30 Days of Undead Summer

#MadDashMonday

Panting, I ducked around the building, pressing my back against its gritty brick wall. I didn't care about discomfort at the moment, however - right now, all that mattered, all that was flying through my head was escape.

I heard them getting closer. Wildly, I glanced around the alleyway, desperately searching for an escape route. My gaze landed on a windowsill several feet above the ground and my heart lifted.

It was too high up in the wall for me to reach on my own, but with the Dumpster underneath it, it could work. I flipped the lid of the large bin shut and scrambled on top. Then, I reached up as high as I could and grabbed the windowsill.

Months of spending my days in nearly constant motion had made me lean and strong, much stronger than I had ever been. It was still difficult, however, to pull myself upward until I could stand precariously on the windowsill.

The first zombie rounded the corner. I took a deep breath and looked upwards at the next windowsill.

It was much too far away for me to reach.

The window I was currently standing in front of was boarded up on the inside, but its glass was broken and it looked like the wood was rather old, possibly rotting. Maybe...

More zombies surged into the alleyway. Several of them moaned from dull pain. Others were silent, with dark purpose in their eyes. Most were making snarling noises that chilled my blood.

Desperately, I shoved my shoulder lightly against the wood so as to not jostle myself off of the windowsill. I staggered slightly and had to hug the side of the building to keep from falling. My heart was pounding so quickly that I was sure it would burst.

I glanced down, which was a mistake. A zombie was finally understanding how to use the Dumpster as a boost, but wasn't quite intelligent enough to figure out how to get on top of it. I clenched my teeth and looked back at the rotting wood.

I leaned into the beams with all of my weight, but being as skinny as I was, I wasn't nearly heavy enough to even bend the barricade. I swore in frustration as the zombie jumped higher and higher in an attempt to mount the Dumpster.

Finally, I realized what I would have to do.

I would have to ram the wood with all of my strength.

If I succeeded, I would be sent flying through the beams and into whatever the inside of the building was, be it thugs or rotting floors or even more zombies. If I failed, I would be sent tumbling backwards into the horde beneath me. But if I didn't try at all, I would certainly be finished off by the one intelligent zombie in the group, only to join their masses and take down other survivors.

There was nothing for it. I had to try.

Glad that my adrenaline was shutting down the logical part of my brain, I removed my arms from the building walls, reared back, and shoved myself into the wooden beams as hard as I could.

With a shriek, I went bursting through and tumbling into whatever awaited me.