You can't call them Zombies!

Waking up, Anna blinked as fear seeped into every fiber of her body. Only a sliver of moonlight slanted across the room from the skylight. Beneath the blankets her body ached. Not having much time to rest had worn her out. “Kyle?”

Her voice drifted through the darkness with no response. Flexing her fingers she gripped the comforter and slide out of bed. The carpet scratched between her toes and she shuffled toward the door. She held her breath and leaned against the wood. Not a sound emanated from beyond and she thought the worse.

The doorknob hung beneath her and her hands refused to reach for it. She couldn’t bring herself to open the door.

Someone moved behind the door. The thudding of boots continued away. That caused her adrenaline to flood her system and she forced herself to open the door. It swung open and she stared at dark hall. Fabric rustled further in the dark and a squeak shot from her mouth before she could stop it.

“You’re awake?” The older man said. He emerged from the darkness, his face half shadowed by darkness. “Come downstairs, the rest of your friends are down there.”

Rest of my friends? Anna followed the man as he hurried out of sight.

She stopped at the top of the stairs and looked down. Candlelight flickered below. She didn’t understand why it didn’t reach up to her room, but started down the stairs.

Each step creaked, but she didn’t remember hearing his footsteps cause the same sound. Reaching the bottom of the steps, her heart froze. Kyle was sitting in a rocking chair near the fire, his eyes glazed over like he was on some sort of medicine. The little girl was tied up in front of the fire. Bound and gagged, a pole was jammed down between her limbs like they were ready to roast a pig, except it was the girl.

The woman sat in the recliner, her beady eyes looking at her. Candle light flickered in her pupils as she stared. “What did you bring here?”

Her mind felt clouded as she stared at the scene before her. The older man remained nearby, his rifle in one hand, but his gaze locked on the woman. His chin quivered as she stood there.

“What do you mean? We came here looking for help.” Anna said. Anger tightened her stomach as she took a fateful step forward. “Why are you doing this?”

Anna dared to challenge the woman and her face changed. A storm washed over the woman’s face, her brow wrinkling and she clutched the arm of the recliner scratching the fabric. “You came here for help? What kind of people you think we are? Helpful people? With those things around there eating all of our animals. We have no food.” The woman’s voice continued to rise and the jowls of her cheeks vibrated with each raised word.

“Food?” Anna looked over at the little girl. “Let my friends go, and we will leave. We didn’t mean to interrupt you guys.”

“No!” The man spoke. “Hungry.”

Anna flinched and looked at the man. His arms quivered, but his stare remained on the woman.

“Yes dear, I won’t let them leave.” The woman said in a soothing voice. It reminded Anna of her grandmother.

Something didn’t make sense. The wound on the woman’s arm had turned a putrid green. “You were bitten?” Anna asked sneaking a couple more steps forward.

The woman looked at the wound. “Yes. A few days ago, but I’ve keep it under control.”

“How?”

“By eating people that have come here for help.” The woman said without any care. She turned her attention to Alex and the girl. “These two alone will last us a few days. I haven’t tried virgin meat yet.” She licked her lips. They glistened in the candle light. Her teeth were brown with decay, bits of flesh clung between them.

Her stomach flipped and Anna stormed the woman. She punched the wound. Her fist sank in briefly with the blow and the woman howled clutching the bandage.

The man raised the rifle and took aim.

Anna, fueled by love of her friends dodged at the last moment and fell stiffly to the ground. The rifle went off taking a chunk of the woman’s face off. The blood shot across the room and sizzled in a few of the candles. The screams died as the woman collapsed out of the chair. Her eyes rolled around in her head for a moment before resting on Anna. Pure evil poured from her eyes.

Anna jumped up; fists clenched and stared at the man as he stared at what he just did. She lunged at him driving him against the wall. An antler of some young buck ran through the man’s shoulder. He groaned and dropped the rifle.

Anna slumped to the ground as her knees buckled beneath her. She needed to get out of here.