As the Light Dies (88 page)

Within seconds there were infected at the window!

Dean heard them scraping at the upturned table.

That’ll have to do
,
he thought
,
or before I know it they’ll be in here with me
!

He turned on his heels and ran back down the stairs taking as many steps at a time as he could. He slammed the door at the bottom and looked around for anything to barricade it with but he could
n’
t see anything. It was too dark, and not knowing the property he had
n’
t a clue what he was looking at.

He heard heavy footfalls coming towards him. He called out before he saw him.

“
Hey! David, what can we use to block this door?
I’
ve blocked the window as best I can but it wo
n’
t hold for long and the
y’
re already up against it
!
”

David emerged through the darkness wearing two fully loaded shotgun cartridge belts. One around his waist and one diagonally from shoulder to hip with the pump action slung over his other shoulder and he had a large carbon black survival knife looped through his belt.

“
Ther
e’
s a cabinet over here, follow me
,”
he said and he lead Dean through the darkness to a tall cabinet sitting up against a wall. They lifted it up ignoring the sound of what was inside it moving around and falling over and moved it through the darkness and placed it across the attic door
.“
What else is...
.”
started Dean when they both heard the unmistakable sound of falling furniture above them!

“
Shit
!”
he said
,“
this is
n’
t heavy enough but forget it. I
t’
ll have to do, w
e’
ve gotta go
.
”

David agreed, and they made their descent.

They emerged on the shop floor to find it cold and draughty. The front windows were completely shattered and the steel shutters were being violently shaken and battered by a horde of infected people out on the street. The combined noise from the shutters and the infected was incredibly loud.

Dean saw Gavin rummaging frantically through the gear in the shop searching for anything they could use. Ann was through by the back door waiting to go. She was comforting Sarah as she sat on the floor with both hands over her ears, she was still crying and her tears were wetting her dust mask. Sam was standing in the doorway between the back room and the shop floor close to the girls but watching Gavin at the same time, he cocked his head at Dean when he saw him enter
.
‘WOOF’
he barked
.“
Good boy Sam
,”
said Dean throwing him a glance. Then he looked back to Gavin as he called over to him
.“
Here
!”
said Gavin, and he handed him something long and heavy.

“
Wha
t’
s this
?”
he asked turning it over in his hands.

“
I
t’
s one of those replica swords. I
t’
s not overly sharp but...
.
”

“
Wait a sec
!”
said David butting in
,“
ther
e’
s one under the counter. Two in fact. I
t’
s actually a set that came in a couple of days ago that I have
n’
t gotten round to putting up to the attic yet
.
”

Dean and Gavin glanced at each other while David rushed to the counter and started rummaging around. Seconds later he stood up again.

“
Here
,”
he said, and he laid two long black sheaths on the counter top. The sheaths were flat and wide, and the blade handles were ornately engraved in steel
.“
The
y’
re both replicas from, uh, I think he said they were from the Gladiator movie, or at least one is and the other ones from Highlander I think.
I’
m not sure
.
”

The brothers leaned in closer and lifted one each
.“
Heavy
!”
said Gavin, Dean nodded in agreement and pulled his one open a little and looked at the blade. It reflected what little light there was along its edges. Gavin copied him as David continued talking like he was stuck on fast forward
.“
The gu
y’
s a regular. H
e’
s always bringing in bizarre things. Said h
e’
s got a new girlfriend and she would
n’
t move in with him until he got rid of these, because the
y’
ve both been sharpened. At least h
e’
s tried to sharpen them for some fucked up reason, do
n’
t ask me why
!
”

Dean looked closely at the blade. It had been sharpened, not very well. It was a crude job. He thought it looked like someone had taken an angle grinder to the blade. But crude or not one thing was for sure, it was sharp. Dean re-sheathed the sword and as he did he noticed that there was a name embossed in to the steel around the elaborate hand guard. He looked at it quickly and read the name MacLeod
.
Highlander then
,
he thought as Gavin said
,“
Min
e’
s from Gladiator
.
”

“
Highlander
,”
said Dean and slung it over his shoulder then said
,“
Now le
t’
s go
.
”

They checked the backyard and were relieved to find it abandoned, they crept out.

Sarah needed some persuading to leave. Even David struggled to get her to move, but then Sam trotted over beside her and gave her a gentle nudge with his snout, and with Sam by her side she walked out in to the yard clinging to a clump of his pelt.

Before closing the back door David grabbed the doormat and used it to cover the jagged shards of glass along the top of the wall, it saved using someon
e’
s jacket again. Then using the plastic chairs from earlier, Dean looked over the wall. The steps were clear as far as he could see, and one by one they climbed over as quickly and as quietly as they could. Crouching in the stepped alleyway between the pawn shop and the next building along the group started up the steps wanting to put ground between them and the mass of infected. As they reached the third landing between sets of steps, the back door of the pawn shop crashed open! With no lock on the outside, the door swung open unhindered and smacked off the wall making a loud metallic crashing sound. Then, what sounded like dozens of infected people, poured in to the sho
p’
s little back yard croaking and gurgling.

Dean stopped to look back ushering the others passed him. Leaving Gavin to take the lead and keep them on the move. Gavin did
n’
t like it, he did
n’
t like the responsibility but he lead on anyway, what other options were there.

David passed by last, taking up the rear of the group. He stopped when he reached Dean wondering why h
e’
d stopped.

“
Wha
t’
s up
?”
he asked.

“
Keep moving
,”
said Dean
,“I’
m just coming
.
”

David nodded and carried on after the others. They still had a way to go to reach the top and the thick black snow made it hard going, the steps were completely buried making it more like mountain climbing
.
A mountain of coal dust
,
thought Gavin pushing onwards.

As Dean watched from his vantage point he could see the tops of heads and the odd outstretched arm buzzing around over the wall. They were going absolutely crazy, climbing over each other, forcing each other out the way!

Dean felt that they were safe for now. None of them were trying to climb over the wall, and there was no movement from the bottom of the steps where the steps fed on to the street.

Too busy with the sho
p
, he thought, and he turned around starting back up the steps after the others. As he passed another landing where the snow slope levelled out a little he heard something that made him stop and look back reaching for his cleaver.

A shiver ran down his spine and he held his breath, but he could
n’
t see anything.

He could
n’
t even see the backyard now.

He glanced up at the others. He could only just make out Davi
d’
s silhouette as he took up the rear of the group. He needed to catch up with them. He looked back once more before setting off again and tha
t’
s when he saw it as the ash cleared just enough for him to see.

Lying there in the middle of the snowbound steps he saw the doormat the
y’
d used to cover the top of the wall as they climbed over. He breathed easy
.
Must’ve been knocked by a stray ar
m
, he thought.

And then a discoloured figure fell down beside it!

Dean froze! He prayed for the ash to thicken again. He dare
n’
t move in case he gave himself away.

The figure stood up. It was tall, over six feet, and wide.

Big guy
,
thought Dean. Then another figure fell beside it and then another. And that one knocked the first one as it landed and sent it stumbling against the opposite wall.

Tha
t’
s when it saw him!

Before the big guy even regained his balance he raised one arm and pointed at Dean and called out louder than all the others combined. It sounded like a tornado of water being sucked through a void at high speed. It made Dean jump, and his head hurt. Infected people followed the call to arms and started pouring over the wall like a river of bodies all screeching in unison. Suddenly they had a target. The ash closed in again answering Dea
n’
s prayers although it made no difference if he moved or not now that the
y’
d seen him. But his body was rigid. It had turned to stone!

The horde started running towards him. Dean broke from his trance. He turned and ran as hard as he could. He could make out the others ahead of him and he figured that they were at the top because their silhouettes were
n’
t moving. Then their calls reached his ears and he heard them screaming at him to hurry, to run as fast as he could. He slipped and stumbled as he scrambled up the rise. He dropped down when he slipped and used his hands and knees, desperately trying to keep his forward momentum, trying to build some distance. His lungs were burning, screaming for more oxygen and his shins throbbed like mad where he banged them off the unforgiving concrete steps where they stuck out of the dirty snow. But he kept on pushing. Pumping his arms and legs as fast as he possibly could. He did
n’
t have any other choice!

He stole a glance back when he was all but ten feet from the others. Gavin was screaming at him to hurry up and Sam barked and howled. There was a black wave of continuously overlapping ash rushing towards him. A darkness within the darkness!

As the others screamed, frantically hopping up and down with adrenalin, the rolling black cloud started to separate as figures emerged through the murk. The wave of darkness was the leading edge of the infected horde rushing up towards him like a legion of demons breaking free from hell to collect as many human souls as they could!

Some of them slipped and fell. They were trampled by the ones behind who ran straight over the top of them without a thought. They formed a human steam-roller, grinding up the incline towards him and the others at speed. Gavin bounded towards Dean breaking away from the group and grabbed him. Dean was yanked along by his collar as Gavin pulled, hard
.
“FUCKING RUN!”
he screamed.

David skidded to a stop beside them both. He levelled the pump action primed it making that muscular sound and fired a shot straight in to the rolling mass! The muzzle flare flashed blindingly bright in the darkness, stretching out almost ten feet from the end of the barrel and the realisation of what h
e’
d just done hit David instantly.