Chapter 4

"Did you want anything to eat. I bet your starving?" I said to Carlos as he sat on the work top.

"Yeah sounds good." He said resting the bottle of water down on the counter. He hopped off and opened up one of the cupboards in search of food.

"You do seem so much better Carlos." I whispered smiling. The darkness of the kitchen made everything appear as if it had been bleached by the moon light.

"I do feel a lot more normal. I really thought I was going to die earlier, my breathing was really bad... ooh cheezits!" He said smiling pulling out a bag from the cupboard.

I chuckled. "You definitely seem a lot better. James was expecting you to turn in to a zo-"

"James was expecting that you would stay upstairs!" James said, entering the room. He crossed his arms over his big broad chest looking a bit miffed that I had put myself in unnecessary danger by walking around the house with a half zombie man.

"I'm sorry James... Carlos seems a lot better" I whispered.

James looked at Carlos who was now stuffing his face with cheezits. "So what's going on then?" He asked intrigued, but pulling me over towards him and wrapped his arms around my waist in a protective way, just incase Carlos changed any second. He leaned against the kitchen sink, my back leaning in to James' chest. I felt relaxed for the first time in hours.

"We think! And its a big think, that the bite is just a virus type thing. It's wearing off. As long as Carlos doesn't die then he isn't going to change in to... those things." I explained to James.

"But what about... oh... Yeah I guess it makes sense." James said trying to get his head around everything.

"We are all going to be okay!" I said to James, looking up and giving him a gentle kiss.

Kendall then emerged running his hand through his unruly hair. He looked at Carlos covered in cheese dust then looked at James and I. His eyes then got wide with fear.

I froze to the spot. "Wh... what is.. it... K.. Kendall?" I asked. Scared to move.

"Window!" He mouthed, then slowly crouched on the floor.

James let go of me and pushed me down by my shoulders.

"Go to Kendall!" He whispered.

Tears fell from my eyes as I crawled across the kitchen floor to Kendall. Carlos was now sat on the floor, also hiding.

I looked back up to James who was stood completely still. He was stood at the kitchen sink. Which had a large window to look out from, both the Windows had been broken and a grotesque monster was now half In it sniffing at him.

James closed his eyes, I couldn't close mine. I was too scared to move, watching this creature trying to sum up if my husband would make a good meal.

I'm guessing that the zombie who was centimetres from James as he sniffed and snarled around the back of his neck used to be an elderly gentleman. He even still had glasses on his face. His face now though was twisted and mangled from becoming one of the creatures.

"I need to help him!" I whispered to Kendall.

"No... don't move! I don't think he thinks James is a person... he is too still." Kendall hushed back.

"He is my husband Kendall!" I argued, trying to control my voice.

"And your my friends! Stay still!" He demanded.

I watched as the creature crawled in further through the window. His hand now on james' shoulder. The contact made james snap his eyes open in fear.

He locked eyes with me. The expression on his face so sad.

"I love you zoe!" He mouthed at me.

I silently sobbed, scared that James was saying his goodbyes.

"Run!" I whispered back to him.

James didn't run though, he remained stood still like a statue, like he was waiting. Why was he not trying to fight for his life. That thing could get him at any moment.

I looked at Carlos who looked beside himself in fear as we all got such a close encounter of what one of these things looked like and acted like.

I felt Kendall take my hand, it was the smallest gesture but one I would never forget. I was about to witness my husband be attacked, possibly killed. Having Kendalls hand in mine was the kindest thing, just knowing I wasn't alone.

The zombie began snarling, it's disgusting noises reminded me of what a dog would sound like if it was missing its bottom jaw.

I could hear James' heart beat echo in the room around us. If I could hear it I'm sure that the creature could to.

That was when it scrambled over James, a sharp gasp fell out of my mouth, the shock of what I was seeing as the zombie man tried to empower James.

Still James stood still as the creature lunged its head over James shoulder. Sending a few things from the dish drainer crashing to the floor.

I watched on as James looped his arm around the creatures neck then snapped its head back with his other hand in one swift movement. Another sickening crack of a neck bone snapping entered my ears and the creature went lifeless, still in the head lock that James had over his shoulder.

Silence filled the room as we all took in what had happened. James looked in shock. He pushed the creature back through the window. It fell with a slump to the ground, now officially dead. Never to come back for a third time.

I ran to James and wrapped my arms around him.

"Oh my god... oh my God!" I said in hysterical sobs as I clung on to my beautiful James.

James ran his hands over my face. "Shhh. Everything is fine... it's fine!" He soothed.

I held on to him so tightly. In a matter of hours James had played the hero twice. Killing two creatures to save us.

"I love you so much" I sobbed in to his shirt.

"Love you too... zoe come on, don't fall to pieces on me. I need you to be strong for me okay." He said softly.

I looked up as Peter walked in the room with his gun in hand.

"Okay... I promise." I said to James, wiping my eyes.

"I heard a crash?" Peter said.

"Yeah a flaming zombie came crawling through the window, went all weird over James." Kendall said standing up straight.

Peter pointed the gun at James. "DID YOU GET BITTEN?!" He snapped.

I started crying again. James moved me to the side out of the way of the gun. "I didn't get bitten... I killed it!" James said to Peter. Moving his shirt around to show random bare skin as proof of never being bitten.

Peter lowered his gun.

The atmosphere relaxed slightly as James took me back in his arms. I think he was more worried about trigger happy peter than Carlos now.

"We should move back up stairs." Carlos said, finishing his packet of cheezits.

"Yeah I feel safer up there too." Kendall said taking a sip of water from the bottle on the counter.

I buried my head in to James' chest. His beautiful scent still lingered on his clothes. It took me far away to a world of normality, not this crazy place of monsters and murder.

"What is this?" Kendall said looking at his water bottle with a disgusted look on his face.

"Just water... it's the fizzy stuff though." I replied, once again wiping my eyes, looking from Kendall back to Peter making sure he had put the gun down.

"No I mean... shit!" Kendall said clutching his throat. "It is burning! Really burning!" Kendall said then fell to his knees.

I looked at Carlos. We shared the same scared look as we realised that Kendall had drank from the same bottle that Carlos had.

"Dude... that's my bottle!" Carlos said, staring at Kendall as he now held his stomach in pain.

Kendall looked up at Carlos in horror.

"Oh god... I'm going to turn in to one!" Kendall said panicked.

For an old guy, Peter moved quickly. He marched up to Kendall pointing the gun to his head. "What's the matter with you kid?!" He said.

The sweat was pouring off of Kendall already. He was crying in shock and still howling in pain from the burning sensation he received from the infection he had contracted from Carlos.

"Please d...don't.. oh god.." Kendall howled as he tried to deal with the pain.

"Jesus man! Don't shoot him!" Carlos argued.

James left me, walking forward, not about to let his friend get shot. He stood in front of Kendall moving the gun to his his own stomach.

"You will have to go through me first!" James threatened.

Peter looked around the the room. He was surrounded by people that wouldn't just stand by and let Kendall be shot.

"It's me! It's me okay!" Carlos screamed. "I was bitten!" Carlos said in a panic.

The gun then got pointed at him.

"Peter no!" I screamed.

"You brought that poison in to my house?!" Peter hissed.

"'No man... we didn't know what was going on!" Carlos argued,

Peter then pointed the gun back at Kendall, then Carlos... it was insane.

"Peter please! No!" I screamed, fearing for Carlos' life.

"Your going to infect us all." Peter shouted.

"Peter I promise you he isn't!" I begged, my feet trembling beneath me. I was so scared.

"Show me your bite!" Peter demanded of Carlos.

"He isn't going to turn!" James then said, defending Carlos.

I looked at Kendall who was still suffering with the burning sensation. Kendall grasped at his body in attempts to help his body adapt to a pain that was unlike anything anyone other than Carlos had experienced.

"Oh god im dying!" Kendall said panicked. The gun then got pointed at him.

"He isn't! It's a virus!" Carlos shouted out. It was chaos all around.

It was James that then stepped in once again. An old man wasn't much for James to control up against the other things he had been doing this evening. But Peter wasn't letting go of his gun in a hurry.

The two men ended up on the floor. For the second time in a matter of minutes I feared for the life of James as he played the hero.

I cried, now clinging on to Carlos as he held me back from the scuffle James was having with the man.

"Let me help him los!" I screamed out.

"Zoe, no!" He called back grabbing on to my dress.

The sound of the gun going off echoed not just through the room we were in but the entire street outside.

The room and the people in it stood still momentarily as we tried to work out what had happened and who got shot.

All became clear when James sat up holding the gun in his hand. He was covered in blood but it wasn't his own. Peter lay lifeless on the floor below him. A pool of blood streaming from his body.

"James?" I whispered out. My body in shock, not able to handle all the sights my eyes and ears were witnessing.

"I... killed.. h i m." James said slowly. His body in its own form of shock.

"Baby c'mon, get up!" I said to James, leaving Carlos' side and helping my husband off of the body of the man that had helped us.

"Let's get up stairs! The gun shot would of attracted more of the.. things." I said to Carlos.

Carlos however was not looking at me, he was looking to my left... where Kendall lay... in a pool of his own blood.

"Oh my god! Kendall?!" I said, kneeling down next to him.

Kendall lifted his head. He was still clutching his stomach but for a different reason this time. The bullet from the gun had ricochet and hit him.

He was in a bad way and now with the infection inside him, things didn't look good!

I slipped my hand in his. Knowing this wasn't going to end well.