Drool dripped down the face of a man who couldn't do more than trudge along the ground. The saliva landed on his already tattered and bloodied shirt. The rips and tears were the results of reckless parkouring, crawling and wrestling. The stains, from chewing on the flesh of helpless victims caught in his grasp. Among him were more just like him, aimlessly creeping about the front yard of the house that had been broken into by even more just like him. There were so many hunters inside, with so few prey, it wasn't even worth going in the house. The lot that patrolled the yard hoped for fresh meat to emerge.
There was a flash that caught one of their eyes. From the peripheral of another male's vision, a door across the street swung wide open. He turned towards the house.
It was too dark for him to see what was going on inside. Which made the mystery of what was to be found even more intriguing. There had to be a human in there, cause doors don't open on their own.
He sprinted toward it. In a single moment, the bloodied man had crossed the street and made it to the porch of the mysterious house. What was inside became even more clear. It was a hallway, with some arches on both sides. It was so dark that almost nothing could be made out. With flailing arms, the bloodied man rushed into the home, barging in through the wide open door.
His right foot stomped in. But it didn't stop where it landed. Before he realized it, both of his feet were sliding across the floor. Everything around him became a blur. His arms spun around trying to stop his momentum, but it was no use. At the end of the hall, he noticed a blue wall, a strange design decision. He continued gliding across the wooden floor until coming face-to-face with it. He slammed right into it, only he didn't. It was soft, and wrinkly? It wasn't a wall, it was a blanket. With quick wits, he grabbed a hold of the blanket to prevent himself from falling. Before he could even look around, he felt a cold twinge in his lung. His entire chest suddenly felt like it was tightening. He looked down, and inside of his chest, was a makeshift spear of a fairly large kitchen knife, duct tape, and a stick. It had burst through the blanket and right into him. He tried to retaliate, but the spear retreated almost immediately. His grip on the blanket began to loosen against his will. He felt something warm gushing onto his already stained clothes. Gradually, he dropped to his knees, then laid on his back. He felt a bulging in his head, like something was trying to force him to move. But it was no use. His entire body began to go numb as his vision blurred. All he could do was attempt to blink the pain away. But his eyelids began to feel heavy as well. It became harder to open them after every blink. Just when his eyes opened for the final time, he noticed at the entrance of the hallway, another man, just like him, came dashing in. His eyes closed for the final time as the other man's foot carried him to the same fate.
"There's two more coming in."
Darnell and Alicia heard Michael's voice from the speaker of the phone, instructing that two more freaks were running into the house. They both clutched their spears tighter, preparing for another thrust through the blanket.
"Get ready!" Darnell shouted towards Alicia.
"Ready!" she shouted back.
Almost right after, the sound of shrieking could be heard on the other side, then right after, the blanket jerked. Through the blanket, the figure of a man was embedded into it, allowing Darnell to know just where to strike. Like lightning, Darnell thrust the spear through the blanket into what he guessed was the chest. The blade tore right through the fabric and went out the other side. He felt a tight grip on the other end, it had sunken into something firm. Bingo. Darnell withdrew the spear. A crimson liquid trickled down the blade, signifying his success. It was faint, but there was some gurgling on the other side. Alicia was hypnotized by Darnell's skill. To the point she didn't even realize that there was another jerk in the blanket, this time on her side.
"Alicia!" Darnell yelled, right before thrusting his spear into the blanket once more, hearing the shluk of his blade puncture another target.
"I'm sorry!" Alicia stammered, regaining her focus.
From behind them, they heard Michael's voice again, "They're coming in a lot faster, zombie after zombie after zombie."
Darnell posted up with his spear again, "Stay focused Alicia!"
"Yessir!" she shouted back. She couldn't mess this up, everyone's lives were at stake, including Darnell's. She clutched onto her spear as tight as she could, narrowing her eyes, and prepared herself. Alicia was determined to make blood spill by her hands. More shrieking could be heard on the other side of the blanket. It was time again.
There was a squeak, a shriek, then a boom as another figure slammed into the blanket. It was dead in the middle, and just like they agreed beforehand, Darnell would strike first. And so he did. Another direct hit. Alicia did not let herself get distracted with Darnell's work, and it paid off because before Darnell could even pull his spear back out, another figure flew into the blanket. Alicia didn't waste a breath. She plunged her spear into the blanket with all of her might. She aimed for where the core of the figure should be. Just like in practice, the spear went clean through the blanket, then she felt it get stuck. The green flecks of her eyes gleamed at the indication of this feeling. Alicia stomped down and yanked the spear out from the blanket. And just as she'd hoped, her spear came back out dripping with the blood of her slain enemy. Her heart jumped for joy when it was clear she had succeeded, but she couldn't celebrate yet. She managed to stay focused. Her spear at the ready.
Darnell struck another one on his side. A body landed in the middle, Alicia took it with full confidence, the same feeling from before. Then another one, on Darnell's, he took it out just as swiftly as the others. Then one on Alicia's, she didn't hesitate and struck directly where its body landed, and another enemy slain. One by one, the freaks kept coming. Like Whack-A-Mole, the duo kept striking as their targets kept arriving. It was very fortunate that Darnell expressed a perfectionist attitude towards the set-up of the blanket. The tape wound the blanket tightly around the pillar of the arches on both sides. If it had been assembled with even a slight hint of laziness, their lives could have ended much sooner.
"Dodger! Dodger!" Michael's voice came from the phone speaker. Darnell immediately slid to the side to peer around the pole the blanket was attached to. The freaks were catching on. One of them managed to dodge the oil and came running around the hallway. There were no walls separating the side rooms from the dining room. There was a short decline and a waist-high barrier between the dining room and the side rooms, but that wasn't enough to stop those monsters.
The one that managed to dodge the oil in the hall came running towards the dining room. Darnell anticipated its arrival with ferocity. It noticed Darnell and immediately went for him, jumping up the wall in a flash. It knew Darnell awaited it on the other side. What it didn't know, was that its fate was the same as the others that had collided with the blanket. On top of the wall, an overabundance of butter lied in wait. As soon as it used its hands to leap over the wall, it immediately slipped and stumbled over face first. And like a mouse caught in a lion's den, it couldn't save itself.
Alicia heard the grotesque splurge of Darnell's blade puncturing the "Dodger" to her right. She couldn't turn away from the blanket. Because another body fell into it. Alicia plunged her spear into it, bullseye. Before she knew it, Darnell was back at her side.
"I can't count them anymore, there's too many! The bodies at the blanket are piling up! More dodgers!"
"That's it. We done here!" Darnell shouted to Alicia over the violent shrieks coming from the hallway and the front door. Another monster, a female, managed to get over the wall. With a grunt, Darnell spun around and shot his spear directly into its throat before it even landed.
"C'mon!" Darnell yelled again.
Darnell and Alicia bolted out the backdoor of the dining room into the backyard. The backdoor was completely covered in duct tape so they could no longer see what was happening inside. Darnell held Alicia's arm as they sprinted around the house, jumped the fence and regrouped with Michael, who'd been hiding behind an overgrown bush. The three of them watched the house, and before long, the shatter of glass could be heard. That was Vanessa.
She was instructed to remain completely hidden until the street was clear of the monsters, which meant it was safe to come out. Darnell, Michael, and Alicia emerged from the bush to find Vanessa jamming the front door of the house shut. There was a roaring coming from within the building.
"Good stuff V!" Darnell exclaimed to her as all four of them began running down the street to Tristan's house. This was it. The last stage of the operation. Suddenly, a gargantuan shockwave shook the ground beneath them. The sound managed to cause Vanessa to stumble to her knees. Vanessa looked back, and sure enough, everything went according to plan. Or actually, better. What was supposed to be a house fire created by a lighter she threw through the window, became an explosion that caused the entire house to erupt nearly instantaneously.
Darnell immediately reached for Vanessa to help her up. He looked back at the house and remarked, "Gas leak, I guess?"
Vanessa shrugged her shoulders. All four of them continued to rush to Tristan's house. As soon as they reached his front yard, the second part of the plan commenced. They had no idea how much more they'd have to go through before seeing Tristan. What exactly lied in wait for them now?