Embrace The Madness: Cataclysm

8. Swing, slash, stab

[day 34]
They stood around for a while, not saying a word. Oliver started pacing back and forth slowly, his hands on his head.

"You ok?" Asked Rose, stepping closer to Patrick.

"Yeah, I'm alright" Patrick replied, but Rose saw through the lie.

Patrick let out a deep sigh, trying to come up with a plan. What would Frank do? Then it clicked, and he opened his eyes.

"Ok, uhh... we gotta get off the street" he said, "probably got the whole undead city out for our blood."

They turned to Oliver who had stopped moving. He then stepped towards Patrick.

"What the hell was that? We almost had 'em!"

"You can't be serious" said Patrick.

"They had guns" Rose added.

"Yeah but... like.." he struggled to find a coherent thing to say through the anger.

"Look, we can discuss this later, but right now, we're on a plate and they just rung the fucking dinner bell!" Patrick exclaimed with a low voice.

He stood tall like a meerkat and looked for anywhere to go. In one place, there was a large field with a winding gravel path through the wet, muddy grass. A few zombies were scattered throughout the field, leaving large gaps in between.
Patrick turned again, only to see houses stretching on forever, which also had undead monsters lurking and converging on their location. They had seemed to slow down after the first few weeks, now moving at a slow walk.
It seemed their only chance of survival would be to cut through the dead in the field.

"Shit, alright, this way!" Patrick led them towards the field, "watch the mud" he added.

They made a kind of tip-toe-run a to prevent themselves from slipping. While it wasn't really fast, it was definitely quicker than the dead.
Weapons in hand, they dashed through the muck, taking out any dead that came close. Oliver swung his axe, Rose slashed with her machete, Patrick stabbed with his knife.

They got past the muddy patch and were now engaged in a full sprint across the green, the dead reaching out and swiping, missing them by inches.

"Come on!" Oliver screamed, swinging his axe at another zombie.

This act cost him though, as he lost his balance and tripped, falling face first on the ground. Both Patrick and Rose halted in their tracks, turning to help Oliver.

Oliver looked up and saw a zombie drop down to his level, attempting to bite him. His hands on the ghoul's bony shoulders, it's teeth inches from his face.
He then felt another pair of hands as Patrick tore the demon from Oliver and threw it to one side, Rose finishing it off with a slash to the head.
Patrick took Oliver's hand and pulled him up.
Oliver put his hand on his side, he was winded. A great pain followed, he must have landed on his axe handle and broken a rib.
He picked up the axe and used it as a crutch, supported by Patrick. Rose cleared the way, cutting down the dead like vines.

The dead were now closing in on them, their escape getting more narrow.

"I've got an idea," Rose proclaimed as they were nearing the street with more houses, "follow me!"

They made a break for it, Patrick kicking a nearby zombie away.
They came up to a row of trees which bordered the field and the road, this didn't stop the horde though, which seemed to get larger.
Rose ran towards a brick wall which had an enclosed garden area inside. There was also a few bins next to it which would make for a good opportunity to climb.
She stepped onto the bin and hopped over the wall. With no hesitation, she opened the wooden gate, ushering the two inside.
She did her best to hold the door shut, but it was a hundred to one and eventually, hands started to punch through the rotten wood, spraying blood everywhere.