Hearth | The Walking Dead

𝐕𝐈𝐈. HENRY MANNOX

CHAPTER SEVEN

HENRY MANNOX

SYDNEY AND REX BOLTED FOR the wall of vines, Roger and Dirk only inches behind them. Roger had been right; they could run faster than the Uglies could walk. The Uglies only had one advantage over them—a lack of hesitation. When Rex grabbed the vines, he stopped for a moment to pull on them, making sure they would hold his weight—and an Ugly who had forgotten the concept of uncertainty grabbed his arm, hissing and snapping its teeth in Rex's face.

Sydney drew her knife, but Roger was faster, stabbing a hunting blade into the Ugly's skull. The monster dropped and Roger yanked his weapon free, yelling, "GO! Over the wall, now!"

More Uglies were stumbling over to them, groaning and reaching with rotted limbs. Sydney grabbed the vines and began to climb, trying to ignore the pinpricks of pain as thorns bit into her palms. Now was not the time to fear pain. There was little time for anything, but she did manage to send Tyler a silent thank you for making her go with him to rock climbing classes. Her strength wasn't what she wanted it to be, but Sydney knew it could be so much harder to hold herself up without those lessons.

She made it to the top of the wall and sat down. She tossed a glance over her shoulder and saw a few Uglies heading in their direction—but only a few, nothing like the group of monsters just on the other side of the wall. If she had to guess, she would say there were more Uglies locked inside the houses. But that was better than another herd being on this side of the fence.

Sydney turned her attention to the others. Roger was fighting off the Uglies that had managed to reach them as Dirk and Rex climbed the vines. Dirk was faster, expression set in determination as he climbed. Sydney reached a hand down for Rex, who was struggling and much closer to her. He took it, allowing Sydney to help him up the rest of the way. Like Sydney, his hands were wet with blood, thorns having pricked his skin; it made helping him harder, but Sydney and Rex managed to remain stable and sit at the top of the wall.

"Come on!" Rex called out, waving at Roger hurriedly. Roger stabbed one last Ugly before he ran for the vines. The first one he grabbed broke under his weight, having been pulled on by both Red and Sydney. Sydney's heart stuttered, watching the Uglies approach Roger. For a moment, it seemed like he was about to be swallowed by the group of them that remained.

Then Roger managed to climb, just getting out of reach by the time the Uglies arrived at the wall. They reached for him, hissing in disapproval as Roger got out of range. Rex and Dirk helped him over the rest of the way, but only when Roger was sitting on the wall did Sydney allow herself to breathe. She couldn't forgive herself if her mission had led to someone's death, never mind someone as nice as Roger.

Rex held out his hands, looking at his palms with a frown. "I hope they have bandages," he mused.

"We'll have to kill these to get to the houses," Roger said, sounding calm for someone who just beat certain death. He stared at the Uglies on the safe side of the wall—seven in total. They outnumbered the living but were dumber than rocks. Sydney was sure even Dirk could take on the group of them and come out without a scratch—or a bite.

"One of us can be the distraction," Rex said. "Draw them away from the wall so the others can climb down. Then we kill 'em."

"So who's going down there?" Dirk asked, crossing his arms. He glared at the Uglies. "What if more are headed over? You're not thinking of everything that could go wrong."