Claws of Doom

by Peebles, Chrissy

  “Come on, boy! Move!” Earl yelled. “You’re in my way. If you don’t move your butt, I’ll personally shove you down there to get acquainted with those things.”

  I didn’t need to see his face to know he meant every word he said. The edge in his voice betrayed his sincerity. So, my legs rose under me and I pushed up the stairs, focusing on my feet so I wouldn’t trip again.

  The moment I reached the top step, Earl jammed his elbow into my stomach, making me double over then made room for Tahoe to hurry past. “Blow the staircase up, Tahoe!” he yelled.

  “Blow it up?” I asked. “With what?”

  “Don’t you worry about that!” Earl said.

  Tahoe motioned to his friend then they took off down the hall and disappeared through one of the doors I hadn’t inspected before.

  My brother raced past me, shouting over his shoulder, “Dean! Come on, man! Don’t just stand there! Move it!”

  “Coming!” I yelled, taking off after him. By the time I reached him, Nick was already pushing a large oak dresser toward the door, leaving scuff marks across the shiny wooden floor. “What are you doing?” I asked, stopping in my tracks.

  “Help me roll this thing down the stairs,” he said.

  “Why bother? I thought we were gonna lock ourselves in a room and then climb out the window.” I peered at him from under raised brows. Granted, my grand plan seemed a lot more fascinating inside my head, before I spoke it out loud, but it still wasn’t as bad as the expression on his face made it seem.

  “Right. We’re just gonna let those things slither up the stairs after us while we pick a random room, lock ourselves in, hear them bang on the door, and then jump out the window to the million zombies waiting for us below? Sorry, bro, but that’s a dumb plan. We’ll be even more trapped and screwed than we are now.”

  “I didn’t think of that,” I said, but he was right. Creating a blockade gave us extra time to find the perfect window to jump from. It would also help us save ammo, since we’d be out of bullets in no time. Our piddly little arsenal was no match for the number of zombies waiting to devour us.

  “Come on, Dean,” Nick said, unable to suppress a tiny sneer. “We don’t have time for discussing it. Just trust me and do what I say.” With that, he dashed past and turned his back on me, signaling the conversation was over.

  We hauled the heavy dresser to the top of the landing, and then I kicked it until it tumbled down the stairs. It crashed into some zombies on the way down, knocking them to the ground like bowling pins. When I turned around, the girls were sliding a fancy antique couch toward me. With a last heave, I pushed it down the stairs toward a zombie who was heading toward us. I let out a few choice words. Of course it wasn’t the most mature thing I could have done in front of Jackie, but I couldn’t help myself. The adrenaline running through my veins was making me say things I wouldn’t usually say. Besides, every single triumph—no matter how tiny it was—counted when death was lurking savagely around the corner in the vacant eyes and slimy mouths of those things.

  Val had dragged an enormous chest of drawers to the top of the stairs. Jackie and Claire began slipping out the drawers and throwing them down on the zombies, hitting them on their heads. Finally, the two girls gave the furniture a final shove, and it flew down, taking out a couple more of the hissing creatures. Nick threw a box spring, followed by a mattress tossed by Val. Our furniture onslaught wouldn’t last forever, but we hoped it would grant us enough time to find a spot where we could safely jump from a window into a smaller crowd of zombies that we could fight off.

  “Watch out!” Earl called from behind. I moved out of his way as he lit up a stick of dynamite and threw it down the stairs.

  I watched the fire eat through the cord, slowly but steadily flying through the air in what seemed like slow motion. It all happened so fast, yet I felt as though a million years must have passed.

  “Get down!” Earl yelled as it landed with a dull thud with uncanny precision, right in the middle of the gathered zombie herd.

  I ducked and threw my body over Jackie and Claire as a loud boom echoed in my ears and smoke swirled all around me. Raising my head, I coughed and peered through the blanket of fire at the gap between the upper and the lower levels of the house. The stairs had evaporated into a huge mess of wooden splinters, interspersed with blood and gore. My stomach protested at the sight, but I didn’t have time to digest the image because the next wave of zombies was already gushing in.

  I peeked over the banister. There was absolutely nothing left of the stairs, so our only way back down was gone. I didn’t know whether to feel relieved or pissed off that the guy didn’t consult us before doing something so bold and irrevocable. What if Nick’s plan fails? What then? He blew up the freaking stairs! We’re stuck up here! “Where did you get the dynamite from?” I asked, miffed.

  “That’s no concern of yours, boy,” Earl spat.

  Again I had to bite my tongue hard to keep from lashing out at him. I could only assume he must’ve hidden a stash somewhere and didn’t feel the need to tell us about it. For all we knew, the doomsday mountain dudes probably had a stash of every kind of weapon known to mankind hidden all over the place, so I mentally prepared for more surprises to come along the way. “You should’ve told us,” I muttered under my breath. “We had the situation under control.”

  “Right, like furniture would’ve stopped all those things!” Earl said, shooting me and Nick a glare as he bolted down the hallway with Tahoe on his heels.

  “It did slow them down some,” Val shouted, as if defending our honor.

  “Hey, Dean,” Nick called out, “now’s the time to put that plan of yours to good use.”

  “Great. I’ll go look out the windows for a possible escape route,” I said.

  “I was talking about myself,” he said. “I need you guys to stay here and be a distraction.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “Don’t worry,” Val said. “We’re safe up here. They can’t fly.”

  Nick continued, “If the zombies see food, they’ll focus their efforts toward this part of the house. We need as many of them as possible here in the living room and front yard so we can sneak out the back or side window.”

  “I like it,” I said. “Let the freaks gather up here while you find the perfect place for us to sneak out. Then we’ll be gone…and they’ll still think we’re up here, the dummies.”

  “That’s the plan,” Nick said. “So stand here so they can see you.”

  Claire grabbed his arm and gave it a squeeze. “I’m coming with you. There has to be a way out of this place.”

  “I’ll be right back,” Nick said.

  “Um, okay. Be careful, man!” I said, scrambling to my feet. The idea of splitting up sat in the pit of my stomach like a rock. Especially when I was the distraction…the human bait.

  With a nod, he shot off down the hallway, with Claire following after him.

  “They’ll be right back,” Val muttered to no one in particular.

  I opened my mouth to tell her everything would be all right, but the sound of shattering glass boomed in my ears, stopping my words from coming out. I peered down at more zombies breaking through the towering glass walls and gasped.

  “Oh my gosh!” yelled Jackie. “They’re busting through the walls!” Her gaze bore into mine, questioning the meaning of it all.

  For once, I was at a loss for words and couldn’t give her the answer she wanted to hear. If the walls were coming down, it would be only a matter of time before the upper floor was compromised.

  We fell silent for a moment. The crunch of dragging feet on broken glass as the zombies flooded into the spacious living room was all we could hear. My stomach lurched when a loud choir of the undead groaned, echoing in my ears. The giant room had filled up with moaning, groaning, and hissing, as though the zombies had multiplied. I’d never seen anything like it. I had only seen such horrific scenes in movies and videogames, but now it was happening r
ight in front of me. I was witnessing a real-live (or dead, as the case was) zombie apocalypse with my very own eyes.

  Val clapped my shoulder. “Stay calm, okay? The plan is working perfectly. They’re all coming to the front of the house. Nick will be back any minute with the perfect spot to sneak out. And then we’ll run to the Jeeps as fast as our feet can carry us.”

  I nodded and forced the fear that was quickly grabbing hold of me to the back of my mind.

  “You still got the keys?” she asked.

  I nodded, remaining stunned and silent.

  She continued bravely, “Good. We need to be ready to pound the pavement the second Nick comes back.”

  I felt my pocket, just to make sure the keys were still there, but they weren’t. Much to my dismay, I suddenly remembered that I’d left them on the table. I pointed at the living room. “No flippin’ way! I left them…they’re down there!”

  “I can’t believe this!” She took a trembling breath as she regarded me. Her face became an impenetrable mask as her mind began to weigh the possibilities.

  I breathed in sharply to calm my nerves. With the staircase gone, no zombie could climb up, but we couldn’t climb down either. Unfortunately, the keys were down there. Our chances of getting out before the walls collapsed down on us were pretty slim, and I felt it was my fault for stupidly leaving the keys downstairs.

  “How are we going to get down there to get them?” Jackie asked, her eyes wide, mirroring my own thoughts.

  “We aren’t,” Val finally said, “but I can hotwire the truck.”

  Earl and Tahoe came from behind, making me jump.

  Earl’s eyes shimmered with malice as he looked at me. “We need a big, giant distraction. How about some blood?”

  “Yeah,” Tahoe said. “You know how predictable the little freaks are.”

  “One whiff and we’ve got ourselves a huge distraction,” Earl mumbled, still looking at me, making it impossible to miss his vile and threatening insinuation. “Hmm. Blood. Where can we possibly get any of that? Any suggestions, boy?”

  My heart raced. I put my hand on my holster, already determined that if I had to shoot either of the bushy-haired crazies in self-defense, I wouldn’t hesitate to use a bullet.

  “Do you have any more explosives?” Val asked, unfazed.

  “Fresh out,” Earl snapped, “but you know what? You reek of death.” He suddenly reached for her.

  Val let out a scream when he ripped the bandage off her arm, revealing the infected flesh. I couldn’t help but stare at the darkening gash and the white bone peeking from beneath.

  “I knew it!” Earl yelled. “She’s nothing but zombie bait!” His eyes shined, his sneer revealing tobacco-yellowed teeth.

  For a moment, I thought he might be talking about himself, because everything about him was far more grotesque and rotting than Val’s wound—including his soul, if he even had one.

  Val kicked him in the nuts and turned to run, but he grabbed her around the waist and forced her to stay put.

  My hand instinctively moved to the gun in my holster, but someone gripped my arms from behind and yanked them hard, sending jolts of pain through my shoulders. Crap. My weapon flew out of my hands and clattered to the floor, not far away from my feet. I peered at it and pulled toward it, but the guy was in the more advantageous position, making it impossible for me to twist out of his grip. Earl followed my line of vision and kicked the weapon under the railing. It sailed across the floor and under the banister, landing in the crowd of zombies below.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I yelled, “Tahoe, let me go!”

  He continued holding me in his iron grasp as he hissed, “I have my instructions. He’ll kill me if I don’t follow them.”

  “No!” I shouted. “Then at least let her go!”

  “Ain’t happenin’, boy. You might as well just give up now before the same fate befalls you!” Earl said.

  “Take me instead!” I begged.

  “You’re not infected. She, on the other hand, is. She’s one bacteria away from being one of those nasty things!”

  Jackie whipped out her gun, her eyes shifting nervously from Earl to Tahoe, then to me. She seemed hesitant about shooting another human being, and I knew we were losing the battle. Before she could even make up her mind, Earl shoved her back, and she crashed helplessly through the glass banister, almost plummeting into the void below. She clung on the second-floor railing as her legs dangled dangerously close to zombies. The way they kept reaching up made it obvious they wanted nothing more than to devour her legs as an appetizer.

  My stomach clenched to see their mouths starting to snap open like hungry piranhas. “Val!” I flailed against Tahoe, but he only tightened his grip on me.

  Earl grabbed Val and swung her over the banister, hissing, “Sorry, sweetheart, but you’re gonna die soon anyway. Might as well go out like a hero and save our butts in the process.”

  “Don’t do this!” she yelled. “Try and show some compassion. At least put a bullet through my head first so I don’t have to feel them…so I won’t know they’re eating me.”

  “No!” I squirmed and desperately tried to free myself. I knew Jackie wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer, and my sister desperately needed my help. I yelled for Nick down the hall, but I doubted he could hear me over the screams and chaos of the zombie frenzy.

  “I can’t hold on to him any longer,” Tahoe shouted. His grip loosened a bit, and for a moment, I thought he might have done so on purpose, as though he wanted me to escape and save Val, but at the same time he feared for his life.

  “Well, goodbye.” In one swift motion, Earl hurled Val into the herd of zombies. Her scream chilled my blood, etching the memory into my brain forever.

  In disbelief I watched as hands and arms pounced on her like a lion on a piece of raw meat. “Nick!” My own voice sounded alien in my ears, as if it couldn’t possibly be coming from me.

  Finally, Tahoe let go and stepped back.

  I tumbled forward, my arms reaching out to strangle the guy who had killed my sister, but Earl was faster, or maybe he had the advantage of being emotionally unattached to the whole situation. My forehead exploded in pain as he threw me against the wall so hard that I blacked out for a second. When my vision cleared, I saw the two mountain men running off. I crawled to the balcony and grabbed Jackie’s hand and managed to pull her to safety, even though my arms were on fire.

  As soon as she stepped over the balustrade, she buried her head into my chest.

  “Nick!” I yelled again, almost choking on the sudden nausea in my stomach and the bile in my throat. Tears threatened to spill down my face. “Nick!” I yelled again, but no one answered. I looked for Val below, but I couldn’t see any sign of her under the hissing pile that had pounced on her. I’d never seen anything so horrible in my entire life. The images threatened my sanity, yet I couldn’t look away. I was suddenly fueled by thoughts of revenge, and I swore to myself I’d avenge my sister’s death, no matter what. Even though I had yet to make it out of there alive, I’d already contemplated the different ways I could accomplish that goal. Earl is gonna pay…and so is every freaking zombie I ever come across!

  Chapter 10

  Standing on the balcony, I stared at the monsters that had killed Val. In one moment, my sister and I were there, valiantly fighting back to back, stubbornly determined on making it out of there alive, but in the next moment, she was gone, just like that. My mind spun in an endless loop of memories that didn’t quite make sense to me. My heart raced, pumping blood through my body. My fingers twitched, and my skin prickled, which made the whole situation even more surreal. She was dead, and I was still alive. The world seemed more unfair than ever before. I was caught in a daze, and not the pleasant kind, until Jackie’s words snapped me out of it.

  “We have to find Claire and your brother,” she said softly, though her voice betrayed a frantic edge.

  The sudden urge to get moving didn’t go unnoticed. I
turned to face her. Her eyes were burning with something—Pain? Disbelief? Anger? I couldn’t tell because my own pain had numbed me. My own shock and disbelief wouldn’t allow me to comprehend that experiencing a comrade’s death couldn’t be easy on her either. “I’m—I’ll stay,” I whispered. “I’m not going anywhere until every single one of them is dead.”

  “No, Dean. You can’t. We need you. Your brother needs you. Think of those who are still around, those who care about you, and the pain you’ll cause if you give up now and sacrifice yourself for some impossible try at revenge.” She grabbed my arm and yanked hard. “She…Val wouldn’t have wanted you to do something so foolish. Your sister would want you to get yourself to safety. That was what she was fighting for.”

  I didn’t budge. Her words registered with me somewhere, somehow in the back of my mind. She was right, of course, but I also felt as though I would be betraying Val if I ran away.

  “Please,” Jackie continued. “Nick has already lost one sibling. Don’t make him lose both.”

  “Let’s go!” Claire’s voice called from around the corner a moment before my brother and she appeared in my line of vision.

  “Dean,” my brother said with a nod, “thanks for holding it together here, man.”

  I turned away, avoiding his gaze. I couldn’t bear to tell him what had happened.