by W. A. R.
Lance quickly pulled back on the hammer of his pistol with his thumb and pulled the trigger. Amber stared at him, accepting her fate, whichever it may be. She humbly gave her life to a higher power and sat there, her hands free, her feet free, but unmoving. The sound of the trigger clicking back and the hammer snapping back in place made Buddy and Derek both jump in worry, their hearts pounding in their chests. Amber would be a liar if she didn’t admit that her blood roared in her ears as the gun remained quiet, aside from the clicking. She didn’t flinch, wouldn’t give him the satisfaction, but she couldn’t deny the pounding of her heart. She didn’t want to die; she couldn’t. Her children needed her, her family needed her…and yet still, she withheld her faith and held her breathe. When the gun did nothing, when Lance realized that either the bullet had been a dud or even that the chamber was empty, his eyes widened and Amber merely dug her ice blue eyes into him. She hoped he felt as cold inside as she did.
“You have just signed over your life.” She told him, her voice low and threatening, meaning every word. He was scared now; scared, reckless, and furious. Exactly what she needed.
The other man stepped onto the porch, never looking up. Instead, he watched his feet as they hit the steps quickly. “It’s a trap! We have to get out of here!” he shouted loudly to his people, nervousness tinting his voice. The other tensed immediately and the man looked up at his people for just a brief moment. Amber saw the immediate second that he saw her people standing triumphantly and his people dead on the ground. He lifted his gun and opened his mouth to speak whenever it began. The man, attempting to lift his gun and warn his men, stepped foot on the ground and as he did, Kyle tugged on the rope that triggered the lever on the machine that Jacob had placed on the right. The words of warning were lost in his mind as a knife was lodged in his neck. He immediately gasped and reached for the penetrating weapon, dropping his gun to the ground. His fingers grasped frantically at the lodged weapon and pressed against the wound, crimson liquid flowing between his desperate fingers. Blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth and he fell to his knees, his eyes begging for help from someone, anyone.
Game time.
Chapter Thirty Seven
It was all slow, it seemed, as everyone watched the man get hit with the knife and began falling to the ground. Guns were raised and people ran, acting on instinct as they moved. Shots were fired and screams were heard before the man’s knees even hit the hard dirt beneath him and yet Amber had watched it all like a movie. It was slow and decisive, and yet at the same time chaotic. It was unreal; something she had only seen in movies or read in books, and though she readily wished it away, she couldn’t escape the harsh reality of it. Buddy and Derek shoved the guns that were in their faces away from them, the men desperately trying to pull the triggers as they moved. Bullets ricocheted off of the porch as they did this, their nerves having forced their muscles to tense and their fingers to tighten on the triggers. Splinters flew up from the wooden porch from the impact. Amber felt her heart go still as their bullets tore through the wood of the porch before them, tear through the walls of the house, the boards of the windows.
Buddy removed his knife and gun from his waistband under his shirt, digging his knife into the man’s abdomen just as swiftly as the weapon had appeared. He quickly rose to his knees, never releasing his weapons and he jerked the weapon up in one fluid motion, his face twisted with disgust and strain as he ripped the man’s torso open. Blood coated Buddy’s hand and the clothes of the man before pouring like an open faucet to the ground below them. Derek surged forward at the man before him in blind fury, knocking him off balance. The man’s face turned up with a grimace, his back connecting hard with the ground and the breath left him. Derek was immediately straddling him, tussling with him on the ground. All the while this was happening, Amber reached forward and pulled Lance’s feet from under him, catching him by surprise and causing him to fall hard on his back. He released a grunt in response to the action and let go of his gun, the weapon flying from his hand and towards the now fighting duo that rolled on the ground. Once he was firmly on his back, Amber turned her wild eyes to the porch where the bullets had gone, searching for any sign of Katie. She found it hard to breathe as she searched for movement and after a moment she turned from Lance and lowered herself onto her stomach, looking under the porch. She was desperate to find her, to know she was safe.
“Katie?” she asked loudly, but heard nothing in return before Lance grabbed her by her ankle and drug her from the porch, growling in fury and ignoring the rest of the horror unfolding around him.
Jagged rocks scraped against her belly, tearing her skin and causing her to cry out from the pain. She turned quickly onto her back, her ankle twisting awkwardly in his firm grasp. She kicked her free foot at him, her boot connecting with the tense fingers that held her captive. He cried out, releasing her and she quickly found her feet, standing and spreading her feet, her elbows bent, her whole body straight and quick, ready for battle. He charged at her, wrapping his arm around her waist, pushing her towards the hard edge of the porch. She shrieked and moved her feet, tripping him up and turning him, their momentum. His back hit the porch and she landed against him. He cried out in anger, or pain, Amber wasn’t sure. All she knew was the anger at him and the concern for her family resonating throughout her body and mind. Her fist drove into his ribs as he lay bent at an odd angle. He grunted, his hands and feet trying to find some balance. Amber continued to hit him; in his face, his ribs. She was so angry, so livid; she wanted to kill him. She wished she had a weapon on her then, one that she could have hidden. Lance was finding it difficult to breathe.
She stumbled back from Lance after a moment, maintaining her balance, readying herself for the end result of killing him with her bare hands. And yet, her eyes were wild, searching for her children, wondering with wide-eyed fear what they was doing there in the midst of the death and chaos, hoping that they were safe. As Lance moved to get up she felt something grab at her shirt. Quickly she turned, seeing a Biter reaching for her among the chaos. She reached down, fumbling for the knife that wasn’t there as she was pushed back towards the porch. The monster gnashed its decaying teeth at her, its fingers pulling at her clothes, her skin, hungry for flesh. The Biter’s skull suddenly exploded in front of her and she flinched from the gunshot, unsure of who or where it came from. It was instantaneous; as soon as the Biter’s head exploded before her Lance was behind her, reaching forward to quickly grab her hair. He jerked her forward with him as he moved and she hit the ground face first, receiving a painful cheek and a mouthful of dirt. She was ashamed and felt as if she had failed. She knew that her emotions had distracted her; understood that her fear of losing her son had thrown her off balance and now, well…now this man had the best of her, regardless of how hard she tried to fight him off.
“I am going to make you suffer for everything you’ve done.” He growled at her and she screamed from the pain as he began dragging her by her scalp kicking and screaming to the house, her nails clawing skin from his hands as she tried to relieve the pain and balance on her feet.
George watched as the man received the knife in his neck from Jacob’s trap and it was as if a switch had been hit. Everything began coming undone. He heard Biters filing in from the gate and he turned to see one of the seven people that had been left standing on the opposite side of the truck shooting at the monsters as they came down on him. One bullet hit the closest creature in the head, and blood and residue plastered the ground. Further Biters continued to come at him, their yellowed eyes hungry, their missing and decaying teeth snapping at the air, following the scent of him, following his fear. The man, seeing that more Biters were coming from all directions, ten at least, he began panicking and turned to run. It was too late however, as they grabbed at his shirt, their bony fingers digging into the flesh of his shoulder. He screamed and attempted to pull away from their grasp. George grimaced from his place opposite him and squeezed his gun and knife
tightly in his hands. The man pulled, struggling away from them, but they held steadfastly, pulling the muscle of his shoulder and back from his body. George closed his eyes as a hollow thump sounded and his screams tapered off. He needed to make a move while the Biters were distracted.
A sudden groaning behind him caught his attention and he turned quickly to see a Biter dragging what could be considered half of a leg behind it, arms reaching for him. He quickly drove his knife into its skull before it got to close and looked around. There were no more that had seen him but trepidation settled on him when he realized that Brittany was nowhere to be found. She was not where he had left her and his mind began to wonder. And yet still, his pulsing heart beat echoed in his ears, instinctively drowning out the screams and blasts from the guns. He understood that it aided in his detachment, in his ability to take the life another human being…or, rather, the life of one of the increasingly endangered human race and he respected it. He only hoped it hadn’t hindered him in saving Brittany…if she had needed saving.
Still, he thought, someone had to close the gate and stop the Biters from coming in. If they didn’t, God knew how many people would be lost at the hands of hungry monsters. Quickly, he turned and stepped forward towards the gate, unsure of Katie’s whereabouts, and he began that way until he reached the side of their truck. He stopped short when he saw that someone had already closed it, and even locked it. Biters were reaching through the chain link of the fence, shoving and pushing; wanting to devour every living human they saw that was just merely out of reach. Clearly in a confused state, he shook it off…he had to. Quickly turning back to the chaos unraveling around the house, he searched for Katie who had been under the porch. His eyes scanned the yard, the house until his eyes finally settled on Cassie and Katie struggling to stave off Biters that had found their way to them. Opposite them near the porch was Amber, staving off a Biter with no weapons. He lifted his gun, his heart hammering in his chest, and he took aim. Before he could pull the trigger, however, the Biter’s head scattered into a mass of decaying flesh and bone. He jerked his eyes to the left, seeing Kyle lower his gun and rush to the side of the house alongside Jacob. He had just killed the Biter that was attacking Amber before George could. George lowered his gun and glanced back to where Katie and Cassie were. He quickly swallowed his panic and raced over, his heart pounding against his chest as he rounded the truck, seeing the monsters had pressed Cassie against the truck forcefully, its teeth coming down at her face while Katie was forced to the ground, her hands sliding into mutilated flesh as she fought against the snapping teeth that were lunging at her.
Without thinking George whipped his knife around and drove it to the hilt in the back of a Biter’s skull, releasing Cassie from her foul prison against the truck. As he knelt to hastily retrieve his knife, Cassie bent down and grabbed her knife from the grass and slammed it into the top of the skull of the Biter that was terrorizing Katie. Cassie couldn’t stop her momentum however, and as she plunged her knife into the monster, she tackled it as well, tumbling with it as they rolled toward the fence, her grip never loosening on the knife. Katie immediately stood and went to help her as George turned to see how many Biters and people were left, as well accounting for their own people. Buddy had driven his knife into a man’s abdomen before rising to his knees, bringing the knife with him and Derek tackled his warden, tussling with him on the ground. Jacob had rounded the side of the house and George was curious as to his actions but pushed the thought away. Amber was struggling with Lance, having a difficult time regaining her balance. Cassie was rising to her feet as Katie took down another Biter. George performed a quick head count.
Bobby-Jean, Elliot, Elva Jo, and Rick were gone to the church. Cassie and Katie were safe with him, Derek was wrestling, Buddy was rushing to help him as a knife had gotten involved, Jacob and Kyle were in eyesight, rope in hand, and Amber was fighting with Lance. Brittany was the only one of their group missing. He swallowed, hoping nothing had happened to her.
He turned to the three behind him and the dropped yet another Biter before casting their wide-eyes to him. “Brittany is missing and Amber needs help. Jacob and Kyle are on the other side of the house. There’s…” he glanced up over the hood of the truck, counting the dead bodies of the enemy. “There are nine down. Lance has Amber, Derek is fighting with another, and the other three are fighting off Biters.”
Cassie cast a furtive glance at Katie before turning back to George. “We have the Biters and the men. You go help mom. We will meet you back at the truck and we will stay out of sight.” And though it was her plan, she was more or less only saying it to benefit herself and keep from racing to her mother to help. George sighed inwardly, not arguing with the young woman; and readying his knife and gun once again he raced out to the midst of the disaster.
Cassie looked at Jacob, her blood like ice as she readied her compound bow. Katie eased over the hood of the truck, watching as the three invaders continued shooting at Biters. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as more rounded the house, coming towards them from the side of the house that he had just come. Realization hit her like a slap to the face and she turned to Katie.
“The back gate is open!” she hissed at her and without another word, she ran towards the back, besieged by Biters as she tried to take them out and close the gate, allowing for their hindrance in coming within the gate. Cassie eased up and lifted her bow, aiming through the sights when she saw Jacob pull in a rope. Another contraption sprang up and about ten knives, dull and sharp alike, flew through the air at the three men and surrounding Biters. About three Biters dropped to the ground instantly and one of the men fell, a knife protruding from the back of his knee, and another man cried out in pain as a knife hit him in the small of his back. Cassie knew that he was going to lose his kidney. She readied her bow and aimed it at a Biter, getting a good aim on it before releasing. A brief second later the Biter fell with an arrow lodged in its head. The man that was uninjured jerked his head quickly towards her and she ducked down behind the truck, readying her bow once more with a crimson arrow, and arrow she had used to take down one of the men from mere minutes before in the woods.
Her heart hummed with its unsteady rhythm and she shuddered. They had to make it out of the battle alive. She glanced up again, her eyes narrowed to slits as she gripped her readied bow tightly in her hands. Buddy ran from Derek to Lance, who slammed Amber’s head against the brick column of the stairs. George shouted at Buddy and ran to help Derek, who struggled to keep the man from driving a knife into Derek’s chest. Cassie grimaced and fought off the urge to help her mother. Instead, with the shuffling of feet behind her, she turned to see who or what her visitor was. Katie, Kyle, and Jacob were coming up on the other side of the house and for a moment Cassie was grateful for their presence; grateful to have three more of their people safe. She eased back up over the hood of the truck and aimed at the uninjured man’s head. She released her arrow, watching it fly and hit the man in the cheek. He cried out and stumbled on his feet and within a moment the Biters descended upon him and the man that had fallen with the knife in his leg. Cassie watched as fear washed over the face of the man that had injured his kidney; fear and hopelessness. Quickly, he turned and hobbled towards the house as fast as he could, making a beeline for one of the trucks.
Buddy rushed towards Derek as he tumbled with the man, both men rolling on the dirt and struggling for the upper hand. Buddy jerked the other man off of Derek from the back of his shirt and threw him to the side, losing his gun in the process. He did this only to have an infuriated Derek come to his feet, unsheathe his knife and barrel back towards the man. Screams filled his ears, pitching higher over the sound of his blood roaring in his mind. He turned, seeing Lance dragging Amber towards the steps to the porch. His rage heightened and he became desperate.
“Go get her!” George yelled from the side, aiming towards Derek, who now struggled with the man yet again, Derek’s back flat on the ground and the knife
aimed at his chest, held in his twisted hand. Both men shared a grim determination, their teeth bare like a couple of rabid dogs fighting for domination.
Buddy didn’t need to be told twice and he turned just in time to see Lance grip a thick handful of her hair and slam the side of her head against the brick column of the stairs. The man’s hands were red with blood from the deep abrasions that Amber had given him that had apparently gone unnoticed. Buddy’s feet moved without his mind telling them to, and he gripped his knife as tightly as he could against the slickness from the crimson liquid on his hands. At the last moment however, he saw one of the contraptions spring up to his right and he lost his footing, falling to his knees and sliding to avoid the knives that were coming. He kept his eyes on Lance, however, and as he went down he reached out and pushed the blade of his knife into his calf. The man yelped in pain and released Amber, whose eyes rolled but her leg still swept back, knocking Lance onto his side. She attempted to right herself on her hands, only to fall back down ungracefully. Lance turned to Buddy angrily, bending to pull the knife from his calf. Both men scrambled in the dirt to stand, to gain power, but Lance was quicker. He towered over Buddy, gripping Buddy’s knife and rearing back to drive the knife down when Buddy rolled out of the way. It didn’t matter however, as when Lance stood, there were more frightened cries for mercy from his men. He looked up and his eyes widened as he saw two of his men fall, one with an arrow in his cheek and the other with a knife in his leg. Both men attempted to scurry away as the third did in fact run back towards the house, but they weren’t fast enough and they were bombarded by Biters. There was no one else. Lance was completely on his own and as he realized this, Buddy briefly saw terror in his eyes.