Chapter 74 Bumpy Roads

I felt a sharp, stinging pain on my head and woke up, my hands automatically ran as I winced, then I heard the loud laborious sound of the engine of the car as it jostled us around. We all wake up from the horrible sound of the screeches, the banging of something that is thrown against the body of the car, and the howling outside. The car kept on jostling as if it were running through a very bumpy road.
I looked at my side and expected Jayson to be still beside me but he was not. I lifted my face to look at the cockpit and saw him there with Greg, together with Li, looking at the windshield of the car, the three of them looked so tense and I knew it was the Creepers attacking us.
Roanie screamed when she saw the face of a Creeper on the bulletproof window at the side of the car. She fell and kicked herself back against the other side of the car, while Mona hug herself on the other corner, her eyes both shut tight, not wanting to see the terrifying view outside.
With full of my strength, I lifted myself, propping my arms on the wall of the car, trying to gain my balance as the car swerve from right to left, the tires of the car screeching against the concrete pavement of this dark underground highway. My curiosity stoked my will to get to the cockpit no matter how dangerous it is if I won't hold on to something. The impact might throw me against the wall but I don't care. I should get there and know what is going on.
I grabbed at the metal handle on the side of the car and held it tight, my feet almost slipping from the floor when the car suddenly swerved again, making all the stuff inside move from right to left. Jayson glanced at us and quickly extended his hand to me, trying to pull me from the inside of the car to the cockpit.
"What's going on? I asked once Jayson pulled me closer to him, and we both almost tumbled down when the car bumped into something huge I heard Roanie scream again, and then more banging from the outside, making me worry if those Creepers are making a dent on this car.
"Creepers. There's a lot in this area and we have to move full speed to get rid of them." Jayson explained because Greg is too focused on avoiding the Creepers that are leaping in front of the car, trying to break the bulletproof windshield. We heard the banging on the roof and the side of the car and it scares me that if two or four of them do it at the same time, the car might lose its balance and get thrown to the side.
The idea terrifies me. If that happens, it will be the end of us all!
"Is there a way we can get rid of these Creepers?" I ask Greg. His jaws are fixed and his eyes are glaring, never leaving his sight on the road no matter how hideous the rotting faces of the Creepers are. It seems his fears of these monsters are already gone and all he has now in his mind is to survive this and reach the end of this endless underground highway.
Timothy took the rifles and threw them at me and Jayson. "We have to help Greg!" He yelled. He positioned himself which made me and Jayson curious and then we saw him flip something on the side of the car. There's a hole wide enough to fit the nozzle of the rifle.
Jayson and I looked at each other and quickly positioned ourselves on the sides of the car where these holes are. There is a window of bulletproof glass for us to see the target and with Jayson's signal, the three of us fire blindly at the Creepers that are around the armored car. There are so many of them they are stampeding the place, threatening the car to fall on its side.
The sound of the gun filled the whole place, and as the car runs at its full speed, we get rid of the Creepers that are holding onto the side of the car.
It's a good thing that this car has an air purifier because the air inside suddenly smells like sulfur from the gunfire.
"Cr*p, I'm out!" Timothy yelled at us and took his gun out of the hole, searching for ammo in the pocket of his pants but there was nothing left for us to use. Even me and Jayson are also out of bullets to use too.
"Roanie?!" Jayson exclaimed at her, asking if there are still left to use.
Looking green from the motion sickness she felt when Greg swerved the car, Roanie covered her mouth to prevent herself from vomiting and shook her head as her answer. Jayson went to the cockpit again and asked Greg instead.
"Do you have firearms here? We ran out of bullets already," Jayson said as the banging on the car resumed, leaving me and Timothy helpless and terrified.
Greg pushed some buttons on the panel without taking his eyes off the road and we heard a hissing sound from the left corner of the car, the floor lifted from it, and a white light spread across the interior, which made the other's eyes wide with amazement despite the fact that we're going to die any minute if we won't be out of this place as fast as we can.
When Jayson and I ran to it, a wide smile on our lips brightened our faces as we took the weapons and ammo out of the small secret bunker inside the car. We gave one to Timothy and the three of us cocked the guns and placed the nuzzled back to the holes as we continued exterminating the Creepers that were jumping toward the car. My heart is filled with a mixture of excitement and fear because I know as long as we are inside of this car, we are safe from the Creepers because it's made me hard and thick metal that even a grenade won't scratch on it.
The sound of the gun overwhelmed the place again and we continued defending the car while Greg was focusing on driving it. The howlings and screeches had gone and only echoes left, which means we had already survived a huge number of Creepers.
Timothy slumped on the floor looking so weak and pale, the gun still in his hand and the nuzzle hot and smoking. Li helped him stand as both me and Jayson exhaled and leaned on the wall of the car, trying to breathe out the fear and panic in our chests. It was terrifying. I thought we wouldn't survive it.
Even Greg had finally breathed easily after he saw that there were no Creepers behind us already. The road is much smoother now and I have this horrid speculation that the bumps we were experiencing in that place are dead bodies piled on the highway. The thought made the hairs on my skin raise. Just how many people have turned to Creepers in Arcania now? How many poor innocent lives that the New Arcanian Republic failed to save from being infected? I feel like my whole world just turned upside down. There is no redemption for the officials of this continent. There is no one who could save us from all of these except ourselves. It's just sad that because we saved and keep on saving Timothy from all of these scary adventures on the surface towards Zone twenty-eight where his father is also there and my family, I would never have this kind of privilege to save dad and Carl and take them back Zone four where they could be safe and live comfortably, just as Timothy promised.
Greg slowed the speed of the car and all of us slumped down to the floor, exhausted already from the sudden adrenaline that pumped all over our bodies for survival. I could hear Greg chuckle nervously, trying to lighten the mood in the car.
"Wow, I never thought we would escape that. You guys are all awesome." He praised us as he glance back at us shortly, and then his eyes were back on the road again. "Now I believe how all of you had survived all of those attacks since you all came out of the airport. All of you have different functions and even the girls are fearless!"
"Yeah, they're amazing, right?" Timothy looked at me with a smile on his face and I just sneered at him, can't help but smile too. Carl quickly climbed up on my shoulder again, running away from the pile of the bands where he hid when the sounds of the gun overwhelmed inside the car.
"One more stop and we're almost there, guys!" Greg exclaimed and all of us said 'Yahoo' weakly, still anxious about what will happen next.