"We're alive…" The two girls felt like they were in a dream. One moment facing certain death, the next…rescued.
The girl who'd fallen gasped, clinging to a handrail. "Thank you…thank you so much!"
"You're welcome," Zephyr replied.
"We'd be…we'd be dead…" she said, finally catching her breath, turning to look at their savior. She hadn't gotten a good look at him before. Now she stared. "You…"
"Fancy meeting you here," Zephyr said with a smile. It was Serena, the receptionist from the rental agency.
"Serena, you know him?" The other girl looked surprised, hopeful.
Serena's eyes widened. Recognition dawned. "You rented the van! I remember! Zephyr, right?"
His audacity – renting a van without a license, just to park it – had made an impression. She'd never expected him to remember her name, let alone risk his life to save them.
"You remember me…"
"I have a good memory," Zephyr said. He couldn't quite claim photographic memory, but names and faces stuck with him.
"Thank you," Serena said, deeply touched. Even if it was just a good memory, the fact that he'd come back…
"But I thought you couldn't drive…" She pulled herself up, then helped her friend.
The other girl gasped as she took in the van's interior. "Oh my God!"
"What kind of luxury RV is this?" The interior was stunning, like a five-star hotel.
"It's the van Serena rented to me," Zephyr said, eyes forward.
The girl looked at Serena, who was equally stunned.
"Your company has this?" She knew Serena worked at a small rental place. They wouldn't have a vehicle like this.
"No," Serena said, bewildered. "He rented a regular van…" Then she stopped, her jaw dropping. She remembered seeing the van coming towards them. It had looked like a regular van. The same one they'd rented to Zephyr. But this…this was something else entirely.
A sudden thud rocked the vehicle. Both girls whirled around, staring in horror at the door.
More zombies were converging on them. They could picture the scene without looking out the windows. A sea of them, pressing against the van, blood-smeared hands, snarling faces.
The door rattled, groaning under the assault.
"They're gonna…they're gonna break in…" The girl's voice trembled.
Serena's face was pale. She ran to the driver's seat. "Zephyr, we have to go!"
She stared at the high-tech controls, momentarily stunned, but there was no time for questions. Zephyr was struggling with the controls, pumping the gas, but the van barely moved. Zombies crowded the front as well. Within seconds, they were completely surrounded.
"Too many," Zephyr muttered.
Serena's heart sank. "If it weren't for us…"
"Hold on tight," Zephyr said. He'd known this was a possibility when he turned back.
Serena nodded. She couldn't help with the driving. All she could do was obey.
"Lyra, grab the rail!" She hurried back to her friend.
"The glass…it won't hold…" Lyra's face was a mask of despair. Serena grabbed her hand, forcing it onto the nearest handrail.
The terrifying sounds continued. Serena gripped the rail, eyes wide, staring at the faces outside. The pounding, the growls…it felt like the van would be torn apart.
Zephyr, his mind clear, focused on the Etherscope's voice, analyzed his options.
The van had more than just armor. He wouldn't have turned back otherwise.
"Okay, let's try this," he muttered.
"Hold on! We're breaking through!"
Serena and Lyra clung to the rails, speechless, watching the tide of zombies battering the windows.
The van was completely engulfed. From the outside, only its shape was visible beneath the writhing mass of bodies. And they were strong. The van felt like it was trapped in concrete.
Could they really break through?
Serena felt a chill. She and Lyra held on for dear life. Time seemed to slow down. The snarling faces outside the windows were etched in her mind.
Were they going to die here? Because of her? Because he'd tried to save them?
Guilt gnawed at her.
In the driver's seat, Zephyr's focus narrowed. The Etherscope's voice was all he heard.
"Power accumulating, thirty percent. Tire secondary mode engaged, friction increased. Fifty percent. Gear shift complete. Seventy percent. Fuel injection optimized…"
The Etherscope van, in its sprint mode, could generate 1500 horsepower, 4000 Nm of torque, channeled through a 4x4 all-wheel-drive system.
It couldn't be sustained for long. The fuel consumption was astronomical. A 500 horsepower semi-truck was considered powerful. 700 horsepower was a beast.
With this kind of power, breaking through this horde would be like driving through a field of traffic cones.