The Awakening

Chapter 15 - Edited

*Edited December 23, 2017. (First published September 12, 2015)

I'd pulled the last of the arrows and small blades from my flesh and left them in one of the rooms, not wanting to walk out looking worse than I had to. It was bad enough they would be able to see some of my ribs and the holes in my clothing, they didn't need to see me with weapons sticking out of my skin on top of it. Even if I was different, I wanted to try to blend in where I could.

Frowning down at the hole in my chest, I sighed and reached out to open the entry door. The jolt when I was suddenly pulled backward by ice-cold arms had me screaming as I dropped the packet of emergency food rations that I'd been holding all this time. The scream grew more desperate when I noticed the shadows around me growing thicker and moving in unnatural ways.

A partially rotten hand moved to cover my mouth, muffling my shouts and screams as I was turned around and shoved through the hallways and out the back door, a door that had been closed and locked when I check it before. Now it stood wide open, the sounds of fighting echoing around from the front of the building.

Most horrifying of all was the huge Shadow Hound that stood there staring at me, it's eyes glaring malevolently at me from the shadows surrounding it as I was pushed closer and closer. I started struggling harder, almost breaking free until another pair of hands grabbed my arms, helping to hold me in place as the gaping maw of the Hound moved ever closer.

I wasn't sure how to react when I saw one of the undead suddenly shoved into its mouth, the hands holding me releasing my arms while the attached bodies dropped to the ground. Startled, I stumbled backward into a warm body, wishing I had time to stop and enjoy the feeling of something besides the chill of the undead. I didn't even struggle as I was grabbed and pulled around the corner of the large building, simply thankful as I looked at Daniel's back while he quickly dragged me away from the snarling beast behind us.

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We lost five people while escaping from the town and two more in the forest before the undead finally pulled back and seemed to stop the chase. However, it didn't stop me from believing that they still followed, something Michael seemed to agree with me on. We couldn't simply go to the valley and lead them to our home, it would be a brutal massacre.

We spent the next couple of weeks heading through the forest towards another town that had been taken over by yet another group of looters, ones causing serious problems for some of our missions. It might seem cruel but if we could get the enemy to think that town was our home, they would likely go back and get reinforcements before attacking.

Meanwhile, we would be free to turn and head towards our real home, keeping them safe from being targeted. Or so we all hoped. Michael explained it was a tactic they had used before. We just had to hope it would work again this time. If it didn't, then we would be stuck between a town of looters who would not hesitate to kill us all and a group of undead lead by the Shadow Hound. We wouldn't stand a chance.