“Jesus Christ! It’s never ending! They’re still coming!” Jake yelled.
“Keep shooting!” Cliff returned as he shot another zombie crawling through the window nearest him.
Cliff swore under his breath when he saw four undeads running across the lawn. He hit the first two as they sprinted to the window, but missed the others.
“The other window!” Doug yelled.
Cliff turned to see the sadistic creatures wedged in the window opening struggling to free themselves. The creatures’ bloodlust screams and their decaying flesh smell sent shivers up Cliff’s spine. He started to doubt their chances of surviving the onslaught. He shot the two in the head then returned to the second window. Holding his Ruger tight against his shoulder and his elbows down, Cliff spun around to see Doug stabbing his knife in a creature’s skull.
Doug turned his head and vomited on the carpet. When Doug wiped his mouth, he saw Cliff looking at him. “Oh, man…I don’t know which is worse! Getting bitten or the putrid smell of decaying flesh?”
Cliff smiled to see Chris putting two bullets in a zombie as it crawled through the window nearest Doug.
“Jake! Watch out!” Cliff yelled.
Jake looked to his right to see a creature lunging at him. He tried to swing his rifle around, but it was too close. He stumbled to the floor with the creature on top. Its mouth was wide open ready to bite.
“Get him!” Jake screamed.
Cliff rushed to Jake and slammed the butt of his Ruger to the creature’s skull. The creature tumbled off Jake but stood quickly. It screamed and began to lung before Cliff shot the undead twice in the face.
“That was close,” Cliff said as he pulled Jake to his feet.
“Yeah, too close,” Jake returned breathing heavy.
“They’re coming around the back!” Doug yelled.
“Chris! Go to the kitchen watch the back! Shoot anything that enters,” Cliff instructed.
“They keep coming!” Doug screamed. “We need to get to the trucks and get out of here!”
Cliff pondered the notion. He had women and children in the attic. He needed to get them down and to the trucks safely. It wouldn’t be easy. He swore under his breath.
“Oh my God,” Doug said looking out his window. “Cliff, more are coming!”
Cliff didn’t need to be told, he could hear the approaching horde. He studied the living. The carpet was littered with spent rifle and pistol casings. More than twenty dead zombies were scattered among the room and he knew more just outside the windows. They were in for a long fight, if they didn’t run out of ammo. Gun fire flashes filled his vision, reflecting off the acrid gun smoke filling the room. He looked over at Jake to see him shooting at four undeads trying to climb through the window.
“We can’t hold out much longer!” Jake screamed. “Cliff, we need to get out of here! I’m almost out of bullets!”
“We got to go, Cliff. We’re sitting ducks here!” Doug yelled over the gunfire. “We’re going to be killing them by hand soon!”
“How’s it going, Chris?” Cliff yelled toward the kitchen.
“Nothing so far,” Chris returned.
“Chris! Do you see any infected between here and the barn?” Cliff asked, screaming over the blast of his rifle as he dropped two more infected.
“It looks clear, Cliff,” Chris yelled.
“Go get the truck and bring it to the garage!”
“You sure?”
“Yes!” Cliff screamed, agitated for repeating himself.
Chris took a deep breath and readied his pistol. He turned the doorknob until the locking mechanism cleared the latch. He pushed the door open further and stuck his head out-it was clear. He stepped into the night air and was about to close the door when a gun shot rang out. Dirt sprang up two feet in front of him. A second, followed by a third gunshot rang out, hitting the ground in front of him.
He ran back into the kitchen, “We’re trapped!”
“What do you mean?” Doug asked.
“There was someone up on the hill shooting at me. They shot at me three times, hitting the ground at my feet.”
Cliff cussed. He looked out the window; the mob of infected outside the window were three to four deep. Cliff bit his bottom lip trying to come up with a plan of action. He cussed again, then shot another creature as it tried to squeeze between two others entering the same window.
Cliff let out a cry when he was pushed to the floor. He looked over his shoulder to see Doug plunging a knife into the skull of a puss-oozing creature inches away from his neck.
“What the-,” Cliff began as he saw the creature’s lifeless body fall. “Jesus! I didn’t see him!”
“I thought you were a goner,” Doug replied.
“Yeah, I thought I was dead meat, too.” Cliff said looking over the body.
“Can’t go out the back and we can’t go out the front!” Jake yelled. “How does the garage look?”
“Go, Chris!”
Chris sprinted through the kitchen and to the door leading to the garage. His eyes and mouth widened when he saw four infected creatures standing around the Defender. They turned at the same time and ran to him. Chris slammed the door shut and leaned his back against the door. He could feel the creatures push and scratch at the door. Chris’ mind worried about the strength of the thin door separating him from death. He found a chair in the corner of the laundry room and wedged it under the doorknob; he had no idea if it would keep the creatures at bay, but he had to try something.
Chris hurried to the living room to see Doug and Cliff fighting off five undeads.
“There’s four in the garage!” Cliff shook his head and cussed.
David was pleased with the chaos unfolding before him. Patricia repealed someone trying to escape, and the infected walkers were surrounding the house. He could only imagine the terror and fear inside the house. The screams and howls from the creatures were more than he had planned. The sight below was frightening to watch, even from his distance. He was thankful it wasn’t him in the farmhouse.
His eyes scanned the corner of the house, searching looking for Dane. He found him hunched behind a single tree fifty yards from the house. David zeroed in on his brother and wondered what he was waiting on. His plan was almost executed; Dane just needed to light and throw the bomb. The house needed to catch on fire to trap the threat inside.
“Come on, Dane,” David whispered to himself.
David watched through binoculars as Dane lit the rag sticking from the lid of the firebomb. Dane hunched low as he walked from the tree to the house. There were seven of the infected clamoring against the windows where Dane was walking. David silently praised Dane for his bravery and cheered when he threw the firebomb. The corner of the house above the window erupted in fire. Two of the infected below the firebomb caught on fire as well. To David’s surprise, the creatures burning were unfazed. They continued to claw at the window.
David grinned at the idea of the creatures spreading fire.
“Get in there, lovelies!” David laughed.
“Hey!” a voice yelled.
David lowered the binoculars. His smile faded when he saw a man standing next to him.
“What th—,”
Galvin swung, landing a direct blow to David’s right temple knocking him to the ground. Galvin jumped on his chest and delivered multiple punches until David was unconscious.
Galvin looked to his left to see Cliff’s home engulfed in fire. He turned back to the unconscious man on the ground. “You stupid son of a—,” Galvin yelled as he delivered another blow to David’s face.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
The living room started to fill with smoke from the fire that engulfed the corner window. The combination of acrid gunshot residue, rotting flesh, and smoke was making the room unbearable.
“We got to get out of here!” Jake coughed holding his shirt to his mouth.
“I know!” Cliff returned. “Stay here. I need to get Jennifer and the kid
s!” Cliff sprinted to the hallway and lowered the attic ladder. His heart sank when he saw smoke bellowing across the opening. He heard a few coughs and called up at Jennifer.
“There’s a fire in the corner!” Jennifer yelled.
“I know! Come down. Hurry!”
Cliff was impatient watching the children and two women climb down from the attic. “Move with a purpose! We got to go!”
He hadn’t thought of an alternate safe place. He could only hope and pray. He looked into the bedroom and saw the king size bed. It gave him an idea, but he had to make sure the women and children were safe first. He remembered Chris saying the backyard was clear of infected creatures. He hustled the kids to the kitchen table and had them hunker down between the table and the wall. The men were still fighting at the windows; gunshot after gunshot echoed throughout the house. The onslaught of undead creatures trying to enter the home was beyond Cliff’s comprehension. When he thought they had killed all of them, more appeared at the windows.
“Chis?” Cliff called.
Chris hustled to where Cliff was standing.
Cliff pointed at the king size headboard. “Help me get this off. Get the mattress off and the bed rails. We’re going to need the headboard,” he explained.
Within thirty seconds, they had the headboard leaning against the wall. Cliff lifted one end and Chis the other; the weight was more than Cliff had imagined. He heard Chris grunt when he lifted it. They carried it to the kitchen and leaned it against the table. Cliff ran into the living room and found Doug bashing an infected’s head with the butt of his shotgun. Once he killed it, Cliff tapped him on the shoulder. “I need you in the kitchen.”
Doug wrinkled his forehead, “What? Why?”
“Trust me. We need to do this!”
“What is it?”
Cliff explained to Doug the idea for the headboard. He told him the crucial need is to get to the barn. Doug nodded. He ran into the kitchen where he found Chris waiting.
Cliff stood at Doug’s window and began stabbing creatures as they tried to climb through. He felt his muscles started to ache after the fifth creature he stabbed. The amount of undead flowing into the house was overwhelming. He prayed Doug and Chris would return with the truck soon. Cliff didn’t know how long he could continue without help. He felt his back pocket; he had one full pistol magazine left. If he ran out of ammo for the Ruger, he could use it as a baseball bat.
Cliff raised the Beretta Nano to eye level and shot two creatures trying to climb over a third in the window. He pulled the trigger a third time, but it didn’t fire: empty. He ejected the empty magazine, pulled his last from his pocket, and slapped it in. The moment the receiver slid forward charging a round, a loud scream filled the room.
Doug slid his hand under the headboard and felt its bulk. He coached Chris where to put his hands and how to balance the board.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures, my friend,” Doug stated. “Got to hand it to Cliff for coming up with some creative ideas.”
He opened the back door and peered left, then right, searching for nearby creatures.
“I hope this works,” Doug mumbled to himself.
“I’m ready,” Chris announced.
“Hunch down and keep your butt down. We don’t want it shot off.”
Doug turned to Jennifer, who was leaning against the wall holding Jonathan. “Can you get the door, please?”
Jennifer nodded.
“Go!”
She pushed the door open, and they hunched over walking as fast as they could, holding the headboard. They entered the backyard and immediately felt bullets riddle the headboard. Doug thought the bullets penetrated the thick, solid wood, but when he looked, he saw there weren’t any exit holes.
“My God, it’s working!” Doug cheered, feeling invincible.
He looked ahead and felt he was pulling Chris.
“Good! Speed it up! I feel like I’m dragging you!”
“How much further?” Chris asked, huffing for air.
“The gulley is fifteen yards in front of us. If we can make that, we can crawl on our hands and knees to the truck!”
Doug’s muscles began to protest the weight of the headboard. He gritted his teeth and dug deep for his last ounce of strength to keep the makeshift shield upright. He grunted and ignored the pain radiating from his fingers to his lower back. He began to second guess their decision.
“I’m clear!” Chris called out.
“Let it go!”
Chris and Doug dropped the headboard.
“Geez, I’m not as physical as I use to be,” Doug said feeling his heart pounding. He took in as much air his lungs could hold.
A loud growl emerged from the darkness. Doug open his eyes. “Time to go!” he announced as he rolled over and ran to the truck.
Doug climbed into the driver’s seat and Chris jumped in passenger seat. Doug turned the ignition and flipped the headlights on. Four infected creatures stood in the light beam, staring back at the truck. He slid the gear into drive and stomped on the gas pedal. The truck launched forward, the exhaust roaring in response. Doug turned the wheel to the left and plowed into the four creatures.
“Hold on!” Doug announced seconds before the truck bounced over the undead creatures.
“I hope his works!” Chris said holding onto the dash as Doug sped the truck to the house.
CHAPTER THIRTY
“I hope they get here soon!” Jake screamed over the gunfire. “Between the smoke, gunfire, and stench from the undeads, I don’t know how much longer I can stay in this room!” The fire had burned the curtains and began to creep to the center of the room. Jake backed away.
“They’ll be here soon. Start walking to the kitchen, it’ll be our Alamo!” Cliff instructed.
The floor between him and the wall was littered with infected bodies. Three laid on top of each other at the foot of the window. Seven decaying creatures laid motionless between his feet and Jake. He was amazed they had survived so long. He was feeling his muscles ache from the melee and felt the smoke fill his lungs. The lack of oxygen began to take hold; his eyes started to blur.
“We got to get out of this room!” Jake yelled as he plummeted a knife into the skull of an infected.
“Jennifer!” Cliff yelled. “We’ll exit through the garage! But don’t go just yet! Wait for us!”
Doug drove the truck to the garage; its headlights illuminated five infected creatures clawing at the door. Doug jumped from the truck with his pistol in hand. He walked briskly around the Defender and fired four times, shooting three creatures in the head. He spun as one lunged at him. Once it passed him, he slammed the heel of the pistol grip over the creature’s head. He turned to the fifth creature trying to crawl to his feet. Doug raised his gun and shot it in the head.
He looked back to see Chris standing by the Defender, looking petrified.
“You ok, man?”
Chris nodded but was trembling.
“Stay alert. There’s more out there,” Doug warned. “I’ll grab Cassandra and the kids.”
Cliff walked backward from the living room toward the kitchen, with Jake at his side. The thought of a creature emerging from the thick smoke, inches from their faces, haunted his vision.
“Jennifer! Take the kids to the garage door!” Cliff yelled.
“We’re clear! Let’s get the hell out of here!” Doug announced from the garage door.
“Jennifer! Take the kids and get in the truck!…Now!”
“We’re going!”
Just as Cliff and Jake reached the garage door, three undead sprinted from the smoke. They crashed into the kitchen counter. Cliff pushed Jake into the garage when the creatures turned. “Get in the truck!” Cliff yelled.
He slammed the door behind him seconds before the infected creatures arrived. He hoped the door held. The feeling of being pulled from behind filled his mind. He jumped into the Defender’s driver’s seat and turned the ignition switch. Cliff shifted the
gear into drive and sped from the garage. Jake reached for the toggle switch below the radio and flipped it, turning the Defender’s four fog lights on; its beam stretched across the yard.
Jake whistled when he saw more infected trying to enter the house. The fire in the living room had engulfed the corner of the home; its flame extended twenty feet into the night’s sky.
“I can’t believe we made it out alive,” Jake stated. “Can you imag—”
Jake’s train of thought was interrupted when a bullet struck the Defender.
“What the—“
A second bullet hit the driver’s window, shattering it, Cliff flinched. “They’re shooting at us! Get the kids down!” Cliff commanded.
Cliff stomped on the gas pedal. A third, then a fourth bullet struck the SUV. He looked in the rearview mirror to see Doug swerving from the gunfire. A flash of light from the field caught the corner of his eye. He ducked when another bullet struck the door above his head. The steering wheel began to vibrate. He looked ahead at the approaching intersection.
“This just keeps getting better,” Jake blurted.
“It’s the same guys from the pharmacy. I guess we pissed them off,” Cliff suggested.
“What now?”
“We have got to make it to the paved road and go right before we can get out of their line of sight!” Cliff stated.
Cliff felt the Defender vibrate. He fought the steering wheel as the vehicle pulled left. He gritted his teeth as he tried to counteract the SUV. The Defender aimed for the ditch. Cliff used all his strength to keep the vehicle straight.
Cliff glanced in the rearview mirror to check on Doug. He was still close behind, weaving from the gunfire.
The steering wheel shuttered in his hands, jolting his neck. Smoke began to roll from under the Defender’s hood. The SUV began to slow. Cliff pressed the gas pedal harder. The temperature dial pegged to the right, dipping into the red.
“They hit the engine!” Cliff announced. He looked ahead to see the nearing intersection. He had to make the paved road to have any chance of escape. The Defender slowed. The truck behind them bumped his rear bumper, jarring them in their seats.
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