Afterworld: Into the Arms of Darkness Ch.18
Title: Afterworld: Into the Arms of Darkness
By: Pink Rabbit Productions
Chapter: 18
Date: 23 September, 2010
Disclaimer: Hmmm, characters, not mine, situation, mine, though with the proviso that certain scenarios owe a major debt of gratitude to George Romero. Sex? Likely. Genders involved? Likely all female (at least anything on camera). Also there are likely to be very bad things in this story. I'm not one for prodigious amounts of gore, but this is horror and there is likely to be ickiness and things that might disturb some folks. Seriously. If it's gonna bother you, move along.
Summary: When the dead rise, civilization falls.
Author's Notes: Awhile back, just for fun, I did a faux movie poster that set Otalia in a horror setting and used some elements from an idea I've had running around for ages (what can I say---it was the Halloween season). See the poster here: http://altfic.com/artgallery/otalia/glafterworld01b.htm . Sooo, at some point, it seemed like fun to take a gander at writing them in that universe. I've quite deliberately tried to break away from my usual style and make it a bit faster moving, with frequent chapter breaks, deliberate cliffhangers, shorter scenes and more directed pov. We'll see if I can keep to one pov per chapter (well, they are short chapters...lol).
Dedicated to: My mom. Seriously. All of my growing up years, she would constantly throw me these what-if scenarios and press me to figure out logical ways to survive/get out of various emergency situations. Now, she never mentioned the zombie apocalypse, but I'm sure that was just an oversight or a desire not to scare a little kid (because, really, I grew up as the daughter of a top secret type during the cold war...I already had enough fear issues), but really, that odd little game was the genesis of...well...not just this story, but a lot of my love of writing. So, thanks mom.
Previous Chapters: | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 |
Afterworld:
Into the Arms of Darkness
Chapter 18
Running drew them like it drew any predator, made them salivate for fresh meat, and take chase.
But sometimes it was the only chance for survival.
Natalia ran.
Track shoes pounding deep, morning-wet grass that threatened to send her skidding with every step, Natalia threw every muscle into every stride, arms and legs pumping as hard as possible to gain every inch.
She hit the doorway and flung herself through, the damp rubber of her shoes squeaking as she hit the tile floor. A fast spin back and a hard shove. She slammed the door while Reva was still a good ten feet away.
Two of the boards used to barricade the door had shattered, but a third had only bounced out of the supports and remained unbroken. She grabbed for it, slamming it home and putting her full weight on it no more than a heart beat before Reva impacted the door.
The whole thing jarred so hard Natalia almost couldn't hold on, but she knew that if she let go, the brace might well repeat the action of the night before and bounce free.
If that happened, she'd just end up one more wanderer shambling around town.
Worse, Emma probably would too.
Another jarring impact and a roar and then another and another. But she held on. She'd done it before, she silently reminded herself. She could do it again. Even as that thought went through her head, Natalia heard her own voice, crying out reflexively against the pummeling blows that seemed far too powerful for anything to stand up against them long.
As if in confirmation, she thought she heard a creak from the wood barricade.
And then as suddenly as it had begun, the hammering stopped. She waited one beat and then another, expecting another impact with each passing second, but it didn't come.
Her breath coming in ragged pants, heart pounding so hard against her ribs it was a wonder none had broken, she staggered back a step. There were spare boards for the barricades-good, hard-wood 2"x12"s-just around the corner in the dining room. It took all of her self control to step away from the door and go after them.
It felt like it took at least an hour and her hands were trembling with the rush of adrenaline, but finally she slammed the last board home. Not perfect, but unless Reva's shouts brought a lot more, it was probably strong enough to hold.
With a moment's breathing room, she darted to the peephole installed in the wall near the door, slipping the cover-plate aside to stare out at the surrounding world. She got there just in time to see Reva and Remy both chasing after something thrown from a window over her head.
A small ball, white with pastel polka dots...
And delicate crimson spatters.
It bounced and tumbled, and they chased after it like dogs after a toy, scrambling and banging into each other ungracefully, their efforts kicking it even farther away from the house.
Natalia's head tipped up and in the sudden quiet, she heard the soft patter of tiny feet.
Emma.
One of the bedroom windows overlooked the kitchen door. She must have seen. Saying a tiny prayer of thanks, Natalia peered through the spyhole again, quickly spotting the remains of a few more shredded toys. The girl must have drawn her own blood and spread it on the toys to draw Reva and Remy's attention. Resisting the urge to run and check on her, she stayed where she was. Emma had bought her time. It wasn't a gift any of them could afford to have squandered.
A few others were drawn by the excitement, but they'd come too late to see her rush inside and close the door, so they ignored it completely.
As she watched Reva and Remy chased down the ball and started fighting for possession, the scent of fresh blood driving them to rage against each other.
The door was forgotten for now and unlikely to be remembered anytime soon.
Nonetheless, she found the screw gun and used the last of its charge to drive zip screws through each of the boards, fastening them to the pins that held them in place on either side of the door. The battery died on the last one, the motor grinding uselessly and forcing her to use it like a ratchet to drive the screw the last half inch.
Finally, sweat clinging to her skin, her body shaking from the after-effects of an adrenaline rush, she stepped back. It wouldn't hold up to unlimited force, but it should do for the moment. A quick check out the spyhole confirmed that Emma had quit throwing blood-spattered toys. Wasn't needed anymore. Reva and Remy had both moved on and the others were just milling. They wouldn't stay long.
Her breath coming in heaving pants, she backed up another step, her first thought that she needed to get upstairs to Emma. The poor kid was probably terrified.
She was just considering that problem when she heard a soft sound from upstairs. Rhythmic, probably not the first time, but she'd missed it in the chaos. The soft rustling of feet-not small ones either-shuffling on a wooden floor followed by a familiar, metallic rattle.
Damn.
Josh was there after all...
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TBC