by A. Eggleston
"Steven!" she shouted as Steven took her hand. She helped him back on his feet.
Ash groaned in pain. He hadn't taken a fall like that in quite a long time. He hoped that he hadn't broken any bones. Well, I guess I'll find out now, huh? Ash prepared to pick himself up from the ground. He opened his eyes to find Evelyn's hand in front of him, offering to help him up. Ash smiled and took Evelyn's hand. She immediately pulled him back on his feet.
Ash stood back up and looked into Evelyn's emerald eyes. She smiled back at him.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
Ash played it off with his usual charm. "Yeah, I've had worse falls."
Evelyn chuckled. "I believe you." She looked down to see that Ash was still clutching her hand. She smirked at him playfully and retracted her hand.
Only one Deadite was left.
The four of them turned their heads to see a single Deadite standing on the far edge of the roof. They readied themselves, waiting for its attack.
The Deadite scanned the four of them with its blank eyes. The creature howled and flapped its wings. It flew across the sky, but not toward them. No, the creature flew in the other direction and fled downtown to join the others.
The four of them were baffled for a moment. They figured that, after seeing twelve of them get slaughtered by Ash and his crew, the creature chose not to push its luck.
Faith shook her fist in the air. "That's right!" she shouted. "Fly away, you little pussy!"
All four of them began to laugh. Even Ash began to crack up.
Ash turned around, heading for the door. "All right, let's head back." He heard everyone's footsteps begin to follow him. "We can restock, reload, and get ready for round two later."
"JOOOIIIN USSSSSS!!!"
All four of them turned around to see twenty or so Deadites climbing on top of the building. The same Deadites that had been scaling the walls had now reached the top, and were ready to bring Ash to their Master, Freddy. They all chanted, "Join us! Join us!"
As Ash reached for his Boomstick, he shouted, "Aw, gimme a break!"
Chapter Thirty Two
"Get back in position!" Ash called as he walked away from the roof entrance. He held up two fingers, signaling Evelyn, Faith, and Steven to follow him. His face remained steady, but inside, his heart was racing and he felt his bones shaking. He had only two bullets left in his Boomstick and his pump shotgun.
As he looked across the rooftop, observing all of the Deadites that were making their way up, he realized that there was just too many of them. There would be no way that they would be able to stay up there and battle it out with so many Deadites, and come out alive. Ash's fear began to take over, but he would be damned if he was going to let it be known.
Ash placed his hand over his shirt pocket, feeling around for any spare bullets. At this point, he would need all that he could get. As he ran his hand over his pocket, he could only feel four extra bullets inside his pocket. "Damn." he muttered.
Evelyn stood at his right, with her revolver in her right hand and her axe in her left. She heard Ash cursing under his breath. She turned her head to him and leaned over to speak to him. As she spoke to him, her eyes never left the emerging hoard of Deadites. "What is it?" she asked.
Ash looked at her briefly as he replied. "I'm a little low on ammo." he said. "I've only got four on me now."
"It's okay." Evelyn said, hoping to offer comfort. "I'll cover for you. I still have six more in my revolver."
Ash nodded his head, but his face was still stone cold, masking his ever-growing fear. "Sounds good."
Faith and Steven stood at Ash's left side. Faith stood at the end of the rooftop, just a few feet away from the edge. She held her rifle a little carelessly this time. Instead of resting the stock against her shoulder, she held the rifle beside her hips. Just like Ash, she knew that trying to fend off as many Deadites as this would be useless.
She felt Steven's breath next to her ear as he spoke to her. "How many bullets you got?"
She didn't have to look at his face to sense his worry, it was all in his voice. She broke her gaze from the Deadites to look at Steven's face, which was inches from hers. "I can't remember." she said. "But, it's not much."
"Oh..." said Steven, disappointingly. His tone was riddled with sarcasm. "That's good to hear."
Evelyn stepped closer to Ash and asked him another question. She got his attention first. "Ash?"
He answered. "Yeah, what?"
Her eyes were locked on the Deadites that were scaling the walls. She couldn't believe that they used to be people at one point. Each of them were so mangled and rotted, that they were unrecognizable to their own pure selves. Their skin was gray, their eyes were blank, and their bones protruded from beneath their decaying skin. She hoped that she would never become one of them. "How many of them do you think there are?" she asked.
Ash scanned the edge of the roof, estimating at how many Deadites were approaching. "Twenty, maybe." he answered. "But from the looks of it, there's more of them coming our way."
Faith's voice was heard amid the Deadite growls. "Oh my God..."
Ash, Evelyn, and Steven turned their heads to the left to look at what Faith was marveling at. When they turned, they saw Faith, standing on the ledge on the left side of the S-Mart building.
She leaned over slightly so that she could face the north side of the building, observing the parking lot. She had her rifle lowered, with the barrel pointed down to the ground. Her light brown hair danced in the calm wind as she looked onward. The pupils inside her brown eyes became small. Her lips parted slightly, as if she was staring in awe.
"What is it?" asked Evelyn.
She, Steven, and Ash took a few steps toward her, trying to see what she was seeing. Each of them lowered their weapons, for the moment.
Faith raised her left arm so that it was parallel to the ground. "Look." she said cryptically. She pointed to the parking lot on the north side with her index finger.
Evelyn raised her foot and stepped on the ledge, joining Faith. She was standing in front of Faith. She raised her chin to look over the edge of the building.
Ash and Steven took a few steps forward, and looking where Faith was pointing.
What the four of them saw, were Deadites filling their entire S-Mart parking lot. Aside from the crowd of possessed vessels scaling the walls and climbing to the top of the building, there were hundreds of them running and piling on top of each other, trying to get to Ash.
Faith spoke again. Her tone was laced with desperation and hopelessness. "They're everywhere."
Ash's eyes grazed along the parking lot, seeing all of the undead bastards coming for them. His gaze trailed past, and onto the streets, where it was a scene of debauchery and absolute madness.
There were Deadites walking the streets of Springwood, taking the souls of the living, and causing mayhem and destruction wherever they went. There were auto wrecks, fires, and blood staining the streets.
Ash looked further past, and saw that there were even more. He looked on the horizon, to see that the Deadites just kept coming their way. It was as if the entire population of Springwood was possessed by evil and was making their way to S-Mart. "Wow..." muttered Ash. When he spoke again, his voice was loud enough for the rest of them to hear. "I don't think we have enough bullets for this."
Evelyn nodded her head from side to side, agreeing with Ash's statement. She looked at Ash, who was facing away from her. "So, what are you thinking? Retreat?"
"For right now, yeah." he answered. "I think the best thing to do would be to go back inside, and fend off as many as we can until dawn." Ash turned his head to look at them, further explaining his last remark. "Deadites can't survive during the day."
Just then, Faith felt something tighten around her left ankle. Before she could even look down, she was being pulled off the ledge. Faith raised her arms and screamed at the top of her lungs. "Aaaaaah!"
Everyone turned around to look at Faith again. By
the time they had turned to her, she had already been dragged down from the building. A male Deadite had grabbed her by the ankle and dragged her down to be captured by the others who were piled on top of each other.
She had dropped her rifle to the ground when she had been yanked from the building. The impact had caused the rifle to go off on its own.
BLAM!
A single bullet shot out from the barrel. Since Steven had been standing adjacent to her, the rifle had been facing him. The bullet landed in Steven's left arm, just inches above his elbow.
Steven screamed. "Aaah!" He dropped his axe and the Necronomicon, allowing it to drop to the ground. He then gritted his teeth, muffling further screams. He bent over as he grabbed his arm with his right hand, hoping to stop the blood flow. He felt his palm get wet as his blood seeped through the sleeve of his black shirt. His dark, red blood streamed down his arm and through his fingers.
The pain was excruciating. The hot bullet was now lodged in his arm, and he could no longer move it. A feeling of numbing agony raced up and down his left arm. He could still feel the bullet inside him. It broke through his skin and muscle tissue, and it hit the bone. He couldn't help but let out a helpless cry. "Aaagh! Aaaaah! Fuck!"
Meanwhile, Faith was being dragged down by the hoard of Deadites, who had scaled the west side of the building. She locked her hands on the ledge, using every ounce of strength within her to keep herself up. But, the more she held on, the harder the foul things pulled.
Some held her by her ankles, while others were trying to climb on top of her. The feel of their slimy, decaying skin touching hers made her want to vomit. But, she fought that feeling and focused on hanging on to the ledge. She grunted as she tried to pull herself up. "Ugh! Get off me!"
She could feel their rough hands sliding up and down her legs, caressing her inner thighs. The male and female Deadites were hissing, moaning, and laughing evilly as they groped Faith. What the hell? she thought. She felt more hands touching and squeezing her backside.
Faith could then feel jagged nails reaching up her shirt, and scratching her stomach. Those same hands began to slide up and grab the cups of her bra. Faith's eyes began to widen and her face contorted in anger. She turned her head around, pulling her knee towards her, freeing her ankle. She then turned back and lowered her head at the male Deadite that was groping her.
Faith launched her knee toward the Deadite's head. He retreated his blistered hands. "I said," Faith turned her head to face the Deadites behind her. "GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" She kicked as many of the demons as she could with her foot.
But there was too many of them. Soon, they began to overpower her. The vile monsters began to climb on top of her, clawing at her with their long, dirty nails. "You shouldn't fight back, Faith!" one of them said in that wretched voice. "It only hurts worse when you do!”
Faith turned back to look at Steven, who was looking at her in horror. She screamed for help. "STEVEN!" She felt her hands start to slip from the ledge. It wouldn't be long before the Deadites would be able to capture her and turn her into one of them. "HELP ME!" she pleaded.
Steven felt a surge of adrenaline run through his body. He wasn't going to let anyone else he cared about become a vessel for those foul creatures. He saw Faith's eyes glisten in fear, she reached her arms out for help. He ignored the pulsating pain running through his arm. Steven picked up his axe with his right hand and began to run as fast as he could toward Faith.
He made his way past Evelyn and Ash, and raised his axe. There was a Deadite on top of Faith's back, trying to hold her down. It was a male demon. His hair was short and dark. His skin was pale and gray. His face was sunken, showing his cheekbones, which were poking through his skin. Also, the lower half of his jaw was missing. All that remained was his long, slimy tongue.
The demon was also very thin and scrawny, which made Steven even more relieved about fighting him. He lowered his axe just as the Deadite raised his head to look at him in the eye. The axe landed on the demon's face, between his white eyes. His skull split open, and green blood oozed from his face and down to his neck.
He screamed. "Aaaaaah!" as he released his grip from Faith and put his hands on his face in attempt to pull the axe from his skull. Steven's axe was lodged far too deep into his head. There was no breaking free.
Steven let go of the handle of his axe and reached his hands down to grab Faith's. "Quick, grab my hand!" he shouted.
Faith climbed over the mountain of Deadites beneath her. She kicked any of the demons who tried to pull her back down again. She grabbed both of Steven's hands. She held them as tightly as she could, ensuring that she would never fall back down again.
Steven gripped both of her hands tightly in his. He leaned back and pulled Faith back up to the rooftop. Once she was halfway up, Steven moved his hands up her arms, and began pulling her up by her upper arms.
Faith kept her eyes locked on Steven's as he held onto him. She stepped on the heads of the Deadites below her, helping her climb up faster. She felt the bottom of her foot finally touch the ledge. She pushed herself up as hard as she could, feeling Steven's hands grab a hold of her shoulders, pulling her in. Once her feet had touched the concrete of the rooftop, both she and Steven dropped to their knees.
They both sat on the concrete. Steven immediately wrapped his arms around Faith, and she did the same. Their hug was as tight as a vice grip. Steven rested his sweaty, bloodied head on Faith's shoulder. He rubbed her back and ran his hand through her hair.
Faith pulled him in, feeling the wetness of his blood seeping through his shirt. She felt Steven begin to flinch from her touching his bullet wound, so she drew back her arm.
Steven released the hug and held her face in the palms of his hands. "I told you I wouldn't let them get to you." He stroked her cheek with his thumbs and pulled her in to kiss her. They could taste each other's blood and sweat from the kiss, but they were happy just to be alive, that they ignored the metallic taste of the blood. Steven then pulled back and looked into her eyes.
Faith laughed softly, showing her teeth from behind her thin, pinkish lips. She playfully punched him in the stomach, and teased him. "You're so sappy!"
Steven laughed along with her. He held her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. He didn't think that he would be able to save Faith. When he saw her being pulled under by those demons, he thought he had already lost her. But something within him told him to keep fighting. He wasn't going to let Freddy or his Deadite followers take another life on his watch. And he cared about Faith. He loved her humor and her vivacious personality, and he wanted both of them to live through this.
Their moment was cut short when they heard Ash's boots stepping on the concrete beside them. He leaned over, his chain wrapped around his fist and his chainsaw still idling. "Rule number one: No hanky-panky when there's a town of Deadites who want to eat our souls." he said bluntly. "Got it?"
Both Steven and Faith got up to their feet. Faith reached over to grab her rifle as she stood back up. Steven quickly leaned over a few feet to his left to grab his axe, and to his right to get the Necronomicon. They stood straight, looking at Ash.
"Good." he said. Ash waved his hand toward the roof entrance. "Now, let's head back." He saw the three of them turn around and walk to the door. He stared at the back of their heads as he followed behind.
Just then, Ash felt hot breath on his neck. Following that, was the smell of dead flesh. Before he could react, he heard a rough, warbled voice hissing at him. "Where are you going, Ash?" the female voice rasped at him.
Ash whipped his head, looking at the rotted Deadite who was inches from his face. The demon's skin was rotted, almost green in coloration. She had blisters and sinews of flesh hanging from every inch of her body. She was small, looking up at Ash's face. She looked so young, like she couldn't have been older than fifteen. She had short, light brown hair. The decaying girl was wearing a white, bloodied, sleep shirt. The hem was four inches above her knees. There was
a graphic on the shirt, but Ash couldn't tell what it was, because it had been stained with her blood. There was also four long slash marks on across her chest, running down to her stomach. They were parallel and jagged, just like the cuts on Ash's side.
This girl had been a recent victim of Freddy's. Ash figured that he must have taken her in her sleep shortly after Ash had woken up. After he killed her, the dark spirits took over her already mutilated body. She crawled out of her own home in the middle of the night, and joined the rest of the Deadites to rampage through the city.
She spoke again. "Let me take you to him! It's so much easier when you don't fight back!"
Ash's eyes trailed down her shirt and looked at her hands which rested beside her slender hips. Her hands were covered in blood. Her fingernails, which had been painted purple, were dirty. In her hands, which were balled up into fists, she held clumps of hair. In one hand was light brown, much like hers. In the other was blonde hair. Small slivers of bone on her knuckles were exposed. His gaze went up as he saw her raise her hands next to her retched face.
"You noticed my souvenirs." the demon said. She smiled and laughed wickedly. "Once Freddy was done with her, we took over her body. What you're seeing here are the scalps of her mother and father after we bashed their brains in! Ha ha ha ha ha!"
The Deadite opened her hands. Her high-pitched laughter was then replaced with a shrieking battle cry. Her eyebrows lowered, and she scowled. The demon dug her bloodied nails into Ash's shoulders and tried to push him over the edge of the building.
Ash acted quickly. As he felt his feet touch the ledge, he turned in the opposite direction, putting her towards the edge of the building.
She had been swung with such brutality, that she had been lifted off of her feet. The young possessed girl was hurled into the air, and fell down to the parking lot, where the rest of the Deadites continued to scatter.
The girl landed on the roof of a Pontiac Firebird. The roof as well as the doors collapsed from the impact of her body. The windows shattered, sending glass flying in all directions. Then came the sound of metal bending, glass shattering, and bones crushing echoed to the rooftop where Ash stood, watching. Her bones shattered and her skull had split wide open. The Deadite bled from all over her body, spilling over the car like a waterfall. Her mouth hung open, and her arms and legs were spread out on the roof of the car. The young girl was finally dead.