Survive the Night

19

The front door burst open. Victoria was leaning against the railing, gripping the bar. Her knuckles were white and bloodless. She tiptoed, trying to see past the shadowy trees. It wouldn't work. She thought about the last time they'd tried to escape; how the distance seemed endless when those ghouls came out. They came from out of nowhere, it seemed. And she questioned whether this shooter would have enough time and ammunition to protect all of them. Regardless, it was their only hope. Even if only one of them made it out alive, it'd be worth it.

"Is it true?" Sasha said from behind Victoria.

Victoria turned around slowly and stepped to the side. A shaky red dot floated off of Vicky's body and blinked over Sasha's stomach. The laser from the rifle.

She didn't flinch. The shot wasn't for them; it was for the monsters.

"Maybe this will work," Victoria said. "My God, it could work."

"How could this person know?" Sasha asked, her eyes fixed on the dot on her shirt.

"Maybe he's been watching us."

There were a lot of 'maybe's' floating around her lips, but not enough certainty.

"So what do we do?" Sasha asked, still watching the laser dot rave across her shirt in twitching jerks.

"We make a run for the woods and pray that this shooter can defend whatever attacks us," Vicky said. "I doubt we'll have time to reach the town, so I'm thinking we follow the laser beam and see where it leads."

"Vicky," Ashley said. "We don't know where it leads to."

"I know, it's risky. But if we make a break in the other direction, there's a chance the shooter could lose our visual, then we'll be vulnerable to whatever's out there."

Kevin nodded vaguely, staring off into the shadow-swept woods. The wind picked up suddenly and he felt its current brush an icy kiss across his face. This may be the last day he lived, the thought came. Still, it would be a better death. More painful, maybe. But dying this way had to be better than hopelessly withering away in that awful house.

"Any last questions?" Victoria asked, not bothering to make eye contact with any of them.

The group looked around apprehensively and shook their heads together.

"Good," she said. She pushed off of the railing with a slight jump and heaved the backpack filled with food over her shoulders. "Let's get weapons and let's get the hell out of here."

Shovels, knives, gardening tools, the iron poker and shovel. Those were the prominent weapons available for them. Then, of course, there was the gun. Kevin took that one. But since there were only two bullets left, plus one in the chamber, he slipped a knife under his belt as well.

Victoria had the shovel, the same one they'd used before during their last escape attempt through the backyard. It was typically used for the fireplace, to toss and flip coal and logs. It would make a fine killing tool against those things.

"All set?" Victoria asked, glancing over her shoulder as Winston shut the front door, holding a knife in hand.

"We're good," Kevin said.

Vicky found the red laser on her chest again, buzzing around in small circles fitfully.

"Do you see the beam?" she said, pointing ahead.

It was dim, hardly traceable, but they could all see it; a thin red line, catching dust in its wake until it reached the dot spearing Victoria's chest.

"Okay," she said, inhaling a shaky breath. "Follow my lead."

Victoria looked ahead into the swallowing woods that seemed a mile away and began waving. She waited a moment before the red laser point began swaying up and down, from her head to her toes. It was the shooter's acknowledgement that he saw her.

"Okay, then. Here goes. On three. One...two..." Victoria started, bending her knees a little. "Three!"

Starting with Victoria, they each leaped off the veranda as far as they could and began kicking into a sprint. Victoria felt the world stop turning as all became quiet. She only heard the panting of stiff breath in her lungs and the stomping of her friends' feet behind her. They were breathing heavily as well, somewhere in the darkness behind her, but she was too afraid to look back. The air was rushing past her like silky curtains as she bolted, nearing the woods. She heard the wet crumbling of earth beneath her as corpses began sprouting from the ground like a hell harvest. Victoria hopped over a clutching hand, nearly tripping.

"Watch out!" she yelled to whoever was behind her.

She heard a scream. Knew that it was Ashley. Victoria looked over her shoulder and saw Kevin already turning to her aid. Kevin pried open the ghoul's hand, setting Ashley free. Victoria could almost hear the popping snap of the dead fingers as they cracked apart. A second later, however, there were three more ghouls gathering around them. Before they could get close, a snapping gunshot sounded in the crisp air. The bullet whipped across the head of the ghoul nearing Winston. The ghoul's rotted face exploded into gory shards.

"Jesus!" Winston cried, pummeling to the ground and clapping his ears shut.

"Get up!" Geo yelled, clutching Winston's arm and pulling him up.

They both stumbled into an arm-locked hurdle, passing falling corpses as more gunshots sounded. The sniper took over. He took down three more ghouls as the gang reached the wooded area. The laser beam was clearer now as they approached what looked like a shack. In the distance, they could see the tiny shack illuminated inside. A new steam of adrenaline fuzzed inside of Victoria as she saw this undiscovered place. For weeks, she'd been convinced that she would never leave Ashmore. Now they had.

"Get inside! Quickly!" said a man who erupted from the bushes near the house. Victoria couldn't get a good look at him, but by his burly voice, she guessed he had to be above the age of fifty.

The acoustics shifted drastically as, one by one, the kids toppled into the shack. Some dived in; others fell straight onto the wood-paneled floor, hacking inconsistent breaths. The sniper man was the last to enter. He stood at the door with wary haste and looked into the black-smoke night in all directions. Vicky saw him shut the door and lock it with three-yes, three-customized locks. The man then ran to the windows and tested the firmly upholstered metal shutters. Victoria was right-he had to be above fifty. His grisly eyes announced his age even more than his weedy beard, or the aged, spotted wrinkles on his forehead. He holstered his rifle behind his back and wiped the grimy sweat from his forehead.

"Everyone okay?" he asked in a grumbly voice.

The kids looked around confusedly, unsure whether to nod. Strange that Victoria would think of her group as kids now in the presence of this man. She'd forgotten that there was such a thing as a future; had come to grips with life peaking itself at eighteen years old. And yet, here was this grown man, administering real leadership and rescuing them.

"Who are you?" Sasha asked.

"That's a big question," the man said. "Right now it's better if we keep things anonymous. Until we know more."

"Know more?" Kevin asked, forcing his aching body off the ground. "What do you know?"

The man sifted his eyes across the room, evaluating the group, before scrimmaging into his pockets. He brought out a napkin wrapped in a tight ball and opened it. There were four white pills inside and he swallowed two, without water.

He grunted to clear his throat, then looked at Kevin. "I work at Whitlock cemetery. I'm the caretaker here."

"Oh are you?," Geo said. But by the look on the old man's face, he didn't catch the sarcasm in his voice.

"I am," he said. "And you should know that I've been a victim to this house long before you were."

"How so?" Victoria asked.

The man stopped when he heard her voice. Apparently he hadn't noticed her upon their arrival, but her voice rekindled what he knew from his months of research. And confirmed what he'd suspected when he first saw the group arrive at the house. This had to be Victoria. The soft flesh above his throat twitched as he swallowed. His eyes were bulbous thorns, living and growing behind his thick glasses.

He noticed that everyone was staring at him expectantly, and he turned away.

"I'll tell you what I can, then," he said. "My name is Edwin Habernal. And I've waited a long time for you, Victoria."