The House at the End of the Street

Chapter Ten: Destruction

As the sun came, rising over the horizon and setting a nice orange glow across the beach. The water had a sparkle to it, a beautiful reflection of the sun in the water. I looked at the Biloxi Bridge, which led to Biloxi, Mississippi, and thought that we could crossover, giving us more ground to work with.
I looked to my left and saw a hoard of zombies running straight for us. I sprung up to my feet and started backing away.
"We need to get outta here," I said, stating the obvious.
The rest of the group looked and saw the zombies rushing towards us.
"It's too late!" Kaycie said, standing up too and kicking sand back at the zombies.
The rest of the group started running, but we all knew that Kaycie was right. We had waited too long. We all started sprinting to the bridge, passing the Yacht Club. There were cars, abandoned for a few days, sitting on the bridge, like they were frozen in time.
"Go! Go! Go!" I yelled, running next to the barrier that was on the bridge. There was about a fifteen-foot ledge from the barrier to the bridge that I had scaled and pulled myself upwards.
Kaycie and Mae helped each other up and I grabbed Jhett's hand. I started pulling him up and saw that Jack was struggling to get up.
"Can you hold on?" I asked Jhett, starting to let go of his hand.
"Get Jack!" Jhett yelled, letting go of my hand and hanging onto the barrier.
Mae, Kaycie, and Conner were now all on the bridge, helping Gracie up too. I ran to grab Jack's hand as the zombies started running closer and closer to Jack.
"Grab my hand!" I said, grabbing Jack's hand and starting to pull him up.
A little fact about me, I weigh about 90 pounds and am very weak, so trying to hold onto Jack's arm was hard. Jhett had now managed to get himself over and the rest of the group ran over to Jack and me, helping me out.
I could feel the sweat of my hand starting to loosen my grip on Jack's hand. I was pulling with all my force but still went nowhere. I could feel my grip loosen and start to drop Jack.
"No!" I yelled, trying to pull him up.
Then, Jhett grabbed Jack's other hand and started to pull him up, but it was still no use.
"Damn it!" Jhett yelled, both of us using all the strength we had to try and pull Jack up.
Mae and Conner grabbed one hand too, trying to pull him up. We were all so weak from the last incident, we couldn't pull him up, and with the zombies approaching us, Jack was dead meat.
With one final pull, we were able to pull Jack up just before a zombie was able to grab his leg and pull him back down.
"Oh, thank god," Jack said, falling onto the pavement on the bridge.
"We're alive!" I said, laughing.
"Whew!" Gracie said, sitting down next to a car.
We all sat down for a second, catching our breath from what could have happened, but we knew we needed to get away from Ocean Springs. It was now a hotspot for zombies, so Biloxi we went.
We passed by tons of cars, some empty, some still had people inside, dead. As we were passing by the cars, we passed by a Sliver Terrain and looked inside. A small boy, maybe four or five years old, was sitting in his car seat, his skin pale and not breathing. He was dead.
"I'm a monster," I said, turning around and looking down at the water.
"No, Zack. You aren't," Jhett comforted.
"It's my fault we're in this situation right now, and I feel like I should be held responsible for this disaster. I went inside the damn house for a stupid lamp that was worth nothing," I said back, looking down at the water.
"It's okay, Zack. We all make mistakes," Conner replied.
"Yes! Except that my mistake killed thousands of people! Dade is dead because of my selfish reasons! I AM A MONSTER," I replied.
I turned back around to the group and sat down next to the stone barrier. Gracie and Jhett sat on either side of me as I sat there and sobbed my heart out.
"I'm a worthless piece of dirt that no one cares about. I destroyed the town, and if this zombie apocalypse reaches outside of southern Mississippi, we're screwed," I said.
"It's okay, Zack," Jhett said, sitting back on the barrier.
"Yeah, it wouldn't matter anyway, since you still have all of us," Gracie pointed out.
"I lost my parents when I was seven. My adoptive parents are at work 24/7 and are probably dead, and Dade is dead. I have lost everyone I love," I replied, lifting my head to the Conner, Mae, and Kaycie sitting on the hood of the car and Jack sitting next to the wheel of the same car.
"You know, I lost a lot of things when I first moved here. I lost friends... family... and even pets. That hasn't stopped me from fighting for them everyday," Gracie said, still trying to comfort me.
"I'm sorry, but stop trying to compare my reality to your fantasy. I haven't called anyone Mom or Dad in seven years. They were my best friends," I said.
"We're just trying to help you!" Mae yelled, shaking her head and standing up.
"What?" I said, lifting my head.
"I suggest you get off your ass and follow, or we can leave you here and you can die a slow and painful death," Gracie replied, starting to walk to the end of the bridge.
"Hey... wait up," I said, standing up and starting to follow the rest of the group.
This was one of many big fights that the group had, but it blew over soon since we forgot about it.
"I say, we go to the casino right on the left of the bridge exit/entrance. It should have some food in there from the guests and it'll provide shelter for tonight," Conner said, walking a bit ahead of us.
"Sounds good, since the zombies might kill us if we don't have a shelter," Gracie replied.
"I can't believe that only a few months ago, we were nobodies that people hated. Now we're fighting for our lives to survive a zombie apocalypse," Mae said, walking up next to Conner.
We were about halfway across the bridge when something hit the bridge. It started shaking violently.
"What the hell?" I said, all of us running to the left side of the bridge.
I looked down and saw something that was so frightening, it's hard to describe. The first thing I saw was its head. It had the head and body of an alligator, but it was huge, maybe fifty feet from the tip of its nose to its tail. Its skin was a scary blood-red, it had spikes running from the bottom of its head to its back legs, and it had a clubbed tail with spikes on the tail. The spikes were maybe fifteen feet tall each and the spikes on the clubbed tail were thirty feet long.
"Oh my god," Jack said, backing up a bit.
It let out a scream and smashed its head against the legs of the bridge.
"Go!" I screamed, the group and I running to the exit, which was still another mile or so. BAM! BAM! The creature started smashing the legs with its clubbed tail, making it shake violently again. Then, with one more swipe of its tail, the bridge started falling.
"RUN!" I screamed, running to the other side of the flipping bridge and hung onto it. The rest of the group did the same thing.
Then, the part of the bridge we were hanging onto started the crack.
"Oh no," I said, the barrier of the bridge breaking and all of us started plummeting to our doom.
I could feel the air wisp by my ear. I looked over and saw that we were about to hit the cold water. BAM! We all hit the freezing water and knocked me out for a few seconds. I opened my eyes and swam up to the surface, the fifty-foot gator still lingering somewhere around. All of the abandoned cars started splashing into the water.
"Jhett! Jack! Conner! Gracie! Anybody!" I screamed, but nobody answered.
I started swimming to the bridge, but it started to fall forwards and on top of me.
"You've got to be kidding me," I said, watching the bridge start to fall on me.
I ducked under the water and felt the force of the bridge smash into the water. I started to swim, but could hardly see more than a few inches in front of me because of the murky water. I could hold my breath for a while since I played a big brass instrument, so I just kept swimming forwards, hoping not to run into the gator again.
Then, I finally ran out of air and started swimming to the surface. As soon as I poked my head above the water, I took a deep breath of salty water air. I looked around and saw that I was about fifty feet from the bridge and that the entire bridge had collapsed. The rest of the group was nowhere to be seen.
"Guys!" I screamed, but nothing.
The bridge was upside down in the water, so I started swimming towards it. I was about fifteen feet away from the bridge when I felt something grab my foot and pull me under. I started pulling myself up and reached the surface again, only to see that Jhett had grabbed my foot.
"Oh thank god," I said, treading water.
"We need to get to land," Jhett said, stating the obvious.
"First, we need to find the others, or they'll die out here. We're kinda exposing ourselves just sitting in the water like this," I said, started to swim to the bridge.
"Alright. We'll look for a bit," Jhett finished, swimming behind me.
We made it to the bridge and saw Jack on the base of where a leg of the bridge went.
"Jack!" I yelled, running to him and shaking him.
"Holy crap. What the hell just happened?" Jack asked, sitting up.
"Something destroyed the bridge. It's still in the water somewhere," I replied, helping him up and onto the flipped bridge.
"Where are the others?" Jhett asked Jack.
"I saw Gracie and Conner fall into the water.... And Mae plus Kaycie both swam up onto a car, but I passed out as I pulled myself up onto this," Jack replied.
I knew we had to find them, or they'd get eaten by the creature. I started screaming names but realized something.
"Guys! Shut up!" I whispered-yelled.
I could feel that something was off, but couldn't pinpoint what it was.
"What?" Jack asked, looking over at the water.
"It's here," I replied.
All of a sudden, Salvullaz came from the sky and onto the bridge.
"Well, well, well. I'm not entirely sure how you survived this... but you've gotten stronger, Zack. Oh yeah, I forgot to thank you for waking me up. Feels good to finally get to move again," Salvullaz said, the stench of death came back as Salvullaz moved closer to us.
"Why are you here?" Jhett asked.
"The real question... is why are you here?" Salvullaz replied.
Jhett stood there, looking at Salvullaz like he was stupid. Jack and I did the same.
"That doesn't make any sense," Jack said, but Salvullaz started laughing.
It was a dark laugh, one which only a killer could have.
"Guys!" Someone shouted.
We all turned around to see Thomas and his small army charging with bats at us.
"Move!" Thomas yelled, Jack, Jhett, and I jumping aside to see nine other kids with him.
Thomas got the first hit on Salvullaz, with a smack to its head. Salvullaz stumbled backwards, but stood his ground and grabbed one of the kids, and tossed him.
"Adam!" Thomas yelled, turning his attention back to Salvullaz.
Adam landed in the water and swam back to the bridge as nothing happened to him. Salvullaz looked back at Thomas and punched him in the stomach, sending him flying into two other kids.
"I've got him!" One of the kids said, running up to Salvullaz and smashing his face with the metal bat multiple times.
Salvullaz finally grabbed him by the throat and smashed him into the ground.
"You have no idea what you've caused," Salvullaz said, sinking into the bridge and disappearing into the water.
"Holy crap! You saved us!" Jack exclaimed.
"That was one show," Conner said, walking from behind the Crimson Wolves with the others.
"Who is everyone?" I asked.
"Well, there is Jarrett, Jace, Jacob, Adam, David, Evan, and Ethan," Thomas said.
"Wait, Ethan?" Jack asked, confused.
"Yes, it is the missing Ethan Gessner," Ethan said, introducing himself.
"What happened?" Gracie asked, intrigued that he was still alive.
"So, the demon kidnapped me and I fought back, but ultimately failed. I tried to save a kid, his name was Dade, but-" Ethan didn't finish since I butted in.
"He's alive?!" I asked, excitedly.
"No. He died as I was trying to help him," Ethan replied, looking down at his feet.
"Damn it! Why couldn't you save him!" I screamed at Ethan.
"I'm... I'm so very sorry. I tried-"
"Shut up!" Thomas whisper-yelled, breaking off the argument.
We all froze, knowing that something was watching us. I backed up next to Jhett and Jack as a current in the water started flying towards us.
"Go!" Thomas yelled, all sixteen of us running to the exit of the bridge.
I looked behind me to see the giant alligator jump onto the flipped bridge, tossing us four feet into the air. I fell on my face, but the others landed on their feet. I grabbed onto a metal stake that had been pushed through the top of the bridge. The bridge started to tip, and the bridge was too steep for me to climb up it.
"Zack!" Conner yelled, starting to run back for me.
"Leave me! I'm going to die for the mistake I made," I said, calmly.
The concrete bridge was now breaking from the middle, the gator nipping at my feet, but I was so far that it couldn't reach me.
"C'mon, Zack! Grab my hand!" Conner begged, reaching for my hand.
"See ya in hell," I said, letting go of the metal rod.
"No!" Conner said, jumping after and grabbing my hand, falling with me.
"You didn't think this through, did you?" I asked, sarcastically.
"I did," Conner said, Gracie grabbing Conner's foot and holding onto the same metal rod I had earlier.
The gator was now about six inches from my feet, still trying to grab me. I was now kicking it, realizing that it was going to pull us all down with it.
"I can't hold on for much longer!" Gracie yelled, but Jhett, Jack, Mae, Kaycie, and the Crimson Wolves started to help us.
"Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!" I started yelling, as the gator got closer and closer to me each second.
"Let go, Conner!" Thomas yelled, knowing that we'd all die if she didn't let me go.
"Let go," I said, pushing my nails into her hand, dropping me into the cold water and the gator following me under.
"Zack!!" Conner yelled, the bridge falling back to it was.
"We need to leave, now!" Jacob said, starting to run to the exit, but Conner was still looking over the edge, hoping I'd pop up from the water, but I didn't.

*ANNOUNCEMENT. I TOOK THESE EVENTS FROM WHAT THE SURVIVORS SAID, SO SORRY IF I'M WRONG. KEEP READING*

Jhett grabbed Conner by her shoulder and snapped her back into reality.
"We need to go, or we'll all die," Jhett said, grabbing Conner's arm and pulling her from the edge of the bridge.
Conner finally agreed and left with Jhett. Death was amongst them, and so was danger. They were not safe and will never be.