Patrick D'Orazio - Into the Dark

Ben continued after seeing the rational look return to Michael’s eyes. “There’s too many of them to drive through. Not with one of these huge beasts.” He pointed toward the RVs. “We couldn’t pick up enough speed to plow through rows and rows of them. We’d get stuck.” Ben looked around at everyone. “We’re going to have to hold them off for as long as we can and wait for the right moment to bug out.”

Michael shook his head in frustration. “Don’t you get it? Don’t any of you get it? We can hold these bastards off and kill them all! We have the weapons to do it! We take them out, one by one, two by two, and soon we’ll have every last one of these infected motherfuckers taken care of. Don’t you understand? We’ll be free then! We’ll be able to retake the town!” He was shaking his head and smiling. “Maybe what happened out there was fucked up, but perhaps it was a blessing in disguise! Think about it: we can keep on running, forever, or until we all die because someone slips up even worse than this. Or we can take a stand. Fight for what’s ours. I know we can do this!”

“It’s a good idea, Michael.”

Everyone swung around when they heard the quiet voice. Jeff looked over at Megan and grabbed at her hand, trying to pull her back down next to him. She slipped through his fingers and stood up. Michael was already looming over her. “I’m not messing with you. I mean it. Jeff and I… ” She pointed down at the man who was trying to get to his feet, but whose legs felt like Jell-O. “We took a stand, and it worked like a charm.”

Michael’s eyes narrowed as he waited for her to explain.

“We cleared out every last one of those things in our neighborhood. Just a few days ago.” Megan motioned to Jeff again as he finally got to his feet. “It was Jeff’s idea, but I saw the results.” Jeff stood next to Megan as she continued. “We lured them over a steep embankment at the back of our subdivision. Every single one of them.”

They were all staring at her now. Frank, who had a lost and frightened look on his face, was the most enraptured. He was mesmerized by what Megan was saying. She told the story in bits and pieces. How Jeff had rescued her and how his crazy plan had worked. When she was done, the tension in the camp lessened significantly, and even Michael looked impressed. He glanced at Jeff a few times, but his eyes mostly remained on Megan. He still looked skeptical, but the rifle was pointed toward the ground, and he was in control of his emotions again.

“So why didn’t you stay there?”

“Because more kept coming.” It was Jeff who chimed in. His voice was quiet and his eyes distant. “By the next day, the street was filled with them again.” He shook his head. “I don’t know where they came from, but they certainly showed up.” A dark grin crept onto his face. “But it sure as shit felt good taking as many of them out as we did before we left.” He glanced over at Megan and held out his hand. She hesitated for a moment and then reached out to clasp it. Jeff squeezed her hand tight and smiled at her.

“Well, we’re going to take them all out and make sure they never come back.” Everyone was looking at Michael again. His jaw was firm as he slung his rifle. “Okay. Enough of this bullshit! Let’s get ready for those fuckers!”

Jeff and Megan stepped back to listen to Michael rattle off everyone’s responsibilities during the attack. The words sounded tinny in Jeff’s ears as his heart pounded heavily in his chest and his breathing grew shallow. He’d managed to survive Michael’s enraged outburst, but as the volume of howls and cries of agony increased outside the walls of the camp, Jeff wondered if he’d have been better off if he’d let Michael shoot him.

They waited.

Jeff lay flat on the roof of the RV next to Teddy, who had to be dragged away from Ray to take his post up top. Lydia stayed below with the injured teen and the children, but everyone else was stationed above, each armed with makeshift weapons. Several had been created for the men who stood watch at night in the camp: long and spear-like, they were made from common farming implements like hoes and pitchforks.

They could hear the rustling of leaves and underbrush being pushed aside in the dense woods. The shadowy movement of the monsters forcing their way through the thickly clotted trees made it clear what the little group of survivors were up against.

Michael had refused to redistribute the guns and had already confiscated Teddy’s rifle. Jeff knew they needed to preserve their meager ammo, but didn’t like the idea of some jury-rigged pitchfork being the only thing that stood between him and an agonizing death.

They were all bunched up on the top of Ben’s RV. This was where they would make their stand and deal with the brunt of the attack, keeping the crowd of infected focused on one area. Ben had reinforced his windows with wooden slats, though they were too high to be reached by scratching hands. Jeff wondered how tough the metal skin of the RV was and how much pounding it would be able to take.

As the moans and sounds of excitement increased beyond the trees, Michael walked behind the group, exhorting them to remain calm. His rifle was slung on his back, and he had something that resembled a spear in his hands.

He paired them off, putting Jeff with Teddy, George with Jason, Megan with Ben, and Cindy with Frank (mainly because no one else wanted to work with either of them). They were spaced out across the top of the RV, and Michael would step in to help, but the partners would rely mostly on each other to get the job done.

Frank brought out what looked like a whole medieval arsenal from inside his RV. There were about twenty spikes, pikes, and long-handled machetes to choose from. Most of the wooden shafts had been replaced with longer, bulky pieces of oak or metal held in place by thick screws.

“Lydia will take good care of Ray. You need to focus on what’s happening up here.”

Teddy looked at Jeff and nodded. The boy was nervous, but as he gazed out at the trees, Jeff knew the kid was as ready as any of them.

He looked over to Megan and caught her eye. She gave him a brave smile, and he mouthed the words “everything is going to be okay.” She just shook her head, not sure what he was trying to say, so he shrugged and returned her smile.

As they lay there, waiting for the impending doom, Jeff glanced down past the walls of the fortress and admired his old van. It was banged up and had seen far better days, but was still drivable and had plenty of gas. If he only knew how to hotwire a car, or could snag one of the keys Michael had taken off of him… it was madness to think of such things, but Jeff couldn’t stop the thoughts from invading his mind as the sounds of the dead grew in pitch and volume from beyond the tree line.

“Here they come.”

Michael’s terse words made Jeff’s heart skip a beat. Several haggard shapes fought free of the woods and the group got their first clear view of what they dealing with. The emaciated creatures spotted them, and their blood-crazed eyes widened in excitement. As one, they marched toward the survivors, their moans echoing off the side of the RV. Others appeared behind the first wave, bodies moving from the shadows, their arms raised toward the people high above them.

They trickled through the gaps in the trees like drips from a leaky faucet. They came, one after another, in inconsistent lines of attack. The way they looked reminded Jeff of rotten apples with soft and mushy skin. They came in all forms and shapes: short and tall, punctured and bloated. Some were dismembered while others had no visible wounds.

They kept coming. By the time the first slammed its hand against the side of the RV, there were already a hundred in the clearing.