Grim Dawn ✓

Chapter 7

The door slammed shut, sending a burst of pounding vibrations into his ear. He winced in pain as silence filled the alley. Keaton then hopped Alex off his shoulder and took quick, short breaths. "We should be good now," he stated, though Keaton still kept his hand on the knob.

Alex fell against a brick wall, his legs weak. He then looked up at Keaton's sturdy back. Keaton held the door shut with his left hand, keeping his handgun close to his body. Alex then pressed his hands against his tense shoulders. He swallowed saliva as he rubbed the tightened muscles. Flicking his eyes to the left, Lyra also seemed on edge as her head glanced from side to side.

She then sighed and lowered her gun. "They'll probably bust down that door. Let's keep going."

Alex took a few steps toward Keaton before a feminine yelp came from behind. Alex sluggishly aimed his gun at Lyra, who had been struggling to hold off an overpowering zombie. It was a male zombie who was bigger, stronger, and more aggressive toward her small frame. Its voracious moans said nothing more than its desire to sink its teeth into her supple flesh and tear out her throat. Though he wanted to pull the trigger, he knew he'd likely miss.

Another way! Alex holstered his gun as Lyra shrieked out. He needed something that could stop this zombie without injuring his companion. Then, his fingers grazed against a rubber hilt as he tried to reach for anything on his belt that could save her.

The knife! Alex finally realized. Sweat leaked down his face as he bolted over to Lyra, unsheathing the blade. He had to hurry as the adrenaline filled his veins; he might lose this one chance to strike with unwavering speed. Lyra kept her head as low as possible as the zombie straightened its posture and unhinged its jaw. Then, in a fast motion, Alex pulled Lyra back as he drove his knife into the zombie's withering throat. The blade pierced through with no resistance. At the same time, Alex pulled back and shoved the zombie away, causing it to stumble a bit before collapsing onto the wall behind and sliding down. Fresh droplets of murky blood trailed to the unresponsive corpse.

Lyra sat on the floor, her chest heaving. Beads of sweat dripped down her face, glistening her soft-looking, unyielding skin. She stared with a blank expression, hazel eyes full of uncertainty.

"You, okay?" Alex extended his hand out.

"Yeah, thanks." She took his hand and pulled herself to her feet.

Alex turned around toward Keaton and started to move when suddenly, a quick gunshot pierced his ears, and the strong scent of gunpowder entered his nose. He slowly pivoted his torso to look back. Astonished by the sight, Lyra had her gun aimed down with a heap of smoke trailing out from her gun's muzzle. The zombie was still on the ground, dead. However, its body was no longer against the wall but now on the floor by her small brown boots.

"Piece of shit." Lyra spat, rubbing her shoulder. "You seriously wanted a round two?"

Alex flicked his head back to his other companion. Keaton kept his gun pointed toward the door as it shook violently. Though it seemed to hold up decently, Alex wasn't sure if they'd back off as the knob continued to rattle. He shook his head. No, they're persistent; these zombies won't stop until we're all dead.

After a couple of minutes, Keaton finally lowered his weapon, though the banging on the door didn't cease. He'd backed up close enough for Alex to see the gun strapped to his back. It was matte black with a unique, wide-looking handguard under the barrel. The magazine was long and weirdly thin. He wanted to ask what the gun was called but ultimately knew it didn't matter as he wouldn't know what it meant. I'll ask anyway when we are safer.

Keaton finally turned around and patted Alex's shoulder with his thick hand. "We ready?"

"Yeah," replied Alex.