, and the crew inside
recoiled every time a body bounced off the metal bumper.
    “We need to get out
of here,” Kaden said, as the bus struck another zombie, spraying
black ooze across the windshield.
    The wipers did little
good as