Chapter 19: Atlantis

Another impact occurred in the back of the bus. This time, the bodywork of the vehicle got crumpled, making the students scream in fear. They were taking everything they could find around and throwing it out of the window, aiming to delay the Dreads and lessen the weight on the bus to help it to go faster.

However, the vehicle wasn't surpassing a certain speed, which left it behind Owen's car and the firetruck.

Will was trying to find a way to overcome that situation, and it was already more than clear that they wouldn't do it just with speed. They needed something more, a trump card that would serve to save them.

'But luck never was beside us. Since the start, we have been bumping into things each time worse. If we are alive now it's because of our will. If we had relied on lucky, we wouldn't have come this far!'

The problem there was that there weren't any other ways they could take to save themselves. Without options, the professor could only think about luck, or God, or whatever the force that could take them out of that.

While he reasoned about it, another Dread threw its body against the rear of the bus. The vehicle lost control and skidded on the street. Its rear slid to the side, and for a moment Will thought that the bus would overturn. His heart stopped for a second as he registered that scene ongoing in slow motion.

Will firmly held the steering wheel, maneuvering the vehicle the best way he could and taking its stability again. Once he realized that he could do it, the blood drained from his face. The professor's blood pressure was going crazy.

'Damn, I need medicine!' Although his mind shouted it, his body kept stiff and focusing on the street.

The sound of a shot echoed, a bullet piercing the air beside the bus was audible. The students got excited once they saw Scott wielding his Winchester 30 and shooting against those monsters.

One shoot after another, he delayed the Dreads who were on the tail of Will's bus, but it wasn't enough to kill them. Firearms weren't effective on those things. Also, they recuperated the distance they lost in a matter of seconds, so it was nearly useless.

The Dreads grew angry with those shoots and started to get past the bus and run at a high speed towards the firetruck.

Scott needed to change his focus to defend himself. His previous protection on the bus was now gone, and those monsters reapproached the vehicle again.

'This situation couldn't be worst! Besides multiplying fast and not get harmed by bullets, those things are learning how to fight reasonably. Before, they wouldn't choose which person they would target based on their threat or power, but now...'

He continued shooting, but he knew that it was pointless. That "Army" had about one hundred Dreads. Those "weak" attacks weren't enough to make them stop, and there was always a different Dread to substitute another that got delayed.

"Sarah, go faster!" Scott shouted, pulling the trigger again while gritting his teeth to bear the recoil of the Winchester.

"I can't go any faster than this, Scott! It's already on the max!" She explained, forcing her foot to make the vehicle go any faster, but it didn't speed up.

"Then, please, do this crap of truck travel faster somehow! They are getting here already!"

The despair in her fiance's voice made Sarah get two times as nervous.

"Why don't you go out there and push this thing all the way, then!?" She yelled, making a grimace out of anger and looking to Scott.

A few seconds after their short argument, one of the Dreads, a mutant deer, got beside the truck and smacked it on its side, nearly making it fall to the left.

"Damn it!" The man cursed, needing to hold himself on the window's edge to not fall from there.

The deer gave another vigorously hit with his head. This time, the firefighter needed to pull Sarah and the baby to the right side of the truck to take its balance back. The vehicle lifted one pair of wheels and stayed in the diagonal for some seconds before it got to its right position again.

The Dread was going to give another blow, but the sound of wheels skidding on the asphalt echoed. Owen's car appeared going backward and smashing the deer when it wasn't paying attention, throwing the animal away.

That action made the entire back of the car get dented and the window broke. However, Owen and his family were unharmed.

"Oh my gosh! Thank you, bro!" Scott yelled.

Returning to his rush, Will accelerated the car again, catching up easily with the firetruck.

Owen was so shocked by his actions that he couldn't even speak.

'That burning feeling, as if flames were appearing on my heart...' He breathed in deeply. 'It appeared again for a single moment, enough to make me smack the breaks of the car.'

The ex-manager was still astonished because of that new feeling, which dominated him always when he found himself in danger. It was something that made him think that he could do whatever he wanted, his courage seemed to be endless.

Lisa was looking incredulous at him. She couldn't understand at all when he said to her to take Alysson from the back seat of the car before.

'I am going to do something crazy...' That's what he stated when she asked why. Nevertheless, Lisa would never expect that her husband would do such a thing.

That kind of cooperation was really dangerous, but it bought some time for the group to lessen the distance they had from Atlantis. The town seemed to get bigger each time more, which also raised their hopes and made them believe that everything would be ok.

The Dreads kept on grieve their vehicles. All their structure was dented and crumbling. Many times the bus and the firetruck nearly fell to the side. They were lucky that those monsters still couldn't land a good hit or enter inside.

After so much struggle, they were near the entrance of Atlantis. Even if the vehicles crumbled and the Dreads insisted on their chase, the group could pull through.

Everyone felt relief and excitement for finally arrive at the town, where lots of other survivors also were. That was a selfish thought, but if more people appeared there, the Dreads wouldn't keep trying to chase only them.

Also, it was easier to outwit them while driving inside a city than on a straight road.

'Please, please... Just a little bit more and we will be there! Just a bit--' Will's thoughts were interrupted when another Dread got beside the bus and threw its body against it.

Looking at the rearview, the professor could see something that his mind barely could take.

Running beside their bus was... a human. A person who had the same characteristics as the other Dreads. Its movements were still a bit sluggish; it was learning how to run properly. The cracks on his skin were there, along with that crimson color. His skin was as black as coal. The bloodshot eyes stared with madness towards the bus.

'Humans can transform as well!? Are they able to become Dreads? What the hell...? What the hell!?' Will panicked on the inside. That scene made tears run down his face.

'Are you saying that, just like the animals, we are going to become these terrible things? Does this have something to do with that feeling on our hearts?' As he reasoned, the Dread threw his body against the bus again.

This time, the hit was so strong that they could not help but accept their destiny. The bus fell to the ground and started to slide in the road.

The same happened with the firetruck of Scott and Sarah afterward. That same bull-like Dread ran against them again and headbutted the vehicle, its strength taking off one of its wheels and making it fall.

Owen's car was the only one good enough to keep going, but the Dreads were now looking towards his moving vehicle and wouldn't save efforts to stop him as well.

Will went off the bus, jumping through its window and looking to the outside. He made sure that the other students were doing the same as him. The person who didn't follow would be left behind and considered dead. His face was pale, and he was expecting that his end would be right there in that idiotic way.

Their luck was that the Dreads were still trying to climb that bus, but it wouldn't take too long for them to make it happen. They just were having a hard time because they were quadrupeds and never needed to jump so high before, but they had the strength to do it and soon would learn it.

Will looked to Atlantis, then to his students.

'Are we gone now? Is that, finally, the Dead end?'