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first bite I know is coming soon.
    But suddenly I hear a whoosh, then a sharp crack. I keep my eyes and mouth firmly closed because I have zombie bits raining down on me, but as soon as I can, I open my eyes to see a metal rod smash into the side of another zombie's head. I squeeze my eyes closed again as the rotten pieces of what I now know is from a zombie's skull fall onto me, but this one was directly over me so I also get the pleasure of feeling thick wet globs land on me too. It takes everything I have to keep from gasping, screaming, and gagging.
    I had almost forgotten about Eric and the girls – Ha, screw almost, I had forgotten about them! – and as relieved as I am, I'm also feeling a little pissed off that it took Eric so damn long to come and help us. But maybe he had a good reason. Maybe it wasn't as long as it seemed to me.  
    Deciding it doesn't even matter, as long as Nick and I get out of this alive, we find the strength to renew our efforts at kicking them away. When the last one has it's head firmly bashed in, Nick and I both collapse, breathing hard and feeling the pain we couldn't afford to feel before. Gasping for air, I open my eyes and look above me to thank Eric. But then my breath is gone again when I see, not Eric standing there with a tire iron, but Vicki !  
    It takes a minute before my brain starts functioning again, but when it finally does, I roll over to my side and push myself up with shaky arms. Managing only a sitting position, I stare up in shock at her, then I look over at Nick. He seems to be in just as much shock as I am.
    "Vicki? What the hell?" Nick asks.
    Vicki shrugs and drops her arms in exhaustion, "I was the star hitter on my softball team before my teammates decided they'd like to eat me. No one else was doing anything to help, and I damn sure wasn't going to just stand there and let them kill you two. Besides, if Nick is going to die, it's going to be with me by his side, and it will be my hand he's holding!"  
    She laughs to let us know she's joking, but I can't help but wonder just how serious she really is about that.
    Even so, my long time irritation with her immediately turns to respect. Now that I know she can be useful, and can protect herself, and others – she is less of a worry and more of a warrior. I think that was my problem the whole time. I was scared of not being able to protect her. I needed to know she could protect herself too. And if I were honest, even with all her faults, I adore her, and I truly expected her to be dead long before now. I guess I needed to keep her at a distance, so her death wouldn't hurt so much. But deep down I know, even if she hadn't turned into some warrior princess, it still would have hurt like hell to lose her.  
    Nick and I, along with Vicki's help, assist each other to our feet. My legs are shaking from the hell I just put them through, and judging by the wobble of Nick's legs, I assume he's feeling it too. Nick and I both wrap our arms around Vicki, showing her how much we appreciate what she did for us. Then I lift my head, ready to kill the other two people myself, for just standing by and watching, instead of helping us.
    But they couldn't have helped us. They're too busy killing zombies, zombies that had come out of the alley next to their car. There are six now, but I see the arm of another emerge from between the buildings, so who knows how many are still coming.  
    "Nick! You two go help them. I'm going to reload our guns, then I'll be right there."
    I snatch up our guns from the ground and take off for our truck while the teens start out at a run to help Eric and Amy. I reload the two guns, and slip another four handguns inside my fatigues. Then I limp over to the group as fast as I can, hand Nick his gun, and we both start taking them down.
    In just the amount of time it took me to deal with the guns, the street has filled with zombies, all coming from the alley. Right now, I would guess there are about thirty