Chapter 42: Of Hunter and Man
An ear-shattering shriek rent the air as one of the Hunters pounced off the greenhouse roof, launching itself at Louis, who cried out in shock and threw himself to the ground, ducking under the blow. The predator's scream of rage turned to one of surprise as it completely overshot the roof and disappeared over the edge.
Quick as a flash, Bill whipped up the pistol and fired off three shots at the other two Hunters, but they ducked out of sight. "Get your ass up! We gotta move!"
Francis had already vaulted over the edge and dropped down to a lower part of the roof. "Come on!" he yelled.
The others quickly joined him, and then they were off, running for their lives across the rooftop. A shriek tore out from behind them, and Zoey glanced back to see one of the Hunters drop down to their level, almost immediately followed by the other. The group kept on running, vaulting over any handrails or air-conditioning units that got in their way. There was no time to run around them.
"Make for the next rooftop!" Bill ordered. "We're gonna have to jump for it!"
"Are you serious?" Louis could not help but yell.
A hungry growl to Francis' left caught his attention, and he looked over to see the first Hunter – the one that had flown over the edge – running alongside them. "Bill!" he shouted, pointing.
The older man raised his pistol arm and fired passing shots at the Hunter as he ran. It howled in fright and leapt away to the left to get out of his line of fire.
The edge of the rooftop came up abruptly. Without a second thought, Francis put on a burst of speed and jumped across the gap to the next rooftop, feeling the adrenaline surge through him as he soared over an alleyway far below. As soon as he landed on his feet, he tucked into a roll and let his body absorb the impact of the landing. However, when the burly man rose to his feet, he saw the ever-persistent first Hunter rushing at him, its claws poised to strike.
"Shit!" he cried, swinging his crowbar down at the creature's head.
Its left hand grabbed the weapon, stopping it in mid-swing. Its other claw then viscously raked across Francis' chest, sending him flying backward through the air and the crowbar clattering away along the roof. The biker landed painfully on his side and slid several feet, gasping as the wind was knocked from him. He looked up to see the Hunter crouched down, with both claws spread wide as it prepared to pounce.
At that moment, Bill landed between them, levelled the pistol with the creature's face and fired twice at point-blank range.
"I owe you one, old man," Francis grunted, climbing to his feet as Zoey and Louis jumped over the gap to join them on the next roof.
"How's your chest?" the war veteran inquired as he reloaded.
"Fine – it just nicked me."
A loud howl from behind spurred everyone back into action, taking off across the roof. They vaulted over obstacles and jumped over skylights as though they were running a deadly Parkour course. The two remaining Hunters in pursuit screamed in frustration – the scattering of railings, low roofs and skylights prevented a clear shot at their prey, and they were forced to navigate the obstacles on foot.
"What the hell – " Louis panted, "– are we gonna do? We can't keep running forever!"
"We have to find somewhere secure!" Zoey shouted as she vaulted over a handrail.
The terrifying scream of a Hunter exploded in their ears as one of them saw an opportunity and launched itself at Bill. He cried out in pain as the creature collided with him and forced him to the ground, straddling his waist and digging its talons into his back. Luckily, Louis was right behind them and swung his tyre-iron, striking the monster in the back. In howled in pain and leapt away across the roofs to avoid the panicked combatant's next swing.
"Come on Bill," he panted, helping the old man to his feet. "You aren't dead yet!"
The intense fear for their lives spurred everyone to make the next jump – across the deep drop between buildings – over to the far rooftop as quickly as possible. Once they were all over, Louis took point with the tyre-iron while Bill covered the rear, Francis having lost his crowbar and Zoey's tiny knife being little more than a token gesture in the savage face of a Hunter.
Their other pursuer crouched down and then soared upward into the air with a mighty leap as its arms flailed, flying over the alleyway and landing on top of a rooftop stairwell to Zoey's immediate left.
"Bill!" she shouted, pointing.
He cursed and emptied an entire clip firing at the Hunter. It caught two bullets to an arm and leg and screamed in pain, ducking out of sight. Meanwhile, Louis had realised that the nearest building was taller than the one they were currently on. There was no way they would be able to make it to that roof.
"Which way now?" he shouted desperately, over a gargling screech. The two relentless predators must have regrouped, and were now closing in.
"Get into the stairwell!" Zoey shouted, pointing. "Anything's better than staying out here!"
Everyone seemed to agree to this, and Louis led the way into the murky stairwell, raising his weapon cautiously as Bill closed the door behind them. They slowly made their way down the stairs, ears perked for any noises. A loud crash from above drew their attention.
"The Hunters are breaking down the door…" Bill murmured.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Two Common Infected stormed out of a hallway to the left on the current landing, their faces bloody and eyes wild. Louis swung the tyre-iron, cracking the skull of the man in front. The other one bared its teeth and sprang forward, but was stopped in action by Zoey's knife, embedded in its heart. Both attackers fell dead, and she quickly wiped the knife blade clean on their clothes.
"Nice work," Francis remarked, genuinely surprised.
Zoey on the other hand, was quite shocked at what she had done. Sure, she acted on instinct and saved Louis' life, but Jesus, she had stabbed someone. It was one thing to shoot them, but to get up close and personal like that...
Another crash from upstairs rudely reminded everyone of their current predicament and they continued down the stairs. The sounds of commotion had attracted two more Common Infected who were bounding up the stairs two at a time, only to be shot dead by Bill.
"Come on," he grunted. "We've gotta find somewhere to hole up, or at least somewhere defensible."
The survivors presently reached the bottom of the stairs and barrelled out of the fire-door and into the street. The scene was quite similar to that of the streets in Fairfield; corpses, rubble and crashed cars lay strewn all over the road. There was one salient difference however; everything was charred and burned, a grim reminder of the fire-bombing that had occurred here. A thin layer of ash coated the pavement.
"Over there!" Francis said, pointing across the street to a shop with barred windows. "It's a gun shop!"
"Those bars ought to keep the Hunters out," Bill nodded in agreement, leading the way across the road.
Most of the glass of the windows had long been blown-out, but by some miracle, it looked like the interior of the store was mostly intact and still secure. They made their way up to the entrance, only to find it locked up tight.
"Oh crap oh crap oh crap…" Zoey uttered, her eyes flitting about the street in a nervous lookout for incoming threats.
"Can you pick this lock, Francis?" Bill hissed urgently.
"Already on it," the man grunted as he knelt in front of the door. "I've done this a thousand times…"
"What were you, some sort of spy?" Louis half-joked, half exclaimed in rising panic.
"Try petty criminal," the oldest member of the group snorted as he adjusted his grip on the pistol.
"Lucky for you, Bill, you're right there," the biker grinned as the door swung open. "Pretty surprising, I was expecting a challenge."
No one wasted any time piling into the dark gun store and barricading the entrance with all the nearby moveable shelves that could be found. In the flurry of movement, Zoey could have sworn she saw a fleeting shadow in the street just outside.
However, just as quickly as she saw it, it was gone.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Parkour is an absolute blast – try it out if you haven't already. Although I can image the fun factor drops somewhat when you're being chased by three bloodthirsty Hunters.
If you feel like playing a cool little Parkour platform game I found, check it out here (obviously replace 'DOT' with periods):
sandbox DOT yoyogames DOT com/games/142650-gods-watch#
I'm flattered by all the people asking if there is going to be a sequel. This story is nowhere near done, so I haven't given it much thought.
Thanks for the feedback, please keep the reviews coming, all that good stuff.