Day 19: Afraid of the Dark

“We killed him,” Veronica cried into Dominic’s arms. “We got him killed.”

“This isn’t our fault,” Dominic soothed, gently brushing his hand over her back. “There is no way we could have predicted this outcome, Roni.”

“It was dangerous, we knew that. Kurt’s dead because of us!”

“Kurt wasn’t doing this group any favors by sitting around drinking. His belligerence is what got him killed,” JC said, inching back another step as the body continued bouncing beneath the door. The echoes of the zombies outside reverberated against the metal shutters and he guessed there were at least five out there munching away on Kurt’s remains.

Richard steeled his mind as he turned to the group, “We need to get his body from under the door so the shutter goes all the way down before those things get inside! If it gets damaged it won’t hold up for long and then we’ll be back to square one.”

“Are you giving orders or do you plan on helping this time? Kurt never wanted to help; you see where that got him,” JC responded, giving Richard a sideways glance.

Richard sighed and bowed his head, “I’ll help. I want this place to last for as long as possible. Dominic, you and I will go out the back and get those zombies away from the door while JC and Roni dislodge Kurt from the shutter. Make sure Miah can get that thing up first. Otherwise, one of you could lose an arm.”

“Wow. Look who’s stepping up,” JC said and folded his arms into his chest. “So Roni and I get clean up duty huh?”

“Would you prefer going outside again? You did pretty well against them last time.”

“No thanks. I’d prefer not pushing my luck.”

“I saw some mops in the room in back,” Veronica said and pulled away from Dominic’s arms. “They might help.”

“And I’ll grab some disinfectant. Those intestines will start to stink after a while. And who knows, you might catch the infection from their blood alone.”

Dominic and Richard moved to the back doors. “Tell me this wasn’t a stupid idea,” Richard said looking at Dominic before shoving the door open and taking a look outside. “No turning back now.” He charged forward with Dominic close behind. The men made it around front fast. Several zombies hunched over Kurt’s body, gnawing and ripping flesh from his corpse. The sounds they were making nearly caused Richard to lose his dinner on his shoes. “Jesus! Look at them go at him! Promise me you’ll put me out of my misery before I have to feel that.”

“With pleasure,” Dominic replied to Richard’s surprise. “Come on, let’s get moving so we can get back inside.” Sneaking up on the back side of the entranceway, Dominic tightly gripped the screwdriver in his hand. Distracted by Kurt’s limb in its hands, the metal tipped slid smoothly into the temple of the first zombie. It fell and a small pool of blood added to what Kurt had already supplied.

Taking a deep breath, Dominic attempted to quickly end the next when Richard’s voice froze him in place. “Are you crazy?!” he shouted, making the other zombies turn in Dominic’s direction.

“Shit!” Dominic bolted. Hopping over the railing, he rushed towards Richard as the small group of zombies got to their feet and started after him. “Nice going, dumbass. Now they’re all coming!” The shutter went up and JC and Veronica immediately went to work pushing Kurt out of the way.

“Now what?”

“Now what?” Dominic echoed. “Now we fight them. We no longer have the element of surprise so I hope you’re good at one-on-one combat.” 

A zombie lunged for Richard and he screamed as he shoved it back. Dominic stepped forward and drove his tool through its eye. Pus oozed out and Richard dry heaved at the pungent odor that came with it. “I can’t do this. We need to get back inside.”

A quick glance towards the doors showed JC and Veronica were only halfway through their task. The shutter was up completely and both JC and Veronica were still outside. JC was picking up chunks of Kurt and tossing them away while Veronica was mopping his entrails down the stairs. “They’re not done,” Dominic replied.

“We can’t wait any longer.” Richard turned and ran back towards the gate.

“Roni, get back inside!” Dominic shouted at her as he made off after Richard. She looked up to see the two rushing towards the back with four zombies chasing after them. “Wait!” Dominic yelled to Richard’s back.

Suddenly, Richard stopped. And it wasn’t long before Dominic saw why. One of the zombies had broken away from the group and was standing in front of him. Richard backpedaled, bumping into Dominic as he did, knocking him down.

The zombie charged, Richard ducked and raced inside the backdoor, closing it tight and bolting it shut. “Where’s Dom?” Veronica asked, coming up behind him. Richard pointed to the door, shaken and unable to speak. “YOU LEFT HIM OUTSIDE!?” she shoved at the door and he threw her back.

“It’s too late, you can’t…it’s too late.”

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