You can't call them Zombies!

“You leave that boy up there and I’ll never forgive you.” Anna said. Her eyes flared with the anger building up inside her.

Looking at the wide open space toward his house in the opposite direction, he sighed. He couldn’t leave her alone to try it, but his body still ached from the battles so far. In her mind he knew that the choice was simple, yet he shuffled on his feet. Fine.

He grabbed her hand and led her toward a set of high bushes. Checking behind them before he pulled her behind it, he motioned for her to stay. “I won’t be able to do anything unless I know you’re safe.”

She nodded, upset, but didn’t argue.

He scanned the front yard for any sort of weapon, but only found a garden hose. He followed it to faucet and unscrewed it. Rolling it up, he left enough slack to act like a short whip. He spun it in his hand for a moment and started toward the kid.

He must have noticed Kyle as his blows to the creatures became more frequent. From across the street he could see the boy tiring and smiled, knowing that if he left the boy back, he would have been a goner eventually. Swinging the hose in one hand he marched across the street. The first creature didn’t even flinch as Kyle clipped it in the back of the skull, but it did turn its attention to Kyle.

Before Kyle could swing again, the creature lunged. Teeth snapping and hands grabbing.

Slipping on a piece of the hose that had fallen slack behind him, Kyle tumbled against the cement. Pain and flickers of lights bounced through his head. A cold, vicious weight fell on top of him, and on pure instinct, he used his end of the hose and stuffed a section of the rubber into the creature’s mouth.

It bought him enough time and rolled out from underneath the creature, its hand tearing at Kyle’s jeans, but the rubber kept him distracted for a moment.

A throb ebbed from the back of his skull and Kyle didn’t see the creature behind him until he bumped into it. The creature took hold of him, and his brain froze, it was over. He winced as the cold hands gripped him tightly. Expecting excruciating pain he waited, numb to the sounds around him.

Just as fast as he was grabbed, the creature’s grip fell. He didn’t have time to see what happened as the rubber munching creature had eaten through the hose and had returned toward Kyle with renewed hunger. Tunnel vision took over as Kyle’s nerves filled with terror. He didn’t see the brick until the top half of the creature’s skull vanished under the blow. It took two more steps before falling to the ground, decayed brain matter oozed from the wound.

“Get out of there.” A boy’s voice called to him.

Kyle turned toward the sound, his vision blurring as darkness continued to crowd in on him. Pulling the stone-filled feet from where he stood proved difficult and he dropped to his knees twice. Growls grew around him, and more were turning their attention to him. He screamed at himself to get going, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. It refused to get off the ground and decay filled his nose. It was everywhere and gaining fast.

Shaking his head, he swore he heard something clanging around inside and almost threw up in the middle of the street. Anna would have laughed at him he thought as he struggled back to his feet. Getting upright only heightened the dizziness that had struck his stomach.

“Kyle, come on get in the car.” Anna’s voice fought back the nausea. He looked toward her voice and she sat in the passenger side of a car. The boy was in the front seat. A young boy driving? Kyle shook his head, but the boy remained in the front seat. He stumbled toward Anna, and in the reflection of her terrified eyes he saw the dozens of creatures shambling out of the houses and gardens toward them. Falling into Anna’s arms the pain took over and he blacked out.

Not sure how much time had passed; Kyle woke up in the back of the car. Anna sat in the front seat, and warmth filled the car like a blanket. He didn’t want to wake up, but forced himself to get another look at this boy.

The boy sat behind the wheel, his toes pressing down on the accelerator and his eyes barely peeking over the dash. It felt totally safe to Kyle as he slumped back against the cloth seats. “Where are we?”

“On our way to your house.” Anna said. Her eyes peering back toward him.

“Good.” He closed his eyes. The hair on his arms pricked up as Anna rested her hand on his knee. “What happened?”

“This boy saved you.”

“I thought I was saving him.”

“Yo, you got dropped by one of them fools. Lucky I was the starting pitcher for my squad, otherwise you be one of them.” The boy said in a thick accent that made Kyle’s head hurt trying to think of where it came from.

“Thanks.” Kyle leaned back, the throbbing continued and he looked out the window. The creatures were ignoring them despite the slow speed they were going.

“We’re here.” Anna said as the car jerked to a stop.

The motion threw Kyle forward and he clutched his stomach to keep from throwing up again. Next time he’s driving.

He looked out toward his house. The lights were still on and many creatures were trying to make their way into the house, but his mother must be thankful for the bars she put on the windows years ago now. The creatures couldn’t get in despite their tries.

“You going in there, for what?” The boy said.

“My mom.” Kyle said, his chest tightening at the thought of leaving her like this.

“How you think we going to do that?” The boy said again.

“A distraction.” Anna offered.

“Hell no.” The boy said.

Kyle liked that idea even more. He looked at his home and then at Anna and the boy. “Exactly.”

What should Kyle do?

1.) Be the decoy so that Anna could save his mom?

2.) Make the boy be the decoy so he could save his mom?

3.) Ask Anna to be the decoy so he could save his mom?

4.) Forget about it and continue looking for help?