Then Sandra screamed and went down. One zombie had already arrived, from a different angle. It was Billy. He’d come around the house and had grabbed Sandra’s ankle through the railing of the porch. Ed grabbed a hold of his wife and a mini tug-of-war ensued. Romy raised her pistol but couldn’t get a shot. There wasn’t a lot of room to maneuver on the porch. She leapt off the steps and circled around to where Billy was viciously yanking on Sandra’s foot. Romy was able to step right up to the Zombie without it noticing her. She raised her gun and shot Billy in the head from less than six feet away. The small caliber was powerful enough to produce an exit wound at that range, as brains and blood and pieces of skull plastered the side of the house.
Ed quickly pulled Sandra back to the porch. She cried out and could not put weight on her injured foot. That was the least of the problems though, as the loud gunshot had given the approaching zombies new vigor.
“Holy Fuuuuck!” Q cried out and pointed at the figures approaching, some at a loping run.
“Everybody back in the house!” Michelle called, and within seconds they had scrambled inside and slammed the door shut.
They stood there, staring at each other with wide eyes. Michelle took a quick look around and gave voice to their fears. “This isn’t going to stop them. We need to move. We need to find another place to hide.”
That was when Q sprang into action. He ran down the hall. “I found this – come over here!” the group followed him to the end of the hall. Q was already lifting a trap door. They were confronted with a very dark hole.
“This must be his basement. Hey maybe his bunker is down there, too!” Michelle got excited. She took the lead and went down the stair. It was really more of a ladder. The rest of the group stood around the dark hole, not sure if going down there would be a preferred option.
Just then Michelle must have found a light switch as the basement lit up.
“Come on down!” Michelle called. Q went down immediately. Romy let the elderly couple go next. Sandra’s progress was painfully slow. Just then, the first fist started beating on the side of the house. Ed was halfway down when the first zombie had arrived at the front door.
Just then, Romy made a quick decision and ran back down the hall.
“Where are you going!” Ed called out, his head still above ground level. Romy did not reply. She ran into the kitchen, opened the pantry and grabbed a case of water. She ran back as several more zombies arrived. The plastic covering of the case was torn, and several of the bottles slipped out as she swung out of the kitchen. They hit the ground and rolled in multiple directions. Romy ignored them and continued to the basement hatch. She tossed the case down the stair, catching Ed in the shoulder. The old man went down with a yelp.
Romy quickly followed down into the basement, pulling the trap door shut above her. Michelle had already turned off the lights and they were all plunged into darkness.
The muted sounds of zombies assaulting the house continued above their heads.
Chapter Forty-six
Romy blinked. She had no idea how much time had passed as she sat there on all fours, with her head poking around the corner.
Damnit Romy! This isn’t the time for daydreaming!
She looked back over her shoulder. Michelle was still there, halfway out of the hatch, her eyes full of concern.
Suddenly annoyed, she gave Michelle a small nod and turned back. She slowly inched forward, seeing more of the outside through the living room window with every movement. The last thing she noted as she got close to the kitchen was that the radio antenna was hanging nearly upside down.
Great. Just fucking great.
There goes our chance for rescue.
She crawled around the corner and got her first look out through the window. Nothing was visible from her angle. Just a pale blue sky and the first rays of sunshine lighting up the interior of the kitchen. Romy continued to crawl into the warmly lit space.
Thankfully, she had left the pantry door open in her hasty retreat two days ago. She crawled in and grabbed the case of water first. The plastic scrunched and the bottles squeaked slightly as she lifted the case. She winced with the sound.
Nothing seemed to stir, so she crawled back out of the kitchen and down the hall. She passed the water to Michelle wordlessly, and turned back. They needed some food. Back in the kitchen once more, she grabbed whatever she could reach. A case of instant ramen noodles.
We won’t be boiling water for these. I suppose we’ll just have to soak them to get them soft. She started to crawl back.
Romy hesitated halfway out of the kitchen. It was still eerily silent out there.
Romy knew that the kitchen window afforded a decent view of both the front and the side of the property. She knew there were still zombies around. But she had to see.
She slowly got into a crouch position, then started to inch upward. Her legs protested and Romy almost stumbled. Her injured hip made itself known to her as she started to stand up. All these pains were forgotten when she got her glimpse out the window though.
It confirmed her fear. They were still here.
She counted about ten zombies in the front yard, and that was just from the angle that she could see. She knew there would be more. They stood frozen in place, in groupings of three or four. Their heads were down and turned
