Emma glanced over her shoulder and saw that Ted had managed to grab one of the handholds and hook his knee over another. His other leg dangled dangerously close to the grasping hands of the zombies teeming below. Getting to her feet, Emma edged forward on the shuddering bus to help Kurt drag Ted to safety.
Throughout the entire ordeal, the gunshots never stopped as the team did its job thinning out the zombies in the gap between the building and the bus. Emma swept her gaze over the area long enough to see numerous corpses dotting the ground. More zombies staggered out from the trees. They were in bad shape, most likely stragglers from the herd. Nonetheless, zombies in large numbers were a serious threat. The team was running out of time and needed to leave soon.
Digging her fingertips a little harder than necessary into Ted’s soft arm, she helped Kurt pull him fully onto the roof. Ted crawled to the hatch and disappeared inside without even a word of thanks.
“Asshole,” Kurt grumbled.
“Scared asshole. Now to get Belinda.”
“If you give me the harness, I’ll get her,” Kurt said.
“You sure?”
“I’m taller and have longer legs. I’ll straddle the gap and lift her across to you.”
“Sounds good.”
Emma started to unbuckle the harness, but was distracted when Juan climbed through the hatch. He glanced at her and Kurt briefly before rushing forward, preparing to leap across to the building.
“No! Don’t! It’s not safe!” Kurt cried out.
It was too late. Juan jumped, sailed easily over the gap, and landed with a resounding thud on top of the roof next to where Belinda was cowering. There was a loud cracking sound and then the roof crumpled beneath them.
21
People are Stupid
The roof of the building partially crumpled, creating a dangerous makeshift slide that disappeared into the darkened depths of one of the restrooms. With a scream, Belinda disappeared from view into the bathroom below. Somehow Juan managed to hook his fingers around the lip of the corrugated metal panel as it pitched down at a slant.
The thunderous noise of the roof collapse immediately caught the attention of the zombies. Redirecting their focus from the people on top of the bus, they surged through the entrances into the two separate bathrooms.
Emma froze, unable to fathom the stupidity of her fellow Texan. The tall man was trying to reach into the building, which was a good sign that Belinda was among the living. Next to her, though barely able to stand on his feet, Kurt started forward.
Emma caught his arm. “You’re too weak to help them. I’ll do it.”
The young man started to protest, but was distracted by the appearance of Monica climbing out of the hatch.
“Kurt, get below and help thin out the zombies. Emma and I will help my damn fool cousin and Belinda,” Monica said.
“We got this, Kurt. You already did your best to help her. Now it’s our turn.”
Kurt reluctantly retreated through the hatch while Monica leaned over and hooked a new harness to the roof of the bus. Pulling it on, she gritted her teeth, the fury in her eyes obvious. She was a powerful-looking woman with muscular arms and legs beneath her clothing. There was a good chance that between the two of them they could rescue both people as long as the zombies hadn’t reached Belinda yet. Only a minute or two had passed, but that was all it took in the zombie apocalypse to lose a life.
“We need to get Juan back over onto the bus and then get Belinda. You know, if she is alive.” Monica glanced toward her cousin, who was yelling down into the bathroom and completely ignoring them. “Sorry again about my ridiculously stupid cousin.”
“I understand desperation. I would’ve done anything to save my loved ones.”
“My loved one is an idiot.” Monica worked feverishly to finish securing her harness while shooting worried looks in Juan’s direction.
“Let’s save your cousin’s ass and chew it out later.”
With a grim expression, Monica finished her task. “That sounds like a plan to me.”
The other woman probably didn’t fully understand how lucky she was to have the chance to save someone she loved. Emma envied her.
The walls of the structure were about a foot thick and provided a ledge to stand on. Monica made the leap across to the building with astonishing surefooted finesse. Maintaining her balance, she extended her hand toward Emma.
“I’ve been working on the construction crews, so this is a cakewalk. Just don’t look down and you’ll be fine.”