Decaying Hearts

Chapter 19

    Black. Pitch black. We could barely see our hands in front of our faces and the sounds of the night brought shivers down my spine. To get to the road we had to cut through the small woodland at the back of the school, making our journey even more treacherous. The setting was dark and sinister with the obvious dangers haunting us.
    As we walked through the shrubbery the groans of the dead grew louder, hungrier. The odd set of teeth would lurch out from the darkness, the smell of our living flesh driving them insane with desire, the desire to feel our bones crunch between their teeth. One on one, the teeth were barely a threat as long as it was put down quickly and quietly. It’s when you’re attacked from all angles, from all directions by a horde of monsters that life starts to get risky.
    There’s very few that survive an attack like that, especially when that person is alone. I was that person once. One night out on the road, I had just settled for the night in a small open area of the woods. I’m not completely sure where abouts in the country I was, place names n longer seemed to matter. I had a small fire lit to keep me warm until dawn. I couldn’t sleep that, or any night, I had leant not too.
    I was alone, in the dark and in the beginning of the outbreak. It seemed somehow even more dangerous then. Over time, you adapt to the environment you’re in and I became all too familiar with the new dangers at hand, but back then it was all new and frightening. Anything new is always frightening; a new job, a new house, a new baby were all scary and unpredictable. Now fear has a whole new meaning.
    I huddled around that fire desperate to keep warm, winter was slowly creeping just around the corner and the icy threat promised to steal every ounce of body heat I could harbour. I remember staring absently into the fire watching the colours of the flames flicker against the night. The oranges and the reds of heat contrasted beautifully against the harsh dark canvas if a winter night. I listened intently to the sound of flames burning through the wood. That’s when I heard them. Behind the intensity of the flames, I heard the growls, the moans of hunger.
    They were hiding in the night’s masquerade whereas the traitorous fire rendered me vulnerable. There was 8 of them surrounding me, it was as though they had learned to hunt their prey and feed together, like lionesses of Africa. Their jaws snapped between their grotesque groans and their arms left outstretched, reaching for me. Their blood shot eyes saw only food; no mercy.
    I had a simple knife and fire, that’s all I had to protect myself. At first I called for help, foolish enough to believe anything other than a mindless corpse would hear me and if somebody could hear me I doubted they would risk their lives to save me. Instead, two more bodies joined the circle of predators. I thought I was a goner, no I was convinced. All I could see was the teeth surrounding me, absently licking their lips, drooling at the sight of me. But I wasn’t going down without a fight.
   I jumped to my feet and pulled the blade from my belt, my grip firm around the handle. My knuckles went white. Adrenaline surged through, my veins like a relentless drug. I was going to survive this, I had decided.
   So I ran towards the closest corpse and drove the black through its skull. Feeling its body go limp, I pulled back my knife and throw the corpse to the ground. A head brings itself round to take a chunk from my neck, but not before the knife made it through its temple. Two down, eight more to go.
    I reached for dry branch nearby, still covered in crisping leaves and stick the end in to the flames, quickly it became a flaming torch. I waft the branch towards the teeth only delaying them for seconds, but those few seconds may be the reason I’m still alive today. I drew a large circle in the ground around me and the ground grew into flames, separating me from them. I stood motionless in the centre using the time to catch my breath. Fatigue was catching up on me.
    It didn’t take long for the bodies to wander through the flames to greet me. It was sickening. I could smell their decaying flesh burn. The forest had become a crematorium. The bodies still through themselves in my direction, but as the flames grew hotter the bodies grew weaker, slower. Slow enough I could take each one of them out before they made it to the centre of the circle. Ten corpses laid motionless and in flames around me.
    I had survived, but now the flames grew closer and threatened my victory. The heat was dire. Sweat poured down my face stinging as beads dripped in to my eyes. Ash from the burning leaves stuck to me like glue, my hands a mangled mix between red and black. I had two options, burn or jump. I went for the latter.
    With a brisk count to three, I ran the short distance between me and the flames and leaped through. Throwing my body instantly into the ground, I rolled in the dirt to kill the flames. With my body alight, I could feel the fire bite at my skin, the pain as merciless as the teeth. But I was alive. I lived. I was lucky.
    The mission into our enemy’s camp, however might not end with similar success. We walked through teeth infested territory in order to infiltrate the camp. There was a strong possibility that we wouldn’t walk away unscathed. My stomach sat heavy and it tossed and it turned. All I could feel was the anxiety running through my body. I just hoped for the best. I had gone too far to turn back.
    Then a corpse ran out from the darkness. Its teeth baring savagely and arms wrapped dangerously around Robert. But Robert was strong, stronger than any of us could have thought for an ageing man. In just a few moments, Robert had thrown the set of teeth over his shoulders and onto its back. The body hit the ground so hard we could see the ribs snap through the missing chunks of its torso. Swiftly and quietly, Robert ran his blade through its forehead and returned to his feet.
    “Robert, are you okay?” I whispered urgently, hoping he hadn’t been bit. The lack of light meant I could only tell the tale of events from hearing alone. I feared the worst.
    “I’m good.” He said plainly, panting to catch his breath.