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progress slowed even further. Palms and fists pounded the windows and sheet metal of the car. Rick was looking backward as he tried to push the car through the crowd. He had his arm over the back of his seat and was pressing hard on the accelerator, but he wasn’t moving backwards. The rear tires were spinning faster now, losing traction. A palm smacked against the passenger side window, and Sam screamed. Another smack, and a spider web crack appeared. Chris pointed his gun at the window. “DON’T SHOOT!” Rick screamed. Chris turned and looked at Rick, his eyes wide. Three undead had clambered on to the hood of the car and were pounding on the windshield. Rick threw the car into drive and jammed his foot on the accelerator. They moved forward a little at first, then shot forward quickly. One undead fell off the hood, but the other two didn’t let go. Rick went about thirty feet and jammed the brakes on. The two hangers-on shot forward and into the street, the water from the hydrant dousing them both. As one of them stood up, he hit the live wire, and began to dance. The other was halfway to his feet when his companion connected the wire and the puddle, electrifying the entire street. The one who hit the wire caught fire, and after about a second and a half, they both fell down smoking. 
    Rick threw the car into reverse again and floored it. He plowed through the group of undead and they went flying in all directions. The car spun hard to the right, and Rick felt the wheel pull out of his hands. The Crown Vic completed its spin and ended up sideways against a storefront. Many stumbling forms approached from both directions. Rick was dazed from the impact. When he collected his wits, a group of eleven dead had surrounded the car, smacking the driver’s side windows and the hood. One balled its fist and punched the rear window. On the second punch, the window cracked. Rick reached in the back to get the SPAS-12, and a filthy, bloody hand smashed a hole through the back window and grabbed his arm. Sam started crying, and Chris was hollering. Rick tried to shake off the attacker pulling away as best he could, the undead woman’s flesh coming away in long strips against the shards of broken safety glass. The rest of the window gave way, and the creature started climbing through.
    The front window cracked, and Chris leaned over and shot through the window into the face of an undead policeman, leaving a bullet hole in the glass. The shot was loud in the car, but Chris shifted and fired a round into the head of the woman pulling on Rick’s arm. The front window caved in and a former hospital worker in scrubs reached in and grabbed Rick. A young boy, missing the left side of his face was climbing in the back window.
    Chris shot the kid in the eye, and it fell where it was, partially blocking the rear window. Rick was fighting with the hospital worker when a deep bass horn sounded behind them. Some of the dead looked up to see a green and white city garbage truck barrelling toward them. The truck sideswiped the Crown Vic, breaking the dead orderly’s grip on Rick, and pushing it thirty feet down the road. A backup alarm sounded, and the garbage truck backed up, crushing all dead in its path. The truck moved forward again, obliterating anything left. A huge man hopped out of the vehicle with a two foot piece of rebar in his fist. He calmly walked across the street and brought the rebar around in a sideways arc, smacking the last undead in the immediate area in the head. There was a sickening crunch, and the former butcher dropped like a sack of potatoes. 
    The man walked over to the Crown Vic and looked in.
    “Name’s Dallas, you comin’?” The man had an unmistakable southern drawl. 
    Rick and Chris looked at each other, and grabbed their stuff. “C’mon honey, we’re getting out of here,” Rick said, pushing the door open.
    Rick, Chris, and Sam got out of the car and ran to the truck. Rick climbed up and tossed his