Two Alive, стр. 39
“Grant, please!” Johnathan shouted.
“You know, zombies are only in movies, John. You’re not going to scare me.” Grant kept on.
“Grant, shut up! Goddamn!” Antonio was fidgeting in his seat and getting more upset with each outburst from Grant.
“No! You shut up! I have a right to talk!” Grant shouted back. “I have a right to talk!” He wrapped the string and unwrapped it.
“Grant!” Johnathan shouted.
“Shut upppp!” Antonio added, balling his fists and punching the air.
“Antonio, please!” Johnathan tried calming the boy down.
The van was struck from behind and fishtailed on 35th avenue. Johnathan fell to the floor and a few others fell from their seats from the sudden jolt. A Ford F-150 had hit them, with a savage man screaming and hollering behind the wheel. The truck stopped in the intersection and the man inside started smashing the driver’s window. A group of missionaries on the corner put down their megaphone and went to help the man in the truck but found it difficult to open the door.
Johnathan jumped up and saw the people trying to help the wild man out of his truck. When they opened the door, the driver turned on them and started fighting and scratching them.
“Rachel… get going! Go down 35th and we’ll take the 880 highway!” Johnathan called out.
The van jerked but the vehicle didn’t move. Tires burned under them, but the van stayed put, stuck in the middle of the street. Johnathan saw people were running and screaming outside the van, trying to get away from more senseless people losing their minds down the street. These people were wild monsters. Some were scratching at their own faces to the point of tearing off skin. Others were attacking anyone within arm’s reach and didn’t stop until their target stopped moving.
There were dozens of people running through the streets like frenzied animals, lashing out at anything that grabbed their attention. They swarmed their victims and beat the life out of many. Others were turning into those raving lunatics and joining the vicious masses.
“Rachel!” Johnathan called again.
“I’m trying! I’m trying!” Rachel frantically stomped on the gas pedal, but the vehicle didn’t budge.
Johnathan pulled open the sliding door and saw the back tire was knocked off its axis in the collision. The van wasn’t going anywhere. “Damn it! Everybody get out! We’ll run down the street and get on the BART!”
The children were frightened and nervous. Johnathan started grabbing kids and pulling them out of the van; Francine jumped out and made sure everyone stayed together. Antonio jumped out by himself and went to try and fight one of the madmen running down the street. Francine grabbed him and held him with the still wailing Miles. Brandon kicked open his door and tried to jump out so fast that he forgot to take off his seatbelt and was pulled back in. When he pressed the release button this time, he jumped down and stumbled, but joined Francine and the children. Johnathan turned around to grab Grant, but the boy snatched himself away and sat back down in his seat.
“Grant, c’mon! We gotta go!” Johnathan went to grab for the boy’s hand again.
“I’m not getting out of this van! Mr. Arthur… Mr. Arthur said we were going to the movies. Why aren’t we going to the movies?!” Grant pulled at the crow’s nest on the top of his head.
Johnathan jumped when a woman went screaming past the van. He could see the carnage down the street intensifying. He reached inside the vehicle and grabbed Grant’s arm, yanking the boy out, kicking and complaining. Johnathan went next to grab the nonverbal boy still in the backseat and the boy hesitantly made his way to the exit. Right before stepping out of the van, Amber jumped on the boy’s back and pulled him down, hissing wildly before biting down on the panicked boy’s cheek.
“No!” Johnathan saw the fevered look in Amber’s eyes and knew she was gone. Francine grabbed the old man before he could go back into the van and she pointed at the mob that was approaching them quickly.
Johnathan turned his back on Amber and the boy and went sprinting towards the Fruitvale BART Station, calling for everyone to follow. It was a mad dash while psychos chased them for two blocks. Miles ran with a clumsy stride and tripped over his own feet. Johnathan helped the small boy up and told everyone to keep moving; fighting the impulse to look back to see how close the danger was. They ran to the BART entry gates, and just like many other people trying to escape the violent streets, Johnathan and the others jumped the turnstiles without paying.
Antonio was the first to hurdle the barrier, doing it like he had done it before. The teenager almost kept running by himself but stopped and waited for everyone to jump the gate. Johnathan helped some of the students make it over and Francine tore her skirt so she could jump the gateway. When Johnathan hopped the orange barrier, he was the last to make it over before others were caught or grabbed right before getting through the turnstile.
Johnathan ran with everyone up the stairs to the platform, still refusing to look back, even if he felt one of the fiends breathing down his neck. He shoved a snarling man out of his way and the man fell down the stairs. Then Johnathan put a foot to a woman’s chest and kicked her away. When he and the students reached the platform