Would You Like A Hand?

18 | forget

On day seven, Draco and the family of three left the house after eating some breakfast, exhausting the last of the food supply.

None of them had many belongings to gather up; Don, Maria, and Kyle each carried a knife in their pockets, and then water bottles were packed away in two bags - one for each parent.

Draco hadn't needed to carry anything as of yet - he relied on magic most of the time (although he hadn't lately because of his proximity to the muggle family).

Their walk was punctuated with instances of running and fighting. Kyle couldn't run as fast as the adults, so there were many times when Don and Maria stopped to battle the monsters that came after them.

It was a wonder the family hadn't been overrun before he met them.

When no one was looking, Draco would shoot inconspicuous wordless spells at oncoming monsters that were further away.

When they were looking, Draco tried to fight with his hands or some other weapon like a muggle would.

It wasn't hard to pick up when he was fighting for his life.

When the group finally stopped at a huge stone brick house, they made slow work of making sure the place was free of undead beings.

Roaming through the rooms together as one unit, they looked around carefully.

The huge house - a mansion, really - probably would have looked nicer before the undead took over. There was a sparse amount of furniture, all made of expensive materials (Draco had an eye for these things, considering his family had been well off), but a mess of rubble and blood and dirt dotted random areas and rooms. He imagined this place would've been spotless and shiny if the Dark Lord hadn't summoned the dead.

Dead bodies littered the mansion, most of them likely house staff of some sort; they wore uniforms that used to be crisp and clean.

A few undead wandered and screamed, but they were taken down easily enough between the group of four.

The only thing they hadn't seen coming was when they'd walked into the kitchen and Maria, who had taken the rear guard, suddenly fell and let out a terrified gasp.

Everyone looked back right away, Kyle crying aloud when he saw his mother on the ground.

A hand had grabbed her ankle, Draco saw. The hand of a supposedly dead body.

Had the body always been undead? Or had it been dead when the group checked and then just turned over, ready to walk again?

Draco didn't spare a second to ponder those questions. He pulled Kyle back as Don rushed forward and bashed the - butler? - away from Maria.

The undead butler had managed to bite her leg, though, and she had trouble getting back to her feet.

Draco took a quick look around the kitchen to make sure it was empty before leaving the kid and rushing over to Maria.

The kid followed close behind him anyway.

Helping Maria limp forward, Draco spared a glance at Don to make sure he was okay.

The man had grabbed a lamp from somewhere and was beating the butler with it, smashing its head in.

It didn't take long before it stopped moving again, but it seemed the noise had attracted more undead.

Where are they coming from?

Their uniforms were telling.

They must have all recently died; all the dead bodies the family had passed by earlier were up and about, roaming the halls. A cacophony of screams rang out through the mansion, and Draco realized he and the others were fucked.

A glass back door was their only exit. The kitchen was slowly being surrounded by undead maids and workers.

From beside Draco, Maria stated, "I will fight them. Run."

Lucius's voice yelled in Draco's mind, "I'll slow them down! Get out of here!"

Don, already attacking the oncoming undead, yelled back, "No, all of you, go!"

"I cannot run, Don!" Maria argued and limped forward to help him.

Indecisive, Draco stayed frozen.

Kyle cried, terror and uncertainty colouring his wails for his parents.

Despite her new inability to use her leg properly, Maria managed to take down one dead worker herself.

In some sort of suspended moment, Don seemed to have made a decision and looked back at Draco for a second to tell him, "Take Kyle. Leave, I will catch up with you!"

I could use my magic, he thought. Who cares if muggles see? This is not the world to care about that anymore.

But somehow, he found his legs slowly thawing and moving back, toward the glass door.

He heard Maria telling Don to leave, too, but the man stayed with her.

Grabbing the kid's hand on his way, Draco slid the door open and left the mansion.

Although Kyle was still sniffling, he quieted down out of habit when they stepped out the house.

The two of them ran for a bit, finding only a grassy field before them.

Not sure where to run, they eventually slowed and Draco glanced back to find that the stone mansion was still visible, but much smaller.

From here, it looked like a normal sized house.

"Draco?" The kid sniffed beside him, and he realized he had stopped walking.

"Sorry," Draco responded, and continued walking again, looking away from the mansion. He observed Kyle's small hand in his own, and wondered if the kid would hate him for dragging him away from his parents.

He didn't seem to at that moment, but given some time to think, Draco thought Kyle might change his mind.

Looking around to take in his surroundings, Draco noted that the sun was going to set soon, and that there was a small structure up ahead.

It was one of the only things in existence in the grassy field, so the boys headed towards it. It wouldn't be good to be caught up outside at night.