As the Light Dies

by M. D. Woodham

  Their discoloured, wounded and bloody arms were outstretched waving in all directions searching and grouping for flesh in the darkness!

  Ann caught up with Gavin as he smacked his hands blindly off of shelves and hanging utensils searching for a way out. Ann tried to look back, scared that they were leaving Dean and Sam behind. She just caught sight of them from the corner of her eye, and was relieved they weren’t too far back. Dean was racing along, following all the noise Gavin was making, dragging Sam with him as he tried to stand his ground to protect them. He was beyond control, he was hysterical, barking and howling like a wild thing constantly fighting against Dean, trying to rear up and attack the huge chef that Dean had unknowingly let loose, while Dean used all his strength to keep him just beyond the reach of the infected hulk.

  Sam’s reaction had Gavin in a state of horrified panic. He’d never heard a dog bark or make a noise anything like it! He slapped his hands off every single surface he could, desperately searching for a way out, ignoring the stabbing pain in his hands and wrists.

  His nerves got the better of him and he glanced around in to the darkened kitchen and saw that the darkness was alive with movement!

  His heart raced even faster than it already was, threatening to beat its way out of his chest. Then as he turned back around both of his hands slapped off of a handle that jutted out from the door he couldn’t see....“GOT ONE!”he gasped stopping, and as he stopped Ann bumped in to him and he lost hold of it as she shoved him further along.

  “FUCK!” he cursed frantically searching for it again.

  “Oh God!”pleaded Ann, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

  He reached out swiping the wall with both hands in a desperate frenzy and grabbed on to it again. He fumbled with it trying to turn it in a blind panic and kicked at the door at the same time and the door burst open letting in muted light from outside.

  He’d found the exit.

  “DEAN HURRY, I’VE FOUND THE WAY OUT!” he yelled as Ann darted passed him making her way outside and as Gavin looked back in to the pitch black kitchen with the faint light from outside filtering in, he saw how full it was with infected people. They were everywhere, crashing in to everything and each other as they swept across the room searching for them. He saw that there was a large island of hobs and hotplates in the middle of the room separating the horde from Dean and Sam, keeping them safe. For now!

  He looked at Dean, and yelled at the top of his lungs,“RUN DEAN! RUN!”

  But Dean couldn’t! Sam was holding him back, trying to protect him from the hulk from the freezer. He was right on top of them and yet Dean wouldn’t let go of Sam’s lead.

  “SHIT!” said Gavin.“Hold the door,”he told Ann and before she’d even taken hold of it he’d let go and ran back inside after his brother. As he ran back in, he slammed his shoulder in to the side of a tall steel cupboard and knocked it over blocking one end of the island so the infected couldn’t get passed. Then he ran towards his brother swinging his torque wrench overhead as he did, and as he reached them he brought the wrench down and whacked the mountain of meat smack bang in the middle of his forehead as Dean slapped away one of its reaching arms as it reached for Sam.

  The wrench had no effect! Surprised, Gavin tried again and hit their towering attacker in the middle of the forehead again splitting bone and caving in the man’s forehead! But it still had no effect, and before he’d even fully retrieved his wrench, Gavin had to duck as the hulk took a swing at him!

  He ducked just in time and the chubby hand flew through the air inches above his head.

  Gavin grabbed Sam’s lead with Dean and started pulling but it was nearly impossible. It felt like Sam was welded to the floor. Sam hadn’t just lost it! It wasn’t just a case of protection now, it was a case of pure and primal, animalistic survival!

  The brothers worked together and gradually started pulling Sam back.

  They were just managing to stay ahead of the hulk but it wouldn’t last, and they both knew it.

  He was unrestrained and he was determined he was going to get them.

  They hurried back engulfed in noise as the horde of infected people shrieked seeing them, now they were made visible by the light from the open door. They locked on to them like a swarm of killer hornets and began to close in! The brothers knew what was happening, they knew they were running out of time! They both yanked at Sam’s lead as the hulk’s fingertips reached close enough to clip the end of Sam’s muzzle! It was the first contact. Dean saw it and it frightened him; he couldn’t lose Sam not like this!

  Please God, not like this, he thought.

  As they backed up, all too aware of the advancing group of infected people Dean caught a glimpse of a hefty looking meat cleaver lying on the island. He wanted to grab it but didn’t dare take a hand off Sam’s lead, until Sam let out a painful yelp between barks. He’d been hurt! And that was it, Dean took his chances and reached out for the heavy cleaver, and as he reached for it he saw the sea of infected coming for them from across the other side of the island. They were staring at him and Gavin with greedy, beady black eyes!

  Gnawed and mottled hands reached out from the other side for his as he gripped the cleaver.

  The island was too wide for them to reach him as he snatched up the cleaver and as he did he watched in horror as the figures started trying to climb up on to the island.

  “SHIT!” he cursed turning back just in time to see Gavin narrowly dodge a throat grab from the behemoth, and without any hesitation he lifted the cleaver high above his head.

  “DEAN! STOP! NO YOU CAN’T!” Gavin yelled caught up with mixed emotions but Dean wasn’t listening, it was all or nothing, he knew it was. He knew it was a case of kill or be killed.

  He brought the cleaver down swinging as hard as he could!

  The chef reached out for Sam oblivious to Dean’s actions and the cleaver sliced through the sleeve of his kitchen whites and buried itself deep in to his fleshy bicep opening his upper arm right down to the bone where it dug in. The big guy didn’t flinch! Instead he reached out with his other arm and grabbed hold of Sam’s neck! Sam howled and bucked wildly as he was lifted up off the floor!

  “NOOOO!” screamed Dean over the uproar from the infected as some of the infected started to climb up and over the island while others trailed behind the hulking chef coming around the island behind him. Dean heaved the clever from the man’s bone. He had to lever it a couple of times before it broke free from the bone risking being hit by the behemoth or caught by one of the infected coming up behind the hulk as they started trying to reach around him!

  We’re not gonna make it! We’re not getting out, thought Gavin as Dean pulled the cleaver back and swung again. This time he took a side swipe at the chef’s thick neck as he held Sam.

  The cleaver cut in to the man’s stubby neck, effortlessly slicing through the ample rolls of neck fat that opened up behind the blade like the wake behind a fast moving boat.

  The blade slid through the infected man’s flesh with ease until it came to an abrupt stop and jammed at the halfway mark just as the tip of the sharp edge passed through the middle of the man’s Adam’s apple. Black blood spurted from the gaping wound as Dean yanked at the cleaver trying to dislodge it from the man’s neck vertebrae desperately dodging groping hands that reached around from behind the chef.

  “LET HIM GO!” shrieked Dean as Gavin tried to pull Sam free, but the chef still had him in a death grip. Dean freed the cleaver and pulled back ready for another swing when the hulking man let go of Sam and dropped him to the ground!

  Sam was back on his feet in a second and barking savagely but now his attention had shifted from the giant hulk in front of them to the fast approaching rabid figures closing in all around them!

  Dean looked down at Sam petrified he’d been seriously hurt and Gavin grabbed him from behind and hauled him back just in time as the hulk made a grab at him. Thick rubbery fingers brushed the tip of Dean’s dust mask. Dean’s eyes n
early popped out of their sockets!

  “C’MON MAN!” Gavin shrieked hauling his brother back and dragging Sam with them as the hulk started to slow down.

  They knew they had to take their chance now, before it was too late for them, and they made a run for the door where Ann was waiting for them. Behind them the slowing hulk dropped to his knees as black blood glugged from the gaping wound in his neck, and he was toppled by the infected figures that had gathered behind him, they scaled him and moved passed him like a swarm of angry ants.

  Watching horrified Ann was sure she could see hints of red mixed in with all that black as it poured from the hulk’s neck. Then with that thought on her mind the cluster of infected freaks clambering over him at that instant suddenly stopped in their tracks and turned their attention on to him, they swarmed him!

  He was smothered in a flash as they rushed at him from all directions, even the ones that had already passed by him turned back and leapt on him, and they all began to dissemble him using nothing but their hands and teeth!

  Wasn’t he fully infected?Ann wondered as she looked on completely astounded by it all, and by the speed of them. Everything was happening so fast. So fast that she hadn’t seen the lone figure that hadn’t joined the others honing in on the fallen hulk from the freezer.

  It was locked on the two brothers and Sam and it ran straight at them!

  Ann stepped aside as she held the door, making room for the brothers to pass when she saw the lone figure that had broken away from the pack and she screamed,“RUUUN!” bringing more attention than she meant to.

  One of the mottled figures in the pile on the fallen chef looked up with raw pinkish flesh sheathed with mottled discoloured skin hanging from its mouth dripping red and black on to its chest. Ann stared at this and before she had time to think about what she though she was seeing it charged gaining even more attention.

  Gavin burst through first with Dean practically on top of him and Sam beside them. Ann threw her weight behind the door to shut it but she was a fraction too late. An arm thrust around the edge of the door at the last possible second wedging the door open. She screamed.

  Dean and Gavin both jumped back against the door but even with their combined weight the mauled arm still thrashed madly trying to grab hold of one of them while stopping the door from closing. Sam jumped up and scratched at the lone arm, he tried to bite it but the muzzle stopped him. Then another arm pushed through drenched with a mixture of black and red blood! The mixture flew from the fingertips as the arm thrashed through the air searching for them.

  “HOLD IT!” yelled Dean jumping back from the door.

  “What the fuck!” said Gavin wondering what the hell his brother was doing. Then Dean readied himself taking a wide stance and swung at the bloody arm with the cleaver! He swung the heavy blade like a hammer and sliced through the forearm cracking the bone. As he yanked the cleaver back out, the bone completely snapped and the arm dropped down hanging at an unnatural angle, held on only by a stretched flap of skin and a tether of uncut muscle.

  “Oh God!” yelped Ann. It was unable to thrash and reach for them anymore but the swinging hand still opened and closed frantically!

  Dean swung again and severed the arm completely and the hand dropped to the ground!

  Ann looked away in horror, grinding her teeth without realising that she was actually squealing,“Oh my God! Oh my God!”over and over.

  “AGAIN!” yelled Gavin, and Dean swung down hard on to the other arm as it thrashed and reached for them. He cut deep in to the bone near the elbow but the arm still thrashed violently. He tugged the cleaver free and swung again but missed and the blade skimmed the wall as the arm moved and sparks flew from the blade. He immediately swung again and caught the arm but missed the site of his first cut that he was aiming for, but the force of the blow was enough to break the already weakened bone and it snapped like the last one going with a loud crack.

  Dean hacked it several times, chopping at the gnarled arm until it severed and fell to the ground and he jumped back against the door to help the others. They pushed and heaved but the door wouldn’t budge!

  “Shit!”said Gavin, “they’ll all be against the other side any second and we’ll be fucked!”

  Dean moved to the edge of the door and realised that the stumps were still wedged there like fleshy door stops. Both of the infected figures on the other side were going berserk trying to break free.“Ease the pressure off,”said Dean.

  “WHAT!” said Gavin.

  “JUST DO IT!” said Dean.

  Ann and Gavin readied themselves and on the count of three they quickly let the pressure off for a split second, then slammed their weight back against the door and it slammed shut.

  “JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!”blurted Gavin jumping back from the door.

  Ann stepped back visibly shaking from head to foot. Dean touched her shoulder.

  “Ann,”he said,“it’s ok.Were ok.But we gotta keep moving.”As he finished sayingmoving the door started pounding from inside!

  “C’mon,”he said,“who knows how long it’ll hold?”

  Ann nodded her understanding and uttered a shaky,“Yea, ok,”and Dean saw in her face, despite the dust mask and goggles, that she was coming around again, and Gavin nodded eager to get going.

  They found themselves in a small backyard area and they were walled in on all sides.

  Looking around Dean saw that one of the surrounding walls, the one joining on to the neighbouring backyard was only about five feet high and climbable. The back wall was at least ten foot high and retained the steep dirt embankment beyond, that led high up to the plush back gardens of houses in the Crown area of the city and the third wall to their right doubled up as the exterior wall of a two storey extension to the next building along. Without any time to lose and no choice they ran over to the shortest wall and started helping each other over and in to the neighbouring yard, still heading in the same direction as before, only now they were behind the line of shops, restaurants and cafes that lined Castle Street instead of out on the street.

  They helped one another over the many walls that enclosed the little private backyards, being careful not to make too much noise and draw any unwanted attention to them.

  Dean knew that they’d find themselves trappedveryquickly with the enclosing walls if they weren’t careful.

  They dodged around garden furniture and rubbish bins. One of the yards even had a large neglected pond they had to avoid. Gavin almost didn’t.

  The kitchen door, now several yards behind them, boomed repeatedly but it still held as they made their escape. Then as they dropped down in to another yard, Gavin slipped and crashed through a set of plastic garden furniture that had been left out.

  He fell in to the table breaking it in half and sent the chairs around the edges flying.

  “Jesus!Could you make any more noise?”said Dean helping him up.

  Gavin held up his palms and said,“Sorry.”

  Dean nodded,“As long as you’re ok! C’mon.”

  They turned to climb the next wall along and they stopped in their tracks!

  In front of them stood the second to last wall they had to climb. They had one more yard to cross before they landed on the tall, steep set of steps that climbed through a break in the shops and joined lower Castle Street to the Crown area higher up. From there they’d slip back on to Castle Street and continue across town to the Eastgate Centre but the wall they now faced had an extra layer of bricks along the top, and on top of that there was a layer of upended broken bottles imbedded along the top in a layer of cement.

  “What the hell!” said Gavin,“it should be illegal to do that kind of thing.”

  “It probably is!”said Dean. Then thinking fast he ran back and picked up one of the plastic chairs.

  As he grabbed one, he felt it flex too easily in his hands.

  Too weak,he thought, and he quickly scrambled through the snow and grabbed another one and stacked them together. They
fitted together nicely, he justhopedthey’d be strong enough to hold their weight.

  Dean looked at the others,“We’ll use these to climb over,”he said. Then he dropped his rucksack and started unzipping his jacket!

  “What about the glass?”said Ann,“and what the hell are you doing?”

  “Yea!”said Gavin,“what are you doing?”

  Dean didn’t answer. He knew they’d understand in a second.

  He pulled his jacket off and flung it up over the wall covering the glass and he saw the realisation hit them, he nodded.“There,”he said,“it’s not ideal but it’s better than nothing. Just be careful not to put too much pressure on the glass ok. Now let’s go.”

  Ann went first helped by the two men, and she gingerly climbed over the top of the wall scared that the glass was going to pierce through Dean’s jacket and cut her, it didn’t, and she dropped down on the other side unscathed. Next over was Sam. Gavin stood up on the doubled up chairs and took hold of Sam as Dean offered him up. He carefully lifted Sam over the top.

  “You ready?”he called over to Ann.

  “Go for it,”she said, and Gavin dropped him snugly in to her arms and then hopped over himself clearing the wall in one. Dean grimaced expecting a cry of pain from the other side as his brother landed. He was angry but relieved when he didn’t, then he set about climbing over. He straddled the wall with both legs praying repeatedly that his jacket didn’t tear while he tried to hook his foot through the spindles of the chair backs. Gavin watched his brother expecting him to just hop over, and when he didn’t he said,“What the hell are you doing now?You don’t wanna sit like that for too long.”

  Without looking over at his brother, Dean said,“How do you think we’re gonna get over the other side?”