They walk, p.5
They Walk, page 5
He shrugs, “Matt would have helped you if he could have, but he was a little busy. How is he by the way?”
“I’m not sure to be honest, he got bit pretty badly. I’m worried he lost too much blood.”
Gabe steps closer to me, and reaches his hand out. Before he touches my arm, I notice out of the corner of my eyes that Sam and Alex are getting Matt and Austin up. Near them, Dan and Brian hover and they must be waiting to move the couch. I turn away from Gabe and start to go help Matt.
“Thank you again Gabe, it means a lot.” I say over my shoulder.
As I walk away, I hear him walk back into the wall. He lets out a deep breath, and I force myself not to look back at him. I feel so confused over the way he’s being. One minute he was kind of being rude, and then he seemed like he was about to try and comfort me. I don’t know what to think about that. I won’t lie and pretend I don’t have the same conflicting thoughts about him.
It seems like such a dumb thing to worry about, but I think I hurt him when I walked away.
Chapter Eleven
By the time the sun the sun is coming up, we’re all settled upstairs is Austin’s room. The window’s downstairs are blocked the best way we knew how, meaning most furniture is pushed against them. But it’s better than nothing, in my opinion. At least there will be some sort of obstacle for those things to get by first. Being on the second floor, almost gives us the illusion that nothing is wrong. For one thing, it’s quieter.
We can’t hear the scratching and banging on the windows.
We all pretty much found a wall to lean against, and try to stay calm. Except for Austin of course who is passed out on his own bed. The girl Lucy is laying across the bottom of it, no one wanted to see her lying on the floor. Even Austin agreed who woke up enough to grumble a reply about it. Her boyfriend Peter won’t leave her side and is perched at the end of the bed.
The room is pretty good sized, and I’m almost jealous about it. The bed is along the wall to the right of the door, and takes the whole space being a queen. Straight ahead is a bay window, with a padded seat. To the left of the window, is a built in entertainment center slash bookcase. It has a large plasma TV and a lot of video game equipment. There are drawers lining the bottom of it, making me believe that’s his dresser. To the right of the window, are the closet door and a small desk. It’s pretty bare except for an expensive looking computer.
It makes my laptop look chincy in comparison.
I’m sitting on the floor next to Matt, who is resting on the window seat, next to him is Alex. I suppose we’re trying to help out all of us that are hurt, even if we don’t really know how. The best we figure is they need rest, or try to keep up their strength. Beside me on the floor are Claire and Brian, and I notice that he’s been checking out the TV the last couple minutes. Sam is sitting near Brian with his knees drawn up to his chest, and he hasn’t lost the deer in headlights look. Near the door on the other side of the bookcase, is Gabe. He’s been pretty quiet since we came upstairs, and I can tell he’s trying not to look at me. Or maybe I’m being paranoid, and that’s what I’m doing. On the other side of Alex, near the closet are Dan and Maria. She’s asleep in his lap and beside her is Emily.
Now that we finished downstairs, we don’t really have another plan or ideas about what to do next. I do know that we all keep checking our cellphones, and none of us are able to reach anyone. It’s really unnerving that no one answers, but we do get the occasional busy signal. But that doesn’t make us feel any better.
I’m about to dose off, leaning against Matt, when Brian stands up and faces the TV.
“What about the news?” He says as he turns back to face the room. “I mean just because no one is answering the phones, there might be something about it on TV, right?”
“It can’t hurt to try. Reporters have a habit of getting in the thick of things.” Dan says.
We all kind of nod in agreement, and Brian turns back to the TV. It’s kind of an elaborate plasma brand, and it takes him a second to find the power button. After he does though, he still pauses with his hand raised. As if overcoming his hesitation, he pushes it. The TV clicks on with a whooshing sound, and we all lean forward in anticipation.
Or at least I do.
The screen is dark for a moment, and all I can hear is static. Then suddenly it’s alive with color, and it takes me a minute to see what’s on the screen. It’s one of those emergency broadcast messages you know the ones that come on when you are usually watching a movie, when there is never a real emergency. Except I know that this one is clearly not a test, given what is running around outside. There is no sound, just the occasional bleeping noise. Along the bottom of the screen, the same message keeps repeating across.
It says,
“Androscoggin County residents are to seek immediate shelter. A rapidly spreading contagion is infecting the dead, whom are rising. Emergency evacuation is in progress, and troops are on their way. An emergency service shelter is being devised, and residents are advised to stay indoors until further notice. Beware of your surroundings. Be alert. The dead are fast and highly dangerous.”
It keeps repeating in an endless loop, and no more and no less. None of us say anything, for what feels like forever. I feel a touch on my shoulder and I jump and look behind me, but it’s just Matt. He looks even paler now.
I know I look the same, even though I’m not even hurt.
“Check the other channels.” Gabe says.
Brian glances at him, but does what he says. He goes through at least all the local channels and it’s the same screen over and over. I don’t even know what to think, but it seems our guess was about right. The things outside are dead, yet there up moving around and apparently it’s not just here.
I really wish we were able to reach someone, anyone really.
I hear crying, and look over to Dan, he’s holding a now awake Maria to him and she’s sobbing into his shoulder. We might not be able to get in touch with our parents, but I’m glad Daniel is here with me, and that he’s alright. It’s a small comforting thought, if only everyone was alright. I lean into Matt, and think not for the first time, that I hope he’s alright.
Brian is still facing the TV, and only steps away when Claire goes over to him. He’s more stunned now than he was earlier fighting those things outside. I see Gabe walking over to the TV, as Brian steps away.
He’s about to turn it off, when there is movement from the bed.
“Leave it on!” Austin yells.
He’s fully awake now, and pulls himself off the bed. He stomps over to Gabe and while glaring at him he shoves him out of the way.
“Hey, watch it.” Gabe says, as he stumbles out of the way.
Austin doesn’t pay him any attention though he just walks right up to the TV. He’s nose to nose with it, that the rest of us can’t even see the screen anymore. He bows his head, and his shoulders begin to shake.
“It can’t be true.” He whispers.
He goes still for a second, then pulls back his bad arm and punches into the TV. The screen smashes inward, and the room is full of the sound of the metal bending.
We all yell in surprise, while Gabe, Dan, and Brian run up to him. They pull his hand out, and it’s a bloody mess. As they turn him back to the bed, the towel that was covering his shoulder is bleeding through again. So much so that it drips down his shirt. Maria jumps up and flings the closet door open and begins picking through the clothes. She pulls out some old looking shirts and sets them on the bed. When Austin sits down, she shoves the other guys away and motions for Emily to help her.
“I’m sorry.” Austin says, as he hangs his head down. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“It’s going to be all right Austin. Emily and I are going to get you cleaned up. You don’t have to worry.”
They proceed to wash, bandage, and redress him. The entire time, he just sits there compliantly and has silent tears running down his cheeks. No one says anything to him, either not wanting to hurt his feelings or are feeling the same way. It’s strange to see him this way he’s always been the tough guy at school. But I can see how easy it is to break under the pressure.
When Austin is finally resting on the bed again, we all go back to just sitting in the quiet. Beside me leaning against the window, is Matt asleep. I take off my hoody and use it as a pillow and snuggle up to him.
I rest my head on his leg and I close my eyes for a moment.
Chapter Twelve
When I open my eyes again, I’m no longer leaning against Matt. I’m on the floor in front of the window seat, and I must not have slept that long. It’s still light out, and still very bright. I hear voices and I try to clear my muddled head. I pull myself into a sitting position, and my head begins pounding and I have a moment of dizziness. I shake myself and it goes away, and I look for who woke me up.
It’s Austin.
He’s standing in the middle of the room yelling at Gabe, who appears to be blocking the closed bedroom door. That seems odd, what did I miss when I was asleep? Their voices are getting louder, and I’m not the only one that was woken up. Matt and Alex are no longer sitting behind me they are now sitting on the bed watching Austin. Nice to know they left me alone to be comfortable.
Not.
Austin’s voice gets so loud he makes me jump in surprise. And I finally make sense of what they are arguing about.
“Dammit, I can’t stay here! Those things are going to get in! I will not die like them!” Screams Austin, his face is red with anger.
“Be reasonable, Austin. You can’t just walk out the front door. That’s suicide, and you know it!”
“What choice do I have, huh? Unless you happen to have an airplane in your back pocket, then we’re screwed. I’m not waiting around, just to be eaten and turned!”
“We all feel the same way you’re not alone in that. I’m just trying to get you to understand, that we have to come up with a better plan of action.”
“Plan of action? Are you high Gabriel? Who said I was including any of you?” He laughs, and it sends chills down my spine.
Still sitting on the floor near Gabe is Sam, and he’s watching them argue back and forth. He snickers at Austin’s comment and shakes his head.
“I figured that was what you already had in mind. You’re too much the shallow type to actually want to help anyone but yourself.” Sam says. He must regret it the moment he says it though, his eyes get wide and his cheeks go red.
Austin doesn’t say anything he just turns and glares at him. He stands there for a minute, before he begins to shake. I instantly have a bad feeling, like he’s going to start hitting Sam. I must not be the only one, because Gabe comes closer to him and Dan is now standing and approaching him slowly. They both are taking their time, almost afraid of how he’ll respond.
He doesn’t seem to notice them though, his eyes are for Sam.
“You can think whatever you want of me, loser. But I’ll make it out of here alive, and you can sit here and wait to die.”
Sam is sitting while leaning against the wall so hard I think he’s trying to push through to the other side. If it was possible, I know he’d be gone by now. Austin is freaking me out, and he’s not even looking in my direction.
“Dude, will you chill. We’re all scared, but we have to work together.” Alex says from the bed.
“Listen to Alex, Austin. None of us want to stay here we want to go as much as you.” Dan says, he talks quietly trying not to spook him.
“Stop trying to confuse me! I know I can make it to my car, it’s in the driveway for Crist sake!”
He turns then and he’s facing towards me, and I flinch at the hard look on his face. His eyes are wild, and look too big for his head. His face is so pale, that he has dark circles under his eyes. His shirt is already wet with blood, and I don’t know how he’s even standing up.
But he’s not looking at me though he’s looking out the window.
I can almost see a plan forming behind his eyes, and I barely have time to duck when he runs at me. I can feel the wind as his body passes over me, and he crashes through the window with no resistance.
When Austin went through the window, the glass rained down on me. I didn’t have time to try to move, and I can feel the pieces pierce the skin of my back and arms through my light t-shirt. I sense some of the other’s rush to the window after him, but I’m still crouched too low to see who. Everyone seems to be yelling, but my ears are ringing from the sound of the window smashing. Hands grab for me and pull me up, I stumble to my feet and am facing Gabe. He pushes me behind him to Matt though, and he grips me tightly.
Gabe, Dan, Brian, and Alex are staring out the window and yelling for Austin to come back inside. I’m confused for a moment, not understanding what they are talking about. Then I step away from Matt, so I can see out the ruin of the window. There is a wide ledge of the roof, right below. He landed on it easily, and is shuffling to the edge. Now that the window is wide open, I can hear the dead outside below. As if they sense that Austin is almost within they’re reach, the moans they make become more persistent. I can almost see the shadows of their bodies from where I’m standing, and I’m suddenly so scared I can’t catch my breath.
“Austin, it’s not too late, you can come back inside. Trust me, you don’t want to jump.” Gabe says, as he leans out the window to him.
“Listen to him man, this is crazy!” Alex yells.
“Shut up! I can make it,” Austin starts to lean over the edge. “I know I can.” One of his legs hangs over the side.
Gabe swears and jumps out the window and onto the ledge with Austin. He’s too late though, Austin pushes off the side just as Gabe almost reaches him. He falls to the ground on his hands and knees, and I can hear his cry of pain from inside. He gets up quickly though, and make a run for his car that is twenty feet from him. By the time he’s not even half way, the dead around the house are already fast after him. He’s almost to his car when his foot catches on something on the ground, and he falls. He’s swarmed almost instantly, and I lose sight of him.
I can only hear him calling out for help, and my stomach rolls at the thought of what they are doing to him. It only lasts what feels like a second, and he stops calling out. Very slowly the dead back away from him, and we get a look at his body. They move as a group, and are more violent than I remember them being last night.
It’s almost like they are so consumed with a hunger for flesh, that they lost it.
I gag at the sight of him, and have to turn away. You can’t even make him out beneath all the blood and body pieces. They attacked him so fiercely, that I don’t think there is anything left to make him into one of them. I must be wrong though, because I can hear the others screaming. I close my eyes when someone runs from the room gaging.
I don’t want to see what he’s turned into, and refuse to turn around.
“Gabe, come back inside. It’s too late to help him.” Dan says.
Behind me, I hear Gabe stepping through the window as the glass crackles beneath his feet. Only then do I open my eyes, and see Matt watching me. He’s looking at me so strangely, and I don’t have time to figure out why before a banging sound behind me makes me turn.
It’s Gabe and he’s punching at the wall beside the window.
My heart breaks at the sight of him, he looks so defeated. And he’s not the only either, Alex had fallen to the floor with his head in his hands. Dan and Brian are next to Gabe, but neither of them really tries to stop him from his attacks towards the wall. Not caring what Matt thinks, I walk over to Gabe and place my hand on his shoulder. He stills instantly, but doesn’t turn around. I can feel his tense muscles beneath my hand loosening, and as I’m about to pull away he lifts one of his hands up to cover mine. His touch is warm and his hand is slick with blood. He drops it suddenly and turns away to walk across the room.
He stops by the door, and sits down against the wall with his hands in his lap.
“It’s not your fault Gabe. We all tried to reason with him, he didn’t want to listen. What matters now, is that we focus on getting out of here, the right way.” Dan says, but Gabe doesn’t say anything back. He just bows his head and stares at nothing.
I look back to Matt, but he’s leaning against the desk making a point of not looking at me. Not that I blame him, I didn’t have to be the one to comfort Gabe. It just seemed like the right thing to do, and I’ll stand by that even if he doesn’t. I walk over next to him, as Claire, Maria and Sam walk into the room. They look more ghostly pale than Austin did and I realize they must have been the ones running out getting sick.
My stomach rolls at the thought, but I try to ignore it.
“The windows downstairs won’t hold much longer. The dead are starting to get more vicious now, and are taking it out on the house.” Sam grumbles, as he holds his stomach.
Claire and Maria both walk into the arms of Brian and Dan, and I feel a twinge of jealousy. A faint whining sound make me turn my head to the bed. It’s Lucy and somehow she’s still asleep and looks like she’s having a nightmare. She’s cradled in Peter’s arms, and he tries to sooth her back to sleep. I notice her bandage is already covered in blood. I don’t even know how Matts arm is he’s been wearing one of Austin’s hoodies since we came upstairs.
I know Dan is right though, we have to get out of here like yesterday.
Chapter Thirteen
As the day wears on everyone seems to distance themselves. Since Austin is gone, the idea of getting out of the house alive is starting to slip away. No one’s really left the room much, too afraid to be close to the dead outside the windows downstairs.
Even from in the upstairs bedroom, you can hear the scratching.
By midafternoon, Claire convinces me to help her make lunch. I realize then that none of us have eaten, but I guess seeing your friends die and get back up to attack you can take away your appetite. So we go and scrounge up some food, and manage to solicit the help of the girl Emily. Apparently Austin’s family was big on take out, because we couldn’t find much beside snacks. Plus, the fridge was full of to go boxes and none of it smelled all that fresh.
“I’m not sure to be honest, he got bit pretty badly. I’m worried he lost too much blood.”
Gabe steps closer to me, and reaches his hand out. Before he touches my arm, I notice out of the corner of my eyes that Sam and Alex are getting Matt and Austin up. Near them, Dan and Brian hover and they must be waiting to move the couch. I turn away from Gabe and start to go help Matt.
“Thank you again Gabe, it means a lot.” I say over my shoulder.
As I walk away, I hear him walk back into the wall. He lets out a deep breath, and I force myself not to look back at him. I feel so confused over the way he’s being. One minute he was kind of being rude, and then he seemed like he was about to try and comfort me. I don’t know what to think about that. I won’t lie and pretend I don’t have the same conflicting thoughts about him.
It seems like such a dumb thing to worry about, but I think I hurt him when I walked away.
Chapter Eleven
By the time the sun the sun is coming up, we’re all settled upstairs is Austin’s room. The window’s downstairs are blocked the best way we knew how, meaning most furniture is pushed against them. But it’s better than nothing, in my opinion. At least there will be some sort of obstacle for those things to get by first. Being on the second floor, almost gives us the illusion that nothing is wrong. For one thing, it’s quieter.
We can’t hear the scratching and banging on the windows.
We all pretty much found a wall to lean against, and try to stay calm. Except for Austin of course who is passed out on his own bed. The girl Lucy is laying across the bottom of it, no one wanted to see her lying on the floor. Even Austin agreed who woke up enough to grumble a reply about it. Her boyfriend Peter won’t leave her side and is perched at the end of the bed.
The room is pretty good sized, and I’m almost jealous about it. The bed is along the wall to the right of the door, and takes the whole space being a queen. Straight ahead is a bay window, with a padded seat. To the left of the window, is a built in entertainment center slash bookcase. It has a large plasma TV and a lot of video game equipment. There are drawers lining the bottom of it, making me believe that’s his dresser. To the right of the window, are the closet door and a small desk. It’s pretty bare except for an expensive looking computer.
It makes my laptop look chincy in comparison.
I’m sitting on the floor next to Matt, who is resting on the window seat, next to him is Alex. I suppose we’re trying to help out all of us that are hurt, even if we don’t really know how. The best we figure is they need rest, or try to keep up their strength. Beside me on the floor are Claire and Brian, and I notice that he’s been checking out the TV the last couple minutes. Sam is sitting near Brian with his knees drawn up to his chest, and he hasn’t lost the deer in headlights look. Near the door on the other side of the bookcase, is Gabe. He’s been pretty quiet since we came upstairs, and I can tell he’s trying not to look at me. Or maybe I’m being paranoid, and that’s what I’m doing. On the other side of Alex, near the closet are Dan and Maria. She’s asleep in his lap and beside her is Emily.
Now that we finished downstairs, we don’t really have another plan or ideas about what to do next. I do know that we all keep checking our cellphones, and none of us are able to reach anyone. It’s really unnerving that no one answers, but we do get the occasional busy signal. But that doesn’t make us feel any better.
I’m about to dose off, leaning against Matt, when Brian stands up and faces the TV.
“What about the news?” He says as he turns back to face the room. “I mean just because no one is answering the phones, there might be something about it on TV, right?”
“It can’t hurt to try. Reporters have a habit of getting in the thick of things.” Dan says.
We all kind of nod in agreement, and Brian turns back to the TV. It’s kind of an elaborate plasma brand, and it takes him a second to find the power button. After he does though, he still pauses with his hand raised. As if overcoming his hesitation, he pushes it. The TV clicks on with a whooshing sound, and we all lean forward in anticipation.
Or at least I do.
The screen is dark for a moment, and all I can hear is static. Then suddenly it’s alive with color, and it takes me a minute to see what’s on the screen. It’s one of those emergency broadcast messages you know the ones that come on when you are usually watching a movie, when there is never a real emergency. Except I know that this one is clearly not a test, given what is running around outside. There is no sound, just the occasional bleeping noise. Along the bottom of the screen, the same message keeps repeating across.
It says,
“Androscoggin County residents are to seek immediate shelter. A rapidly spreading contagion is infecting the dead, whom are rising. Emergency evacuation is in progress, and troops are on their way. An emergency service shelter is being devised, and residents are advised to stay indoors until further notice. Beware of your surroundings. Be alert. The dead are fast and highly dangerous.”
It keeps repeating in an endless loop, and no more and no less. None of us say anything, for what feels like forever. I feel a touch on my shoulder and I jump and look behind me, but it’s just Matt. He looks even paler now.
I know I look the same, even though I’m not even hurt.
“Check the other channels.” Gabe says.
Brian glances at him, but does what he says. He goes through at least all the local channels and it’s the same screen over and over. I don’t even know what to think, but it seems our guess was about right. The things outside are dead, yet there up moving around and apparently it’s not just here.
I really wish we were able to reach someone, anyone really.
I hear crying, and look over to Dan, he’s holding a now awake Maria to him and she’s sobbing into his shoulder. We might not be able to get in touch with our parents, but I’m glad Daniel is here with me, and that he’s alright. It’s a small comforting thought, if only everyone was alright. I lean into Matt, and think not for the first time, that I hope he’s alright.
Brian is still facing the TV, and only steps away when Claire goes over to him. He’s more stunned now than he was earlier fighting those things outside. I see Gabe walking over to the TV, as Brian steps away.
He’s about to turn it off, when there is movement from the bed.
“Leave it on!” Austin yells.
He’s fully awake now, and pulls himself off the bed. He stomps over to Gabe and while glaring at him he shoves him out of the way.
“Hey, watch it.” Gabe says, as he stumbles out of the way.
Austin doesn’t pay him any attention though he just walks right up to the TV. He’s nose to nose with it, that the rest of us can’t even see the screen anymore. He bows his head, and his shoulders begin to shake.
“It can’t be true.” He whispers.
He goes still for a second, then pulls back his bad arm and punches into the TV. The screen smashes inward, and the room is full of the sound of the metal bending.
We all yell in surprise, while Gabe, Dan, and Brian run up to him. They pull his hand out, and it’s a bloody mess. As they turn him back to the bed, the towel that was covering his shoulder is bleeding through again. So much so that it drips down his shirt. Maria jumps up and flings the closet door open and begins picking through the clothes. She pulls out some old looking shirts and sets them on the bed. When Austin sits down, she shoves the other guys away and motions for Emily to help her.
“I’m sorry.” Austin says, as he hangs his head down. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“It’s going to be all right Austin. Emily and I are going to get you cleaned up. You don’t have to worry.”
They proceed to wash, bandage, and redress him. The entire time, he just sits there compliantly and has silent tears running down his cheeks. No one says anything to him, either not wanting to hurt his feelings or are feeling the same way. It’s strange to see him this way he’s always been the tough guy at school. But I can see how easy it is to break under the pressure.
When Austin is finally resting on the bed again, we all go back to just sitting in the quiet. Beside me leaning against the window, is Matt asleep. I take off my hoody and use it as a pillow and snuggle up to him.
I rest my head on his leg and I close my eyes for a moment.
Chapter Twelve
When I open my eyes again, I’m no longer leaning against Matt. I’m on the floor in front of the window seat, and I must not have slept that long. It’s still light out, and still very bright. I hear voices and I try to clear my muddled head. I pull myself into a sitting position, and my head begins pounding and I have a moment of dizziness. I shake myself and it goes away, and I look for who woke me up.
It’s Austin.
He’s standing in the middle of the room yelling at Gabe, who appears to be blocking the closed bedroom door. That seems odd, what did I miss when I was asleep? Their voices are getting louder, and I’m not the only one that was woken up. Matt and Alex are no longer sitting behind me they are now sitting on the bed watching Austin. Nice to know they left me alone to be comfortable.
Not.
Austin’s voice gets so loud he makes me jump in surprise. And I finally make sense of what they are arguing about.
“Dammit, I can’t stay here! Those things are going to get in! I will not die like them!” Screams Austin, his face is red with anger.
“Be reasonable, Austin. You can’t just walk out the front door. That’s suicide, and you know it!”
“What choice do I have, huh? Unless you happen to have an airplane in your back pocket, then we’re screwed. I’m not waiting around, just to be eaten and turned!”
“We all feel the same way you’re not alone in that. I’m just trying to get you to understand, that we have to come up with a better plan of action.”
“Plan of action? Are you high Gabriel? Who said I was including any of you?” He laughs, and it sends chills down my spine.
Still sitting on the floor near Gabe is Sam, and he’s watching them argue back and forth. He snickers at Austin’s comment and shakes his head.
“I figured that was what you already had in mind. You’re too much the shallow type to actually want to help anyone but yourself.” Sam says. He must regret it the moment he says it though, his eyes get wide and his cheeks go red.
Austin doesn’t say anything he just turns and glares at him. He stands there for a minute, before he begins to shake. I instantly have a bad feeling, like he’s going to start hitting Sam. I must not be the only one, because Gabe comes closer to him and Dan is now standing and approaching him slowly. They both are taking their time, almost afraid of how he’ll respond.
He doesn’t seem to notice them though, his eyes are for Sam.
“You can think whatever you want of me, loser. But I’ll make it out of here alive, and you can sit here and wait to die.”
Sam is sitting while leaning against the wall so hard I think he’s trying to push through to the other side. If it was possible, I know he’d be gone by now. Austin is freaking me out, and he’s not even looking in my direction.
“Dude, will you chill. We’re all scared, but we have to work together.” Alex says from the bed.
“Listen to Alex, Austin. None of us want to stay here we want to go as much as you.” Dan says, he talks quietly trying not to spook him.
“Stop trying to confuse me! I know I can make it to my car, it’s in the driveway for Crist sake!”
He turns then and he’s facing towards me, and I flinch at the hard look on his face. His eyes are wild, and look too big for his head. His face is so pale, that he has dark circles under his eyes. His shirt is already wet with blood, and I don’t know how he’s even standing up.
But he’s not looking at me though he’s looking out the window.
I can almost see a plan forming behind his eyes, and I barely have time to duck when he runs at me. I can feel the wind as his body passes over me, and he crashes through the window with no resistance.
When Austin went through the window, the glass rained down on me. I didn’t have time to try to move, and I can feel the pieces pierce the skin of my back and arms through my light t-shirt. I sense some of the other’s rush to the window after him, but I’m still crouched too low to see who. Everyone seems to be yelling, but my ears are ringing from the sound of the window smashing. Hands grab for me and pull me up, I stumble to my feet and am facing Gabe. He pushes me behind him to Matt though, and he grips me tightly.
Gabe, Dan, Brian, and Alex are staring out the window and yelling for Austin to come back inside. I’m confused for a moment, not understanding what they are talking about. Then I step away from Matt, so I can see out the ruin of the window. There is a wide ledge of the roof, right below. He landed on it easily, and is shuffling to the edge. Now that the window is wide open, I can hear the dead outside below. As if they sense that Austin is almost within they’re reach, the moans they make become more persistent. I can almost see the shadows of their bodies from where I’m standing, and I’m suddenly so scared I can’t catch my breath.
“Austin, it’s not too late, you can come back inside. Trust me, you don’t want to jump.” Gabe says, as he leans out the window to him.
“Listen to him man, this is crazy!” Alex yells.
“Shut up! I can make it,” Austin starts to lean over the edge. “I know I can.” One of his legs hangs over the side.
Gabe swears and jumps out the window and onto the ledge with Austin. He’s too late though, Austin pushes off the side just as Gabe almost reaches him. He falls to the ground on his hands and knees, and I can hear his cry of pain from inside. He gets up quickly though, and make a run for his car that is twenty feet from him. By the time he’s not even half way, the dead around the house are already fast after him. He’s almost to his car when his foot catches on something on the ground, and he falls. He’s swarmed almost instantly, and I lose sight of him.
I can only hear him calling out for help, and my stomach rolls at the thought of what they are doing to him. It only lasts what feels like a second, and he stops calling out. Very slowly the dead back away from him, and we get a look at his body. They move as a group, and are more violent than I remember them being last night.
It’s almost like they are so consumed with a hunger for flesh, that they lost it.
I gag at the sight of him, and have to turn away. You can’t even make him out beneath all the blood and body pieces. They attacked him so fiercely, that I don’t think there is anything left to make him into one of them. I must be wrong though, because I can hear the others screaming. I close my eyes when someone runs from the room gaging.
I don’t want to see what he’s turned into, and refuse to turn around.
“Gabe, come back inside. It’s too late to help him.” Dan says.
Behind me, I hear Gabe stepping through the window as the glass crackles beneath his feet. Only then do I open my eyes, and see Matt watching me. He’s looking at me so strangely, and I don’t have time to figure out why before a banging sound behind me makes me turn.
It’s Gabe and he’s punching at the wall beside the window.
My heart breaks at the sight of him, he looks so defeated. And he’s not the only either, Alex had fallen to the floor with his head in his hands. Dan and Brian are next to Gabe, but neither of them really tries to stop him from his attacks towards the wall. Not caring what Matt thinks, I walk over to Gabe and place my hand on his shoulder. He stills instantly, but doesn’t turn around. I can feel his tense muscles beneath my hand loosening, and as I’m about to pull away he lifts one of his hands up to cover mine. His touch is warm and his hand is slick with blood. He drops it suddenly and turns away to walk across the room.
He stops by the door, and sits down against the wall with his hands in his lap.
“It’s not your fault Gabe. We all tried to reason with him, he didn’t want to listen. What matters now, is that we focus on getting out of here, the right way.” Dan says, but Gabe doesn’t say anything back. He just bows his head and stares at nothing.
I look back to Matt, but he’s leaning against the desk making a point of not looking at me. Not that I blame him, I didn’t have to be the one to comfort Gabe. It just seemed like the right thing to do, and I’ll stand by that even if he doesn’t. I walk over next to him, as Claire, Maria and Sam walk into the room. They look more ghostly pale than Austin did and I realize they must have been the ones running out getting sick.
My stomach rolls at the thought, but I try to ignore it.
“The windows downstairs won’t hold much longer. The dead are starting to get more vicious now, and are taking it out on the house.” Sam grumbles, as he holds his stomach.
Claire and Maria both walk into the arms of Brian and Dan, and I feel a twinge of jealousy. A faint whining sound make me turn my head to the bed. It’s Lucy and somehow she’s still asleep and looks like she’s having a nightmare. She’s cradled in Peter’s arms, and he tries to sooth her back to sleep. I notice her bandage is already covered in blood. I don’t even know how Matts arm is he’s been wearing one of Austin’s hoodies since we came upstairs.
I know Dan is right though, we have to get out of here like yesterday.
Chapter Thirteen
As the day wears on everyone seems to distance themselves. Since Austin is gone, the idea of getting out of the house alive is starting to slip away. No one’s really left the room much, too afraid to be close to the dead outside the windows downstairs.
Even from in the upstairs bedroom, you can hear the scratching.
By midafternoon, Claire convinces me to help her make lunch. I realize then that none of us have eaten, but I guess seeing your friends die and get back up to attack you can take away your appetite. So we go and scrounge up some food, and manage to solicit the help of the girl Emily. Apparently Austin’s family was big on take out, because we couldn’t find much beside snacks. Plus, the fridge was full of to go boxes and none of it smelled all that fresh.
