4.
It was around 10 o'clock when she heard it.
Chris, Jill, and Rebecca had stayed together for a while, but since the trail had gotten lost amidst the trees, they split up temporarily. They could still stay in contact through their radios if something came up.
So Rebecca was alone in the woods, flashlight raised and handgun ready to shoot at a moment's notice. Jill and Chris were not far away. But despite the safety that came with her friends, gun, and fighting expertise, she was shaking and trembling.
The thought that Billy, the ghost that haunted her dreams for the last two years, could be so close terrified her. What if they bumped into each other? What would she say? What could she say? And she couldn't shake the fear that if he was here, he might have been turned into a zombie himself. And even if he had, Rebecca wasn't sure she had the heart to kill him.
But then again, maybe it wasn't him at all. It didn't make sense—she had taken his tags. She clearly remembered pulling them off his neck to show the authorities. After all they had been through, it was the least she could do to take away his old life and death sentence. By taking his only identification—his dog tags—she had given him a chance at a fresh start. Why would he give that up? It had to be a mistake, right? Maybe someone else with the same name had been there, or something else that made sense.
Rebecca heard the noise, but too much was running through her mind for her to process it completely. It wasn't until a huge mob of twenty or thirty zombies burst from the bushes that she finally came back to her senses. But by that time it was too late to call for help. Frantic, she shot one zombie three times, hitting its head and chest. Another got hit four times as she fired again. Both of them fell to the ground, dead again. It didn't help much—there were too many.
Rebecca fired the rest of the bullets in her gun into the crowd. She fumbled with her pocket, trying to get a fresh clip to reload her gun. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Rebecca realized Jill and Chris must have heard her gunshots and would be coming as soon as possible. She just had to hold them off for a bit long until her friends arrived to back her up.
The zombies shuffled closer, and Rebecca instinctively stumbled backwards in response, still fumbling with her gun and the fresh clip she had finally gotten out of her pocket. Just when she got her gun reloaded, her boot got snagged on a tree root behind her and she tumbled backwards. As she fell to the ground, her handgun slipped from her grasp and hit the forest floor a few feet away from her.
Terrified, she threw herself at her foot, trying to do everything at once: untie her boots, rip the root holding her down, loosen the grip on her ankle, slide her foot from her shoe, drag herself away—anything to get away from the mindless creatures a few mere yards away. Her now chaotic mind was in total panic mode, making it hard to calm down enough to get away. The zombies shuffled closer, their features easier to make out with each step they took. Their pale, molted faces seem to smirk at her, their lifeless black eyes smothering out any flicker of hope Rebecca had left.
Rebecca, sure there would be no chance of escaping this fate, decided to say goodbye in her own way. She knew it was true, and now she would never have the chance to tell him herself now. Near tears, she thought desperately, 'I love you, Billy…'
A pair of lights burst into her blurred vision and smashed into the oncoming mass of zombies. 'A car?' Rebecca wondered, confused. It was too dark to make out very much. Some shots rang out through the forest, and then a pair of warm hands abruptly lifted Rebecca into the air. She shrieked in surprise at first but stopped when she realized she was safe now, sitting in the front seat of a car. Her rescuer was still unknown to her—it was just as pitch black inside the car as outside. The car floor jumped with every bump in the forest. Rebecca could make out shapes as they blurred past outside the window, so they must have been moving fast.
Still rather dazed from her fall, Rebecca hesitantly sat up. She shifted in her seat in an attempt to get a better look at the driver.
"Are you okay?" a voice came to her through the dark. It was easy to tell that words were lined with concern.
Her heart stopped. She could recognize that voice anywhere. It was almost too much to hope that it could actually be him who had saved her life. He, who had come back to her in a million different ways in her dreams each night, each reunion more unrealistic and heart-throbbing than the last.
"Billy…?" she gasped. "Is that you?"
His deep laugh sounded right next to her, and her heart fluttered with happiness. "The one and only, sweetheart," he replied. She could almost hear the grin in his voice, and she wished with all her heart it was bright enough for her to make out his face in the gloom.
"But… But what are you doing here? Where have you—when did—and the police—and why—…?" She spoke in one rushed breath, not bothering to finish one question before asking another. Her words were barely even comprehendible.
Somehow, though, Billy understood her. Her first question, at least. "Slow down, Rebecca. Right now, it looks a lot like I'm saving your life. I just happened to be in the area, and…I thought maybe you could use a hand."
Just then, Rebecca felt blood rush to her cheeks. Embarrassed, Rebecca put her hands to her cheeks to cover her blush before realizing that it was too dark for Billy to see, anyway. 'Why am I blushing?' Rebecca wondered, flustered. 'Just because he was nearby doesn't mean he was… watching over me. It must have been a coincidence. He probably didn't even know it was me that needed help.'
She realized then that Billy was waiting for her to reply. Awkwardly, she said, "Well thanks. You did save my life."
He chuckled again and joked, "No problem. It wouldn't be the first time. Hey! You should hire me as a bodyguard."
Rebecca laughed, but wondered how serious he was. Personally, she wouldn't mind. She'd probably enjoy spending the time with Billy, and she knew he could protect her as well as himself. They'd spent enough time together to make her sure of that.
Abruptly, she remembered her friends. Without meaning too, she swung around to look out the back window, momentarily forgetting that they were way too far away to be seen. "Wait, go back!" She almost shrieked, grabbing Billy's arm. "Jill and Chris are still back there! Stop!"
Billy abruptly stomped on the brakes and the car jolted to a sudden stop. He spun to face Rebecca. "Go back? Into that horde of zombies? Are you crazy?"
Rebecca didn't answer. She put her hand on the door handle, ready to run back to her friends if she had to. "Coming?"
He grinned. "You're asking me? Hell yeah, let's go!"