Winter's Salvation (37 page)

“The village will soon be torn down, as soon as the real cold weather sets in.  Those prima donnas are going to look for houses, once they begin to freeze in those tents they got set up.  That’s all well and good when its fall or spring, but not when snow is turning your tent into a freezer.”  Drew answered.

Eric was happy someone else was siding with him.  “We’re going to have to stay somewhere tonight maybe, or we might show up really late and I don’t want to be walking those twisted roads in the dark.  There are houses close by the farm, just not as many as here, so there may possibly be walkers on the streets.” He turned to the ghoul behind them, “If this one continues to follow us I’ll go take care of it, if we decide to stop for lunch.”

  Another two hours past and the temperature had increased causing the snow to melt.  The undead that followed them was left behind many streets ago and they had no concerns of that one finding them, but down many of the streets they crossed undead began to move in the roads and the sound of their groans called to them as they passed each street. 

They were all hungry and the children began to complain about their hunger pains.  Turning down a street to avoid a few undead moving between some vehicles a few yards in front of them, they walked up to the first house on the corner.  It was a small white two story house with pink shutters that surrounded the front windows.  Eric ran to the first window to the right of the front door and looked into it examining the living room.  The front door was closed and Naomi believed it was going to be locked, but the knob turned and it
glided open invitingly.  The white two story house was clean and appeared to be in the same condition, as if the owners of the property had just cleaned or it had been vacant since the beginning of Z day.  The furniture was clean and set up perfectly; not a single trinket from the entertainment center or Lladro porcelain figurines on the end tables that rested next to the flower printed cream colored couches was out of place.  Naomi was very excited about the house, as soon as she stepped into it and felt her feet sink into the thick light green carpet.  This house was home to her.  The smells of a clean house filled her with warmth in the chilly temperatures.  The only thing she thought this place needed was a good dusting. 

Eric believed this house was zombie free when he looked into the window, and saw the pristine condition, but once they stepped in the first thing he did was start making his rounds clearing the residence.   From the middle of the living room, Sam looked out of the side window and saw one of the ghouls they passed standing in the street. 

The undead was a bald man who wore a purple Baltimore Ravens football jacket and had a clean shaven face that looked in the direction they originally were traveling.  She ran to the window and pulled the blind down.  Drew took the hint and began pulling the other window blinds as well.

As everyone was securing the house Naomi went straight into the kitchen.  She opened the wood stained cabinets and began inspecting the contents inside.  Canned and packaged food filled the cupboard solid from front to back and bottom to top.  She turned the corner to the living room and faced the children that were kneeling on the couch peeking through the same blind at the undead that now walked the streets.  “Look at all this food.”  She said with excitement as she held a variety of fruit, oatmeal and candy bars in her cupped hands. 

They jumped from the couch and grabbed the bars from Naomi.  The bars were devoured and fruit and oatmeal covered Drew and Sam’s mouths before Eric could make his way down from upstairs.  He let out a laugh, hugged Naomi and ran into the kitchen.  He pulled out some soups, instant white rice and looked to the stove, hoping it was gas and praying there was some left in the pipes.  Within a few moments a blue pot full of soup was being licked by the flames of the stove.   

This
was the first hot meal they had eaten since the village and they savored each spoon full of chicken noodle and rice, with dessert sitting just a few steps away in the full cabinets.  They lay sprawled out on the clean couches, but Eric was getting antsy about getting back on the road.  There was still a lot of day light left and Eric thought they would be able to make it to the farm well before night fall.  There was four hours of sunlight left and it would take them roughly two and a half to get there, if his memory served him well. 

“W
e should be heading out in a little bit.”  Eric said as he rearranged the items in his back pack to fit some extra canned goods. 

The thought of traveling on a full stomach didn’t sit well with Naomi, but Drew was the first to object.  “I just need thirty minutes.”   He said as he positioned himself across the love seat
, with his feet hanging off the side and rubbed his stomach. 

Samantha turned on the couch and pulled the blind back
slightly from the window, so she could see what kind of activity was going on out in the street.  She looked out and the same ghoul stood outside the window in the street looking away from her.  She glanced over at Drew and smiled agreeing with the time line.  She looked back out the window and looked at the ghoul, but now it had turned and was now facing the house.  Sam looked through the blinds and made direct eye contact with its cloudy dead eyes.  Her heart dropped when she realized the zombie had looked directly at her.  Sam could see the purple jacket covered a bloody torso and the undead let out a loud energized groan and began to move toward the house. 

“Oh my god.” Was all she could say and then she slammed the blind against the window. 

Everyone responded slowly to her initial phrase, due to their food comas, but after her quick movement to close the blind everyone was immediately up and on edge.  A loud bang shook the house and then something hit the window. 

Eric got up and opened the blinds.  A small hill led to the
side of the house from the street and just a few feet below the window the bald, undead Ravens fan reached up for Eric and scratched at the glass.  Behind it the undead from the street moved toward the house.  “We gotta go.  We gotta go!”  Their moment of relaxation immediately turned to frantic hysteria.  Eric tried to maintain his composure, but his hands trembled as he attempted to zip up his back pack. 

Naomi opened the front door and a groan of excitement came in along with the breeze from outside.  She slammed
it and fumbled with the lock.  When she opened the door, a hoard of ghouls was traveling out front and turned toward her. 

Eric ran to the back of the house
, toward the back door.  The sound of banging on the siding got louder and then the back door shook from the pounding of an unwanted visitor trying to break in.  Eric ran back, “Their coming from the back too!”   

Samantha had moved to the floor and sat with her back to the couch.  With each scratch and bang she shook violently, with her legs held tight against her chest
, frozen with fear. 

The sound of the back door cracked and then the groaning and banging of the house fell silent
.  The silence felt like an eternity because they all anticipated the next sound.  The back door broke from its hinges and fell to the kitchen linoleum floor.  The open back door let a wave of groans and then the dragging sound of their feet making their way into the house.  Eric grabbed hold of Naomi’s arm and pushed her up the stairs and then screamed for Drew and Sam to follow, but Samantha was not moving. 

Drew pulled at her arm trying to pick her up off the floor and onto her feet, but she fought him scratching and clawing at his attempts.  He tossed his and her bag toward Eric and pulled at her again.  Naomi tried to squeeze past Eric on the steps, but he would not let her past.  She screamed for her daughter and reached for her over the railing of the steps. 

The sound of items crashing against the floor from the counter tops and the sound of the kitchen table and chairs being shoved across the linoleum indicated they were making their way closer to them. 

“We have to go Sam!”  Drew screamed
and then slapped her across the face.  It seemed to stop Sam from franticly fighting and she looked up at him dumbfounded.  “Sam we have to go!”  They both turned toward the kitchen just in time to see undead pushing each other over and reaching toward their new found meals. 

Drew pulled her to her feet and Sam wasted no time
running past him and then up the stairs.  Naomi turned and ran into the first door she came across and they all followed.  They closed the door just as the hoard reached the bottom of the stairs.  A few seconds felt like hours as they stood in the middle of the small room looking at each other and then Eric thought about his axe and rifle.  “Fuck!” He screamed and then opened the door. 

The undead were crawling on top of each other pressing down crushing the ghoul under it to get to their trapped victims.  Eric could see his axe and golden lever action rifle leaning on the love seat next to the front door.  Naomi and the children called for him to come back into the room.  He closed the door with defeat showing on his face. 

He looked around the room at the Disney characters smiling and looking down on him in his moment of helplessness.  The room was obviously a small child’s room.   A small red race car bed and various pictures of Disney characters lined the walls and at this moment Eric felt every one of them mocked him.           

The moans of the undead got louder as they thumped up the stairs.  The heavy dragging footsteps fumbled on each other with no order, but the volume of their excited groans indicated they were getting closer.  Eric pressed his body against the door as soon as the first ghoul assured them they were just outside this barrier with a loud bang. 

A shriek from one of them came from down the stairs and Eric knew a runner was on the first floor.  Eric could not hold this door against a runner and he was fully aware of it.  This door would surely buckle under the newly turned undead.  Drew and Samantha looked out the window at the hoard trying to force themselves into the back door as Naomi franticly pulled items from the closet looking for something that could help them, but all she found was neatly organized piles of clothes.  She pulled a box from the top shelf and was showered with baby shoes, but a small outline of a square made from floor molding was on the ceiling. 

She was overcome with relief because she finally found what she was looking for.  A second later she had pulled the wheelwell portion of the racecar bed into the closet and she pressed the middle of the square.  The plywood lifted easily and the attic presented itself as another means of escape. 

Eric had pushed a dresser in front of the door and pressed his back against that, but the pounding of the door got harder to hold as more and more undead pressed their bodies against the week obstacle.  With more bodies applying constant pressure and as the ghouls beat on the door it began to open.  The shrieking got closer as he pictured in his head a lone zombie pushing other undead down the stairs to make its way to the door.  The top of the door cracked just above the dresser and he looked at a toy chest and played with the thought of grabbing it, but as soon as he would let go the undead would storm the room.      

“Come on,” Naomi hollered to the two children that were looking down of the mass of undead that tried to squeeze into the house. 

Drew was at the closet first, but stepped aside to let Sam climb.  They both pushed her into the attic and then started handing her their back packs.  Naomi began to push Drew, but he refused.  “I’ll push you up.” 

Naomi didn’t like that idea.  “No you go.” 

“I can’t pull you up besides I can climb up faster and better than you.”

She was about to reply, but Eric chimed in.  “Naomi get your ass up there.  Drew can make his own way and then I’ll be behind him.”     

The top of the door let out a loud crack and Eric had to press against the top to prevent it from folding over, which would allow the ghouls to climb in.  In order to do this, he let some of the pressure off the dresser and that allowed the door to open more.  Now dirty cracked finger nails, caked with blood and filth were reaching around the door frame.  The ghouls reacted to the snapping door and they groaned louder with anticipation of their next meal.    

Naomi stood on the wheelwell of the bed and grabbed onto the attics ledge.  She pulled with her arms and Drew cupped his hands under her feet and lifted with everything he had.  In seconds her feet were being sucked into the attic. 

“Eric, I’m going up.”  Drew screamed trying to be louder than the excited ghouls.

Eric turned and watched him as they locked eyes.  Drew’s expression showed worry, but not because of what he was going through, but he did not believe he was going to make it.  Drew believed this was the last time anyone was going to see him alive. 

Eric could feel his emotion and reassured him, “I’ll be up just go!”  With that Drew grabbed hold of the attic and pulled himself in. 

The door cracked and a visual split appeared in the door.  The runner was making its way closer and he knew he had to make it in the attic before that one got to the door, so with no time to waste he let go and ran to the closet.  The top of the door split right at the top of the dresser, as soon as he released his grip on the door and it folded over, revealing the mass of undead.  Bloody faces with gnashing teeth growled and snapped at him as he ran.  What appeared to be hundreds of hands reached out toward him all around the hungry mouths. 

He pulled the red racecar bed out of the closet and jumped up reaching for the attic.  His first attempt failed, but he backed up and took a few steps before he jumped.  He grabbed the edge of the opening and kicked off the closet wall picking him up to get a better grip.  Drew reached for the top of his pants and belt as he was pulling himself in just in time to see a ghoul round the corner of the closet.