The Risks

May: Chapter 8

"Come on," Parker growled and I followed him to the stairway and up the stairs, unsure of his plan.

He pulled us into a bedroom and shut the door. I helped him move a dresser in front of the door to block it. It wasn't like they could just turn the handle and walk in, but a little extra barricade couldn't hurt. 

"What now?" I asked. He walked away from me, but I stayed looking at the door. "Brilliant. We've trapped ourselves up here. How long do you think this door is going to-"

I was interrupted by the sound of a body slamming against the door and more inhuman groaning and shouting.

Parker slid open a window. "Out here."

"Onto the roof?" I asked in disbelief.

"Let's go."

I sighed, but had no other choice. He let me step out first, then he followed, pulling the window shut. I stepped carefully to the edge of the roof. There was a crowd of them below. They continued to throw themselves against the windows and siding, trying to get in. They hadn't seemed to notice we were above them now.

"Oh, god," I groaned, hands trembling. "They're everywhere. We're trapped. Jesus, we're trapped here."

"You have to calm down," he said. "You can't focus when you're panicking."

A terrified whine crawled up my throat as I looked at the crowd of Ferals below.

"Look at me," Parker said calmly, placing his hands on my shoulders. "Everything's going to be okay. Just breathe."

And there was something about the sincerity in his eyes, the comforting weight of his hands on my shoulders that made me believe him. So I took a deep breath and I nodded.

He pointed down below at the other side. "The garage is right down there. If we jump down to that roof, there's a chance we can make it across and make it to the ground before they reach us, but we'll have to move fast."

"Okay," I breathed.

"Alright, just run and jump," he ordered.

"Jesus Christ," I whispered to myself. This was crazy. "You first."

He nodded, then ran toward the edge of the roof and jumped off, landing gracefully on the slanted shingled roof of the garage. There was no way I was going to have the same simple result with my jump, but I had no time to waste. I peeked over the ledge again. The Ferals still seemed unaware of us moving above them. Their cries must have drowned out everything else. I heard the door inside the house we had barricaded break down and Ferals slammed against the window. Their hands left bloody, black smears on the glass.

Considering how long it took them to break the glass downstairs, I didn't have any time to waste. I ran and I jumped. When I landed on the roof, my feet slipped and I fell forward onto the shingles. I felt pain in my thigh. Shit. I tried to dig the toes of my sneakers into the roof to keep me from sliding downward, but all that came out of it was the sole of my right shoe ripping open at the bend. Fuck.

Parker grabbed onto my wrist. "I've got you," he said as he pulled me to my feet. "Come on."

We moved as quickly as we could to the opposite end of the roof, further away from the crowding Ferals. Parker squatted down, grabbed the gutters and slowly lowered himself to the ground.

"Come on," Parker mouthed.

I sat on the edge and gripped the gutters uncomfortably. I knew I didn't have the strength to just gracefully lower myself onto the ground. As soon as I slid off the side of this roof I was going to drop hard.