The boy stirred, his hair shifting in the light. He had to be no older than thirteen, yet he had been a fighter the entire time.
The creatures were closing the gap, their feet scuffing along the cement in a steady rhythm, the low guttural growl escaping from their mouths. They were hungry and right now, Kyle, Anna, and the boy are just a couple of sardines trapped, ready to be eaten. Unless they did something.
“Grab him; I’ll take care of our escape route.” Kyle ripped open the door, not letting her say anything to stop him.
The chill of the night hit his sweaty brow and he ignored it. He needed to get them out of here and time wasn’t on their side. Tightening his grip on the handle, he stepped toward the first creature within reach. He let go a swing, it cut through the air with a low whistle and ended with a huge crack. The creature stumbled for a moment, taking another step before the bits of brain fell to the cement with a squishy thump. Its eyes locked on Kyle for a moment before it collapsed.
Kyle didn’t take notice as the adrenaline fueled him. On a hunt and destroy mission, which could end his life. He didn’t care. Behind him, Anna was dragging the boy along the ground, his shoes scraping against the concrete.
Then it began, the creatures took notice, must have been the sliver of light they passed through, but three of them rushed, growling like dogs, bloody foam dripping over their purple lips, red stained teeth snapping at him as Kyle swung.
Bone, teeth, brains, and blood, lots and lots of blood flew from the creatures as they attacked. None of them fell immediately, always a step away from getting a bite in on Kyle. He didn’t care; the only thing running through his cooking brain was saving the people behind him. As long as something undead stepped before him, he continued to swing.
After ten hits, his biceps burned and his hands throbbed. More of the creatures had appeared from the houses around the corner and they were hungry still.
“Kyle!” Anna’s voice stopped his tear for a moment. He glanced back through his blurring vision and saw that some creatures had rushed from behind. They dove onto the boy, and blood shot up into the night sky. He never fully awoke to scream as when he did, they had already torn open his throat. A terrified eye turned to Anna for help and shock must have taken over as she pulled him along for another two steps until one of his arms came off.
She fell onto her butt, her teeth clicking in her head and she tried to scream. Kyle picked her up, more creatures rushing from all angles. He held the bat in one hand and then his ears rung from the scream.
Anna’s scream reached over the symphony of growls bearing down on them.
“I need you to stand up. I can’t fight and carry you.”
“The boy. They ate him like he was a steak.”
He was. Kyle thought but didn’t say it as he took up swinging again. Another creatures jaw shattered from the blow, it stumbled and clawed at the air where Kyle had stood. He grabbed Anna’s hand and tugged her along. They only had a sliver of an opening and he was bent on making it.
The creatures had multiplied five times since he had first begun his onslaught and they were rushing without fear toward them.
Anna snapped out of her shock, and took the lead. Her track and field background took hold and she bolted ahead. Fighting the exhaustion, Kyle limped after her. Not wanting to look back, he tried to keep sight of Anna. Her blonde ponytail whisking back and forth as she ran.
Sweat ran down his face in steady streams, his lungs burned and his heart pounded like King Kong trying to get out of his chest. The growls behind him gained on him with steadiness.
He croaked out a low pitiful, “Anna!”
She didn’t turn around, or even stop. He loved her, and here she was leaving him behind. He didn’t understand it.
Out of the corner of his eye, two creatures darted toward him from a house; they had the angle and were closing on him faster than his body would move. He was a goner. Fear of death had left him, and he stopped, ready to accept his fate, but not ready to go out without a fight. He hitched up the bat, splattered with gore and took a swing with all he could, the first creature dropped with a sickening thud, and the second one collided into Kyle, knocking the air out of him.
They tumbled over a fence into a small yard. The putrid smell of rotten meat flooded Kyle’s nose and he flailed over backwards. The momentum separated him from the creature, but it didn’t feel the breaking of its arm as it got up in an instant and attacked.
Throwing the bat up between them, Kyle screamed as it grabbed at him. Its teeth snapping at any bare flesh. He didn’t know how he survived the attack as he just kept shifting the bat in the way of the creature’s lunges. He remembered feeling the knot of the chain link digging into his back as he fended it off.
Tiring as it was, Kyle kept it up for as long as he could. The growing swarm behind him filled his ears as he blocked and tried to kick the creature off of him. His body was giving in he couldn’t get any strength behind the blows he was delivering. The creature didn’t tire; it seemed to grow stronger as time went on. Maybe the threat of new creatures coming to takes its food added intensity to its attacks, but Kyle kept it at bay as best he could. Sweat and tears streamed down his face.
“Anna!” He let out with a gasp. He shut his eyes and delivered one last shove with the bat. The creature stumbled, surprising to Kyle, but he used it to scramble away. He didn’t hear it, or feel it, but the creature’s head exploded in a fine mist of brains and blood. It fell immediately to the grass.
Turning toward the groans behind him, he saw creatures falling left and right. Piling up into the street they continued to charge after whatever was mowing them down. Bullets rang out, creatures fell, and Kyle couldn’t move. His arms itched and twitched from the grass, and scratches.
What should Kyle do?
Figure out what is killing the creatures?
Hide and wait for whoever it is to come this way?
Make a run for it.
