“No, I’m ok,” he answered. I noticed he was sweating.
We walked along the backside of the nearest row of homes. There were only eight. Six were two-story, and only two were ramblers. Boggs had suggested we hole-up in a rambler, but I mentioned that staying on the second level of one of the larger homes might make the most sense. Both men had agreed with me in the end. We ended up choosing one near the middle of the row that looked as if it may have even had an extra half story at the very top. It was also outlined with a six foot cedar fence that still appeared sturdy.
“See the fence?” asked Boggs.
“Ayup.”
“We could tear part of it down and use the boards on the windows.”
“Not a bad idea.”
Daylight was still on our side, thankfully. We walked around to the side yard as a group. I fell back to make sure Susan was still ok with the baby. She was trying to help Nathan, so without speaking I gently took Emmett from her. He was awake now, but content. I held him in my arms, leaving the sling hanging from Susan. Boggs opened the gate that led to the back yard, which emitted a loud creak. A few old toys lay in the yard, covered in moss and dirt. A swing set had long ago fallen over and was covered in morning glory vines. There were no signs of life here now. Danny and Abbey helped Boggs and Gus look for an open window or door. There were none, but Abbey discovered a large dog door on the side of the house. She offered to crawl through it, but it was not located near a door and Danny voiced his concern that there could be dangers lurking inside. Something inside of me told me that doing this task was important to the girl. She and I were the only ones petite enough to fit through the opening. I handed Emmett over to Boggs, who took him but looked at me confused.
“I’ll go with her,” I said.
“Zoe, it’s not safe.
“We’ll be fine. Really.”
I looked over at Gus, trying to read his face. I could usually tell how he was feeling, but for some reason it was difficult right now. It was a bit unsettling. He too looked a bit worried about something.
“I promise. Abbey and I are tough. We’ll be fine.”
Gus hung his head in thought. “Ok. But promise you won’t do anything stupid?”
I crinkled my forehead. “Of course we won’t. C’mon, Abs. You still up to it?”
“Sure.”
“You ok if I go in first? I think everyone will feel better,” I whispered.
“Sure. I’ll be right behind you.”
I kissed Emmett on the forehead one more time, just in case. I followed it with a soft kiss on Boggs’ cheek, stepped aside and kissed Gus in the same way. I looked back toward Abbey, and saw that Danny was hugging her. She stepped over to Nathan and Susan and gave each of them a light squeeze.
“See you in a few,” she whispered.
I knelt down on the concrete patio and slid in through the pet door. The inside of the house was relatively light and bright. There were no unusual odors. I reminded myself to not open the fridge door. I had made that mistake before. I listened, and was met with silence. I crawled away from the entry and waited for Abbey to join me. Once she did, we sat together for a moment just to listen for any dangers. My mind was clear. I stood and held a hand out to help her up. We walked together, holding hands, to the nearest door. It had been boarded up from the inside and there was no way to open it without a crowbar or a couple of hammers.
“What now?” whispered Abbey.
“Let’s just take a minute to look for an open window. If we don’t find one head back to the pet door and just peek your head out to let them know we are looking for another way in.”
There was a window above the kitchen sink, which I unlocked and tried to slide upward. Someone had pounded nails into the window frame to keep it from sliding. I pointed for Abbey to check the larger window above the kitchen table. She seemed to struggle with that and began gesturing to somebody standing outside.
“No luck?” I asked.
“Nailed shut,” she said while shaking her head side to side.
“Ok. Someone sealed it from the inside, but if they left the house there must be a door or window unsecured. Let Gus know real quick what we found and that I’m still looking.”
She walked back to the pet door and crouched down. As soon as she was halfway out and I could hear muffled talking, I walked farther into the house. The next room looked like a formal living area and had blinds covering the windows that had all been shut tight. The walls were painted a dark shade of burnt orange. There was a large sectional sofa covered in dark leather and a fine layer of dust. An older style oak coffee table with glass panels for the top surface seemed out of place in the room. Cobwebs stretched from the tops of the curtains to the middle of the ceiling. There was a faint smell of some type of cleanser that still lingered in the air. I quickly peeked behind the curtains of each window, only to find what I already suspected would be there. They were all nailed shut in the same fashion as the windows in the kitchen. I looked behind myself when I heard soft footsteps approaching. I smiled at Abbey, but it was short-lived when I saw how very pale her face was.
“What’s wrong?” I mouthed silently.
“We have to hurry!” The girl looked absolutely terrified. “They sent me back inside and went to hide in another house.”
I searched my own mind but still sensed absolutely no danger lurking outside.
“What’s coming?”
Without waiting for an answer I rushed forward and grabbed Abbey’s hand. I pulled her forward toward a staircase on the far side of the room. We had two choices; up or down. Making a split second decision, I rushed her up toward the next floor. I didn’t want to get trapped in a basement and I knew being higher would give us a chance to best see our surroundings. We had no weapons with which to fight and our best chance would be to hide.
“It’s more of those dead kids that sing.”
“Are you sure?”
We were just past the top of the steps now, facing a short hallway. Abbey nodded in answer and I squeezed her hand reassuringly. I looked up at the end of the hallway and saw what I had hoped to find; a panel that surely led to an attic space.
“Ok, see that panel above us?”
“Ya.”
My mind was still clear, but very faintly I could now hear the voices of young children singing nursery rhymes. I closed my eyes for a brief moment. Abbey and I were the two shortest of our group and there was no way for us to reach the panel.
“Ok.” I got down on one knee. “You’re going to have to get on my shoulders.”
She didn’t hesitate, and quickly straddled my neck. I held on to her shins with my hands to keep her steady.
“Use both hands and push up on the panel. It should pop out and you just want to move it off to one side.”
I heard the girl grunt gently, immediately followed by the sound of the panel being moved aside.
“Ok, it’s off.”
“Pull yourself up. You can step on my shoulders if it helps.”
She strained less than I expected and was into the attic space quickly. I looked up and saw her face looking down at me. She wore a look of urgency.
“How will you get up?” she asked me.
I offered her a fake smile. “Abbey, I can’t climb up without standing on something. If they get in, they’d know we’re up there. You have to close the panel and stay quiet.”
“No,” she whispered, looking heart broken. “We can hide somewhere else.” Her voice was near pleading.
“Abbey, honey. You have to shut it. I can feel them now, in my head. There’s just no time. Can you trust me?”
She had tears welling in her eyes, but she nodded.
“Stay absolutely silent. You have to cough? Don’t. You need to scream? Don’t. When I’m sure it’s safe again, I’ll come back here…right to this spot.”
“Ok.”
“Put the panel back?”
She nodded one last time and slid the panel back in place. I took a deep
breath and looked around. There were only two rooms on this upper level. If the dead found me, they’d be close to Abbey. If she heard a struggle, I feared she’d make noise. I did the only thing that made sense. I ran.
CHAPTER 17
As I ran down the staircase, the chanting from the dead children grew louder. The tune was familiar but the language was foreign. I could feel them now, not only in my head but under my skin. It wasn't the unending hunger of the dead that drove them, but rather some rudimentary need to torture the living in ways that I couldn’t even begin to comprehend. Images of the way they had killed others filled my mind. Some were able to pass as human; as living humans. Like Runners, they would bait, torture, and kill.
I took the last set of steps into the bowels of the house two at a time. I had no idea what awaited me below, but knew the farther I was from Abbey the better. It was dark in the basement. Sleeping bags and mattresses were scattered about, along with old food cans and wrappers. I had to step carefully, afraid that I might kick something or trip, alarming the dead as to my whereabouts. It was obvious that people had been living here, in hiding, for some time. There was, however, no sign that they remained.
“Mommy! Mommy!” came the cries of a little girl. “Mommy I can’t find you!”
I stopped in my tracks. I knew it wasn't human. Still, the cries from the child were heart-wrenching.
“Mommy! Where are you?” her calls were followed by sobs.
I looked around the large room in which I stood. There was no obvious place to hide.
“Mommy, I can smell you!” came the voice again, this time with a hint of teasing instead of sorrow. She chuckled.
“Come out, come out wherever you are!” called a little boy in the distance. “Olly Olly Oxen Free!”
My mind shifted to so many months ago, when Gus, Boggs, and I had left the bed and breakfast. The little girl whose face had been chewed away; the one that Gus had shot, showing her mercy. Was she one of these…things? Or had she really been human, and one of the victims of the Roamers? I knew I would never know for sure.
I could hear tiny hands testing window panes. The occasional quiet chuckle and overall sounds of taunting were mixed with intermittent crying. I crouched and placed my hands over my ears. The feelings and thoughts from these creatures became too much to bear. Somehow, they were playing upon an instinct I had now that I had been a mother. I forced their intrusions from my head as best I could and tried to reach out somehow and search for Gus on a level that only he and I shared. I heard no answer. I could feel one of the horrible children in particular deep within my brain doing something that caused severe pain. I focused on breathing and pressed on my ears as hard as I could; it offered little to no relief. Somehow they were searching for me. Of that I was very aware. They knew that I was somehow like them.
Soon I heard glass break. While I didn’t want to move I knew it was imperative that I do so. I stood, and removed my hands from over my ears. My surroundings were eerily silent. The singing and chanting and crying and chuckling had stopped and I began to count slowly and silently. One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Before I reached six, I heard the distinct sound of a footfall upon broken glass. The sound had come from my left. I turned to face whatever the danger may be. Looking back at me was a very small child; no older than a toddler. It was another little girl. She was clean and kempt with round cheeks and blonde hair that had been combed and pulled up into two little side ponytails. She wore a little yellow sweater that buttoned up the front with a light pink frilly tutu and loose-fitting white tights. Her feet were in patent leather Mary Janes; one had come unbuckled.
I found myself staring at her and she stared back. For only the briefest of moments did I consider that she might be one of us; one of the living. The right corner of her mouth curled up into a lopsided smile. She was so very pale, making her huge blue eyes stand out eerily.
“MA-MA,” she uttered loudly. “I found Ma-ma!” She giggled and began clapping her hands together gleefully. “Ma-ma! Ma-ma! Ma-ma!”
Her lopsided little smile soon grew into a full grin that was pure evil. I stumbled backward, tripping over something hard. I fell onto my back, jarring my left elbow. The small girl leapt at me, landing near my chest and face. I extended my arms to protect myself and grabbed her by the hair, pulling her head back hard. The ponytail that my fingers had woven themselves into tore away from her skull, scalp and all. The creature was angered and began growling at me. I knew it wouldn’t be long before more of them arrived, so I used all of my strength to roll over and pin her to the ground. She looked up and smiled at me one more time and opened her little mouth.
“Ma-ma! Don’t hurt me! Please, mama…”
I grabbed onto the front of her little sweater and lifted her head and chest off the floor. She snarled as I used great force to bash her head back onto the floor.
“Ma-ma!” She said pleadingly as I repeated the assault over and over until I heard her skull crack. Her brain had long ago liquefied and spilled onto the floor near my knees in a dark pool of sludge. The resulting odor was that of cotton candy mixed with fecal matter. I tried not to gag as I forced myself back to my feet. I knew the others were coming, and coming fast. I grabbed one of the abandoned sleeping bags and haphazardly covered the dead zombie child in an attempt to conceal it.
I quickly and quietly snuck back upstairs to the main level of the house. I made a last-minute decision and ran to the kitchen. There were no signs of leftover weapons: no knives, no heavy objects, nothing appearing useful. I could still hear tiny little hands searching the sides of the home and the windows. They seemed to be focused on the front of the house. The only option I could think of was to crawl back through the pet door and hopefully lead them away from Abbey. As I escaped the home, I didn’t try to hide my noise or to keep myself concealed. I knew it was unlikely that she and I would survive this, but it was me they were after. I could at least help her live by sacrificing myself.
I ran across the overgrown backyard. My goal was to get over the tall cedar fence. There was a small rickety lean-to in a back corner that housed rotting firewood. I climbed the structure clumsily, allowing me to reach the top of the fence. I pulled myself up and scrambled over the top edge. I landed on my feet on the other side, jarring my legs. Pain shot up past my knees and into my hips. I ignored the discomfort and began sprinting across the field from which we had first come. I could vaguely sense that Gus knew what I was doing. It was a fleeting sensation of being connected with him. I continued to pick up speed, and didn’t look back. I hadn’t a plan nor had I expectations. I only hoped that if the children caught up to me I would still be within shooting distance of the rest of my group, and that they would show me mercy. The pond in which I had so badly wanted to bathe was quickly before me. Having nowhere else to go, I did not slow my advance as I approached the water’s edge. As I ran into the frigid water, my breath was momentarily taken away. Moving through the water was difficult and the effort slowed my momentum. I heard various tiny voices behind me calling out “Marco! Polo!”
Now almost waist deep, I plunged into the murky water and began swimming. Gunfire rang out behind me and instinctively I dove below the water, kicking hard in hopes of going deeper. I could feel the cold fronds of water plants on my hands and arms as if they were trying to grab onto me. I opened my eyes, hoping to be able to see something, but I was only met with darkness. I blindly felt by hand around the bottom of the pond in hopes of finding something that I could grab onto to anchor me below water. My lungs began aching in need of oxygen. Not finding anything to grab onto and knowing that I needed to breathe, I kicked downward one last time, praying to delay surfacing even if only for another second or two. Finally, the instincts of my body took over and I rose to the surface. As soon as I felt air on my face I inhaled sharply and deeply. I heard another gunshot mixed with the sound of someone screaming my name.
“Zoe!”
I thought it might be Boggs but it was now too da
rk to see. Soon, I heard my name yelled again and recognized Susan’s voice. I remained at the surface since I no longer heard the dead children either with my ears or my mind. I had no idea how far I had swam or from which direction.
“Zo! Where are you?” The voice was closer this time and now I could tell it was definitely Boggs.
“I’m here,” I sputtered. “I’m here…”
I began swimming toward where I thought the voices have come from. Before long my feet hit bottom and I knew that the shore was near. I stood and shakily scrambled from the pond. The cold had taken its toll and I sank into the weeds and the long grasses that bordered the small body of water. When I heard Boggs call for me again I repeated myself by simply saying “I’m here.” Suddenly Boggs was beside me and wrapped his arms around me.
“Sue, I’ve got her,” he called out. “Jesus, are you ok? Did they hurt you?”
Even though it was dark and I could barely see his outline, I could see that his eyes were full of worry. He put both hands on the sides of my face and waited for me to answer.
“C-cold. B-but not hurt.” I was shaking so hard that it was difficult to speak.
Without any more questions, Boggs lifted me in his arms and began carrying me back toward the row of houses.
“Gus told us what you were doing. He was about to come over to help you but there were too many of those god damn fucking evil rat bastard kids around the house. Once you ran toward the pond we were able to sniper their evil asses.”
“Abbey,” I whispered.
“She’s ok. Gus broke into the house to go get her. She should be safe and sound now. Fuck, Zo. You scared the shit out of us.”
“Emmett. Is Emmett all right?”
“He’s fine. Just hungry.”
Boggs carried me the rest of the way and neither of us spoke. Within a minute or two we arrived at one of the homes.
“Ok, kid. We’re here.”
“Is she ok?” I heard Susan ask.
I wondered where Gus was.
“She’ll be ok. She needs to warm up, though. Can you grab the door? I’ll carry her in.”
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