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BEN
“Run,” Ben says, turning to Kate and Reed. “I’ll blow the buildings.”
“Fuck that. We’re not leaving you,” Kate replies. Without another word, she lifts the rocket launcher onto her shoulder, taking aim at the mass descending on them.
Ben only has time to scream “No!” before she pulls the trigger.
The force of the rocket launcher throws her flat against the ground. The rocket shoots out at a wild angle, making a curlicue through the air before striking.
Her rocket flies into the flank of the undead closing in on them. The ground explodes, sending out a cloud of grit, smoke, and undead body parts.
The explosion sets off the zombies. They stampede straight for the noise, falling and tripping in their haste to reach the sound. Not even the teenage alpha zombie can rein them in.
A path opens up. Ben spins around to find Kate groaning on the ground. She rubs at the back of her head, her hand coming away sticky with fresh blood. The sight of it freezes his guts.
“Come on, Mama.” Reed helps her up.
Ben pulls the rocket launcher from around her shoulder. “I’ll take that,” he growls. “You’re going to bring a damn building down on us.”
Kate’s eyes are glazed from her fall, but Ben notes the stiffening of her jaw. She might hurt like hell, but she’s still in this fight. Good.
The three of them make their way away from the dorms in a tight cluster, heading for the opening created by Kate’s rocket. In the confusion, most of the zombies don’t notice them. They take out any who get too close with a knife through the ear or eye.
A new explosion rocks the ground to the east. Following hard on the heels of the first explosion are three more in rapid succession. The dorm on the eastern-most edge of the cluster disintegrates in a reverse mushroom cloud.
The force of the blast throws Ben sideways. He smacks straight into several zombies.
A hand latches onto his arm. Another grabs his knee. Ben’s nostrils flare in rage and fear as he tries to twist away.
Reed leaps into the fray, landing on the back of an undead just as it raises its mouth to bite down on Ben’s thigh. A whip-quick strike across the back of the neck severs the brain stem and drops the monster.
Reed springs toward the next nearest zombie, executing the same lethal move. The kid is as fast with his knife as he is with his feet.
Ben kicks the rest of the way free and clambers to his feet, searching for Kate.
He finds her facing off against four undead, wielding her zombie club like a demon. Her face is painted in red blood, her eyes wild. He rushes toward her with Reed on his heels, the three of them dispatching the zombies.
He’s about to tell them both to get the hell out of there when another succession of explosions rips through the air. This time, it’s the centerline dorm. Ben barely has time to register the impending collapse before a wave of soot and smoke rushes over them.
He reaches for Kate, throwing himself on top of her to shelter her from the blast. Reed dog piles in with them, the three of them going down.
The spray of debris is like acid across his skin, cutting through his clothes. A piece of shrapnel embeds itself into his shoulder, hurting like a motherfucker. He wipes grit out of his eyes, searching the cloudy landscape. His ears ring and his eyes burn.
Another building down. Another wall between the campus and the undead swarm.
The last building is on the west side—his building. He has to take it down. The C-4 is all in place, but fuck, they’re too close to it.
His searches through the debris for an opening, but there are none. It’s a seething mess of undead and rubble, and it’s only getting worse.
How ironic. They might indeed save the campus if they manage to get this building down, but they might all die in the process.
“Reed.” Kate’s voice comes out in a gasp. She helps the slender boy sit up. A huge gash mars his forehead, spilling blood down his face and soaking his clothes.
“Get him out of here,” Ben says. “Take cover. We can’t wait any longer.”
“What about you?” Her eyes are anguished as she looks to him.
“Move it!” he barks.
Kate loops her hands under Reed’s arm and helps him to the protective shelter of a large fountain. He waits just long enough to see them hunker down on the far side.
Then he spins around, raises the rocket launcher, and fires.
The first missile strikes the side of the farthest building. Ben reloads and fires a second time, then a third, and then a fourth.
The backlash from the buildings is thunderous and absolute. A billowing wall of smoke and grit engulfs him, swallowing him whole.
The world goes dark.