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“Just until you cross the bridge! Go!” Peter’s commanding voice echoed in Kai’s head. He grabbed his mother’s arm, and they dashed forward, weaving their way through the abandoned cars strewn across the bridge.
Anne whimpered, her breath ragged. “No, Peter…,” she sobbed, but Kai knew they couldn’t stop, they couldn’t look back. His grip on his mother’s arm tightened, and they moved forward with a newfound determination.
Suddenly, the bridge lurched beneath them. The weight shifted dramatically, knocking both Kai and Anne off their feet. They landed hard on the ground, the breath knocked out of them.
Kai slowly got to his knees, his heart pounding in his chest. He turned back to see his father scrambling onto the roof of a car. But what caught his eye was the horror beyond his father.
A grotesque figure stood, towering over the crowd of Z’s, nearly ten feet tall. It was a creature of nightmares, its gargantuan body weighed down with tons of rotting flesh. Its skin was discolored, riddled with maggot-infested holes where skin should have been. The giant’s tattered shirt was barely hanging on, its seams straining against the sheer mass of the behemoth. The graphic on the shirt was still visible, a cruel mockery of its former self, reading “Free Hugs.”
A chill ran down Kai’s spine. He could only imagine the destruction this monstrosity could cause. Kai turned back to his mother, her face pale in the growing light of day. “We need to go, Mom,” he said, helping her up.
And with that, they picked themselves up and continued their desperate run towards the casino, the sound of the behemoth’s roars echoing behind them.Tears welled up in Kai’s eyes as he took one last glance at his father. The giant beast, the behemoth, was behind Peter, who stood like a guardian, blocking its path. “Thank you, I’m proud to be your son,” Kai whispered, his heart aching. He turned away, trying to focus on the path ahead.
“We have to get off,” he muttered, more to himself than to his mother. Anne snapped back to reality, her eyes wide. “Kai, that thing… this bridge won’t hold. We have to time our moves with its steps and watch for the cars. Especially…”
Her words were cut off as the behemoth took another step, the entire bridge creaking under its immense weight. Kai and Anne managed to keep their footing this time, but the following sound of the shotgun going off startled them.
They dared not look back. If they did, they wouldn’t be able to move.
For what felt like an eternity, they moved in sync with the behemoth’s steps, their progress punctuated by the deafening sound of the shotgun. Finally, they reached the other side of the bridge. Kai and Anne turned around, calling out for Peter.
Their hearts sank as they saw Peter, standing like a guardian, his back to them, facing the swarm of Z’s. “God… no, Peter,” Anne whispered, her voice choked with grief.
“DAD, RUN! WE MADE IT!” Kai cried out.
Peter shot another Z and turned to face his family. He gave them a wave and a wide grin, the kind you’d give to someone you haven’t seen in ages. But the behemoth was behind him, bearing down on him.
Peter faced the monster, firing his shotgun until it was empty. He started to reload, making his way towards his family. The behemoth, although wounded, roared and charged after him.
But Peter was focused on the behemoth behind him. He reached the middle of the sagging bridge, the weakest point, and turned to face the charging beast.
He took a kneeling pose, his shotgun now fully reloaded. As soon as he had a clear shot, he aimed for the behemoth’s knees. He fired, blowing out one of its knees. The behemoth roared as it fell forward, slamming into the bridge with a thunderous crash.
