She looked back to check if any of them were close by, the street was all clear except for a few stranglers at the end of the road. She nodded to the young man waiting on her to signal to go. With a nod he stepped away from the door about a foot to get good ground before giving the front door a forceful kick right above the key hole; it swung open and hit the wall inside. He was the first to go in, gun in hand, with the large black wolf-dog following suit; trotting silently in between the pair. Its sharp eyes looked out for any sign of danger to him or his humans. The front room was clear which swept into a gigantic dining room, and into the kitchen. The young man with light auburn hair looked beyond the kitchen into the hallway as his female counterpart stealthily turned around the kitchen counter, her back turned to the hall for only a moment. As she did so, green eyed man turned his head away as well, and a walker came into view from an open door in the hallway. Stumbling towards the kitchen with simple intent. The blonde backed her way through the kitchen to call "clear" just as he turned back around and saw the flesh eater heading for her.
"Astrid!" His voice was firm but startled her into turning around to face the walker. Before she could swing the axe with a single shot it was down, a bullet right between its decomposed eyes. The carcass fell backwards onto the linoleum floor with a splat. Astrid froze slightly in her warrior-like stance. Her chilling blue eyes turned their attention to her common savior.
"Thanks babe." She blew her outgrown side bangs out of her face. The black dog bounded over to her, she scratched his head reassuringly " Hiccup?-" Astrid questioned as he strode to her side with intent and leaned closely in before taking a breathe and inspecting her arms. She went along with it as he quickly spun her around to make sure there wasn't a scratch before planting a kiss on her cheek. " lets go." He breathed into her ear and motioned down the hall way with a flick of his sharp jaw. Astrid fixed her handle on the axe, twisting it around in her palm a few times like a pro, her family used to run a lumber yard, when all this went down an axe was her weapon of choice. Toothless walked in between the two again as first floor was cleared, the small bathroom that the walker must have been hiding out in had boxes of crackers and a case of bottled water under the sink. Astrid nodded off to Hiccup ' we'll come back for it'. Next was the upstairs, all of the doors were shit, all except one. Astrid took it as Hiccup checked the other doors and Toothless kept an ear out in the hallway. It was a bedroom of a little boy, his bed messy with clothes still folded at the end of it. Astrid lowered her axe to press the back of her hand onto the faint blue sheets, they were cool with dust floating down onto them. There were pictures on a bulletin board above the headboard. Astrid knew better than to look at it but despite herself she gazed at the photo of a young boy and girl closest to her. There was a small boy and girl around 5 or 6, pumpkins lay in the background and the pair were looking up at the camera. A shadow was cast behind them of a woman's figure, probably their mother. Innocent faces, and wide eyed smiles were captured in a single shot. Astrid tore her eyes away and kept her feelings mutual, her shield went up. She backed out of the room and into the hall where Hiccup was nearing the door at the very end. He put his ear to it and knocked loudly, Astrid didn't hear anything from the other side but Hiccup looked over to her and Toothless and pointed towards the door with a slight nod. Hiccup turned the door knob, which was unlocked, swung the door open and the first walker all but threw itself onto Hiccup. In a split second he grabbed a knife from his belt and stabbed it through the jaw into the brain. Toothless growled next to him as a gargle came from the side of them bed. A small walker stumbled up, then another. Astrid shifted in her stance and took a deep breathe ; she nudged Toothless out of the way and cut the girl down following the boy who fell on top of her. Blood splattered onto the ends of her braid. She flicked the bangs out of her eyes and wiped her mouth over her sleeve, just staring down at them. Her ax, although already lowered to her hip, was tugged on from the head with a firm grasp.
I looked down at the carcasses, bleeding onto the carpet at the foot of the bed. They were so small, same as in the picture. But rosy cheeks were replaced by peeling skin, shiny hair by thin straw, and the glow of life replaced by the grim stench of death. No matter how many we've 'killed' children caused an excruciating twist of the knife already buried through my heart. I felt the pressure on the head of my ax, his forearm nudging into mine. There was an equal pain behind his eyes as well, his brows knit inward with the same infliction as mine. I shook my head and took control of the ax again
"All clear."