Patrick D'Orazio - Coming the Dark

All he could do was watch her die.

Jeff felt his pulse race as a low, crazed noise that was not quite a growl escaped his lips. Before he even realized it, he was running, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

There were five closing on her. All Jeff could see through the raw hatred that hammered through him were their blood-red outlines. Passing the woman, he threw his body sideways, blasting into the bodies as though they were bowling pins, felling three of them. He thought he heard bones snap like kindling, but was already rolling out of the way, avoiding jagged fingernails and snapping jaws as he popped up and faced the rotten monsters still coming at him.

“Get down the ladder NOW!” he yelled, dodging the two still standing that were almost on top of him. He had no time to see if his command had been followed as he darted to the left, his foot lashing out at the midsection of the closest fiend.

It doubled over, but the other surged forward and lunged, its eyes wild as it grabbed hold of his arm. Jeff squealed in surprise at the vice-like grip and yanked backwards, avoiding the creature’s teeth as it bent to take a bite out of his exposed forearm.

His feet tangled underneath him, and he began to fall, pulling his attacker with him. Tensing, he waited for the crush of weight to fall on him. When it did, he was surprised at how light she was (the long, blood-encrusted hair was his only hint as to its sex). He quickly sent an elbow rocketing under her snapping jaw.

“Get the hell off of me!”

That was what Jeff heard inside his head, but what came out of his mouth was a garbled mess as he kicked, punched, and scratched at his assailant. She barely weighed anything, but her hand was locked on his arm with tenacious determination. Immune to the pain he was trying to inflict, she continued to snap her shattered teeth at him.

He took a handful of her hair and used it to pull her head back, then rolled sideways. When he moved away from the others and toward the wall, Jeff could feel something hard jamming into his back as he worked to keep the hungry jaws at bay. Sliding off the object that had jabbed him, he saw it was his baseball bat.

Driving his head forward, he slammed it into the woman’s forehead. There was no time to marvel at how easily the bone gave way. Her grip loosened, and Jeff reached for his bat, scrambling farther back to avoid the tangle of bodies coming for him.

He was about to attempt to spring to his feet with the wild hope of making it to the ladder when he felt the teeth biting at his shoulder. Swinging the bat in a wide arc, he turned and was able to get to his feet, but he missed the arm making a broad swipe for him.

He lifted the bat again, preparing for the next attack. The three misshapen forms he had knocked down were almost back on their feet. The one that had bitten his shoulder was the one he had kicked in the gut. It had over-committed on its attack and fallen to one knee but was already lunging for him again.

Behind his assailants, just a few feet back, was a second and much larger wave of infected bodies. Jeff turned and fled as a flood of rotters converged on the spot he had just vacated.

He felt warm relief as he saw a head peeping over the concrete lip of the retaining wall. His scrawny neighbor was still alive.

“Move it, move it!” he yelled as he waved at her furiously with the bat. Her head dipped below the edge, and as he reached the ladder, he saw her rapidly descending it. Jeff turned and kneeled, feeling his way over the edge to the top of the ladder. Tossing the bat over the side, he began his descent, staring into the backyard. They were still pouring in. It looked like every last one of the infected in the world was coming for him. Jeff hesitated, glancing at his shoulder where he had been bitten. A strange sound whistled between his clenched teeth as he saw the rip where his sweatshirt had been torn and soiled by the creature’s teeth. The residue from its mouth was slimy, black, and the smell coming off of it was foul. Jeff slid his finger into the tear in the material and felt a surge of relief. There was no blood, no break in the skin. The ghoul didn’t have the chance to sink its teeth in, and had only ripped his shirt a bit.

“Come on! Hurry up!” he heard beneath him. He ignored the voice. The crowd still had quite a bit of lawn to cover before they got close to the edge.

The ladder shook as the woman below grew hysterical.

“Please!” she cried out.

Jeff looked down. She was clinging to the bottom of the ladder like a child clinging to a security blanket. He could see it in her eyes: she would lose it if he didn’t get down there right away.

“I’m coming. Move back a bit,” he grumbled and began climbing down. Her expression showed profound relief as she stepped away, wringing her hands.

Jeff hit the ground in a rush. He grabbed his bat and turned, snatching up the woman’s hand, and they ran toward the center of the flat, dry field.

Suddenly, Jeff smiled and gave her a quick hug. She was taken off guard by it, but when he went to release her, she wrapped her arms around him in return, squeezing tight as a single tear rolled down her face.

“What’s your name?” he asked. His words were quiet, barely above a whisper, his lips next to her ear.

She pulled back until she could look him in the eyes. With her head cocked to the side, it looked as if she didn’t understand the question.

Jeff touched his chest. “My name’s Jeff.” He smiled, hoping to encourage a response. He had told her his name earlier, but he doubted she remembered.

She looked up at the wall and then back at her savior again, her face still painted with confusion. “Don’t you think we should be getting out of here? Can’t introductions wait until we’re safe?”

Jeff’s grin widened as he tried to ignore the tension tattooed on her face. He looked over at the wall and could see the first shadow of movement above. Nodding toward the ladder, he said, “I think we’re safe for the moment.”

She looked back up in time to see the first of the creatures reach the break in the barbed-wire fence. It stopped, looking down at the humans and moaned, its arms reaching for them. It remained stationary as others joined in. Jeff felt a sudden twinge of doubt in his gut.

Stepping closer, he tried to keep the nervousness out of his words. “Stay back. I might have to get them interested enough to take the plunge.”

He could feel a tug on his arm and ignored it. His eyes were glued on his former neighbors as they growled and gnashed their teeth.

“Can’t we just go?”

Jeff barely registered her words as he willed the monsters up above to take one more step forward, just one.

Suddenly the woman was in front of him, grabbing his arm and tugging on it.

“You know, you’re one lucky son of a bitch to still be alive. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

Jeff’s face evinced blank surprise as he stared at her. Lucky? How in the hell was he lucky?

“Megan.”

“Huh?” Jeff squinted in confusion.

She rolled her eyes. “You asked me my name, remember? It’s Megan. Megan LeValley.”

Jeff looked down and saw that her hand was out for a handshake. Again, he was flummoxed, unable to say or do anything as he stared at her hand like it was a live wire.

A hiss of exasperation escaped her lips. Dropping her hand, the woman named Megan glared at him. “So, now that we’ve introduced ourselves, can we stop screwing around and get the hell out of here?”

Jeff tried to adjust to her sudden change of temperament. She seemed to go from one extreme to the other. From docile and timid to angry, and now she was trying sarcasm on for size. It seemed to fit just fine.