Viking Burial By Anonymous Ben's eye's turned back to the front just in time to see tree. Ben woke up laying in a puddle to the sound of repeated blasts of Edward's 30-30, he sat up quickly, and then wished he hadn't. The throbbing in his temples blurred his vision, but he saw Edward bearing down on an advancing group of three. These 3 where different though. While the others lumbered slowly, these ones flailed wildly, and moved with almost super-human speed. Ben looked around for his .357, but it wasn't here...had to in the van still. Ben stumbled to the van and found the driver's door too buckled to open, but saw his gun, lying in the seat. He saw Mandy in the other seat, blood pouring down her face from a tear across her forehead. He stopped momentarily in horror, but the melody of Edward's rifle brought him around. He put his elbow through the window and grabbed his pistol. Ben spun on the zombies and pumped off three quick rounds. The first tore into the forehead of one of the zombies, dropping it in a heap of stinking flesh, but the second one actually dodged the bullets. Ben stood dumbfounded for a moment, staring unbelievably at the corpse as it leapt toward him. The zombie flew towards the stunned Ben, and probably would've killed him if Edward hadn't seen the whole thing and put two shots into its head. Even so, the now lifeless corpse struck Ben with the force of a truck, showering him with blood, skull fragments, and bits of gray matter. Ben pushed the corpse off of him just in time to see the third one hit Edward. The zombie pushed him to the ground tearing and gnawing the whole way, the 30-30 flew toward the van... "Get the hell off of him you bastard!!!" The zombie seemed pushed off of Edward by an invisible force, it stood up and stared at Ben with its blank, thoughtless eyes. Edward scrambled toward the van, and his rifle. Ben just stood there, in a staring contest with the dead woman. He was so entranced that the ring of the 30-30 sent him to the ground. He rolled to his feet and found Edward looking at him, a puzzled look crossed his face. "How the hell did you do that?" Ben shook, struck by a sudden shiver, "I...I don't know...It was...I could..." "What the hell did you do!!!", Ben found the barrel of the 30-30 pointed in his direction. "I don't know. It was like...I could see through it...I." Edward lowered the gun, "Mandy?" Ben looked at the van, the sick feeling welled up in him again. The two men broke for the van. Edward got there first, his adrenaline gave him the strength to tear the door off the Chevy. Ben watched helplessly as Edward pulled her from the van, she slumped in an almost un-natural way in his arms... "Is she...?" "Not yet..." he carried her to the back of the van, "she will though..." He brushed her hair out of her face. "Oh my god....Edward, I'm so sorry..." Edward turned to him, "It's all right Ben," he wiped a tear from his eye, "I should've drove..." Ben tried to talk, but found his voice unwilling to cooperate. "Here," Edward shoved the rifle towards him, "careful with it, only got about 20 rounds left." Ben shook his head, then lifted his gaze to Edward's, "What the hell are you talkin about?" Edward smiled, a smile that send chills down Ben's spine. "That last one did the job Ben," he lifted his arm to show Ben the large bite taken out of his bicep, "I got a few days, a week on the outside. And Mandy," he looked lovingly at his wife, "well, I can't leave her, and she'll be gone in a day or two..." A long moment of silence hung on the scene, then Edward took Ben by the shoulders. "Take the food, the rifle, and get going old friend, leave me to see to my wife..." He didn't even try to stifle the tears that flowed freely down his cheeks now. "But..." Edward cut him off, "No buts Ben, night's setting in quick, you have to hide...get going..." Ben took the rifle, tears welling in his eyes, turned and walked away. He heard the explosion, but didn't look back to see the pyre that was their Chevy, the pyre that was the last of his friends...