by Casey, Ryan
Hayden fell back into the crowd of infected and for a second, for just a split second, he wondered if he’d finally lost his mind.
He hit the ground. Slammed back into it, head cracking against the solid ground beneath. Miriam, Amy and Kayla fell, too, and Miriam and Amy held on to Hayden’s hands.
He saw the infected gathering around him. Saw them directly above him, saw them to his left, to his right, moving closer towards him, like water flowing through a pipe—inevitable, unavoidable. All he could hear were their snarls. All he could smell was the feces-esque decay of their skin. His head throbbed. He knew he didn’t have much time to make this work—if it was even going to work at all.
“Shoot them! And—and move back!”
Hayden let go of Miriam’s hand. He hoped she’d heard him. He didn’t have any more time to wait around, to be inactive.
He had to do this. He had to fight.
He fired at the infected closest to him as it pushed its way towards his neck.
Then he turned the gun on the next one, and the next, the sound of the rifle firing deafening when in such close, contained quarters.
All the time, he shuffled back. Shuffled through the crowd of infected that he was surrounded by. Shuffled through their fallen body parts, their icy blood. He knew Miriam and Amy were still by his side too, Miriam’s gun hurting his ear even more.
But they were doing this. They were getting through these infected.
They had to.
As he fired at more of the infected, shooting them down and dispatching them, Hayden felt New Britain getting closer again. And as much as he didn’t want to think of it as home, he couldn’t help but do so. He was so close. So close to being back. So close to…
No. New Britain wasn’t home. Not anymore.
It was just a place he had to get to in order to get Miriam, Amy and Kayla to safety.
He saw the number of infected thinning. He knew they had to stay down, though. They couldn’t start running. They had to stay low, or Gary would know something was wrong, and he’d be right onto them.
But they were close.
They were doing this.
They were—
He heard a shriek. A shriek over to his left.
When he turned, he saw blood spurting out of Kayla’s right shoulder.
Hayden’s stomach sank. The fear and frustration settled inside once again. She was a good person. A good person who’d showed her trust, who’d gone along with his plan.
And now she’d been bitten—
Again.
Another infected sticking its fingers into her belly.
Ripping open her torso.
And more of them, all gathering around her, all feasting on the bloodbath.
Hayden saw Amy’s terrified eyes. He saw the look of horror widening in them.
“Come on,” he said. “We—we’re almost there.”
He fired at the infected surrounding Kayla. And when they’d fallen, when there were no others in their immediate vicinity, he pointed the gun at the side of Kayla’s head. Pressed it right up to the side of her skull.
“Sorry,” Hayden said.
He pulled the trigger.
No bullets came out.
“Fuck—”
He was interrupted by the crack of gunfire from the entrance to New Britain. He knew they must be onto him now.
“Quick,” Hayden said. He grabbed Miriam’s hand, who had hold of Amy’s now.
“But Kayla—”
“There’s no time,” Hayden said.
And it hurt, saying that. It hurt accepting that a member of their group wasn’t just going to die—she was going to turn.
But they really didn’t have any more time.
He rolled onto his stomach. Held on to Miriam’s hand, to Amy’s hand.
And amidst the crackle of gunfire from Gary’s people, the three of them shuffled back towards New Britain.
The final push back towards New Britain felt like it was lasting forever with the gunshots firing over their backs, with the constant awareness that an infected could be nipping at their heels, just waiting to take a bite.
But they pushed on. The three of them pushed on because they knew it was what they had to do. It was the only thing they could do. To keep themselves alive. To protect the people they cared about most: each other.
They reached the safe confines of New Britain and hid around the side of the wall.
Hayden pressed his head right back against the wall. His heart pounded. He heard Miriam panting, Amy breathing heavily.
“We can’t stay here much longer,” Hayden said. “They’re coming. We’ve… we’ve got to make a move.”
“But where to?” Miriam asked. “We can’t stay here. We’ve had this conv—”
“I know that now,” Hayden said.
He squeezed his eyes shut. He could feel the dried blood from the infected setting between the cracks. He wanted nothing more than a shower to just wash it all away. To put it to the back of his mind and forget it. To move on.
“You’re right,” he said, as the footsteps of Gary and his people echoed closer through the tunnel. “You’ve always been right. I see that now. We can’t stay here. It… As much as I want it to be safe, it isn’t safe. So we need to get out of here. While we can.”
He stood. Started walking towards the main street, which was laced with blood and body parts.
“And how do you suppose we waltz out of here?” Miriam asked. “They’re coming for us. The infected are coming for us. How do we get out now? We’re too late.”
“For this gate, maybe,” Hayden said. “But the new tunnel. Maybe now.”
Miriam shook her head. “It’s in construction.”
“It’ll have to do.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“We don’t have another choice.”
Silence fell between them. Just for a few seconds. But Hayden sensed what was happening once more. He sensed that Miriam understood where he was coming from. That they only had one choice here. One final throw of the dice.
“We can do this. The three of us. We don’t have to lose.”
He held out a hand.
Miriam took a few seconds. And then she stood up. Grabbed on to it. Amy’s hand was in hers.
They waited there a few seconds. Waited there, the three of them, all standing around in the dying late afternoon sun, fully aware of their next step, fully aware of what they had to do.
“Let’s go,” Hayden said.
He turned around. Started to run.
The pair of them didn’t get far before bumping into someone.
Or some things.
Six of them. Infected.
All of them standing right in the middle of the alleyway they were heading down.
Staring.
Then, sprinting towards them.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Hayden stared into the eyes of the oncoming infected and he gripped his empty gun tightly.
He watched them power down the alleyway. Watched them sprint towards him, towards Miriam, towards Amy. And a part of him wanted to run away. A part of him wanted to flee. Because these infected were fucking terrifying. Not only that, but they were in his home. They were inside the one place he used to be able to call safe, and they were coming for not just him, but for Miriam and Amy.
But as much as he knew he probably should run, as much as he knew Miriam wanted him to run by the way she was pulling at his arm, he knew something else even more.
There was no running from these things.
Just like there was no running from the reality of the situation. From the monsters, both outside and in.
There was only standing up to them. Facing them, head on.
“Hayden we’ve got to—”
Hayden didn’t hear the rest of what Miriam had to say.
He flipped his gun around. Gripped onto the end of it and lifted it like it was a bat.
He walked towards the infected.
/> “Hayden!”
He heard gunshots. Heard them fizzling past him, splattering from Miriam’s pistol into the bodies of the infected. But not all of the bullets hit. And that’s where he came in.
He smacked the first infected to the ground, cracking its neck on impact.
And then he pulled back his gun. Slammed it right against the side of the infected’s neck, finishing off the job.
When he looked up, he saw two more infected moving towards him.
He swung his gun again. This time, he felt the crack as the gun split the side of the infected’s skull.
And then he cracked it right into the middle of the next infected’s skull, beating it down to the ground, crouching over it, holding it down.
He pressed the rifle across its neck. Looked into the infected’s eyes as he pushed down with all his weight, further and further. He thought he saw something in its eyes. Something like recognition. Like understanding. Like a realisation of what was actually happening, even though that wasn’t possible because these things were dead.
But still, he felt the delight filling his veins as he slowly choked the infected.
As he pressed the rifle right down against its neck, harder, harder, harder…
He kept on pressing down and he felt the man he used to be returning. Not the man—or the boy—he was before the outbreak. But that man he’d turned into before he reached New Britain.
He felt his ruthlessness returning. And something about it felt empowering. Like it was the exact thing he’d been missing all along.
He felt himself again.
The infected’s neck cracked.
The writhing body went still.
Hayden felt life in undeath.
He stood up. Checked on Miriam and Amy. They were both fine. The runners that’d headed their way were all down now.
“We need to keep—”
He didn’t finish because something threw itself at Miriam.
Pressed her down.
Hayden didn’t even think.
He rushed over to Miriam. Dragged the infected from her.
He straddled over it. Lifted his gun. And then he brought it crashing down right onto its head, again and again and again.
He felt the anger filling his body. The anger at all the people he’d lost. Mum. Dad. Clarice. Everyone he’d watched die. And he used that anger to make himself hit the infected even harder. To keep on hitting it even when he felt the shell of a skull split. To keep on hitting it even when he’d broken right through, then moved on to the neck, reached inside and twisted it with his own hands.
It was only when he felt Miriam’s hand on his right shoulder that he stopped. That the relief filled his body.
“It’s okay,” she said. “It’s down. Now come on. We need to go.”
Hayden sat there shaking. He looked down at the mess of mashed brains, of cracked bone, some of it sticking to his hands, to his clothes.
“Come on. It’s okay.”
He stood up. Took Miriam’s hand.
But as he looked back at the scene of their destruction, he wanted to tell Miriam that he was okay.
He really was okay.
He wasn’t scared. He wasn’t frightened. Not anymore.
He was himself again.
And fuck anyone who stood in his way.
He headed towards the under-construction tunnel, using the last ounce of energy in his body.
“Ready to detonate?” Phillip asked.
Gary turned. Nodded. He looked up at the wall and at the construction site beneath it, where the new tunnel was being worked on.
“Almost time,” he said.
He gripped onto the detonation device he’d found back in the armoury.
On a little screen to his right, he watched Hayden and his two bitches run through town, right in their direction.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Hayden held his breath as he stepped inside the giant opening of the tunnel.
The main tunnel seemed dark, no matter what time of day it was. But this one seemed even more so. Looking down into it was like staring into an abyss; like peering into somewhere that you knew you’d never escape from, no matter how much you wanted to.
Hayden had to hope he would escape from this place. He didn’t want to get trapped inside it. Not now he’d built up the courage to try this route in the first place.
“You alright?” Miriam asked.
Hayden swallowed a lump in his throat. He cleared it. He didn’t want to sound like he was too nervous, too unsure. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.”
Truth was, he wasn’t too good. He was so focused on the darkness ahead. So engrossed in focussing on every noise, every sound.
All he heard was silence. The wind echoing as it blew through it.
Miriam and Amy’s footsteps close behind him.
His stomach churned the further he got down this tunnel. He couldn’t remember the last time he ate. He hadn’t even had a lot for breakfast, from what he remembered. Not that it mattered anyway. He’d be out in the wild soon. Forced to find his own food again. Forced to hunt it, if there was anything left to hunt. Or steal it, if there was anything left to steal.
All this time cocooned inside these walls and Hayden was only just realising how lucky he’d been all along.
“There’s something behind,” Amy whispered.
Hayden turned. Looked behind. He could see the light from the opening of the newly constructed tunnel peeking through. He tightened his fists around his rifle. Even though it was empty, it made a perfectly decent melee weapon. “What?”
“I heard something. Something… Something behind.”
Hayden kept his focus on the tunnel entrance for a while. He knew Gary and his people would probably reach this point eventually, start looking for him here. But he just had to hope it wasn’t the first place he turned to.
He waited. Held his ground a few seconds. Made sure he definitely couldn’t see anything behind, or hear anything.
“Come on,” he said, breaking the total silence. “We need to keep moving.”
They walked further through the newly constructed tunnel. Hayden heard the walls creaking around him. Pieces of scaffolding dangled down all around. The ground was uneven, hard to walk on. The darkness didn’t make it easy, either. Every now and then, Hayden felt the ground descend underneath him. He knew there was a chance he’d reach a sheer drop. Knew there was a chance he’d go falling down. That’s why he was going first.
His main goal was to keep Amy and Miriam safe. To make sure he protected them, even if Miriam insisted she didn’t need protecting. He didn’t doubt she could protect herself. This wasn’t one of those clichéd sexist macho quests.
He just wanted to keep the person he cared about dearest as safe as he possibly could. Didn’t matter that she was a woman. He cared about her, and he wanted the best for her. That’s all it came down to.
“I heard it again.”
Amy’s voice made Hayden’s jaw tense inadvertently. He looked around again, back at the tunnel entrance. It was so far away now. So high up. He felt like he couldn’t get back through it, back to where he was, even if he wanted to.
“Amy, we need to keep going sweetheart,” Miriam said.
“But I heard something.”
“We always hear things in the dark,” Miriam said. “Especially the more we think about them. We’ve just got to be brave and fight the scary sounds. As hard as it is.”
Hayden looked down at Amy. Even though it was dark, he smiled at her. “You’re a strong kid. You’ve got this.”
He heard her sigh, then clear her throat.
He turned around and heard something snarl right in front of him.
He felt its hands press into his chest. Felt it push him back. It was an infected. No doubt about that. He knew that from the smell and from the sounds it was making.
He pushed back against it. Pressed into it with all his weight. But as he struggled, he felt the ground giving way beneath his f
eet. He was going to fall. Going to slide down into a pothole.
He just had to hold his balance.
Just had to—
He heard the growl grow more strained. More… liquefied.
And then he felt the infected’s strength seep from its body.
He pushed it back. Listened as its dead weight crashed to the ground.
“Thanks,” he said, turning to Miriam, catching his breath.
“Don't thank me,” Miriam said. “Thank Amy.”
Hayden couldn’t see Amy too well in the dark. But he soon became aware that she wasn’t behind him anymore—she was by the side of the infected that’d attacked him.
She was holding a sharp metal blade in her hand.
Hayden looked at her a few seconds. Looked at her standing there, confident, collected.
He nodded at her. And she nodded back at him.
He got the sense that this girl was going to get tough.
She’d need to be if she wanted to survive in this world.
They pressed on even further. The ground got harder to walk on, even more uneven and rubble-strewn.
“Don’t think there’s much further,” Hayden called, his voice echoing against the walls.
“You said that ten minutes back.”
“Really,” Hayden said, struggling to stay on his feet. He heard the scaffolding to his right creak. “I think… I think I can see light ahead.”
He stood there and squinted for a few seconds. Miriam and Amy reached his side.
“Shit,” Miriam said.
“What?”
“You’re right. I see it. I frigging see it.”
They got further towards the opening at the other end of the tunnel. Although it was hard to see properly, Hayden swore he couldn’t see anyone there, waiting on that other side.
And the further he got, the more his confidence grew. He was going to get out of this place. All of them—him, Miriam, Amy—they were going to get out of here and they were going to get away from Gary and his people before they could get to them.
And it didn’t matter that the undead were flooding outside. It didn’t matter that they were joined by runners, growing more terrifying, even stronger.
All that mattered was they beat this hurdle. That they conquered this step.
