Love is Dead

Chapter Eight: The Hoard

"Oh my God, are you alright?" Jackie asked Elliot as she tried to inspect his shoulder.

"Peachy." Elliot replied calmly, as if things really were 'peachy.'

The zombie hoard had just reached the farmhouse, right before they were about to leave. Now, their options were to either run out into the hoard in an attempt to escape and get eaten, or barricade themselves inside and hope that Fallon's clan decided not to come for them. Neither option was favourable, considering they would probably die either way.

"Fuck!" Fallon yelled. "What do we do now?"

"There's a back door in the kitchen and a door through the garage, but they're both boarded up." Gunner said, pointing to the back door over his shoulder with his thumb.

Ayumi clicked her tongue. "Let's just stay here and if Fallon's clan shows up, we'll hand her off to them. It's much safer than going outside to be eaten."

Jackie glared at her. "We've already discussed that we're not doing that."

Margot walked over to the window and peeked through the crack between the boards. There were several zombies on the porch already, and many littering the field between the forest and the farmhouse. They moved like a swarm of bees; all in different directions, but collectively going one way. If they barricaded themselves inside and kept quiet, the hoard would pass by without any trouble.

Suddenly, Margot noticed some movement in the forest. She figured it was more of the hoard making their way into the field, but the way they walked, weaving between the zombies, it seemed almost human. Margot's grip on her pocket knife tightened. It must have been Fallon's clan, or at least a few of their members. She knew that she probably should have spoken up, but was it worth worrying Fallon? The escape would go much easier without her panicking, and Margot didn't want to cause her any unnecessary stress.

Margot turned back to the group, where Jackie and Ayumi argued. Elliot still stood aside, gripping his shoulder in pain, while Gunner and Fallon were in the kitchen, trying to pry off the boards covering the back door.

If they did make it through the back door, the clan would surely see them running towards town, unless they headed into the forest instead. But if there was a distraction, something to take their attention away from the rest of the group, then they could make it into town without much of a problem.

So, Margot snuck away from the group, heading into the garage where the other door was. It was boarded up like Gunner had said. Margot pried at the boards on the wall, but they wouldn't budge. Frustrated, she looked around the room for anything she could use to pry the boards off.

She searched the tools hooked onto the wall, but the only ones there were wrenches. She checked under the workbench, through some old boxes, and finally checked a metal cabinet, where she found a crowbar sitting on the bottom. She quickly picked it up and began trying to pry the boards off of the walls.

Just as Margot got the first board off, Gunner came into the garage. "What are you doing? We got the other door open, everyone's leaving."

"Fallon's clan is here," Margot answered, keeping her voice low so that nobody else would hear. "I'm going to cause a distraction so that you can all get away."

While Margot struggled to break off the next board, Gunner crossed the room. "Let me."

She handed him the crowbar and he broke off the rest of the boards with ease, then opened the door. Margot ran out of the door, into the field. Eventually, she stopped to scan the edge of the forest, searching for the clan. She watched as a few members started to walk out of the forest. It seemed like a small group, but still more people than them.