Escape From Raccoon City

Chapter Seventeen

Jill ran as fast as her legs could carry her, the ammo pack slapping hard against her back, her lungs burning with the effort. The only thing that saved her life was her knowledge of the city park’s many paths and trails.

She dodged down paths and ducked under low-hanging branches, barely slowing down, as the creature chasing her screeched its frustration as it smashed through the foliage, swatting aside bushes and breaking branches off the trees. Its huge size and clumsy movements made chasing her difficult, and Jill used that to her advantage, deliberately choosing the most winding trails and overgrown paths to slow the creature down.

She knew where she was going, and she had a plan. She just had to make it there in one piece. Behind her, thrashing around and screaming furiously, the creature continued its pursuit, barreling its way down the path like a rampaging gorilla.

Jill finally reached her destination and almost shouted for joy. The path opened up into a clearing that led uphill, and she bolted across, the creature not far behind.

“Come on, you son of a bitch!” she shouted.

A shallow creek ran through the park, winding and coursing its way back and forth in a wide curving line that stretched from one end of the park to the other. In some parts, the creek was narrow and ran along the ground, crossed by short wooden bridges. But in this area of the park, the creek flowed farther down, and the banks of the creek were very steep. A sturdy rope bridge stretched for twenty feet across the creek at this point, hanging almost ten feet above the level of the water, which moved faster here, causing a riffle in the creek, the water rushing turbulently over the surface and splashing across large rocks.

Jill ran to the bridge, hearing the creature burst out of the woods and into the clearing just behind her. She dared once quick glance, seeing it come after her with fury and vengeance in its uneven eyes. From out of her pack, she drew the combat knife.

She ran out across the bridge, grabbing the two side ropes for support. She made it almost half way across when the entire bridge snapped tight and wobbled wildly, almost making her lose her balance.

She turned around to see the creature on the rope bridge with her, its weight almost more than the bridge could support. It growled and took one unsteady step, the bridge swaying back and forth.

Jill grabbed a guide rope with one hand, and swung down with the combat knife in the other. It sliced through the other guide rope, and the entire bridge twisted as the rope snapped, whipping back like an elastic cord. The bridge flipped sideways and Jill grabbed with her other hand, dangling over the rushing water.

The creature held on as well, but its weight was too much for the bridge, and the supports on the front side ripped right out of the ground. Jill and the creature both fell as the bridge swung down, but Jill managed to hold on as she slammed into the steep bank. The end of the bridge splashed down into the water, and the creature struggled for a way to climb up.

Jill didn’t waste any time, she climbed up the bridge like a ladder and sliced down at the remaining ropes, cutting through them and sending the rest of the bridge down into the creek. The creature howled as it splashed down into the water and was quickly swept away in the current. Its fingers dug into the dirt on the banks, but there was nothing for it to get hold of, and it quickly was pulled away, tumbling and splashing in the water.

Jill climbed the rest of the way up and stood on the edge, looking down as the creature was swept away. It wasn’t a permanent solution, but for the moment, she was safe. The creek leveled out maybe a hundred yards away, so the creature would climb out soon enough.

She continued down the main path for a little while, hoping that Carlos had followed after her. She couldn’t risk going back for him now, even though she wanted to. Maybe when she made it to the command post, she could board a helicopter with a search light, and they could locate Carlos in the park that way. She didn’t think he was in any real danger, since he was armed like she was, and there didn’t seem to be many zombies in the park. But she knew how nervous he was, and she wasn’t going to abandon him.

A few minutes later, she arrived at the command post.

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