Rise of the Dead

13

Brooke and Max moved quietly through the dark hall-way. They stepped around Anthony's dead body, and continued to walk through the hall. When they stopped in front of the door that led to the stairs, Max grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. Brooke slipped out into the stairway, and Max went into the stairway after her, silently closing the door behind him. The two of them quietly made their way down the stairs, trying not to make any noise. They only went down three flights of stairs, when they heard the door above them slam open. The werewolf's sharp claws scratched at the floor again as the beast stepped out into the stairway.

"Get down," Max told Brooke in a whisper, grabbing her left hand. He pulled her with him, and both of them pressed their backs against the railing. The werewolf's red eyes glowed in the darkness, as the beast searched for any movement. "Let's go," Max told Brooke, keeping his voice down. The two adults carefully and quietly made their way down the stairs, and when they were on the next flight of stairs, they made a run for it. They quickly ran down the last flight of stairs. The beast snarled as it heard the sound of pounding footsteps running down the stairs. It let out a growl and took off running down the stairs on all four feet.

Max and Brooke rushed out into the main lobby, bursting out into the streets. The two adults quickly ran down the street, just as the beast burst out into the street, and continued its chase. The two of them rushed down the street, passing abandoned cars as they rushed past the cars. Max rushed up to one of the cars and pulled on the handle of the driver's side door. The door opened on the first try, and he looked back over his shoulder. "Get in, now!" he told Brooke, slipping his body into the driver's seat. Brooke rushed around the back of the car, and she opened the front passenger side door. She slipped her body into the front passenger seat. She slammed the door and she quickly locked the car doors.

"Where are the keys," Max asked himself, as he started to search for the car keys. He found the keys underneath the driver's seat. He grabbed the keys and straightened up in the seat. Before he could insert the keys into the engine, Max and Brooke heard a loud "thump" outside as the beast landed on the car's roof. The two of them stayed as quiet as they could, as they heard the werewolf's claws scratch across the roof. Max inserted the car keys into the engine, and he turned the key. He kept his right foot pressed down on the brake pedal as the engine roared to life. He put the gear into drive, took his foot off the brake pedal, and slammed his foot down on the gas pedal.

The werewolf got thrown off the car roof as the car zoomed out from underneath the beast. The beast rolled onto the empty street, and came to a stop. Max drove the car down the street, leaving the werewolf behind them. The beast got up onto its feet, and ran after the moving car. The werewolf was gaining on the speeding car as Max and Brooke were in the car. Max pressed his right foot down harder on the gas pedal, and the car gained even more speed. The beast started to slow down to a light run as the car was getting farther and farther away from it. The werewolf stopped running, tossed its head back, and the beast let out a loud howl. The two adults could hear the howl as it faded in the distance.

"That was close.... Too close," Brooke said, looking over at Max, who stared at the road ahead of them. "Where are we going?" she asked him, the sky getting darker by the minute. The bright headlights lit up the dark road ahead of them as the car zoomed down the street. "We're going to one of my friends," Max told her, never taking his eyes off the road. The two adults drove the rest of the way in silence.

Finally, the white, two story house came into view as Max and Brooke got closer and closer to the house. Max pulled the car into the gravel drive-way, and stopped the car next to the black pick-up truck. He put the gear into park, and he turned the engine off. Max and Brooke opened their car doors, and stepped out of the car. He placed the car keys in his front right jean pocket. He grabbed ahold of Brooke's right hand, and she looked over at him. "We'll be safe here." he told her, and the two of them walked up the front porch, and went over to the front-door. He knocked several times on the wooden door with his right hand, and they heard movement from inside as somebody went to answer the door.

John grabbed the doorknob, twisted it, and he pulled the door open. When he saw that Max and Brooke were standing outside on the front-porch, he moved out of the way so the two of them could enter the house. "Let me show you where you can stay," John told the two of them, closing the front-door and locking it. He went up the stairs to the second-floor, with Max and Brooke walking up the steps behind him. "Max, you can stay with Ricky & Chase," John told him, pointing to their room. "And Brooke can stay in the other bedroom with Rosina, Kristin, and Jenny," he told the two of them, looking at the girl's bedroom. "Thanks for doing this," Max told him, as the three of them stood there in the hall-way. "You're welcome," John told him, each of the three adults going into their bedroom.

Jenny stepped out of the shower, and planted her feet on the towel that was laying on the floor. She dried her body off with the other towel that she had. Once her body was dry, she started to put her clothes back on. She ran the towel through her hair, drying her long dirty blonde hair. After Jenny was done drying her hair off, she opened the bathroom door, and turned off the bathroom light. She stepped out into the hall-way and went down to her bedroom. There were no lights on in the bedroom, and Kristin, Rosina, and Brooke were all fast asleep. Rosina and Brooke were sleeping in one of the beds, while Shadow was laying down at the foot of their bed. The dog had its head resting on top of his front two legs.

Trying not to wake up the others, Jenny quietly made her way across the bedroom. She got to the bed, and pulled the covers down, so she could slip into the bed. She slid her body into the bed, and pulled the covers up to her chin. As soon as the back of her head hit the soft pillow, she went to sleep.