I hissed as the sheriff patron pressed the clean cloth to my head not so gently. He held it there for a moment before stepping aside for me to replace his hand. I pressed down and resisted the hiss that tried to escape between my teeth.
"So now that we are together, let's get to it." Parton sat down across from me. Trying the nonchalant approach of interrogation.
"Why are you here?"
"I don't know, i was following my uncle there and he decides where we go.'' I shrugged out. Now a complete lie.
"Ok, well do you know what is happening here?"
"Not really. The place is empty and we were looking for someone when we saw the police station like this and we went to go check it out. And then I got nailed with a can of corn -" "CREAM" grace interrupted. "Yes cream corn and my uncle was taken out by him.'' I pointed at Grace's dad. Parton gave the man a look and he only crossed his arms and shrugged.
"Thought you might be one of the infected." is all he offered.
"And what does that even mean? Infected?"
Partons squinted his eyes at me,internally debating. I could only guess. He took a deep sign and huffed through his nose.
"Look at this town, it's not." He stopped himself again. Trying to find the words.
"It's been overrun with these things. It gets into you and takes over. Makes you do things you don't usually do. Hurt people, people you care about. They only come out at night, they don't like the sun much." he grimaced.
"Okay so why don't you leave during the day. We got in by a bus and we are here, why can't you just drive away."
"We can't. When we try this winged creature comes down and grabs one of us and takes us god knows where."
"Like a pterodactyl." Grace offered up. I forced a smirk to her. Helpful I guess.
"Yeah, so we are stuck here. I can only guess you two are the first to get here without encountering it. We've seen others try to get in or leave and it comes and just takes them…" Partons trailed off.
"So what do you do to...stay alive?" Partons turned his attention back to me. His eyes haunted by what he had been through.
"We scavenge most of the time. Near here are houses. Places are mostly empty. Every once in a while there will be someone in there. Alive or dead."
"Mostly dead." Grace again interjected. Her dad nudged her to knock it off.
"What started all of this?"
"We aren't sure. We just try to survive, regroup and find others, you two are the first in a long time to come along and not be one of them." the room went silent after that. I wasn't sure what else to ask. They can't leave the town, the place is screwed. And Gary is going to have a conniption.
"Well that's enough of that for now. We should start getting ready. It's almost night time." Partons got up and started to head back to the back door. Everyone else started to scatter as well and soon I was left with a sleeping Gary as my only company. Just like it had been for the last month.
Absently I started to fiddle with my phone again. Flicking through the notifications as usual and seeing none from Maya or Suren. Mindy had sent me a few stickers reflecting her day and I decided to send her a gift of a zombie popping repeatedly out of a grave to represent mine. Her response was a question mark. I shrugged because how do I even explain this.
Slipping it back into my pocket I decided that instead of waiting for Gary to get up I should help them. Following Parton's path to him I saw him barricading the door with planks of wood and nailing them to the wall. I walked over and started to pick them up and hold them out to him. He grunted a thanks and started to focus on nailing them to the wall again.
We spent the rest of the evening like that. Focusing on reinforcing the building against the coming onslaught they kept talking about. When the sun was only a sliver over the horizon grimes and Grace's dad had brought the group together into the same room we were all in at first. The building was covered and now we waited apparently.
Gary started to mumble on the couch, a big give away that he was finally starting to wake up. Some grumbles and a few eye squeezes later and he was up. Looking breerly around him. He saw me, then grace's dad and then Parton.
"Look, we don't want any trouble. We will-"
"Save it Gary, we are already here and now we just wait to see what happens next."
"What do you-" Gary again was cut off but by grimes. Simply holding his hand up, a tilt of his head towards the back room. That's when I noticed it. Scratches of nails against brick walls. The group was dead silent now and then scratches permeated continuously until it was a heavy bang against the back door thundered against us. Partons and graces dad we both up. Gary was barely sitting up now. His wide bloodshot eyes now focused on the stair well. A distant scream of a woman echoed into the night. Grace went to reach for her dad's hand and he held her with both of his cupping her smaller one. I stood up slowly now too. My body reacting to the coming threats.
The power cut out and we plunged into the darkness. And then the banging against the back door became instant. Then slapped against the windows. Multiple hands trying to break through.
I was starting to feel the pressure of the incoming nights against my head and a crawling sensation in my throat. The back door banged violently now, the tell tail sound of wood splintering the warning for Partons and Graces' father to rush to it. Grace left alone stood far away from the window where the scream and hands reached for us. I could hear Partons and Grace's dad in the back now trying desperately to renail the door shut. Calling for Gary's help to hold the door while one of them placed the wood back. Gary stuttered while standing up. His eyes wide and full of sparks of a coward's thoughts flashing. This was not the time.
"Gary, we need your help." I pleaded with him. Hoping that he'd finally be useful, and for a brief moment a defiant look flashed in his eyes and I thought he'd finally be there when it counted, but it was dashed away when one of the hands met gold and slivers of glass poured around us. And like that, the man he had become was back and looking for an escape route. Grace screamed and Gary ran to the front.
"Wait, we need you!" I plead again. He paused at the door and glanced back at me, and no recognition for his responsibility to me was there.
"I'm sorry." and just like that i was alone once again.
The window that had broken was now full of hands trying to climb their way in and graced screamed for her dad. I ran to the back room and saw the two of them trying to fumble with the plank.
"They broke the window up there!"
"SHIT! GRACE!" Her dad called for her. No response was met though. "Switch with me!" I grabbed the broad from his grasp and he dashed back up. Partons used his full body weight now to brace the door and I leaned my weight against the frame. Pushing the plank down.
I could see into the night and multiple silhouettes outlined the shadows. Twisting and jerking into the abyss. The door clicked closed and the plank was being nailed in. Partons continued to replace the planks that were broken while I kept my weight there, and when he deemed it well enough for me to move away he again placed more on.
"Go see if they need help up there." he ordered and I was jogging up to where I had left Grace. When I came up I saw her crouched beside the couch and her dad using the table top to brace the window. I grabbed a couple of nails and a hammer that was lying on the floor and started to try and nail them into the window sill. The hands slapped against the table , but after I got the top secured Grace's dad took over and started to the sides.
"Your uncle ran off. Through the front door. Had to replace all the barricades up."
"Sorry." I offered. Gary had indeed ran away.
"He left you, don't be. Im sorry." it was placading, but i knew what this meant. Gary was most likely gone for good and I was back to square one, but with zombies apparently.
We spent the rest of the night doing this. Short periods of rest and the rushing to maintain, but like a mercy the sun rose and they dispersed. A breath was saved by all and when Partons gave the all clear we released the barricade on the back door and checked the surrounding area. Hand printed decorated the walls and places where feet had stomped created small ditches. Grace and her dad stepped away from the precinct and I took a walk around the perimeter. Finding no sign of Gary still. Maybe he had managed
Bing! My thoughts were paused by a notification in my pocket. My phone was buzzing like crazy. I opened the message app and was met by a flurry of unsent messages by Maya. all of them asking how i was, what was going on and why i wasn't responding. And it seemed she finally got all of mine and her repeating message.
"Where are you,Damian?"