Dash Dash Dot Dot

To the Gate

“You ladies ready?” Matthew asked, looking around the room quickly. “Introductions can wait till we are at the faction again.” He watched them pull their backpacks on; one carried a cricket bat and the other a baseball bat. At least they had been prepared with weapons. “Let’s get going.” Matthew stood at the front door, Willow and Tiffany lined up behind him and Tahla stepped up behind them. He opened the door and looked out, he could still hear the commotion and noise that the faction were doing. “Stay close, that noise has surely attracted other zombies in the area, not just the ones at the fence. Good to see you two have some weapons because we may need to use them so keep them on hand.” Then he dashed out the door towards the car the two girls arrived in and ducked down behind it. The other three followed suit, ducking down next to him.

Willow looked at her car. It was smeared with all sorts of congealed liquids. She felt a pang of sadness as she leant against it between the young man and Tiffany. She watched as he peeked around the end of the car towards the road to the school. The other young man watched the back, looking down the road. The one leading the charge stood and signaled for them to follow him. He ran towards the house on the corner but had to swing his bat at a zombie that followed the sound of his footsteps across the asphalt. He caught it on the chin and it stumbled to the ground, he swung again and crushed the skull between the road and the bat, the zombie’s head cracked open, spraying gray matter all over the ground. Tiffany let out a squeak at the gruesome sight but they all kept moving.

Matthew paused at the corner of the house and poked his head around the corner. The zombies that were gathered were reaching unsuccessfully up at the humans who threw rocks, swung weapons and fired arrows at those gathered around. It was a relatively clear shot between where they were and where they had to go, there were a few stragglers covering that distance, including one zombie that was dragging itself around, its legs seemed to have been ripped or blown off. The crawlers could be just as dangerous as their surefooted counterparts; they had a tendency to sneak up on you, as people were generally more focused on the zombies running at them than those below their eye line.

“Matt, we need to move, we got some zoms coming up from the field.” The young man at the back said quietly to the young man at the front of the line. He nodded and crept quietly onto the grass, moving as quickly as they could without making a lot of noise. The faction may have been making a racket down the other end of the fence but for those zombies they passed might hear the group. With a couple of the zombies they would be within arm’s reach. Matthew put his finger to his lips, even though he knew he didn’t have to. He held his breath as he passed a zombie, more out of habit than because of the stench it emitted; its dead eyes stared blankly at the fence in front of it. He gave an involuntary shiver. The girl next to him grabbed his arm when she looked the zombie in the face. Clearly she had never been this close to one before.

Willow looked down at her hand on Matt’s arm and snatched her hand back; she mouthed the word sorry at him. He gave her a smile and a nod as they continued moving along towards the gate. She had seen the zombies from a distance but never up close before. They were horrifying to look at, with milky eyes, blood covering their faces and bodies, chunks of flesh missing from different parts, not to mention the smell that emanated from them was that of decomposing flesh. The zombie lifted its head and sniffed the air, the four people froze. Matthew readied his weapon. The zombie reached blindly forward, Willow tried to step back away from it, but stood on Tiffany's foot, who then tried to move her foot out of the way. Willow's foot slid from underneath her and she fell to her knee. The zombie lunged grabbing at the air above Willow's head; she ducked lower away from it. It groaned in protest of grabbing nothing. Matthew's bat flew over Willow's head and connected with the zombie's face, smashing its nose and knocking it backwards.

"Go!" Matthew urged as he reached down and lifted Willow to her feet. They bolted towards the gate, no longer trying to keep quiet. Tahla jumped into the lead, directing the girls. "Get the gate!" Matthew called to those behind the fence. Tahla swung his bat at an oncoming zombie, Willow and Tiffany ducked around him and continued moving. Another zombie ran at them. Willow swung, catching the zombie in the shoulder and sending it crashing into the fence. The zombies that were being distracted started turning in their direction.

"Fire on the leads." Raj yelled at some zombies broke away from the distracted pack. Arrows flew through the air striking the zombies, a few hit the ground, but the rest continued their path forward. "Get that gate open!" Raj had jumped down and was sprinting at the gate. It swung open as he got to it and he turned to face the zombies coming at them. The girls ran through the open gate. Tahla and Matthew stepped up behind Raj. The three of them readied their weapons. Raj held a very sharp looking sword, bringing it down into the skull of the first zombie, splitting it in half. "Back! Back!" He called to the boys behind him. They backed up slowly still swinging their weapons. The sound of an air horn blew through the air, further down the fence. The zombies turned toward the new noise and ran. Raj, Tahla and Matthew stepped back through the gate and it was shut. Six people were leaning on it as they locked and barred it.

Matthew looked down the fence, trying to see who had the air horn. John had a large smile on his face and strode towards them; he blew on the air horn like one would do with a smoking gun. Matthew and Tahla looked at each other and laughed. Of course John had an air horn; he was always full of surprises. The rest of the faction members followed him.

"Thought you lot might need some extra help." He quipped jovially coming to a stop in front of the group.

"You certainly saved us, but how many more zombies did you call to us by using that contraption?" Raj said as he wiped the zombie gunk off his sword.

John shrugged, "Worth it." He looked at the newcomers. "So you are the two that got our lovely Matt's attention, huh? We'll get you settled and some warm food into you." He turned to the faction members behind him that had helped in the fight and distraction. "Thank you all for your help, this is what we need to continue to do, to help each other to survive this new world, if we don't then humanity will crumble and fall into those mindless things out there." He paused, "Now we'll sort these two out and then we'll celebrate the successful rescue tonight." The faction members cheered and clapped. "Okay ladies, if you will please follow me, the rest of the committee would like to meet you. Matt, Tahla, if you would also join us, since you are the heroes of the day, then we can do some proper introductions." John turned and walked towards the school buildings. Willow and Tiffany followed him with Matthew, Tahla and Raj bringing up the rear.