The Dead of Night

It had to have been about 3 or 4 hours before we stumbled upon the cabin, but at least it was early morning now. The sun started to appear over the horizon, and the birds began to sing. I was so tired I could barely stand, not to mention, my ankle was still very sore. The woman helped me sit down on the front steps. "Stay here", she said sternly, "once it's clear, I'll help you inside". I sat there quietly for a moment, “wait, what? What do you mean ‘clear out’?”, I questioned as I turned towards the cabin door. Fear and worried thoughts flooded my mind. I tried to shake the thought of something happening to Kyle and Lily, maybe they were just hiding… hopefully. The woman came out to the front porch minutes later with blood dripping off her sword, “it’s safe now”, she stated slightly out of breath. Chris stepped out onto the porch shortly after her, “those kids you told us about… they aren’t here. I don’t think they ever were…”, he said as he looked the woman in the eyes with concern. “What do you mean they were never here? I just saw them yesterday… they have to be here. We have to keep looking.”, I proclaimed anxiously. The woman sighed, “you stay here and keep an eye on her while I go help your father clear out the walkers. We’ll stay here for the night and head back to camp in the morning, okay?”, she stated to Chris with confidence, he nodded, then she stepped back into the cabin.

Seconds later, there was a loud scream that echoed in the distance. Chris’ face dropped and started to look around, "which way did that come from?!", he asked as he eagerly looked to me for an answer. "I think it came from across that field over there...", I answered as I pointed in the direction and struggled to my feet, "why? who was that?". The man swung the front door open as Chris jumped off the porch and towards the field, "CHRIS!", the man yelled to him in frustration. The woman came up behind the man in the doorway, "go! I'll get the girl!”, she told the man. The man did not hesitate. He jumped off the porch and ran after his son. The woman hurried down the stairs, threw my arm over her shoulder and we started walking. While we were crossing the field, I instantly started thinking to myself, “what happened to Kyle and Lily? Were they even real, or did I just imagine they were real?”.

Finally, we caught up to the guys, but to our shocking surprise, Chris was on his knees in tears and his dad standing beside him. "What happened?", the woman asked eagerly, "we were too late...", the man replied as he holstered his gun. I peered over Chris to see 3 walkers and the body of a young girl about his age. "She was part of our group...", the man said sadly while turning his head to look at me. He heavily sighed, reached out to his son and placed his hand on his shoulder, "Chris, I..". Chris pulled away from his father and hopped up to his feet, "you what? Huh?!", he interrupted as he glared at his dad with tears running down his face. "I'm sorry… but we can't stay here, we need to keep moving... More could have heard the screams", the man announced. "Yeah, whatever…", Chris stated rudely as he turned and stomped away angrily. The woman tried to comfort the man, "it’s okay, he just needs some time...", she said with reassurance. The man sighed once more, "Ever since his mom... he just… hasn't been the same", he hesitantly revealed. The man sniffled, wiped his face, then started walking in the same direction Chris went.

After an hour or so of trudging through the woods and gathering supplies from looted pop-in shops along the way, my leg was feeling better. I was able to walk on my own now, well with a limp anyway. The woman noticed and slowed down to my pace, "I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to introduce ourselves before. I'm Rachel, you met Chris already, his dad, that guy up there that acts like a cop, that's Derrick", she said, "what's your name?". I replied, "Michelle...", Rachel smiled, "that's a pretty name, I knew a Michelle once”. There was an awkward silence, “I’m sorry those kids weren’t there, but I’m sure they are okay”, Rachel said with encouragement. I sighed heavily and lowered my head, “I hope you’re right… they were so young”, I replied with uncertainty. Rachel sensed that I was a little troubled, “so…what’s your story?”, she asked genuinely to change the subject. The intense feeling of emotion begun to seep through my words, “well… it’s complicated. I got separated from my boyfriend when my ex showed up at the beginning of all this. I got knocked out by one of his goons and was left in the woods to die. When I came to, everyone was gone. I wandered around scavenging for food to try and to stay alive long enough for my boyfriend to find me, but then I stumbled upon Kyle and Lily. They were those kids back at the cabin. I’ve been there with them ever since, of course, until you guys found me”, I explained to her as I sniffled. “Oh wow, okay yeah, that is complicated. I am so sorry all of that happened to you, and I hope you find your boyfriend”, Rachel responded in awe. I glanced up and her with tears forming in my eyes, “yeah, I hope so…”.

The moment was ruined by the loud roar of an engine and bright headlights flying down the road up ahead. We quickly moved off the ruptured concrete and ducked into the tree line. The vehicle slowed to a stop and four men stepped out with assault rifles and handguns. Derrick stealthily poked his head out from behind a thick oak tree trunk. “What are they doing?”, Chris asked in confusion. “I don’t know, but let’s not wait around to find out”, Rachel declared with caution. I snuck a peek around the tree trunk and noticed one of the men dragging another person out of the trunk with a bag over their head. “We need to get this done before they notice he’s gone. This piece of shit will think twice before touching Leon’s wife again. Then again, he won’t be thinking at all after this”, one of the men stated ominously while the rest of them laughed. Derrick counted the ammo and all we had were six rounds between him and Chris. Rachel looked at Derrick, grabbed his arm and whispered eagerly, "What are you doing? Are you insane? I saw a car about two miles or so back down the road. If we go now, we might have a chance to get out of here before they see us", Derrick hesitated, looked around and whispered back, "okay fine, let’s go".

We all started to sneak our way through the trees down the side of the road, hoping that none of them would notice us. Derrick and Rachel went ahead to make sure the coast was clear. Moments later, Chris’ shoelace came undone, so he stopped it tie it up. I turned to see where disappeared to, “Chris, what are you doing? We have to go…”, I whispered to him. Chris looked up at me, “yeah I know, hang on, I’m going as fast as I can”, he whispered back with a flustered tone. As looked around to make sure we have not been seen, I let out an anxious sigh, “Chris, we have to… WATCH OUT!”. He looked at me in confusion as he finished tying his shoe, then quickly realized what was about to happen. Chris spun around, but it was not fast enough. Two walkers had appeared from behind a tree and one landed on top of him. The other was not too far behind. Soon, we were surrounded. Chris was struggling to get the hungry corpse off him, and of course without thinking, I rushed over and kicked it so hard in the face, its jaw snapped. I grabbed Chris by the shirt and dragged him far enough away to help him up while the walker was attempting to get back on its feet. The second walking corpse was getting closer. Chris looked at me, still out of breath and went to say something, “You’re welcome, now let’s go!”, I stated eagerly. Without saying another word, we turned and ran to catch up to Derrick and Rachel. Little did we know, we were not alone in those woods.

We finally caught up with Rachel and Derrick; thankfully, they were not that far ahead. “There you two are! We thought we lost you back there. Those guys didn’t see you, did they?”, Rachel asked intensely. I tried to slow my breathing and replied, “No I don’t think so… Chris tripped and -”. Chris perked up suddenly, “- and we thought they might have heard that, so we hung back to wait for an opening”, he nervously lied. Derrick looked at his son and then at me, “Okay, but next time… try to keep up so we won’t have to worry”, he responded in relief. Chris glanced at me with an anxious look in his eyes then turned to his father, “yeah sure, sorry dad.”, he said to his father with shame. Rachel seemed a little skeptical of Chris’ explanation, but chose to keep her mouth shut. “The car is just over there, beyond the tree line next to the billboard sign.”, Rachel explained quietly to all of us with hope.

Just as we snuck out from behind the trees, a loud gunshot echoed through the warm night air. The horrifying image of that poor man back there engulfed my mind. I could not help but wonder what kind of people would go to such extreme levels to make a point. The thought made my stomach sink in anticipation and fear; the kind that haunts your dreams and makes your skin crawl with goosebumps. Rachel paused, “there is no way the dead did not hear that… we have to go now, before they get here.”, she whispered restlessly. We all agreed and started to head for the car. However, we were not fast enough; they were already here.

Surrounded by the dead, we had to try and fight our way through, if it was even possible. “We’re almost there! Keep going!”, Rachel yelled to us in reassurance. “Chris, go around that way to the big street sign… I will try and draw them off so you and Michelle can get to the car. Be quick!”, Derrick called out eagerly. I looked at Chris, and Chris looked at me. He grabbed me by the hand, “do not let go, we will make it. I promise…”, Chris anxiously encouraged with uncertainty. We ran for it, pushing our way through the crowd and knocking down any flesh eaters that got in our way. Finally, Chris and I made it to the car, but only by the skin of our teeth. Chris flung the driver side back door open and climbed inside, yelling and waving at me to jump in after him. I quickly followed, but before I was able to climb in after Chris, I felt hands grasping the back of my shirt. Looking back towards the walking dead, I fought back with every inch of courage I possibly had. Somehow, I managed to break free of their blood stained, rotting flesh grip and ripped my shirt in the process. I threw myself into the back seat as Chris reached over and closed the door securely behind me. They were everywhere, viciously clawing and pounding on the windows. A few minutes or so go by, and there is no sign of Rachel and Derrick. “Where are they? They should be here by now…”, Chris worriedly questioned. As I watched the dead paint the widows in blood, “I don’t know, but they better be here soon… because these windows won’t hold for much longer.”, I anxiously replied while we both sat there in dismay. Suddenly, there was rapid gun fire coming from the direction of those men we passed on the road. One by one, they groggily turned around and started to follow the sounds that flooded through the trees.

Moments later, after the walkers left, Derrick and Rachel raced to the car. “Hey! You guys okay in there? Open the doors, it’s us!”, Rachel eagerly whispered as she gently tapped on the passenger side window. Chris jumped up and unlocked the doors for them, Rachel and Derrick swung open the doors and climbed in. Derrick took a deep, hopeful breath as he folded down the visor. Instantly, the keys dropped into his lap, then fell on the floor somewhere by his feet. Derrick reached down to search for them but could not find them. The windows were so covered with blood and pieces of flesh, it was hard to see the herd that passed by. “Can you see anything?”, Derrick asked us as he tried to look through the windows. “No, I think it’s clear. Why? What are you doing?”, Rachel questioned in slight confusion. Chris seemed intrigued by the topic of conversation, “yeah dad, what are you doing? Can I help?”, he asked intensely. Without an answer, Derrick slowly opened the car door and peered out. Rachel grabbed Derrick by the sleeve of his jacket, “where are you going?”, she sternly questioned. “Shhh…”, Derrick shushed her quietly, “Relax, I’m just getting the keys. They probably went under the seat or something”, he expressed with determination. I could feel the anxiety and anticipation of fear creeping up my spine, as if something were going to go wrong or someone was going to get hurt. I closed my eyes and tried to rid my mind of those negative thoughts. Derrick stepped out of the car and crouched down to reach under the seat for the keys. I glanced over my left shoulder, and through the smears on the window, I could see something move in the distance. While I squinted my eyes to try and make out what was shuffling its way through the darkness, my stomach dropped, and chills ran down my spine. “Have you found the keys yet?”, I asked nervously as I stared out the window frozen in fear. Derrick had his arm all the way under the driver’s seat by now, “nope, not yet. It’s too dark, can someone pass me the flashlight please?”, he asked as he pulled his arm back out. “Yeah, sure. I have it here”, I responded in shock. I slowly grabbed and unhooked the flashlight that was attached to my belt loop, “we need to go… now… right now”, Chris heard me say under my breath while handing it to him so he could give it to his father. As Chris reached for the flashlight, he noticed my hand was quivering as I continued to stare out the window. “We don’t have all day kiddo”, Derrick announced as he knelt on the ground beside the car waiting. Chris looked at me with suspicion as he reached between the seats and handed his dad the flashlight. Suddenly, as he sat back in the seat, he saw what I saw. “Dad, get in the car”, Chris demanded. “Hang on, almost got them. Keys are tangled around the bar under the seat”, Derrick announced, “why, what’s wrong?”. Chris and I gulped, as Rachel looked out across the street. “DERRICK! GET IN NOW!”, Rachel dreadfully yelled as she grabbed his arm and tried to pull him back in the vehicle. The gunfire had drawn much more walkers than we anticipated. We were surrounded, and they knew we were there. Derrick rushed to untangle the keys, but it was no use, it just made it worse. There were too many keychains hanging off them, so he hopped to his feet and got in the car as fast as he could. Closing the door just in time, Derrick tried to steady his breathing while the dead slammed against the side of the car. After a moment or two, “Michelle, can you reach under the seat and get the keys? The steering wheel is in the way up here”, Derrick asked me with hope. “I can try”, I responded respectfully. Suddenly, the window beside Chris smashed in and an arm reached in to grab him. “Ahh! Dad!”, Chris yelled in horror. “Michelle, the keys! Now!”, Derrick called out to me in a panic. As Rachel jumped into the back seat, took out her blade and forced it through the walker’s skull, I was already under the seat after the keys. Seconds later, I somehow untangled the mess we got ourselves into and threw the keys over the seat into Derrick’s hands. I have never been good under pressure, but somehow, I managed to figure it out… this time. Derrick fumbled with the keys, then put them into the ignition. As he turned the key, he looked at the gas meter, smiled and said with confidence, “There is enough gas to get us back”. The dead have now surrounded the car, “great, now floor it so we can actually make it back alive!”, Rachel expressed impatiently while trying to keep the dead from getting in. Derrick threw the car in gear and hit the gas. On our way through the crowd, some of the dead were run over and knocked down, kind of like bowling pins when you get a strike.

A long while later, as we drove down the long dusty road, I sat there quietly staring out the window wondering how this all started and what could be happening to the rest of the world. I closed my eyes for only a minute or so, and it felt like Damien was still here beside me, like how it was back at the house that night before all of this happened. I slowly opened my eyes and Chris had placed his hand on mine while he was asleep next to me. Gently, I moved my hand away so it would not wake him. “It’s okay, you can rest. It is going to be at least a couple hours. We’ll wake you when we get there”, Rachel said reassuringly as she glanced over her shoulder in the front passenger seat. I sighed, then curled up on the seat to try and get comfortable. As I looked out the window, I found myself staring up at the peaceful night sky with tears forming in my eyes. I let out a soft sigh and whispered to myself with faith, "I will find you, I promise".