They Walk (11 page)

Knowing it won’t be long before they push through; I turn to go up the stairs. As I do, Dan and Brian both are backing up out of the room. They don’t see me; they’re too busy with a now turned Lucy rushing at them with blood already on her mouth. I’m about to shout to them, when I see movement out of the corner of my eyes. It’s not coming from the living room either.

It’s coming from the hall to the left, and I already have my ax raised up when it comes out of the shadows.

It’s a tall blonde girl, and she must have been with the group in the pool, because she still has a bloody ripped bikini on. She was shuffling out of one of the rooms back there, but upon either sensing or seeing me, she picks up her speed and rushes me. I don’t hesitate as she gets almost within touching distance; I swing the ax around and bring it down into the side of her head.

She falls to the ground with a hiss, and I glance up the stairs to Dan. He and Brian run down the hall and into another bedroom. As he’s closing the door, I see his eyes widen as he sees me. He has to shut the door though; Lucy is running at them too fast. She flings herself at the door with a ferocity she never had in life.

A gurgling moan at my feet brings my attention back to the dead girl. I know I don’t have enough time to try to completely cut off her head; the dead in the living room will be upon me soon. So I leave the ax at my side and bring it back like a golf club. I swing it out at her smashing the tip of the blade into her face, and she gets knocked back into the wall. She stays down, but is still twitching, so I know she’ll be up again soon.

Pulling the blade from her face, I turn back towards the kitchen.

I realize I took too long anyway, the dead made it past the furniture, and are making their way into the room. I stomp down the terror that rushes through me, and I force my legs to run to the garage.

Chapter Twenty

There are at least three dead guys already through the front windows, and are making their way to me. I don’t bother trying to fight them off, I race by them and make it near the porch door. The hallway leading to the garage is almost within seeing distance, but I feel hands in my hair suddenly, that keeps me from moving.

They get tangled in my curls, and I fall onto my back with a scream. One of the three reaches for me, and I only have time to watch as his upside down body is about to fall on me. I manage to get the ax between us, and his teeth just graze my throat. Screaming I try to shove him off me, but his arms are racking my body and I can feel new scratches form.

He pushes at me with suck strength that I don’t know how long I can hold him back.

I can feel his breathe on my face and as saliva and blood drip on my cheek, I snap. I lift him up just enough to be able to wiggle out from underneath him. He barely stumbles, but I have enough time to scurry backwards and make it to my feet. As he’s already reaching for me again, I see the other two dead guys making their way to me on either side. I half turn to run, when I feel someone behind me. I get the ax almost up, when a hand stops me.

It’s Gabe.

He doesn’t even give me time to be surprised to see him.

“
Dammit, run!” He screams in my face.

Just as the dead are almost in touching distance, we both turn and haul ass to the garage. At the door I can hear the other’s yelling from the truck to hurry and I force my legs to just carry me a little further. Breaking the threshold, I realize we have another problem. There’s no door anymore. Gabe notices this at the same time, because he abruptly turns around and swings with the bat at an approaching dead girl.

She stumbles back into a group of guys, but it doesn’t slow them down. They rush the door with such speed, that it makes them bunch at the entrance. This stalls them for not even a second, it’s like they are one mind. They back up a step and rush the entrance again.

“
Maggie, get in now!”

I don’t have time to argue with him, a big guy missing an arm is almost to him and he’s looking at me. Running to him and pushing him aside, I swing at the guy and knock him into the wall. He stumbles but gets back up, and this time Gabe is the one to hit at him. I turn away as a girl and two guys rush at me. I lift the ax to swing, when Sam is suddenly beside me brandishing the fire poker.

We easily hit the dead aside.

The dead are having more trouble getting through the small entrance now. And the small hallway is filled with so many bodies that I lost count. Gabe is standing before Sam and me with his back to us.

“
Sam, get her in the truck!”

Sam grabs for my arm, but I pull it back.

“
Dan and Brian are trapped in a room upstairs! We can’t leave them.” I have to yell over the noise the dead are making.

“
We don’t have time, Maggie! Dammit Sam, now!”

Sam gets a grip on my arm and tugs on me, I see Gabe swing at the one armed guy again as he rushes him. The back passenger side door is open and Sam shoves me in before yelling to Gabe and getting in himself.

Claire is in the driver’s seat, and is gripping the wheel with wide eyes. Emily is in the seat behind me, gripping a knife between white knuckles. Maria is beside me, and at first I think she’s talking to me, but it’s too fast and quiet that I don’t understand what she’s saying. Then I see a phone in her left hand, she’s talking to someone else.

She looks up at me and her face is alight.

“
It’s Daniel, you were right they’re stuck in a bedroom upstairs. They’re not hurt though. What do I tell them?” She’s shaking and keeps glancing out of the truck. And I know she’s afraid we’ll leave him behind. So am I, to be honest.

Sam slams the door closed behind him and the front passenger side door opens then. Gabe slides in then, just as three guys rush him.

“
Maria, tell them to jump like Austin did!” He gets the door closed, and turns to Claire. “Get us out of here!”

“
But the door isn’t even opened yet!” Her eyes are wide and I can see the sweat at her temples.

“
Doesn’t matter, it’s not a heavy door. We can make it, just hit the gas hard.” He grips the handle above the door and turns to look at the garage door behind us.

“
Everybody hold on tight.” Claire says as she steps on the gas.

Chapter Twenty One

The tires of the truck squeal for a second before we’re flung forward as the truck goes backwards. It hits the garage door hard, and I can hear it bending as we push through it. It barley slows us down, as we clear the garage with the hood flipping over the top. Claire hits the breaks and spins the wheel. We get tossed to the side, as she turns us around with the garage behind us.

Pushing myself off a stunned Sam, I look back to the garage. The door hit at the dead as they were trying to get to us. So we have a head start at least. I look to Maria and pray she’s still on the phone with Dan, but she’s not holding it. Hopefully she already told him to jump, because the truck is already turning toward the yard.

Claire slows us down though, as the yard still has a ton of cars in it. When she speeds up to pull up to the road, I hear Maria yell as she points behind her. I swing my head around and try to see what caught her eye. It’s so dark in the front of the house that I try to catch any movement. The dead are all in the house trying to go through the garage so that’s not what she’s looking at.

Then I look up.

It’s Dan and Brian; they made it out onto the ledge of the roof. It overlooks the front of the house, and is about ten feet high. Too slowly for my liking, they walk to the edge. Pausing for a moment Dan jumps down first and lands on his feet. He turns right away and faces Brian, who is about to jump.

I glance back towards the garage to make sure they still have enough time. The door only slowed them down so much, and the others beyond are already making their way around the fallen ones. The guys have a minute or less before they have company.

I look back as Brian jumps down beside Dan, but he must have landed wrong because he instantly falls to his knees. I hear Claire’s cry of panic as Dan helps Brian up, and they jog towards us. Neither of them have any weapons, so if the dead catch up to them, they won’t be any match. They are about ten feet from us, when the dead start to gain on them. The guys pick up they’re speed, but Brian stumbles to the ground and Dan loses his hold on him. By the time Dan has time to turn around to help him up again; a dead guy in swim trunks is on him.

I can hear his screams of pain from inside the truck.

I force my eyes to not look away as Dan rushes to Brian and pulls the guy off him. There is a spray of blood as the guys teeth tear at the flesh on Brian’s neck. When Dan hits and shoves the guy away, Brian had already stopped screaming and has gone still. As he slowly begins to move again, there are at least four more of the dead making their way to Dan. He hesitates over Brian, and is about to be surrounded without help.

I hear a door open, and I whip my eyes off my brother to see Gabe getting out of the truck.

“
Stay here!” He looks at me as he yells.

No sooner does he get out, that the dead separates and goes for him too. He doesn’t waver though, instead just goes running and swinging the bat as he goes. The dead are tossed aside and Dan meets him half way. The dead come pouring out of the garage then, and there are so many of them that the guys get surrounded quickly. Gabe is swinging and batting them as fast as he can, and Dan is hitting and kicking and dodging.

I lose sight of them as the truck gets surrounded.

Everything slows down to me suddenly, and I can almost hear my heart pounding loudly in my ears. I distantly hear my friends screaming and can feel the vibrations of the truck being hit. In my mind I flash to when this all started and how everything happened so fast. There was no time to decide what to do or how to react. But things are different now, and I’m suddenly not afraid. I’m pissed off. I reach down to my feet and grip the blood covered ax and I don’t even think as I push over Maria.

And open the door.

Maria yells and falls back onto the seat as the door is opened. It takes longer than I’d like, there’s a dead nerd trying to get in. He gets shoved back slightly and I have enough room to kick at him. He falls back easily and I jump out. I’m moving as soon as my feet hit the ground. The others yell for me, but it doesn’t even faze me. The dead around the truck turn to me, but I only pay attention to the ones before me. They are all hands and teeth, and I swing at them with a strength I didn’t know I possessed.

I knock down the fifth dead person when I begin yelling for Dan, and I think I hear him yell back but my ears are ringing and I can barely hear my own voice. Suddenly, a red haired girl in front of me gets knocked aside and it’s not by me. I’m facing a red faced Gabe now, and Dan comes from behind him and I’m so relieved to see him that I almost run to him. But the large dead guy behind him makes me charge forward for a different reason.

I reach Dan before he does and knock him aside with my hip.

I hit at the guy, but he only shuffles to the side. I don’t have enough time to bring the ax around again, and he’s already coming forward. He’s about to hit me when Gabe brings the bat down on his head. He’s so close to me I can hear his skull crack, as he falls to the ground. Dan pulls me back and we make our way to the truck.

Gabe is in the lead, with Dan in the middle and I take the back. Gabe clears a path hitting at everything in the way and as we run by I hit them again and make sure they stay down. We must have knocked aside at least thirty of the dead, when we make it to the truck. It’s still surrounded by a handful of the dead hitting at the windows. Gabe is about to hit the short girl attacking the door we want, when it gets shoved open and Sam jumps out.

“
Need a hand?” He’s grinning as he starts swinging the fire poker knocking aside the short girl again.

Dan jumps into the car, and I grab Sam’s arm and shove him at the door. I turn to make sure Gabe is coming; he’s busy keeping us from being surrounded again. I bring the ax up and around to a guy that is trying to get Gabe from behind and he easily falls to the ground with a gaping hole in his face.

I yell for Gabe, and he backs up quickly to me.

He gives one more swing of the bat, before shoving me back into the truck and follows in beside me. He leans over to close the door and hands reach for him, and claw at his arms. He’s struggling to close the door so he can’t hit at them to move also. As he swears, I turn the ax around and bring the hilt up into the faces that are coming into view.

They get pushed back long enough for Gabe to slam the door.

Chapter Twenty Two

No sooner did the door close, and Claire is tearing out onto the road. She’s going so fast that the dirt road is flying up gravel everywhere and even cracking the windows. There are a few of the dead hanging onto the sides of the truck, still trying to get to us. The truck swerves along the straight road, and I know she’s trying to dislodge them. Some fall away and disappear, but there is still one on the passenger side front and back door.

Sam climbs up into the front seat, and rolls the window down as soon as he’s sitting. Hands reach in as soon as they have room, and Sam just knocks them aside. He lifts the fire poker and hits the girl twice in the face before she falls back and disappears. He turns to look behind him to Dan, who gets a knife from Maria who hands him one from behind. He rolls down his window and automatically hits the hands that reach inside.