Q reached his arms into the room. “Come on!” He yelled.
“Go!” Ed shouted to his wife as he faced the zombie with a piece of wood he’d picked up.
Sandra reached up to him and he locked hands with her. He pulled with all his might and managed to get Sandra’s head and one shoulder through the tiny space. In the small gap to her left, he saw Ed swing at the zombie and connect a solid blow. It had little effect on the zombie as it absorbed the blow and pulled Ed down. A second and a third zombie had already fallen down the hatch. Ed yelled as he fought for his life.
At the window, Sandra screamed for her husband. Q continued to pull for all he was worth, but it was hard to get any leverage in the small space.
Then Ed screamed. A high-pitched wail of a scream that made the hair on Q’s neck stand up. Just as abruptly as it had started, it got cut off with the sound of a wet smack. Sandra whimpered as Q redoubled his efforts to pull her through the window.
Q was slowly inching her through the window. He had both her shoulders through, and the elderly woman was out up to her bosom.
Then the zombies hit her. Her eyes grew wide with the first impacts.
“Don’t let me go.” She said in a small voice. Q pulled with all his might, and Sandra screamed in pain as she moved forward another two inches. Then screamed again as a zombie bit down on her thigh. The basement was filling up with zombies, attracted by the sound. Sandra was kicking frantically, but the zombies quickly overwhelmed her legs and started to pull her into their midst. Q couldn’t hold her. Sandra’s nails dug into Q’s arms as she was gradually being pulled back.
Q met Sandra’s eyes. They were full of pleading. But Q knew what he needed to do.
He shook his arms viciously, to try to break Sandra’s grip. Sandra’s eyes showed confusion, followed by betrayal. She screamed in anger, as her grip was broken, and she flew backwards into the embrace of the enraged undead.
Q crawled away from the window, chased by Sandra’s screams. Mercifully, the screams ended quickly. Q dared a glance at the window and yelped when he saw several arms reaching out. He screeched again when the deck above him got slammed. A zombie had discovered his presence and hammered unrelentingly at the two by fours above his head.
Q had nowhere left to go. He started crying.
He had cried like this yesterday, as his parents beat on his bedroom door. He had felt hopeless. This situation was way worse. Q started to give up hope.
But then he heard a vehicle approaching.
“RED HOUSE – THAT MUST be it.” Abi pointed ahead. A burned-out truck stood about halfway up the driveway. They could see several zombies near the house as they approached.
Mike pulled into the driveway slowly. “BB get up top with your rifle. Abi, get ready.”
“Yes boss.” BB said as he checked the mag on his rifle one more time, slotted it into place, and reached up to flip the hatch.
Mike carefully maneuvered the Humvee off the driveway and onto the yard. From that position, they could see that the door was wide open. There was movement inside.
Mike stopped the Humvee fifteen yards from the house. The first couple of zombies were already near. BB carefully took aim and took out the first one. The second one was almost at the Humvee before he dispatched that one. Several more zombies were coming towards them from the house.
“Ok Abi, let’s do this.” Mike said as he swung his door open. The two soldiers exited and took kneeling positions beside the vehicle. They started shooting almost immediately.
Breanne caught Steve watching the carnage and gave him a hard tap with her elbow. “Damnit Steve! Watch the rear!” They had each been given a job to do. The three civilians were to keep an eye out for any additional threats, and alert BB if they saw anything.
Almost all of the zombies were inside the house, which made it a lot easier for the soldiers. The flow of zombies was controlled, with only one or two able to exit the house at a time. They ran out of targets after half a dozen more zombies lay destroyed.
“BB, come on down. Abi, you stay with the vehicle. The rest of you sit tight.” Mike commanded. Abi positioned herself near the front of the Humvee while BB climbed down from his perch and exited the vehicle.
BB and Mike checked their ammo and walked up to the house with weapons raised. They made their way gingerly through the bodies lying at the steps and on the landing. The zombies were well and truly destroyed, but the blood and guts made for tricky footing.
Tammy watched as the two soldiers entered the house. From her angle, she could see through the doorway past the two men. She saw an open hatch at the end of the hallway in front of them. The men stepped up to that hatch and raised their weapons. They stood there shooting down into what Tammy surmised was the basement, for the next minute or so.
Then all was quiet again. Tammy saw Mike kneel down to have a closer look into the basement.
Suddenly, Breanne gasped. She crawled to the front seat and hit the windshield to get Abi’s attention. “Abi! Over there!” She was pointing at the edge of the deck. Something
