To the Edge and Back

To the Edge and Back: Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Taylor and I are in the front yard practicing our archery when Alex walks over to us. Before he gets here, I shoot an arrow into my makeshift target. The arrow flies straight into the center of the bullseye.

"Mind if I practice with you guys?" He asks. "Sure," I answer. He pulls out his bow and notches an arrow onto it. He grips the string and brings it back as far as it can go. He aims for a second and then releases. The arrow zooms straight into the center of the target. "Not bad," I say.

Taylor also notches an arrow and aims. His arrow goes flying over the target and into the woods. "Damn," he mutters under his breath. "I think my bow is broken," he says. "Or you're just a terrible shot," I say while laughing.

When I finish laughing I look toward the field to see Zach riding with great speed straight at us. "Breach!" He screams, "There's a huge breach in the perimeter! Everyone arm yourselves and ready for a fight!"

"Taylor, take the scimitar and fight from the ground," I say. I pick the long, broad bladed weapon from the ground and toss it to him. Taylor catches it in his left hand. "Alex, you and I will take the roof with our bows," I tell him. We climb the ladder next to the balcony and take up positions on different sides of the roof.

Everyone has taken defense formations for the impending attack. Tony is behind cover and armed with a 44 magnum revolver. I see Tusha near Tony. She's holding a Winchester double barrel shotgun. Keaton is taking up his position in the willow tree in the front yard. He's armed with a 22 caliber pistol and a compound bow. Jonny has a crossbow in his hands. He's standing on the balcony. The twin girls and the very tall man are carrying melee weapons and taking up positions in the yard. Everyone else is on the front porch with rifles and shotguns, except Barbara, who is wielding the assault rifle.

Zach is leading the defense from his horse, Zeus. He's holding his hatchet, ready for battle. I see the horde fast approaching the farm from the direction that Zach had come from. I can see that there are hundreds heading straight for us. I draw back my bowstring and get ready for the hell that was about to fall upon us.

"Get ready!" Zach announces. They close in on the horse first. Zach slashes the heads off of the first three that approach him. He rides back a few feet. Keaton shoots a biter in the side of the head.

Tony opens fire on the walkers near the willow tree. Zach continues to back away from the horde. He jumps off of the horse and hitches it to the railing of the porch. He rushes into the mass of undead and begins to kill them all.

The twins and the tall man help Zach with the horde. Taylor is looking at a figure in the distance. It's Scar, his dog, that's running at him. I can tell that he had been bitten. The undead dog jumps onto Taylor and tries to bite his face. Taylor struggles with his former pet. He reaches into the grass and grabs his scimitar. He brings the blade into the dog's head. Scar falls limp to the ground. He kneels down beside his friend that he just had to kill. He isn't going to be much help with the rest of this fight.

Alex and I are rapidly firing arrow after arrow at any biters we see. Most of the shots hit their mark. Shots are being fired all around us as the undead swarm the house. Zach and the twins retreat to the porch. The tall man is bitten in the calf by a stray crawler, a walker who's legs were blown off. Alex shoots an arrow into the crawler. A tear begins to roll down his cheek as he sees his friend get eaten.

My foot gets caught in the gutter as I move around the roof. I fall from the two story house. My bow and arrows fall to the ground with me. I hit the earth with a hard thud. An arrow lands right next to me and sticks into the ground.

My vision is hazy and I struggle to stand. A walker notices me and begins to shamble toward me. I slowly crawl away from it. An arrow goes straight into its head. Alex had saved me.

When I get to a safe distance I gather my bearings. I dig into my bag for the gauntlets. I quickly but them on my hands. I stand up and walk over to the horde. I slice through four biters.

The rest of the biters are taken out. We all take a second to catch our breath and for us to settle down. Alex and Dylan rush over to the lanky man's body. Alex breaks down and cries righ there in front of us.

The next day we bury the tall man, who's name was Leo. Taylor goes off to bury Scar in a more private place. After this is done, we gather all of the bodies from the attack and put them in a big pile. Zach begins to pour gasoline on the corpses. Barbara pulls out a zippo lighter and lights the pile on fire.

We all leave the burning biters except for Alex. Alex keeps staring into the flames. He looks like he's angry at everything and nothing all at the same time.