Restless

The Metal Fortress Falls

Thomas was not able to sleep, every few minutes he would wake up, hand gripping the gun Randy had given him. Thomas could not rest anywhere near the man who killed his father. Uncle Remus was no man, he was a monster, as bad as the dead ones who roamed outside the walls. He hated this place, a place his father had to go to for money when he was in debt.

Which made him indebted to Uncle. Thomas was going to see to it that Uncle died before too long. Thomas could bide his time, he has done it before. When he was little, he had to wait out his Uncle's taunts. Now he would wait for the time to strike at Uncle.

It would be a game of chess, moves done in preparation for the final blow, a trap laid down. Or maybe it wouldn't, Thomas didn't know yet. With the apocalypse going on outside their very door, things may very well accelerate.

Thomas laid wide awake, exhausted but unable to sleep. Uncle was ruthless, but wasn't the most cunning. Uncle was unpredictable, which stirred the pot. Uncle could be easy to be rid of, or hard. It depends on what he does next.

Thomas would have to keep watch, looking for an opening. Thomas's wild planning started to slow, and he closed his eyes. Suddenly, a loud banging brought Thomas to full awareness.

The banging intensified soon after, accompanied by shouting. It was not one of the dead ones, they couldn't speak, at least from the experiences Thomas had. It was another survivor.

Uncle only rolled over in his obviously more comfortable bed, and continued to sleep without acknowledging the noise outside. Then a crony got up to go check the noise. It had to stop, or they would risk attracting more dead ones into the area.

Uncle's man pulled the visor across, revealing the outside. The crony, sounding surprised, exclaimed, "Christ! It's Phil, we have to let him inside."

The crony yanked open the door.

"Come on man, we thought you were one of them. When you didn't come back with supplies ... But never mind that, you're back, and we're going to need you," the crony said, to the dark, night filled landscape.

A moment passed, leaving Thomas feeling nervous. Presented with safety, this crony called Phil should have rushed in by now. This couldn't bode well.

Before Thomas could shout, Phil launched himself from the shadows. The faint light from the lanterns in the room gave a grim look upon the two combating cronies.

The one that had been Phil was now shown to have been bitten by numerous, ferocious dead ones over a day ago, and had died. Now he was walking again, even though most of his midsection had been torn from his body.

The crony lost his grip on the dead one's head, and the crony screamed as the dead one burrowed his face into his neck, tearing into his flesh with his bared teeth. Everyone was jolted awake by the turmoil, but no one reacted as fast as Thomas, who was already awake.

Thomas immediately pulled out his gun and pulled the trigger. But he wasn't aiming for the dead one, he shot at his uncle who was attempting to rise from his bed.

Uncle was hit in the gut, and buckled down to his knees. "Damn you Thomas!" Uncle Remus manages to croak. "The blood will attract them, and doom us all!"

Lindsey cried out.

"Stay calm, and behind me," Randy said, picking up his gun. Everyone was silenced, except for Phil, who was silenced by Uncle's other crony with a gunshot, when moans and screeches were heard outside.

A bloody hand gripped the metal doorframe for a terrifying moment. Then the dead one pulled its terrible face in, looming with a greedy countenance. It wanted to feast, it smelled the newly spilled blood, and the door was left wide open for it.