The zombie on me was pulled off and tossed aside.

Dave huffed and puffed. He was covered in dark blood. He jumped onto the zombie’s skull with both feet as I slowly sat up and pushed my way up to stand. That skull shattered. Brain matter squished out from every orifice.

A Humvee was on the bridge, cleaning house.

The gunner on top reminded me of Han Solo in the gun pit of the Millennium Falcon. The cavalry arrived.

Dave grabbed my arm, turned me. Spade was down by Joy Lane. We raced toward him. My heart hammered inside my chest. Rolling tears felt cold against my skin. I thought it had been over; my kids would have been orphaned.

Spade waved toward the Humvee, and let out a whoop.

We rounded Joy and cut to Mariana Drive.

I saw the Coast Guard boat docking. My kids ran for it. They didn’t yet see me. They didn’t look back. Zombies closed in on them.

Chapter Five

Spade reached the zombies headed for the Coast Guard first, just as shots sounded. The zombies dropped one by one. None made it to the vessel. None able to harm my kids, Allison, or Sues.

Spencer was on the boat, pulling them in. The river current bounced the vessel up and down. Splashes from the wake crashed over the dock.

We jumped over fallen zombies, ignoring the headshots; the thick black blood oozing from bullet hole sized shattered skulls.

“Second Humvee is up there,” Spade said. Spencer nodded. He turned and said something to a crewman.

The revving engine of the Humvee came from behind. As I set a shoe onto the craft, and as Spencer offered down a hand to hoist me up and over, I looked back. Once safely on the ship, I watched.

All the noise. Boats, Humvees, machine guns . . . zombies came from everywhere. Looking up, I saw still more on the bridge. Several climbed over the side and fell lifeless into the river. They wanted us to the point of plunging to a most certain death? They just kept . . . you couldn’t say jumped. It was clearly falling. They hated rain, but would water kill them? Could they swim?

I couldn’t look away. What started as a few, turned into several, and the further from the bridge we were, the more that went over. It was a wave of infected humans. They plunged into the icy river. It was both a sad and terrifying sight; one that was burned into my mind, a memory I would not be able to lose no matter how hard I tried.

The gunner up top on the Humvee climbed down and opened the back door. A soldier, two guys and a female got out. They looked like we must have just over an hour ago. Terrified. Wide-eyed. Breathless.

The driver and passenger in the military vehicle used their rifles to decimate zombies. None as accurate as Spade, but they killed creatures like there was no tomorrow. In our case, that might not be far from the truth.

There were seven of them, four military and what looked like three civilians, and they all ran for the small Coast Guard vessel. Allison stood next to me, and Cash was holding her hand. The two seemed to have bonded. Charlene stood in front of me, made a twitching motion, like if I didn’t have a hand on her shoulder, she might jump off the boat and run to assist in an attempt to help them reach us more quickly.

“Marfione,” Spade said. “Where are the others?”

“They didn’t make it,” Marfione said. “We didn’t get a radio transmission, but we found the Humvee. The bodies. Wasn’t zombies. Someone opened fire on them. It was a massacre. Must have caught them off guard. I don’t know what happened there. No idea.”

The civilians climbed onto the vessel first. Allison and I assisted as much as we could. I didn’t want to be in the way. Standing around and watching ate at my nerves. All I kept thinking about was Josh, Dave’s brother. He’d not been killed by zombies, but by someone with a rifle. Shot and killed for no good reason. It had been senseless. Violent and senseless. I wondered if the same person or group that had killed him was responsible for the attack on the third Humvee? Now was not the time.

When all four military personnel from the second Humvee were on board, Spencer shouted something to the crewman at the helm. The craft bounced and bobbed away from the dock just as a handful of zombies reached the slip.

A crewman with a gun took a few headshots. It didn’t deter them. They didn’t back away, or run off. At this point, it didn’t matter. We were in the water, moving north with the current of the Genesee.

I watched the bridge. All of the zombies pressed against the chest high wall had arms stretched out reaching for us. Fingers wiggled in jerky movements. Then they would be up on the wall and falling over. The splashes were big, but silent. The whine ringing from the Coast Guard’s engine drowned out any other sound.

Then I felt it. The sense washed over me. It was the first time in days, weeks, maybe. A total sense of relief. With help from friends, I’d found and rescued my kids and now . . .  was it finally safe to feel safe? The military was evacuating us from the area, bound to take us somewhere secure and protected. Life might not ever be the same, but all that kept running through my mind was that we’d made it.

We’d survived.

I knew I was smiling.

Dave looked at me, cocked his head to one side and was smiling, too. We shook hands. A quick hug.

“We’re going to be all right,” he said. “We’re going to be just fine.”

The tears shed felt bittersweet. Our journey cost lives. People, friends really, that won’t ever be forgotten. Ever. “Thank you, Dave, for everything.”

Cash latched onto my leg. I’m sure my flood of emotions confused him. I knelt down.

“Where are they going to take us?” he said.

I shook my head. “I don’t know, yet, but somewhere safe, you can be sure of that. We’re going to someplace away from all of these monsters.”

He bit his lower lip as if he was digesting my words. When he nodded and smiled, I realized it had finally sunk in for him, too.

When I stood up, Charlene took my hand. I loved it. I was surrounded by the people who meant the most to me.

“Come here,” I said to Allison. She was not to be left out. She was family.

Sues was silent, though, and looking past me.

I turned to see what held her attention. The three other civilians were huddled close, whispering. Maybe having a similar conversation. The two guys sat on either side of the female. They all sat bent forward with elbows on their knees.

The talking stopped when a female with the Coast Guard knelt between them. She set a medical bag down and opened it up. One of the guys, the white one, rolled up his sleeve. He did it slowly. The black guy in the group watched me.

I saw a bloody forearm and raw meat from a gaping, jagged gash.

The black guy and I locked eyes. He nodded. It was slight. Looked like a way to say, thank you for your concern, but we’re good here. Move along. There’s nothing more to see.

I turned away. Wasn’t my business.

Carrying blankets, Marfione walked past us. He handed them out. The black guy wrapped one around the woman’s shoulders, the white guy’s shoulders, and then did the same with the third for himself.

“You guys want some?” Marfione said. He talked to me. I noticed what was happening. I was addressed, because I was assumed to be in charge of my group of people. I hoped I was wrong, because I didn’t want it to be that way. Shouldn’t be that way. Just like with Dave and Josh--we’d all bond. Eventually.

We all declined. The air was cold. Crisp. It felt invigorating.

I saw the Coast Guard station. It had to be about a mile from the O’Rourke Bridge. We were close. Dare I think it, sanctuary?

“What happened to the Border Patrol people, the ones in the helicopter? Are they coming with us?” I said.