The End of Us

by D, Hannah

  Sue went straight over to the bed followed by Mike.

  “I’ll keep you some company for a bit, too much adrenaline to rest” Arthur said to Zoe.

  Zoe smiled at this but that smile soon faltered as soon as she heard the noise from those things coming from downstairs. They had made it into the house and by the sound of all the crashing, they were making their way through the obstacles that Zoe and Mike had left. Looks like that hadn’t really worked. Zoe could hear their moans and strained breathing and their shuffling moves. It was even more terrifying now since she was now locked in an upstairs bedroom.

  “We’ll get through this, even if I have to bash all their fucking skulls in” Arthur said to Zoe.

  “Yeah, I hope that we do” Zoe replied.

  Zoe could hear Sue sobbing quietly into a pillow. ‘Well, I think that one of us won’t make it out alive and that’s Sue’ Zoe thought to herself.

  Zoe stood up and walked over to the bedroom window. The sun was still out but beginning to set, Zoe could still feel the heat, it felt nice on her skin considering all that was happening, she let herself have this one luxury. Down below she seen a few of those things wandering on the road and felt herself shudder and think about what was next in store for her.

  “You know, I’ve came up for a name for those things” Arthur whispered into the room.

  “Oh yeah, what have you came up with?” Zoe whispered back as she began to make her way over to where Arthur was sitting by the wall.

  “Skin eaters” Arthur told her.

  “Skin eaters.. hmm well that’s accurate, we’ll go with it” Zoe nodded.

  Skin eaters it was that they called them. Zoe had no idea if they knew how to climb stairs but she did know now that they were quite powerful in a pack and it occurred to Zoe that if they all wanted to survive they would have to leave this room and find more people and form a group. Now all Zoe had to do was to convince these three people to go out with her to do this.

  Just as Zoe was about to say to Arthur her plan, she heard the skin eaters coming up the stairs. Well now she also knew that they could climb.

  “Well, looks like it’s time to see if they can break through this door, are you ready?” Zoe asked Arthur.

  “I’m Ready!” Arthur replied as he stood up, baseball bat in hand, ready to fight.

  Zoe went over and picked up the biggest knife in the pile she had brought up. It was time to see what these skin eaters were made of.

  Chapter 3

  Zoe and Arthur were standing completely still, weapons in hand, facing the door. Mike and Sue were both sat on the edge of the bed. No one moved, they barely even breathed. They were scared that the tiniest noise would draw the skin eaters attention. Zoe’s attention was wholly focused on the door. Zoe was ready to fight her way through the skin eaters as she wasn’t going to die by being eaten alive.

  They could all hear the moans coming from the skin eaters and their shuffling feet right outside the door. So far, the skin eaters didn’t know they were in the room. Occasionally you heard them brushing against the door as they shuffled past but there was no scratching at the door or any cracks appearing at the door. So far, so good.

  Zoe and Arthur began to move back toward the bed beside Mike and Sue, careful not to step on any creaky floorboards by testing were they were going to stand first with the balls of their feet before putting their full weight down.

  “They don’t know we’re in here, we’re safe for now” Sue whispered to them as Zoe and Arthur sat down on the bed beside her and Mike.

  “Not yet they don’t, but we can’t stay here, it is far too risky” Zoe pointed out.

  “She’s right mum, we won’t even be able to eat without them hearing us, we need an escape plan and we need to get the hell out of here” Arthur said.

  ‘Oh! He’s agreeing with me, he isn’t really so bad’ Zoe thought to herself.

  “Where do you suppose we go? The streets will be overrun and it’s not like we have another house to just run to, we have nowhere to go!” Sue replied, her whispers getting a little bit loud.

  “We either stay and die or we run and have a fifty percent chance of survival” Zoe said to Sue, her patience beginning to run thin with the woman. Didn’t she realise just how trapped they all were stuck in this room? And didn’t Sue realise that if she didn’t keep her voice as low as possible they would all be dinner soon!

  Zoe looked over to Mike. He was gazing out the window. ‘It’s not like Mike to be quiet over a discussion about the skin eaters’ Zoe thought.

  “What are your thoughts on this hunny? Do you think we should go or we should stay here a little longer” Sue asked Mike.

  “Wha..? Oh, escape plan right? Well I was thinking.. We have a lamppost right outside our window here, if we can put the food and weapons and spare clothes into backpacks then we can shimmy down the lamppost. It’s not that far down and it’s easy enough and from what I can see there are only around four skin eaters down there now, whoever goes first and second down the lamppost will be able to take them out easy enough. We should do it soon though, the suns starting to go down and it’ll be dark soon enough” Mike said as he turned around to look at them all.

  “I like it. That’s great dad! Can I go down first? I really want to bash some heads in! Especially since they’ve made us leave our home” Arthur was practically shaking with excitement, if he didn’t have to whisper he’d be whooping with joy.

  Zoe could see that Mike was about to tell Arthur no as he was scared that he might lose his son and the last thing Zoe needed was an argument where voices might be raise and the skin eaters would hear them.

  “How about I go first and then Arthur can come after me? That way we both get a little fight with the skin eaters, god knows I need to let some anger out” Zoe offered.

  “Yes, good idea, we’ll do that, then Sue will go after Arthur followed by me” Mike said.

  “it’s a plan!” Arthur piped up.

  “That’s all well and good but were do we go once we get down to the ground? I will not roam the streets all night with those horrible things” Sue said with disgust.

  ‘Keep calm Zoe, she’s just a scared lady, do not hit her” Zoe kept saying like a mantra in her head.

  Arthur tiptoed over to the window and looked out over to his right.

  “There’s a school just around the corner that’s been closed down only for about a week or two. You know the one I’m talking about, the old Saint Josephs. The gates are locked but they are so easy to climb, mum you’d manage no bother. We can hide out there for a bit. I doubt these skin eaters can climb fences” Arthur suggested.

  “How do you know the fences are easy to climb? Arthur what have you been up to?” Sue asked him.

  “I uh.. well.. you know..” Arthur stammered.

  ‘Really we’re going to discuss this now?’ Zoe thought.

  “I think we should start finding backpacks and putting things away and getting a move on. Like Mike said the suns setting and we don’t want to risk anymore of those skin eaters gathering outside when we go to leave. Mike will we have enough backpacks for all the food and weapons?” Zoe asked as she looked around her.

  “Ah you’re in luck, we have three. You see we’re a family of hikers. They’re over there in that cupboard. Remember and walk quietly, there’s a creaky floorboard over there somewhere” Mike told Zoe as he pointed to another cupboard to the left of the bed.

  Zoe crept over, careful to use the balls of her feet to test the floor first before stepping on it. It felt like walking on eggshells. As Zoe got to the cupboard she could hear the skin eaters outside the door in the hallway. Zoe had no idea how many there were out there now but it was most definitely more than one. Zoe opened the cupboard door, thankfully without it creaking, and noticed the three bags sitting at the bottom. As Zoe pulled them out she realised just how big they were.

  ‘These are perfect, we can fit so much in here that we need to survive’ Zoe thought.


  Zoe tiptoed back to the bed and they all started packing the food, spare clothes and weapons into the backpacks, careful not to rustle the black bags that Sue had stored the food in when they were moving the food into the backpacks. They also took two knives each, except for Arthur, he had has baseball bat and one knife, the knife stored in his back pocket, his tennis racket he bought was sticking out the bag he carried up here before they got locked in the bedroom.

  “Right, I think that’s us sorted now, lets get this window open and..”

  A loud bang came that stopped Mike from finishing his sentence. Zoe, Mike and Arthur turned around to look at Sue. Sue was standing beside her bedside table with a jewellery box lying at her feet.

  “I’m sorry, I was looking for my mum’s necklace, I couldn’t leave it here!” Sue wailed.

  Well there was no point in trying to be quiet now, the skin eaters had heard them by the sounds of their moans and the scratching starting at the door.

  “Shit Sue! Now we have less time to get the hell out of here, we need to move, NOW!” Mike said to Sue.

  “I can’t leave without that necklace!” Sue argued.

  “Sue, you have until Arthur is out that window before you have to leave. Get looking for it. Zoe, Arthur you two get over to that window and get climbing down” Mike said to them.

  Sue crouched down on the floor to look for her necklace as Zoe grabbed her backpack, ran to the window and flung it open. It wasn’t too high to shimmy down the lamppost and it wouldn’t take them too long either to get down.

  Zoe sat on the window ledge, grabbed the lamppost and spun herself a half circle around so that she was now facing into the house now and looking at Arthur, who was beginning to lose some of his bravado.

  “When you only see the top of my head, get climbing down” Zoe said to Arthur.

  “Got it” Arthur said to Zoe.

  Zoe started her climb down the lamppost, using her feet to walk down the wall and her hands walking down the lamppost. When she was a little further down she saw Arthur Swing himself around the lamppost.

  ‘Two out, two to go’ Zoe thought.

  Before Zoe knew it she was already at the ground, turning around to face the skin eaters that were coming toward her. Two of them. Zoe grabbed her knife from her back pocket and went for the closest one coming toward her. It used to be a woman, she must have gotten attacked when she was in her bed sleeping or had just woken up as she was still in her nightie. Zoe went toward her, knife in the air and plunged it right into the woman’s head and down the woman went. Zoe heard Arthur fighting off some skin eaters behind her by his grunts and his voice telling them to “come and get this you piece of shit” before she heard the thud of a baseball hat against a head.

  Zoe saw the second skin eater coming toward her from the corner of her eye. Zoe grabbed the knife handle that was sticking out of the first skin eaters head but Zoe couldn’t get it out of the head. It was stuck!

  “Shit, Shit, Shit! I can’t get this goddamn knife out it’s head” Zoe yelled.

  Zoe turned around and there was the second skin eater reaching out for her. Zoe had no time to grab the other knife from her other back pocket. Zoe pushed the skin eater away from her, it tumbled a few steps but regained it’s balance and was coming for her again. Zoe put one hand around her to reach the knife in her back pocket and was walking backwards at the same time, however Zoe forgot about the skin eater she’d already killed lying on the ground and Zoe fell over it. Zoe started to scramble back as the second skin eater drew closer to her and just as it was about to grab her leg, Zoe heard a dull, loud thud and the skin eater fell to the ground. Arthur was standing there, bat in hand and gave a second blow to the head to the skin eater.

  “That should’ve done it” Arthur said as he bent to help Zoe stand up.

  “Yeah, I think so, thanks” Zoe said to Arthur as she accepted his hand and stood up.

  Zoe walked over to where her backpack had fallen during the scuffle with the skin eaters. Once she’d picked it up, she turned and just saw Mike touching his feet to the ground, Sue standing off to the side, staring at the skin eaters that Zoe and Arthur had just killed.

  All of a sudden they all seen a body come flying to the ground out of the bedroom window they’d all just came from.

  “What the..?” Arthur started to say.

  “They’re falling out the window trying to get to us, it’s time to get to that school now” Mike said to them.

  “Let’s go, I’ll lead the way, I know the easiest part of the fence for us to climb” Arthur said.

  Mike grabbed Sue’s hand and Zoe walked just behind Arthur as they made their way to the school. All of them remained silent, their breathing so silent it’s like they were dead. They were all keeping their eyes peeled, looking for any sign of movement of a skin eater. It was strange, they hadn’t seen another living human being yet. Were the other living humans all still boarded up in their homes or had they fled when the news first broke out this morning.

  Before long Zoe spotted the school. It wasn’t that big of a school. Zoe had thought all the schools would be big considering it was Edinburgh and the city had loads of people staying in it. They all followed Arthur along the fence. They had to kill a few skin eaters as they were walking along the fence but not too many, maybe six. Sue hadn’t killed one yet, she was far too scared to go too near them.

  “Over here, it’s not too high, you just need to climb down the other side a little bit before you jump down otherwise you’ll hurt your ankles. I’ll go over first” Arthur said to them.

  Arthur made it look like it was so easy and effortless. Zoe went next, she struggled a little bit but managed to get herself over without hurting herself. Sue and Mike also managed to get over just fine. Considering they were hikers anyway so it was easy for them.

  ‘At least Sue isn’t completely helpless’ Zoe thought.

  “Well so far so good, I can’t see any skin eaters in here yet!” Arthur exclaimed.

  “It’s strange though..you’d think there would at least be some” Mike questioned.

  “We should keep aware just in case, there’s plenty of places they could be hiding behind so keep your eyes peeled and your weapons ready” Zoe told them.

  “I know a door at the side of the building we can get through. The key for it is always left under this big plant pot beside it, lets go” Arthur told them.

  “How do you know so much about this school and where things are hidden Arthur? You better tell me young man, did you sneak into here?’ Sue questioned her son.

  “Mum, do you really think now is the right time to question me on this?” Arthur asked his mum.

  “Yes it is, tell me right now!”

  “Ugh fine, Me and my friends came here to smoke a little weed okay! Secrets out. Can you keep the shouting at me until later, you know, when we’re not out in the open!” Arthur yelled at his mum.

  Sue looked ready to explode, Mike looked dumbfounded and Zoe was getting a little pissed off that this was the moment they were having this discussion.

  “Come on, we have to get inside” Zoe said to them.

  As if it were a miracle, no one argued with Zoe or continued their ill fit conversation. Arthur led them over to the side door and as they got there they saw a very strange sight. There were dead skin eaters lying beside the door. Someone was or is in the school.

  Arthur tried the door.

  “Locked. There is definitely someone in there”Arthur said.

  “Someone you might know? Maybe one of your friends do you think?” Zoe asked him.

  “God I hope so. There’s another key on top of the door frame. I can’t reach it on my own. Zoe you could get on my shoulders and you’d be able to grab it?” Arthur said to her.

  “Sure” Zoe said as she dumped her backpack on the ground and got onArthurs shoulders.

  Zoe wasn’t worried about being too heavy for Arthur. She wasn’t being big headed when she said she was slim, she was slim because sh
e could barely afford to eat or even really have the time to eat, so not that good a reason.

  Zoe get around the top of the door frame and felt her fingers brush the key.

  “Got it, you can bring me down now” Zoe told Arthur.

  “Why are there two keys at the same door for a closed down school?” Sue asked.

  “Well one was left here so they must’ve forgotten it when they closed the school. And the other.. well my friend made a copy just in case some policeman found the first key so we’d at least have a spare key to still get ourselves in” Arthur told them.

  “We should still be wary as we’re going into the school. Anyone or anything could be in there” Zoe told them.

  “Zoe has a point, keep an eye out, I’ll go in first this time, Arthur you go behind your mum, keep an eye on the rear as we go in” Mike told them.

  Arthur nodded and swapped places with Mike handing Mike the key. Mike walked up to the door, knife in his hand as he unlocked the door. As the door opened they all walked in slowly, one behind the other, looking in every direction around them.

  “Seems quiet and at least we can still see since there’s light coming through the windows. Let’s have a look around” Mike said to them.

  They started walking down the hall, keeping their eyes peeled. So far all they’d found were a couple of crisp packets and one dead skin eater.

  “There must be someone already in here” Zoe whispered to them.

  “I was thinking the same thing” Mike answered.

  They were looking in every window of the classrooms as they walked past but so far, no living person was found.

  “HELLO?” Arthur yelled into the quiet.

  “Are you crazy!! Anything could’ve heard you!” Sue said to Arthur, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him.

  “It can’t be a skin eater, we’ve already walked past one and it’s dead. There’s a living person in here” Arthur told her.

  Sue looked ready to murder her son. Mike hadn’t said a word, his eyes were looking for any sign of trouble. Mike was just a man wanting to keep his family safe. Zoe walked on a little and as she turned the corner she saw shadows coming from under the double doors just ahead of her.