In that split second Lucas truly believed he would never see another day, never see Laura or their child again, then suddenly its body jerked and fell limp. Heaving the now actually dead undead off from himself Lucas looked up to see the little boy standing over him with an expression of both terror and triumph on his face, Lucas turned and looked at the still figure beside him to see a dismembered arm protruding from the back of its skull.
"Is...is it dead?" Lucas could barely make out the words the young boy spoke over the thumping in his chest.
"Well more like dead again." Joseph replied as he arrived at their side panting from exertion. "You ok?" looking from Lucas to the empty.
Lucas simply nodded, his eyes still fixated on corpse beside him.
Finally pulling his eyes from the empty that had come seconds away from devouring him Lucas turned to Joseph and the boy. Without a word he reached out and pulled the boy to him, into a bear hug. Releasing the boy all Lucas could say was "Thank you!" his mind was still racing with the thoughts of what had almost happened, how in just a split second everything could have changed.
"Are you going to sit there all day gawking at that thing or are we going to get moving and make it home tonight?" Joseph's voice snapped him out of his daze and back into the here and now.
"Your right, let's get going we need to make camp before it gets too dark." Lucas hefted himself onto his feet, taking a second to regain his balance before retrieving his machete.
"Hey kid, what's your name anyway?" Joseph asked as they checked their bags to make sure they were still intact.
"It's Dakota."
Joseph looked over at Dakota with a reassuring smile "And how old are you?"
Dakota jumped up and stood as straight as he could; puffing out his chest a little he replied "I'm eight and a half!"
"Alright" Joseph said with a chuckle "my name is Joseph and that guy you just saved is Lucas, do you think you can walk on your own for a bit or do you need Lucas or me to carry you?"
"I can walk for a bit I think but Mr. Joseph do you have anything to eat or drink, my tummy keeps growling at me?"
Lucas and Joseph laughed as Lucas dug out a bottle of water and an MRE "here you go Dakota, eat up and then we will get moving."
Twenty minutes later the three of them headed off into the woods following the trail they had left just the day before. They had only made it probably a half mile before Dakota started to slow down, stumbling over branches, barely able to keep his eyes open.
Without breaking stride Joseph stepped up behind Dakota and picked him up, he mumbled something about how he could walk and didn't need to be carried just as his head hit Joseph's shoulder and he fell asleep. The three of them walked in silence for the next six or so miles, thankfully not encountering any more of the undead, before they finally started to recognize some land marks and knew they were almost home.
"Shouldn't be much further now." Lucas whispered as he came up beside Joseph so not to wake up Dakota.
"Looks like we just might make it before sun set."
Just a twenty minutes later they could make out the silhouettes of headstones indicating the old family cemetery that sat at the edge of the field behind their farm house. As they crossed into the cemetery Lucas looked around "At least there are no new graves I can see, that's always a good sign."
As they neared the edge of the woods they could see the soft rays of light filtering through the foliage basking the cemetery in an eerie orange glow. They broke from the cover of the tree to a sight out of an Andrew Wyeth painting. The old red farm house sitting in the middle of an un-mown field, leaves of all colors littering the ground, the autumn sun setting just over the top of the house, smoke gently rising from the chimney and the warm glow of a fire shining through the boarded up downstairs window.
Home Sweet Home!