No Escape (luke hemmings au)

~part five~

        The Sick stared at me blankly, like all Sick do. Their skin was slimy and brown and missing in chunks on their bodies. Their hair had fallen out in some places, but two of them had a nearly full head of hair. Their cheeks were sunken and their jaws were hanging, dislocated. I could see the rot in what was left of their teeth. They say the mouth was the first to go when the rotting sets in. I’m not sure why. But I had never cared enough to ask. I looked at them, unblinking, for what felt like eons. I willed myself to call someone, to run, to do something. But I just stood there. Useless.

                One of the Sick tilted its head and I felt my heartbeat quicken. I clutched Luke’s clothes to my chest. It seemed to stare directly into my soul. I shuddered and suddenly I remembered how to function.

                “CALUM!” I cried. This proved to be one of my worse ideas. The Sick made to grab me but I ducked away. Calum came rushing out of the kitchen and caught me as I ran passed. I rolled out of his grip and pointed to the hall.

                Everything else happened so quickly. The boys all hopped to their feet and we made for the front door. A Sick hand burst through the moldy wood and grabbed at the air in search of the healthy. Us. Every window in the house was suddenly blocked by Sick. They had the house nearly surrounded.

                I scrambled around the dining table and started throwing weapons to the boys. We formed a circle and started firing, but it wouldn’t be enough. We didn’t have enough fire power to hold them off. We needed to run—but we had nowhere to go.

                Luke.

                I did a quick head count and noticed he was missing. I turned around and saw a Sick clawing at his bedroom door. I shouted his name. The Sick turned to look at me slowly. Within that time, I had cocked an arrow and fired it directly through its head. It crumpled to the ground.

                “Go, go! Back door, now!” Calum ordered. He waved everyone down the hall to the boarded up backdoor. I stayed put, still staring at the Sick I had just offed. It reminded me of Jess.

                “Dez, now!” Calum cried. I looked up and saw Luke’s bedroom door rattling. My breath hitched. The Sick had fallen in front of the door. He couldn’t get out.

                “I have to get Luke!” I called back. “Just go!” I shouted before I could change my mind. I snatched my sword from the table and dashed towards the front of the cottage. I heard Calum fire a shotgun. More and more Sick were breaking through the windows and I was fairly certain my heart was going to leap out of my chest. I pulled my arrow out of the Sick’s cranium and kicked it out of the way. The adrenaline coursing throughout my body was making me do things I didn’t know I could do.

                I threw the door open and Luke tumbled out of his bedroom sweating, panting, and terrified. Almost immediately after, a Sick broke through the boards on the window. I tried not to think of what might have happened if I had been too late. Jess’ face flashed behind my eyelids every time I blinked. I shut the door and propped the coat tree up against it so the Sick wouldn’t get out. I guess it wasn’t as useless as I thought.

                Another Sick charged at me, its limbs flailing uselessly by its side. I swung my blade in a smooth arc and stepped out of the way before the Sick’s head fell where I had just been standing.

                Without hesitation, I shoved my sword into Luke’s grip and pushed him ahead of me. The boards gave out on a window on the left side of the cottage and more Sick were spilling into the room. Luke scooped up whatever weapons he could carry that were left on the table as we passed, not even stopping to see what they were. A voice in the back of my head told me to pick up Luke’s shirt as I stepped over it. Without breaking stride, I swiped it up and followed Luke towards the back door, ducking around Sick. Luke swung the sword expertly and carved a way for us through the throng of infection.