Dead.

Chapter Twenty

The sound of the van came quietly, a gentle hum and the sound of tired on the snow. It echoed their departure and Jeff looked to Cass as he got to his feet and made sure he was ready to fight as he adjusted the gun he held. Cass followed his lead and the two stepped outside, into the cold. They were bundled against the elements and they made their way to the field, finding some shrubbery and bushes that hadn't gone bare in the winter to hunker down near. It was bitterly cold and the wind swept over the otherwise open fields, chewing its way through the materials they wore. Jeff took the brunt of it, sticking behind Cass.

"Didn't really think through the weather." Jeff said quietly, they could both see he lights from the fireplace and candles within the cottages and Cass felt like it was an eternity they waited. Each breath brought forth frost in her lungs and she shivered now and then. Jeff wasn't coping any better but he didn't speak up on or complain. The sun rose, bleeding across the fields slowly and filling it with light. It filtered heat across and it was a miracle for Cass to feel as they both watched the cottages with baited breath. She had no idea if David and Francis were in position, she could only hope so and given there had been no gunfire, she remained hopeful.

"Eyes up." Jeff said quietly in her ear and Cass looked up through frosty eyelashes to see a van pulling up. She could see the others all outside, waiting with their hands up to show they didn't have weapons on them.

It was too far to hear what was happening, exactly but she knew there was talking and jeering going on. Arman was right there; Cass was not an aggressive person but she knew it could be so easy to just gun him down. She wanted to, too. It frightened her to think she could be that way but this world had made monsters out of all of them and with no mercy. Jeff had a hand on her shoulder, as though steadying her in place but Cass was sure it was to keep him grounded too.

Shouts started to ring out, distorted in the air and Jeff hissed,

"He'll summon every dead in a five-mile radius." He muttered and got ready. Guns were drawn by Arman's men and Jeff burst into action, firing the rifle he had and taking on of his men out. Shots started to crack the air as Francis and David joined the fray from where they had been hidden out. They had very little time to rush in but Jeff had long strides that Cass followed. Bullets whipped past them and Cass managed to undo some protection behind a gnarled old tree as she pressed her back to it hard. She caught her breath and looked at the field behind them. The corpses lumbered out and her hairs stood on end.

From the treeline, launching itself came an Odd. This wasn't the same Odd they had witnessed; it was broken almost. It staggered and screeched an unholy sound. It rasped as it moved and Cass slid down the tree, staring in disbelief. It didn't seem to notice her, in fact, it galloped right past her without a second look from its stretched features. This one had been human once; she could tell that. The face of it looked stretched over a canvas and twisted horribly. Cass stared in disbelief as it reeled and staggered on two pin legs towards the gunfire and the others. She had never seen anything like it. Cass didn't think the tiny stick legs that looked like just decayed bone would keep it upright but it did, it clicked its way towards the sounds and made jittering sounds, almost like a cicada in the evening.

Cass's heart hammered heavily against her chest as she watched. Arman's men screeched and turned their gunfire on the creature, the lanky, twisted creature. It made quick work of some of his men, snatching them in jaws that seemed to jut out from its skull in a strange way. She shuddered as she moved closer. It was chaos before them, the shouting and the firing. Cass struggled to try and see what was going on, corpses lumbered in and Cass shot a couple of them down abruptly.

"Cass!" Jeff's call made her look over and she saw him penned in with Ryan and Evelyn against the cottage wall. Between Arman's men and the corpses that had closed in, they were in trouble and Cass delved into action. She started to move, the creature was busy with Arman's men who were playing a terrible game of hide and seek around the van. It stank, Cass realised as she got closer and she shielded her nose for a moment with her arm. The air was like acid as it stung her eyes and she darted around to help ward off the corpses that surrounded Jeff and the others.