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of rotting flesh that turns my stomach when I inhale.
    The more I thrash about , the tighter his grip seems to become. Like a crocodile compressing its jaws down on a helpless wildebeest, its grip becoming more vicelike with every struggle of the prey.
    I stand my ground and try pounding him with my free hand, but my strongest blows don’t seem to be causing him to flinch much.
    I ’m about to land one more punch when a mouthful of spit, the makeup of which contains as much blood as it does saliva, lands squarely on my cheek. The disgusting dark greenish red mixture slides down my cheek and drips off to the floor.
    The sight of this is enough for Emma to fly into action and she grabs an emergency fire extinguisher from the drivers’ area. One swift blow to the head is enough to loosen his grip on me as well as two of his teeth.
    “Hands off , he’s mine,” she threatens the now unconscious heap. This girl is unlike any I’ve met before. By looking at her you would assume she was a girly girl who wouldn’t be able to protect herself. How wrong you’d be. She’s either got a lot of courage or some seriously underlying anger issues.
    She picks up a random ly discarded hoody from one of the seats and wipes the grim fluids off my face.
    “Now were even,” she spouts as she taps her finger against the cut on her cheek from the other night.
    I don ’t have time to muster a laugh or a smile as meanwhile three more sick looking excuses for human beings have come aboard the bus. They’re slowly shuffling down the aisle towards us, making disturbing growl like noises and throwing fearsome looks in our direction.
    Amongst the trio are two men, one of whom looks in about the same condition as the taxi driver. The next one looks fine except for that all too familiar grey tinged skin. And the final lurker is none other than the Toma girl.
    Her appearance has diminished considerably since we last saw her. Her facial skin has sagged, and the veins look as if they’re almost protruding through her skin. Her eyes are bloodshot and bulge in their sockets. The rest of her bared skin is in the same condition.
    She appears to be the leader of the group as she’s first to make a move for us. Letting out a frightening howl, she quickens her advances towards us. Albeit, not a major increase in speed as it seems her apparent cell degeneration is causing her significant problems with her motor functions.
    I ’m frozen to the spot, my body stiff with fear. I feel like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. Emma is shouting my name and pulling at me to move, but my usual cowardice has made a triumphant return at the worst possible time. If I don’t move I’ll end up like one of the rest of these sickening pukes.
    “ Emma get out the emergency exit,” I manage to spit out.
    I feel her let go of me . Good. Run!At least you might get away safe. You might even think I sacrificed myself to hold these mutants up to give you time to escape . It’s the usual story. I dream of being a hero, but when it comes down to it my imagination is as far as my heroism gets. I’m such a pitiful loser.
    The wretched Toma is practically upon me. All I’m able to do is close my eyes in anticipation of what’s to come.
    Whoosh! It sounds as though a jumbo jet has flown by my right hand side. I feel cool droplets speckle across my face.
    I open my eyes and before me is a white fog. Thick and scented like chemical s. The realisation of what’s happening takes a second for my brain to register but as Emma flings the emptied fire extinguisher towards the front of the bus I snap out of my daze.
    “Move ,” she barks. I back away from the filthy choking coughs emanating from in front of me and we both make a hasty retreat towards the exit beside the back seat.
    I pul l the bar to release the door and push it open but don’t go any further because awaiting us outside is a mob of at least six more of these infected. A fire extinguisher won’t