They Walk

Chapter Twenty Six

As the sun is setting, we are all packed back up in the truck and are heading to Emily’s house. It took almost an hour before the others came out of Marias house, but they had Michael with them. It had to have taken some convincing to get him out of his room. Not that I blame him, if the monsters were in his house, it doesn’t make sense to go out where there could potentially be more of them. But he got in the truck with no problem; he’s sitting with Dan and Maria in the back.

Claire is driving again with Emily up front beside her, so that leave Sam, Gabe and I in the middle.

Emily’s house is farther away from the other’s we went to. Her small two story duplex stands at the end of the road before it branches off into a side street leading to the highway. At this end of the street it’s almost quieter somehow. There are less and less things in the road and even fewer movements in the shadows. Pulling into her empty driveway feels more like just going to a friend’s house, and less like a disaster waiting to happen.

Once the truck is off, Emily doesn’t make a move to get out, but neither do the rest of us.

“Push over Sam, let me out.” Gabe says.

Sam hesitates for a second before jumping out and holding the door for Gabe. Taking the gun out of his belt, he goes to Emily’s door and opens it for her. With wide eyes, she just stares at him like the rest of us are. One arm resting on the door, he leans into her.

“Look Em, I’m not going to lie to you alright. Things have been pretty bad, and we can’t know for sure what we’ll find in your house. All I know for certain is that you don’t have to go in alone. I can’t speak for everyone else, but I have your back.”

I swear I could have heard a pin drop at that moment. I think all of us are just gazing up at him in aw, especially Emily. I try to squash the tiny ball of jealousy that’s floating in me, now isn’t the time for it.

“I don’t know what to say, but thank you.” She gives him an uncertain smile, and as he steps back, she jumps down from her seat.

She’s holding a small butcher knife that we got from Austin’s and without waiting for the rest of us, she starts for her house. As Gabe turns to follow her, the rest of us get out, not bothering to leave someone in the truck. It’s almost fully dark now, and it can’t be safe to out here alone. Dan goes inside the door right after Gabe, and I’m right at his heels. The others follow close behind me.

I try to mentally prepare what could be in the darkened house.

The first thing I notice is that no one is screaming and it’s eerily quiet. The second thing is the smell. It’s a good smell though, a freshly clean smell like nothing bad happened here. I only walk far enough into the house to make room for the others. I’ve never been here before, and it’s a little creepy with no lights.

I can’t even make out Dan before me.

A small flickering light forms across the room, and as it gets closer, I see Emily holding a candle. Gabe and Dan are flanking her, and they don’t look worried.

“There’s no one here, but it looks like my folks and sisters never came home. There are no cars, so maybe they got to somewhere safe already?”

I can see the hesitation on everyone’s faces, but we offer her nods and smiles of encouragement. We all walk away from the door and merge toward the light, like moths to a flame.

“Hey Em, maybe we should stay here for the night. Would that be alright with you?” Maria asks, as Michael huddles closer to her.

“We really shouldn’t be out after dark anyway I suppose. There are flashlights and candles under the sink in the kitchen.” She points to the beyond behind her. “The closet in the living room has spare pillows and blankets, if you all want to help yourselves. I’ll be upstairs, really need to change.” With a smile she makes her way up the stairs to her left.

The rest of us split up then, the guys go off to the kitchen for light and I hope food. Me, Claire, and Maria find the linens in the closet and begin to set piles out for everyone. I guess it’s kind of implied that we’ll be sleeping in the living room tonight. Not that I mind, the closer everyone is the better. After the guys join us and share the new found light we begin sorting through the supplies. When we start passing around peanut butter sandwiches, Maria and Claire go in search of a bathroom to clean up in.

I opt out though, I’m pretty much as clean as I’m going to get.

As I sit down on the couch with a yawn, the guys start debating what we should do in the morning. At the other end of the couch are Gabe and he keeps checking his gun to make sure the safety is still on. Across from us, on the loveseat are Dan and a still pretty shaken up Michael. Sam is perched on the recliner between us, and he keeps fidgeting nervously.

“Should we really try to get to the places the TV alert talked about?” Sam asks.

“What else can we do? We can’t exactly hold up here forever.” Dan retorts.

“But that message we saw was on yesterday, before, the power went out. So how are we going to find it?”

“They couldn’t have gone that far. The whole town isn’t walking down Main Street, so I assume some of them got away. What do you think Gabe?” Dan asks as he turns to him.

“I don’t really know. Staying or going doesn’t really matter either way; both options can’t turn out that well.” He has his head bowed and finally places the gun on the coffee table and leans back on the couch.

“How can you even think like that?” Dan replies, and I can’t help but notice the hurt tone in his voice.

“How can I not Daniel, have you not seen the shit I have? Do we really want to go down a path that could get more of us killed?” His voice rises a little bit, but he doesn’t move from his spot.

Rather than get worked up like the guys, I can’t seem to keep my eyes open. I try to remember the last time I slept, but I can’t. All I know for sure is that my eyes are so heavy they feel like lead. Shifting to my right, I lean on the side of the couch. Laying my head down, I bring my legs up on the couch and tuck them to my chest.

“Guys, calm down. We all know things are bad, but we need to be smart here. We’re just kids; we could just hide here until help comes.” Sam says as he gets out of the chair.

“What about our families then Sam? Are we just supposed to forget about them, and hope they are all right? Sorry, but I can’t. If there is a chance I could find them, I will.” Dan stands up now and is facing off with Sam.

My eye’s close again and I try to pay attention, since what they are saying includes all of us. But each time I shut my eyes, they’re voices get smaller and smaller. My breathing is getting slower and my body feels weightless. The voices are so quiet now, that they just sound like static. My head feels like it’s spinning in a funnel and the static sound rises and falls around me. As the static fills my ears, it changes; it becomes the sound of waves crashing into one another. I lose the funnel feeling then, and it’s replaced with the sensation that my body is being pulled into different directions.

I know I’m dreaming when I see a wide expanse of water.

It’s night, so the water looks dark grey, and the waves roar into each other violently. But the sky above is getting lighter, and the color of the water is more visible. Slowly it gets darker and lighter at the same time, and when a wave crashes and sprays, it’s the color of blood. The water seems endless to me then, and not peaceful. The feeling of being tossed around in the waves returns, and I see a hand rising from the water. I try to reach for it, but I’m just watching and not a participant.

The whole arm is extended now, and another is right beside it. A head appears and the hair is darkened by the blood. As the face breaks the surface, its mouth is open in a silent scream. And I scream with it, because it’s me that’s coming from the water. I shift in the dream then, and now I’m the one in the water trying to break free. But the current is strong and I get pushed under by a wave. My lungs fill up with blood as I scream trying to pull myself to the surface. I’m spinning now, and the surface is getting farther and farther away. I look down below, and I see arms reach for me. And even over the roaring sound of the water I can hear their deathly moans. Something grabs my arms, and I kick wildly stretching for the light above me.

A body floats in front of me, and as it gets close I can hear it calling my name.

It’s Gabe.

He says my name again and the nightmare disappears.