They Walk (7 page)

It keeps repeating in an endless loop, and no more and no less. None of us say anything, for what feels like forever. I feel a touch on my shoulder and I jump and look behind me, but it’s just Matt. He looks even paler now.

I know I look the same, even though I’m not even hurt.

“
Check the other channels.” Gabe says.

Brian glances at him, but does what he says. He goes through at least all the local channels and it’s the same screen over and over. I don’t even know what to think, but it seems our guess was about right. The things outside are dead, yet there up moving around and apparently it’s not just here.

I really wish we were able to reach someone, anyone really.

I hear crying, and look over to Dan, he’s holding a now awake Maria to him and she’s sobbing into his shoulder. We might not be able to get in touch with our parents, but I’m glad Daniel is here with me, and that he’s alright. It’s a small comforting thought, if only everyone was alright. I lean into Matt, and think not for the first time, that I hope he’s alright.

Brian is still facing the TV, and only steps away when Claire goes over to him. He’s more stunned now than he was earlier fighting those things outside. I see Gabe walking over to the TV, as Brian steps away.

He’s about to turn it off, when there is movement from the bed.

“
Leave it on!” Austin yells.

He’s fully awake now, and pulls himself off the bed. He stomps over to Gabe and while glaring at him he shoves him out of the way.

“
Hey, watch it.” Gabe says, as he stumbles out of the way.

Austin doesn’t pay him any attention though he just walks right up to the TV. He’s nose to nose with it, that the rest of us can’t even see the screen anymore. He bows his head, and his shoulders begin to shake.

“
It can’t be true.” He whispers.

He goes still for a second, then pulls back his bad arm and punches into the TV. The screen smashes inward, and the room is full of the sound of the metal bending.

We all yell in surprise, while Gabe, Dan, and Brian run up to him. They pull his hand out, and it’s a bloody mess. As they turn him back to the bed, the towel that was covering his shoulder is bleeding through again. So much so that it drips down his shirt. Maria jumps up and flings the closet door open and begins picking through the clothes. She pulls out some old looking shirts and sets them on the bed. When Austin sits down, she shoves the other guys away and motions for Emily to help her.

“
I’m sorry.” Austin says, as he hangs his head down. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“
It’s going to be all right Austin. Emily and I are going to get you cleaned up. You don’t have to worry.”

They proceed to wash, bandage, and redress him. The entire time, he just sits there compliantly and has silent tears running down his cheeks. No one says anything to him, either not wanting to hurt his feelings or are feeling the same way. It’s strange to see him this way he’s always been the tough guy at school. But I can see how easy it is to break under the pressure.

When Austin is finally resting on the bed again, we all go back to just sitting in the quiet. Beside me leaning against the window, is Matt asleep. I take off my hoody and use it as a pillow and snuggle up to him.

I rest my head on his leg and I close my eyes for a moment.

Chapter Twelve

When I open my eyes again, I’m no longer leaning against Matt. I’m on the floor in front of the window seat, and I must not have slept that long. It’s still light out, and still very bright. I hear voices and I try to clear my muddled head. I pull myself into a sitting position, and my head begins pounding and I have a moment of dizziness. I shake myself and it goes away, and I look for who woke me up.

It’s Austin.

He’s standing in the middle of the room yelling at Gabe, who appears to be blocking the closed bedroom door. That seems odd, what did I miss when I was asleep? Their voices are getting louder, and I’m not the only one that was woken up. Matt and Alex are no longer sitting behind me they are now sitting on the bed watching Austin. Nice to know they left me alone to be comfortable.

Not.

Austin’s voice gets so loud he makes me jump in surprise. And I finally make sense of what they are arguing about.

“
Dammit, I can’t stay here! Those things are going to get in! I will not die like them!” Screams Austin, his face is red with anger.

“
Be reasonable, Austin. You can’t just walk out the front door. That’s suicide, and you know it!”

“
What choice do I have, huh? Unless you happen to have an airplane in your back pocket, then we’re screwed. I’m not waiting around, just to be eaten and turned!”

“
We all feel the same way you’re not alone in that. I’m just trying to get you to understand, that we have to come up with a better plan of action.”

“
Plan of action? Are you high Gabriel? Who said I was including any of you?” He laughs, and it sends chills down my spine.

Still sitting on the floor near Gabe is Sam, and he’s watching them argue back and forth. He snickers at Austin’s comment and shakes his head.

“
I figured that was what you already had in mind. You’re too much the shallow type to actually want to help anyone but yourself.” Sam says. He must regret it the moment he says it though, his eyes get wide and his cheeks go red.

Austin doesn’t say anything he just turns and glares at him. He stands there for a minute, before he begins to shake. I instantly have a bad feeling, like he’s going to start hitting Sam. I must not be the only one, because Gabe comes closer to him and Dan is now standing and approaching him slowly. They both are taking their time, almost afraid of how he’ll respond.

He doesn’t seem to notice them though, his eyes are for Sam.

“
You can think whatever you want of me, loser. But I’ll make it out of here alive, and you can sit here and wait to die.”

Sam is sitting while leaning against the wall so hard I think he’s trying to push through to the other side. If it was possible, I know he’d be gone by now. Austin is freaking me out, and he’s not even looking in my direction.

“
Dude, will you chill. We’re all scared, but we have to work together.” Alex says from the bed.

“
Listen to Alex, Austin. None of us want to stay here we want to go as much as you.” Dan says, he talks quietly trying not to spook him.

“
Stop trying to confuse me! I know I can make it to my car, it’s in the driveway for Crist sake!”

He turns then and he’s facing towards me, and I flinch at the hard look on his face. His eyes are wild, and look too big for his head. His face is so pale, that he has dark circles under his eyes. His shirt is already wet with blood, and I don’t know how he’s even standing up.

But he’s not looking at me though he’s looking out the window.

I can almost see a plan forming behind his eyes, and I barely have time to duck when he runs at me. I can feel the wind as his body passes over me, and he crashes through the window with no resistance.

When Austin went through the window, the glass rained down on me. I didn’t have time to try to move, and I can feel the pieces pierce the skin of my back and arms through my light t-shirt. I sense some of the other’s rush to the window after him, but I’m still crouched too low to see who. Everyone seems to be yelling, but my ears are ringing from the sound of the window smashing. Hands grab for me and pull me up, I stumble to my feet and am facing Gabe. He pushes me behind him to Matt though, and he grips me tightly.

Gabe, Dan, Brian, and Alex are staring out the window and yelling for Austin to come back inside. I’m confused for a moment, not understanding what they are talking about. Then I step away from Matt, so I can see out the ruin of the window. There is a wide ledge of the roof, right below. He landed on it easily, and is shuffling to the edge. Now that the window is wide open, I can hear the dead outside below. As if they sense that Austin is almost within they’re reach, the moans they make become more persistent. I can almost see the shadows of their bodies from where I’m standing, and I’m suddenly so scared I can’t catch my breath.

“
Austin, it’s not too late, you can come back inside. Trust me, you don’t want to jump.” Gabe says, as he leans out the window to him.

“
Listen to him man, this is crazy!” Alex yells.

“
Shut up! I can make it,” Austin starts to lean over the edge. “I know I can.” One of his legs hangs over the side.

Gabe swears and jumps out the window and onto the ledge with Austin. He’s too late though, Austin pushes off the side just as Gabe almost reaches him. He falls to the ground on his hands and knees, and I can hear his cry of pain from inside. He gets up quickly though, and make a run for his car that is twenty feet from him. By the time he’s not even half way, the dead around the house are already fast after him. He’s almost to his car when his foot catches on something on the ground, and he falls. He’s swarmed almost instantly, and I lose sight of him.

I can only hear him calling out for help, and my stomach rolls at the thought of what they are doing to him. It only lasts what feels like a second, and he stops calling out. Very slowly the dead back away from him, and we get a look at his body. They move as a group, and are more violent than I remember them being last night.

It’s almost like they are so consumed with a hunger for flesh, that they lost it.

I gag at the sight of him, and have to turn away. You can’t even make him out beneath all the blood and body pieces. They attacked him so fiercely, that I don’t think there is anything left to make him into one of them. I must be wrong though, because I can hear the others screaming. I close my eyes when someone runs from the room gaging.

I don’t want to see what he’s turned into, and refuse to turn around.

“
Gabe, come back inside. It’s too late to help him.” Dan says.

Behind me, I hear Gabe stepping through the window as the glass crackles beneath his feet. Only then do I open my eyes, and see Matt watching me. He’s looking at me so strangely, and I don’t have time to figure out why before a banging sound behind me makes me turn.

It’s Gabe and he’s punching at the wall beside the window.

My heart breaks at the sight of him, he looks so defeated. And he’s not the only either, Alex had fallen to the floor with his head in his hands. Dan and Brian are next to Gabe, but neither of them really tries to stop him from his attacks towards the wall. Not caring what Matt thinks, I walk over to Gabe and place my hand on his shoulder. He stills instantly, but doesn’t turn around. I can feel his tense muscles beneath my hand loosening, and as I’m about to pull away he lifts one of his hands up to cover mine. His touch is warm and his hand is slick with blood. He drops it suddenly and turns away to walk across the room.

He stops by the door, and sits down against the wall with his hands in his lap.

“
It’s not your fault Gabe. We all tried to reason with him, he didn’t want to listen. What matters now, is that we focus on getting out of here, the right way.” Dan says, but Gabe doesn’t say anything back. He just bows his head and stares at nothing.

I look back to Matt, but he’s leaning against the desk making a point of not looking at me. Not that I blame him, I didn’t have to be the one to comfort Gabe. It just seemed like the right thing to do, and I’ll stand by that even if he doesn’t. I walk over next to him, as Claire, Maria and Sam walk into the room. They look more ghostly pale than Austin did and I realize they must have been the ones running out getting sick.

My stomach rolls at the thought, but I try to ignore it.

“
The windows downstairs won’t hold much longer. The dead are starting to get more vicious now, and are taking it out on the house.” Sam grumbles, as he holds his stomach.

Claire and Maria both walk into the arms of Brian and Dan, and I feel a twinge of jealousy. A faint whining sound make me turn my head to the bed. It’s Lucy and somehow she’s still asleep and looks like she’s having a nightmare. She’s cradled in Peter’s arms, and he tries to sooth her back to sleep. I notice her bandage is already covered in blood. I don’t even know how Matts arm is he’s been wearing one of Austin’s hoodies since we came upstairs.

I know Dan is right though, we have to get out of here like yesterday.

Chapter Thirteen

As the day wears on everyone seems to distance themselves. Since Austin is gone, the idea of getting out of the house alive is starting to slip away. No one’s really left the room much, too afraid to be close to the dead outside the windows downstairs.

Even from in the upstairs bedroom, you can hear the scratching.

By midafternoon, Claire convinces me to help her make lunch. I realize then that none of us have eaten, but I guess seeing your friends die and get back up to attack you can take away your appetite. So we go and scrounge up some food, and manage to solicit the help of the girl Emily. Apparently Austin’s family was big on take out, because we couldn’t find much beside snacks. Plus, the fridge was full of to go boxes and none of it smelled all that fresh.

When we came back into the room, the three of us were carrying two plates each full of crackers, cereal bars, and chips. We also had plastic bags over our shoulders holding a couple bottles of water. Splitting up we made our way around the room. I couldn’t help but notice that no one was even talking to each other clearly we’re not holding up with moral. I make my way to Dan and Maria first, and notice Matt giving me the evil eye. Ignoring him I offer then each a bottle of water and one of the plates. Dan seems relieved when Maria nibbles on a cracker right way, and he offers a smile of thanks to me. Gabe is sitting next to them, and I can see him watching me out of the corner of my eyes. But I turn to go over to where Matt is stationed near the window, which everyone’s been ignoring since Austin smashed through it.