Once Bitten: Twice Mad

Chapter Twenty-One

"I reckon you're right." He agreed. "We'll go ahead and make our way out of the barn at least. Check out the house. It looks like it's a good sized place. Might have a bed for each of us for the night and we can scavenge up all the supplies we can and leave out in the morning."

Frankie thought about mentioning now that she wasn't staying but then decided to wait. A night spent fairly safe in a real house with a real bed was just too tempting to pass up. Besides if she played this right and earned them, Colt might just fork over some supplies for her to take with her when she left.

"Alright everybody, it's time to get out of this barn and into the house." Colt called out more loudly and Frankie saw Katherine coming down off the loft and Silas led Charlotte from the back stall. Charlotte's face was splotchy and it was clear she'd spent much of her day crying as her eyes were red and swollen. She also had that sheet she seemed attached to, wrapped around her like a sling.

"You hurt?" Frankie asked and she shook her head.

"Silas showed me how to use the sheet to hold Grace so I can have my hands free." Charlotte replied and Frankie saw the sheet squirm a little. Though it was unclear to Frankie why the woman needed her hands free when she had no weapons in them.

"No gunshots unless we have no choice." Colt warned as he grabbed up a pitchfork and tested the weight of it in his hands. Frankie nodded as she pulled the hatchet from the holster she'd crafted for it from her hip. This little thing was quiet, light and handy.

Comanche had his bow and arrows and his long knife that Frankie knew he was damn dangerous with, Katherine held a short shovel firmly in her hands and Silas had his shot gun held like a club while Charlotte had..... Well she had the baby, Frankie supposed she could always throw it if need be... though she doubted that was the woman's plan.

From what Frankie had seen of her she would probably just scream and cry and cling to Silas begging him to keep her safe.

Colt looked around at everyone and then nodded before sliding the wooden board from between the slats and pushing open the large doors of the barn. The door creaked open and Frankie felt her body pulsing with anticipation. She loved killing rabid. She hated these monsters that had taken so much from her and killing them brought her more satisfaction than anything else in the world.

Frankie was pulled from her thoughts when Colt let out a low growl and charged forward, sending the sharp tines of the pitchfork in his hands through the head of a snarling rabid before spinning, with the rabid still attached to the sharp end of his pitchfork and slamming the other end into the temple of a second rabid, crushing the monster's skull.

"Wow...." Frankie said with a nod as Colt kicked the first rabid off the long tines with a wet squelch. "I'm impressed." Colt just grunted in response and Frankie smiled. "You've come a long way from your shovel swinging days that I remember."

Frankie swung her hatchet, taking off the head of a rabid before stomping her boot against its face and smashing its skull.

"Shit." Colt grumbled.

"It's about to get interesting." Comanche added and Frankie followed his gaze to see the small group of rabid coming from the woods, drawn by the commotion. Frankie didn't have time to do a headcount but she figured it was around twenty rabid, and she hoped the herd wasn't coming back and that these were only stragglers from this morning's feeding frenzy on J.B. It was only luck that had kept the herd from tearing down the barn the night before and Frankie wasn't all that sure they'd get that lucky again.

Soon the rabid were upon them and life became surviving instead of thinking as they all fought against the advancing monsters.

Frankie heard a scream and wasn't surprised to realize it was Charlotte. Frankie swung her hatchet, splitting open the forehead of a female rabid before turning her eyes to Silas and realizing what had Charlotte screaming.