Winter's Salvation Read online

  The undead was a bald man who wore a purple Baltimore Ravens football jacket and had a clean shaven face that looked in the direction they originally were traveling. She ran to the window and pulled the blind down. Drew took the hint and began pulling the other window blinds as well.

  As everyone was securing the house Naomi went straight into the kitchen. She opened the wood stained cabinets and began inspecting the contents inside. Canned and packaged food filled the cupboard solid from front to back and bottom to top. She turned the corner to the living room and faced the children that were kneeling on the couch peeking through the same blind at the undead that now walked the streets. “Look at all this food.” She said with excitement as she held a variety of fruit, oatmeal and candy bars in her cupped hands.

  They jumped from the couch and grabbed the bars from Naomi. The bars were devoured and fruit and oatmeal covered Drew and Sam’s mouths before Eric could make his way down from upstairs. He let out a laugh, hugged Naomi and ran into the kitchen. He pulled out some soups, instant white rice and looked to the stove, hoping it was gas and praying there was some left in the pipes. Within a few moments a blue pot full of soup was being licked by the flames of the stove.

  This was the first hot meal they had eaten since the village and they savored each spoon full of chicken noodle and rice, with dessert sitting just a few steps away in the full cabinets. They lay sprawled out on the clean couches, but Eric was getting antsy about getting back on the road. There was still a lot of day light left and Eric thought they would be able to make it to the farm well before night fall. There was four hours of sunlight left and it would take them roughly two and a half to get there, if his memory served him well.

  “We should be heading out in a little bit.” Eric said as he rearranged the items in his back pack to fit some extra canned goods.

  The thought of traveling on a full stomach didn’t sit well with Naomi, but Drew was the first to object. “I just need thirty minutes.” He said as he positioned himself across the love seat, with his feet hanging off the side and rubbed his stomach.

  Samantha turned on the couch and pulled the blind back slightly from the window, so she could see what kind of activity was going on out in the street. She looked out and the same ghoul stood outside the window in the street looking away from her. She glanced over at Drew and smiled agreeing with the time line. She looked back out the window and looked at the ghoul, but now it had turned and was now facing the house. Sam looked through the blinds and made direct eye contact with its cloudy dead eyes. Her heart dropped when she realized the zombie had looked directly at her. Sam could see the purple jacket covered a bloody torso and the undead let out a loud energized groan and began to move toward the house.

  “Oh my god.” Was all she could say and then she slammed the blind against the window.

  Everyone responded slowly to her initial phrase, due to their food comas, but after her quick movement to close the blind everyone was immediately up and on edge. A loud bang shook the house and then something hit the window.

  Eric got up and opened the blinds. A small hill led to the side of the house from the street and just a few feet below the window the bald, undead Ravens fan reached up for Eric and scratched at the glass. Behind it the undead from the street moved toward the house. “We gotta go. We gotta go!” Their moment of relaxation immediately turned to frantic hysteria. Eric tried to maintain his composure, but his hands trembled as he attempted to zip up his back pack.

  Naomi opened the front door and a groan of excitement came in along with the breeze from outside. She slammed it and fumbled with the lock. When she opened the door, a hoard of ghouls was traveling out front and turned toward her.

  Eric ran to the back of the house, toward the back door. The sound of banging on the siding got louder and then the back door shook from the pounding of an unwanted visitor trying to break in. Eric ran back, “Their coming from the back too!”

  Samantha had moved to the floor and sat with her back to the couch. With each scratch and bang she shook violently, with her legs held tight against her chest, frozen with fear.

  The sound of the back door cracked and then the groaning and banging of the house fell silent. The silence felt like an eternity because they all anticipated the next sound. The back door broke from its hinges and fell to the kitchen linoleum floor. The open back door let a wave of groans and then the dragging sound of their feet making their way into the house. Eric grabbed hold of Naomi’s arm and pushed her up the stairs and then screamed for Drew and Sam to follow, but Samantha was not moving.

  Drew pulled at her arm trying to pick her up off the floor and onto her feet, but she fought him scratching and clawing at his attempts. He tossed his and her bag toward Eric and pulled at her again. Naomi tried to squeeze past Eric on the steps, but he would not let her past. She screamed for her daughter and reached for her over the railing of the steps.

  The sound of items crashing against the floor from the counter tops and the sound of the kitchen table and chairs being shoved across the linoleum indicated they were making their way closer to them.

  “We have to go Sam!” Drew screamed and then slapped her across the face. It seemed to stop Sam from franticly fighting and she looked up at him dumbfounded. “Sam we have to go!” They both turned toward the kitchen just in time to see undead pushing each other over and reaching toward their new found meals.

  Drew pulled her to her feet and Sam wasted no time running past him and then up the stairs. Naomi turned and ran into the first door she came across and they all followed. They closed the door just as the hoard reached the bottom of the stairs. A few seconds felt like hours as they stood in the middle of the small room looking at each other and then Eric thought about his axe and rifle. “Fuck!” He screamed and then opened the door.

  The undead were crawling on top of each other pressing down crushing the ghoul under it to get to their trapped victims. Eric could see his axe and golden lever action rifle leaning on the love seat next to the front door. Naomi and the children called for him to come back into the room. He closed the door with defeat showing on his face.

  He looked around the room at the Disney characters smiling and looking down on him in his moment of helplessness. The room was obviously a small child’s room. A small red race car bed and various pictures of Disney characters lined the walls and at this moment Eric felt every one of them mocked him.

  The moans of the undead got louder as they thumped up the stairs. The heavy dragging footsteps fumbled on each other with no order, but the volume of their excited groans indicated they were getting closer. Eric pressed his body against the door as soon as the first ghoul assured them they were just outside this barrier with a loud bang.

  A shriek from one of them came from down the stairs and Eric knew a runner was on the first floor. Eric could not hold this door against a runner and he was fully aware of it. This door would surely buckle under the newly turned undead. Drew and Samantha looked out the window at the hoard trying to force themselves into the back door as Naomi franticly pulled items from the closet looking for something that could help them, but all she found was neatly organized piles of clothes. She pulled a box from the top shelf and was showered with baby shoes, but a small outline of a square made from floor molding was on the ceiling.

  She was overcome with relief because she finally found what she was looking for. A second later she had pulled the wheelwell portion of the racecar bed into the closet and she pressed the middle of the square. The plywood lifted easily and the attic presented itself as another means of escape.

  Eric had pushed a dresser in front of the door and pressed his back against that, but the pounding of the door got harder to hold as more and more undead pressed their bodies against the week obstacle. With more bodies applying constant pressure and as the ghouls beat on the door it began to open. The shrieking got closer as he pictured in his head a lone zombie pushing other undead down the stairs to make its way to the door
. The top of the door cracked just above the dresser and he looked at a toy chest and played with the thought of grabbing it, but as soon as he would let go the undead would storm the room.

  “Come on,” Naomi hollered to the two children that were looking down of the mass of undead that tried to squeeze into the house.

  Drew was at the closet first, but stepped aside to let Sam climb. They both pushed her into the attic and then started handing her their back packs. Naomi began to push Drew, but he refused. “I’ll push you up.”

  Naomi didn’t like that idea. “No you go.”

  “I can’t pull you up besides I can climb up faster and better than you.”

  She was about to reply, but Eric chimed in. “Naomi get your ass up there. Drew can make his own way and then I’ll be behind him.”

  The top of the door let out a loud crack and Eric had to press against the top to prevent it from folding over, which would allow the ghouls to climb in. In order to do this, he let some of the pressure off the dresser and that allowed the door to open more. Now dirty cracked finger nails, caked with blood and filth were reaching around the door frame. The ghouls reacted to the snapping door and they groaned louder with anticipation of their next meal.

  Naomi stood on the wheelwell of the bed and grabbed onto the attics ledge. She pulled with her arms and Drew cupped his hands under her feet and lifted with everything he had. In seconds her feet were being sucked into the attic.

  “Eric, I’m going up.” Drew screamed trying to be louder than the excited ghouls.

  Eric turned and watched him as they locked eyes. Drew’s expression showed worry, but not because of what he was going through, but he did not believe he was going to make it. Drew believed this was the last time anyone was going to see him alive.

  Eric could feel his emotion and reassured him, “I’ll be up just go!” With that Drew grabbed hold of the attic and pulled himself in.

  The door cracked and a visual split appeared in the door. The runner was making its way closer and he knew he had to make it in the attic before that one got to the door, so with no time to waste he let go and ran to the closet. The top of the door split right at the top of the dresser, as soon as he released his grip on the door and it folded over, revealing the mass of undead. Bloody faces with gnashing teeth growled and snapped at him as he ran. What appeared to be hundreds of hands reached out toward him all around the hungry mouths.

  He pulled the red racecar bed out of the closet and jumped up reaching for the attic. His first attempt failed, but he backed up and took a few steps before he jumped. He grabbed the edge of the opening and kicked off the closet wall picking him up to get a better grip. Drew reached for the top of his pants and belt as he was pulling himself in just in time to see a ghoul round the corner of the closet.

  Drew pulled up harder than what he ever believed he could and Naomi and Sam grabbed under his arm pits lifting him up into the attic. He was in the attic at his waist when the undead grabbed him and began to pull him down. Eric felt the strong icy grip squeeze though the skin and muscle of his left calf and down pressing hard on his bone.

  He flailed his legs and kicked wildly, but the undead would not release its grip. Eric screamed in fear. This is the closest one has ever been to him. He has never been touched by one and now could understand why they were so effective. A single person can’t get away from their grip. This is what Rod felt before he was bitten. He began to think of the bite that was sure to follow. Rotting teeth piercing his skin was the next feeling he thought he was going to feel and he counted the seconds before it happened.

  The pain he felt in his calf was excruciating, but the fear of becoming one of them was worse. Then fear set in as he felt that sharp pain in his left foot. Eric was waiting for this bite and it just happened. His scream was tinged with a cry and then it was hard for him to hold onto the ledge any longer. The muscles in his arms were weak and he felt that he could no longer hold himself up and then a loud bang and the pressure on his calf was gone.

  He was lifted into the attic by his pants and laid onto a thin piece of ply wood with pink fiberglass coming up around the edges. Naomi had squeezed the pistol between the attic opening and Eric’s body just enough to get a shot on the ghoul. The one shot was enough to destroy its brain, causing it to let go. The ply wood was replaced over the attic opening just before the rest of the undead made their way into the small bed room.

  Eric pulled his left boot off and saw a bloody sock. He quickly pulled it off and saw the side of his foot just before the small toe was bleeding from the bite. Teeth marks were indented into his skin and the side of his foot was bleeding from the pressure of the bite.

  They could hear the mass of undead pacing and circling the bedroom below them, tripping on their recently deceased dead companion. Eric examined his foot and his boot through a single sun beam that shined through the attic’s screened vented window. A clear bite mark was imprinted on his boot, but it did not rip through the leather or tear it. His foot did not have any tear or bleeding punctures that he believed, but the blood coming from the side of his foot filled the punctures and he was unable to clean them completely.

  He was reaching into his bag for another sock when Naomi was putting his pistol back into his bag. He pushed the gun back at her and looked at her, but Naomi already knew what he was going to say. “You should hold onto it for a while.” Eric said.

  Drew shinned his flash light on the wound to better examine it, as Eric cleaned the bite marks. The indented teeth marks were red from his bruised skin, but no blood filled the sunken teeth marks. This set them all at ease, but he insisted Naomi hold onto the pistol.

  The rubber sole of his boot stopped the zombie from piercing his foot. He wrapped the bloody sock around it, putting pressure on the wound and then slid his other sock over that. He unlaced his chewed boot to make room for his bandage.

  The children were now focused on their surroundings and the beams of their flash lights franticly swung from one end of the attic to the other. The attic was completely empty with the exception of a row of eight foot by four foot thin pieces of ply wood that spanned the middle of the attic and long nails that jutted down from the roof in rows every six inches or so.

  Eric pulled his flash light out and crawled across the plywood to the closest corner to him. A breeze picked up and blew cold air into the attic through the vented windows. They were going to have to stay up here at least until the undead from down stairs decided to leave or until they figured a way out. Eric thought of his mother and knew waiting for the undead to leave was not going to happen. They would have to crawl back over the dresser and there was nothing to motivate them to do so, so they were stuck up in the attic for now at least.

  “Sam, Drew, start putting some insulation in those vent, window things.” Eric shinned his light on both of the windows, one each side of the house and they immediately went to work.

  Hundreds of large nails held the shingles in place and all he could think about was why did they use such long nails? He started banging the nails with the butt of his flash light, so they would bend and not be straight down, but he could not see, so Naomi used hers to assist him. He commenced banging the nails sideways and then started kicking the roof at the corner of the house with his right foot. With a few solid and hard kicks light shot through the attic.

  After about an hour of bending nails and kicking the roof, one section of plywood was loose enough to be bent back from the foundation of the house. Eric pushed the plywood up laying it on top of itself. He climbed out onto the roof and looked down the street to see the hordes of zombies that lined the road and every square foot of space on this property was taken up by a ghoul and every one of them was trying to jam themselves into this house.

  Eric climbed back into the house and pulled the broken section of roof back onto its rafters. The insulation from the rest of the ceiling was used to box themselves into a shelter with four walls made from pink fiberglass in the far corner of the att
ic away from the broken roof. The sound of shuffling was still heard below them especially when one of them dropped a flash light or spoke too loudly. It was still early in the afternoon, and the moaning of the undead, mixed with claustrophobia began setting in. They all began to feel very uncomfortable and agitated.

  Naomi and Sam held each other close and cried into each other’s arms, while Drew and Eric stumped each other on how to spell words like, ascorbic acid and why does a can of diced peaches need this to “Promote color retention”? The only reason why they even knew ascorbic acid was used to promote color retention was because it is written on the can. For most of the rest of the day and night they sat in the darkness and waited for the following morning. Eventually the sound of rain began to beat on the roof in the late evening and they all drifted away into a very uncomfortable sleep only to be awakened from one of the undead feeling the desire to let out a loud groan.

  “I think it’s morning now?” Sam whispered as quietly as she could to Eric and he was instantly wide eyed. Eric believed he didn’t sleep at all and was startled by her whispering in his ear. By him jumping slightly, he woke Naomi and Drew as well.

  “Have you heard any of them?” Eric whispered after clearing his throat as quietly as he could.

  “I hear a knock or a shuffle every once in a while, but it’s pretty quiet.” She responded.

  “How do you feel?” Naomi whispered feeling the same way Eric did.

  “My foot feels like shit, but other than that I feel the same way I’ve been feeling.”

  “So that’s a good thing then?”

  “I didn’t say that.” Eric followed that with a smirk trying to add a little humor, but none of them found it funny. While they were eating yesterday afternoon was the first time he had seen any of them smile, but he could not criticize because he knew he was the same way.