"Maybe we shouldn't stop," Jenni said fearfully.
Katie considered her words, then shook her head. "If we can save someone, we should. " She slowed the truck down to a stop and listened to the hot engine tick and rumble.
The man walked briskly over to them and gripped the edge of the window frame with trembling hands. "Good thing you gals came along. My wife isn't doing so hot. We broke down about two hours ago. "
"What's wrong with your wife?" Katie asked though she knew the answer.
"Got some crazy shit going down on the highway. People grabbing other people out of cars and doing all sorts of just-” He shook his head. "I can't even explain it. It was just insane. Wife had her window down and some little kid bit her arm. I didn't think it was that bad, but she's not doing too good right now. I was heading back home, avoiding the highway, when we broke down. Now I think she needs a doctor. "
Katie sighed softly. The man had a very earnest face and kind eyes. His skin was weathered from the Texan sun and beads of sweet trailed down his long nose. For a moment, she just wanted to hug him and comfort him, but he wouldn't understand. He didn't understand. Not yet.
The passenger door creaked open and Jenni slipped out. Jack started to follow, but she shut the door on him and he woofed at her.
"Lady, we need your help bad," the man said, obviously unnerved by Katie's silence.
"There isn't any help for her," Katie said finally. "Anyone bit is…doomed. "
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"You know how people were attacking each other on the highway? It's that way in the city too. Everywhere. People get bit they get sick and attack other people. " She wasn't sure how he would take to the zombie theory.
A flutter of pink caught her eye and she looked toward where Jenni was staring into the car. Jenni took a step back and glanced back toward Katie.
Sadly, she shook her head. The warm Texas wind blew hard against the truck, rocking it, and sent bits of dry grass and leaves spinning across the road.
The man was silent for a long time. He was obviously thinking hard.
"Then we gotta get her to the hospital before it’s too late. "
"She's almost gone," Jenni said as she stepped up next to the man.
"She's real bad, Katie. I think maybe we should…” She motioned toward the shotgun.
"Mister, I know you love your wife. Trust me I know how you feel, but you need to come with us and leave her. She's not going to be the woman you love in just a short while," Katie said to him. Impulsively, she laid her hand over his. "Please, come with us. "
Jack let out a sharp bark followed by a growl.
All three of the humans turned back toward the station wagon. A woman with long blond hair was struggling out of the open passenger window. Her greenish skin and opaque eyes said it all. She was dead and hungry.
"Shit!"
"Honey?"
"Get in the truck!" Katie flung her door open and Jenni crawled in over her faster than she would have thought possible.
The man hesitated as his wife hit the road hard, landing on her face.
"Please, get in the truck!" Katie screamed at the man.
He looked at her in confusion, then back at his wife who was struggling to get to her feet. "Lady, you're both fucking nuts," he decided and headed toward his wife.
Katie slammed the door shut. "Shit!"
"Run her over," Jenni ordered. "Just flatten her ass and save him. "
The man was moving toward his newly zombified wife. She was obviously disoriented by her fall to the ground and was staring off in the opposite direction. He called out her name and she whirled around and snarled.
"He's stupid," Jenni hissed.