What happened next was as if it were pulled from a dream, or to be more accurate a nightmare! With their sunken, clouded eyes fixed upon the three of them, their jaws opening and closing as if they could already taste the flesh in their mouths, the group began to shuffle towards them. Without a word Joseph moved a few yards further back into the underbrush and lifted the boy into the branches of an old red maple tree in hopes to keep him safe and out of the jaws of the undead.
"Well this should be fun..." he said as he came back to Lucas's side. They both knew that they had no choice but to fight, if they ran there was still a chance of leading them back to the camp and with the rest of the group there it was a risk neither of them was willing to take.
"I'll take the left, you take the right and we'll meet back up on the other side, give a shout if you get surrounded and need help. Sound good?" Lucas looked to Joseph who's only response was a slight nod of his head.
The closest of the empties were just breaking into the woods as Joseph and Lucas readied their weapons (Joseph with his hatchet and bat and Lucas with his machete and large tree branch), stepped up to meet them. The first two went down with ease, Lucas's machete making quick work of separating head from torso, while Joseph brought his hatchet down between the others eyes, cleaving its skull neatly in two, after taking care of the immediate threat they stepped out of the woods and into the madness. Lucas quickly moved to the left coming face to decaying face with another empty, its arms out stretched as if to embrace him. He took one step to the side and arched his blade up loping off one arm and sending a shower of thick reddish black blood into the air, unfazed it turned reaching for him with its other arm. Without hesitation Lucas swept the tree branch through its legs dropping it to the ground and drove the end of the branch straight down into its skull.
With a second to spare he glanced across the field to see how Joseph was fairing, he could see three empties on the ground at Joseph's feet and he was advancing towards the next. Seeing that he had his side under control Lucas moved on, taking down two more in quick secession and headed to meet up with Joseph at the opposite end of the field. As he neared the rendezvous point he suddenly felt something close around his ankle, falling hard to the ground. He struggled to roll over as his leg was held firm to the ground, finally managing to pull his leg free Lucas rolled to his back and found himself staring into the gaping jaws of an empty! It lay on the ground pulling itself along on its mangled, bloody arms; from where he lay Lucas could make out a tail of decomposing intestines stretching out behind it where its legs had once been. Lucas began to get to his feet when, with one surprisingly quick lunge Lucas was once again pinned to the ground as the empty slammed into his chest knocking him back and forcing the air from his lungs.
He tried to call out to Joseph for help yet all that escaped his lips was a weak groan as he fought to fill his lungs with air again. The thing clung to Lucas's chest like a leech, clawing its way up his body searching for any exposed skin it could sink its teeth into. Looking around franticly for his machete, he found it laying a few feet away just outside of his reach! Turning his attention back to the empty Lucas could feel its cold, clammy hands find the bare flesh of his neck and it began to dig and scratch at it. Quickly Lucas grabbed its wrists, yanking them free from his throat and inadvertently pulled it further up his body ending up face to face. It began to lower faces napping jaws to his throat, its lips parting to reveal a mouth full of rotten, jagged teeth that wanted nothing more than to tear into and feast upon Lucas's flesh. Releasing its arms Lucas cupped its face and struggled to keep it from seizing a hold of his neck, unable to support its weight as it bared down on him he could feel its teeth pressing into skin around his collar bone...