Chapter Two: Onslaught
Signe was persistent, refusing to let her boyfriend go alone. She held his hand tightly like a vice, with no intention of loosening it. He looked into her eyes that were deeply staring into his, the two sharing an unspoken communication.
"Signe, I couldn't risk it." Seán shook his head.
"You can't stop me, Seán. I'm going wherever you go." She replied firmly, still clutching her boyfriend's hand.
Seán couldn't say no.
"Stay close." He said, running his free hand through his green hair, "But if I say run, you run – as fast as you can and away from here."
The unfolding terror outside was suddenly overshadowed by a deafening bang. It was subsequently followed by the lights flickering off along with the other electric home appliances shorting out.
He immediately went to the bedside table with Signe in tow, pulling open the top drawer and taking out a flashlight and a Swiss knife. Seán then led the way out of their bedroom, using the flashlight as their only source of light to guide their way, moving swiftly to the room next door which was the room he used to store all of the gifts and letters that came from the Jacksepticeye community.
"Here." Seán reached for a green baseball bat on the shelf and gave it to her girlfriend.
Hand in hand, the couple began making their way downstairs where it was shrouded in darkness, with only the fire on the road outside shining through the white silk curtains. Seán moved his flashlight around the place to scout the area, the beam shining on the living room that lacked furniture.
Despite the noise outside, he could hear his own heart beating, throbbing in his chest out of anxiety, the fear of the unknown as they continued to walk down the stairs to reach the bottom landing. Signe closely followed him, arming herself with the bat.
They approached the nearest window beside the front door, with Seán carefully parting the curtains to get a better view of the commotion outside. Through the small slit, he could see people running around screaming for help while they were being chased by massive groups of the undead that were growling and screeching after them.
Just across their house was another vehicle on fire, the charred remains of its occupants were being feasted upon by the swarming horde.
He shut back the curtains and making sure that the windows on either side of the front door were locked afterwards.
"To the kitchen."He whispred, his voice soft but clear enough for Signe to hear.
Upon reaching the kitchen, Sean spotted silhouettes of people hobbling outside the window. They were making pained gasps and growls, most of them having their postures contorted to an impossible degree.
"Fuck." Seán immediately ducked behind the kitchen counter pulling Signe there with him.
He then crawled to the cabinet under the sink then took out a hammer and a bag of nails. Signe, on the other hand, slowly stuck her head out of the counter. She saw the shadows of the people still there roaming around in their backyard.
She snatched her portable radio on her counter and a butcher knife from the knife rack before going back into hiding.
"Seán, I don't think we have that much furniture to barricade the house." Signe said upon realizing.
It took a few moments for Seán before he finally responded, "We seal ourselves in the living room until help arrives." He said with much uncertainty, giving Signe the hammer, "Let's go."
Seán led the way back to the living room and Signe immediately bolted the door shut behind them. The man then ran to the living room sofa and pushed it to block the kitchen door.
"Seán," Signe spoke up, looking around the room particularly at the pictures hanging on the wall.
"What?" He looked up at her right after securing the sofa in place.
"The portraits – use them on the windows."
Seán jumped up and unhooked the large portraits on the wall, removing the artworks before using the wooden frames as planks, placing them on the windows before letting Signe secure it there with nails. The task went like clockwork, with Seán trailing behind Signe pushing and lifting up certain furniture as reinforcements to the possible ways of entrance.
They approached the last window to the left of the front patio, the man carrying the last batch of planks and his girlfriend holding the tools. As they had begun to block out the window, the noticed two people in the distance, a man and a woman, both were running to their house being chased by three undead humans.
The man had a slim built; he had thick bushy beard and white snowy hair, he was in a long sleeved white sweater and black pants. The girl with him had long brunette hair, wearing pink sweater and black yoga pants. They were desperately waving for Seán and Signe's attention.
"IT'S FELIX AND MARZIA!"Seán exclaimed upon getting a clear sight of them.
The two watched Felix stop in his tracks, motioning for Marzia to keep running to their house.
"Go, Marzia! I'm right behind you!" Felix said.
His girlfriend pushed forward to Seán's with much hesitation.
As for Felix, he stood there waiting for the three reanimated corpses, arming himself with a golf club.
"FELIX, WATCH OUT!" The Irishman screamed even though Felix obviously wouldn't hear him.
Felix swung the golf club at the charging rabid man with full force, with the solid end hitting his head and breaking open the skull, spraying blood all over his white sweater. The undead came crashing to the ground with pieces of its skin dangling from its head.
He suddenly ducked just as another tried clawing for him, missing its sharp, bloody claws by an inch. Felix shot back up and jabbed the attacker in the eye then pummeled the head.
"Signe, keep boarding up the house." Seán exclaimed, passing the planks to his girlfriend.
"What?!" She was surprised, "What about them?!"
"Just trust me on this." He gave him an assuring gaze.
Seán snatched the flashlight and his Swiss knife from the table, "Tell them to meet me on the roof!" He ordered, his hurried footsteps thumping up the stairs.
Marzia reached the window and was now face to face with them, tapping nervously on the glass.
"Please let us in!" She pleaded.
"Go to the back and climb on the roof!" Signe said out of breath as she continued to board up the window, "Seán will meet you there!"
Marzia nodded, going to her right jumping over the patio railing and onto the side of the house.
Seán reached their bedroom window, his hands fumbling for the lock. Once he felt a small metal handle, he immediately unhooked it and pushed up the window panel. He was now outside, standing on the roof of his house feeling the cold breeze of the night.
He ran on the roof circling the house, eventually reaching the backyard. He looked over the edge and saw Marzia waiting for him down below.
"Seán!" Marzia reached her hands up at him.
Seán's eyes darted side to side, looking at the surroundings. "THE TRASH BIN!" He pointed to a small box-like metal container, "Climb over there!"
She did as she was told and hastily climbed up the trash bin. Seán, in turn, went over to that side to get her.
He laid flat on the roof on his belly and extended out his hand for her to grab on. Once Marzia's hands were clasped on his arms, he yanked. Seán swiftly pulled her up as she was not that heavy.
Out of breath, he got back to his feet and helped her to stand, "You okay?"
Marzia nodded, looking down at her feet and catching her breath.
"Marzia?" Seán cupped her face, calming her.
Her brown eyes looked up at his blue ones, "F-Felix... FELIX!"
"Just stick to the wall and make your way around the house, the bedroom window's open." He instructed, "I'll get Felix."
"O-okay." She shakily walked up the slightly sloped roof and reached for the wall. Seán went with her but stopped halfway to get a clear view of the street below.
There Felix was, still alive and swinging at the other corpses.
"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" He shouted.
Seán glanced at the other walking corpses surrounding the dying fire of the vehicle on the street, seeing them suddenly crane their necks in Felix's direction.
To his fright, one by one, the flesh-hungry humans turned away from the partially eaten and rapidly reanimating victim, and ran towards Felix who was fighting for his life.
"RUN, FELIX!" The Irishman bellowed which caught his friend's attention.
Felix looked up at him then back at the streets eventually realizing that more were coming. Felix sprinted from his spot, going as fast as he could to Seán's house just as more of the undead began surrounding him.
"OVER THERE!" Seán gestured to the back.
He ran back to the climbing spot waiting for his friend to appear around the corner.
More sounds of gurgled moans and groans came to his ears. His backyard fence suddenly collapsed with a loud snap and thud as more of the corpses came rushing into the yard like flood, wanting to intercept Felix.
His friend finally appeared, breathing loudly doing his best to outrun the fast approaching crowd.
"HURRY!" He reached out his hand to him.
Felix jumped up and went for his hands, seizing them in his own just as the trash bin beneath his feet tipped over leaving him dangling over a growing group of people screeching and roaring.
Seán shrieked at the sudden tug on his arms and the sharp edge of the steel gutter pressing against his chest, with each passing second creating a deep cut in his flesh.
Felix's entire weight was now relying on his arms.
The pain was unbearable, but he couldn't risk letting Felix go and fall into the hungry crowd.
"CLIMB UP!" Seán grunted through gritted teeth, feeling warm blood dripping from the fresh wounds on his chest.
This further fueled the undead's hunger when the drops of blood rained on them. They became more violent, more aggressive, and more feral. They were now wailing louder and tried jumping like rabid dogs.
Felix found a footing on the wall and helped his friend in pulling himself up. He grabbed hold of the edge of the roof for more leverage, finally relieving Seán from his pain.
As soon as every part of him were out of harm's way, Felix aided Seán as he agonizingly pulled away from the gutter, his skin slowly peeling off from the metal.
"You okay?" Seán wheezed, putting an arm around his friend's shoulder and clutching his wound.
"I'm okay, but we should get you inside fast." Felix saw Seán's white shirt stained crimson just below the neck.
"W-What happened?" He breathed.
"Our house was overrun by those things." The two wobbly treaded the sloped roof and made their way back to the open bedroom window as more of the undead surrounded the house.
Marzia sat on the couch shivering, her arms folded over her chest, covered in a thick blanket when Signe walked in on her, carrying a glass of water for her.
"Here." She handed it to Marzia.
"Th-thanks." The woman stammered, shakily taking the glass.
Suddenly, there was loud banging on the front door. Countless silhouettes of people could be seen behind the window and through the curtains, leaving bloodstains on the glass while attempting to get inside.
"Oh God." Marzia trembled as she looked around the room seeing shapes of people at every window.
They were surrounded.
"SIGNE!" Felix's voice came from upstairs, "SIGNE!"
"Felix?!" Signe stood up and rushed to the bottom of the stairs taking Marzia with her.
Two obscured figures of men appeared on top of the stairs, one had his arm around the other and was weakly walking down the stairs. As they got near them, the light from the candles illuminated their faces.
And it made Signe's heart leap to her throat.
Seán was pale as paper, his shirt was soaked, darkened by the massive amounts of blood. He was hobbling down the stairs with the aid of Felix. Her boyfriend's once lively eyes were staring up at the ceiling into nothingness, and every step they made, he wheezed.
"SEÁN!" Signe caught her boyfriend in her arms and dragged him to a nearby couch, "OH MY GOD..."
"He's in shock." Felix said.
"What happened?!"
"It's my fault. He was hurt when he tried pulling me up the roof." Felix was racked with guilt, he had his hand running through his white hair.
"We have to stop the bleeding." Marzia interjected.
"There's a first aid kit in the cabinet of our dining room." She pointed without looking at the dining hall, her eyes fixated on Seán who was hyperventilating and sweating heavily.
Felix immediately ran to the cabinet leaving the three in the living room.
"Si-Si...Signe." Seán mumbled, staring back at her feeling her soft hands caress his face.
"Stay with me, Seán, stay with me." She said, "Let me see the wound."
Seán weakly sat upright letting Signe pull up and take off his shirt. On his chest was a deep wound cutting horizontally, blood oozing from it. A sight that made the two girls flinch in shock.
"Marzia, help me with this. Keep him sitting upright." She sobbed, her teeth clattering in fear as she tore through Sean's shirt and rolled it around her hand. "Okay," She took a deep breath, "This will hurt, I'm gonna put pressure on it."
Seán just nodded.
She pressed down on the open wound, making Seán scream in agony through his clenched teeth. He felt nothing but burning pain, his eyes were leaking with tears, and his fists balled up trying to ease the pain.
"FUCK!"
"I-I'm sorry, Sean, I'm so sorry!" Signe couldn't bear watching him writhe in pain.
"Here!" Felix returned with a roll of bandage and medical scissors.
"Get his hands up." Signe commanded.
Felix took both of Seán's hands and lifted them up. Signe and Marzia began unrolling the bandage and wrapping it around the injured man's torso, going as tight as they could. The first layer was quickly soaked with blood, but with every round they made, the stains were no longer that prominent. The finally stopped the moment they ran out of bandages.
"That'll do." Signe sighed, letting her boyfriend lie back down on the couch. "He'll be alright." She brushed strands of her hair behind her ears looking at Seán who slowly drifted into sleep.
Marzia stood up and wrapped her arms around Felix, resting her head on his chest.
"You okay, baby?" Felix asked, feeling Marzia trembling, "You're cold."
"I'm fine." Marzia sighed, "I'm just shaken back there."
Signe turned her head at the couple, "You guys have any idea what on earth's happening here?" She asked while running her hand on Seán's faded green hair.
The two shook their heads.
There was a loud bang that startled them. The undead were still outside waiting for them, pounding angrily on the doors.
"Those barricades will not hold on much longer." Felix said, making the two look at him, "We need to find a much safer place."
"Where?" His girlfriend asked.
"I dunno... maybe there's some sanctuary or a safe zone out there."
"The radio..." Signe responded, turning her head to the table where her small radio sat, "Try the radio."
Felix twisted the knob of the portable radio sitting on the table beside them. Gurgled and interfered voices of people erupted from the speakers accompanied by loud static noises.
"A... disease... has..." a female voice blasted from the radio as Felix was tuning it.
"There!" Felix exclaimed, turning the knob back.
"...all...over Brighton. Police... trying to contain..." it was stifled by another static.
"Shit!" Felix smacked the device.
"Survivors... gathering... Brighton Pier... be airlifted.."
The were sounds of growling and screeching in the background of the broadcast. It was subsequently followed by a heavy door falling to the ground with a loud crash.
"... and may God help us all."
All they heard next were screams, pleads of mercy, flesh being torn apart, and the gushing and gurgling of blood. Soon after, there was nothing but bone-chilling static.
"The pier." Felix said, "We have to get to the pier."
"Seán needs to rest first, Felix." Signe stood up.
An eerie silence followed, all eyes were fixated on the couch where a motionless Seán was lying. Felix darted from his friend and back to Signe.
"Alright, we try our best to survive the night." Felix worriedly said, looking into Signe's face that had tear stains on her cheeks. "We leave tomorrow morning."
"We have to get Seán upstairs." Marzia suggested, "It's safer there."
"You get his feet, I'll get his hands." Felix said.
The three lifted an unconscious Seán to the second floor and laid him down on their bed.
"You stay with him. I'll be downstairs." He said to Signe before heading back down.
"I'm g-gonna clean myself up, c-can I use your bathroom?" Marzia asked, her tone trembling, still traumatized by the encounter.
"Sure, it's on the first door to your right." She instructed, "You can use the clothes in our guest room."
"T-thanks." Marzia awkwardly turned around and walked out the room opposite where Felix went.
Signe looked back at Seán, who was still recuperating from his injury. His abdomen slowly and steadily rising up then down. She at beside the bed and gently caressed his hair then gave him a kiss on the forehead.
It was a brief moment of comfort. Despite all of the madness currently happening, Signe felt safe around Seán, like she always have, being with him gave her strength. She had her hand in his, giving it a soft squeeze before laying her head on the soft mattress.
All that was cut short by a loud thud.
Signe lifted her head back up and got to her feet, "Felix?" She called out, stepping out of the room and into the hallway making as little noise as possible.
"Marzia?" She turned right to the hallway leading to their bathroom.
The feeling of fear came back to her as she took out her phone and turned on the flashlight, illuminating only a limited field of view. The bathroom door remained close.
But the guest room wasn't.
"Marzia?" She repeated, getting closer to the door that was partially open.
She was shaking again, her hair was standing on end as she pushed open the door that made a loud creak. She took another step closer into the room.
"Are you there?" She shone the light in the pitch black darkness of the room.
Only to come face to face with Marzia who was standing mere inches away from her, her eyes wide and red as blood.