The only sound was that of the beasts banging their bodies against the door. I was kneeling next to Tony, I couldn't imagine leaving him here or moving him either. Number 1 came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. Standing up I turned around and hugged her. Dani had stood up and was attempting to open the small translucent window above the bath. He had to break it open. His arm was cut and bleeding, but he didn't hesitate to pick off the broken glass surrounding the edges.
"We have to go." He whispered. He picked up Eve. Number 1 was looking down and then turned around to climb out the small window. The door was cracking, it was down to the four of us. Dani helped Eve out and Number 1 caught her. He followed, I stayed behind. Taking one last glance back at my new friend. I haven't known him for long, but I feel like we've been friends for years, when it's only been a month. Stepping up I reached out of the window, the door was nearly broken down. I jumped back out and over to Tony.
"Protect us one last time bud." I whispered into his ear, for a moment I thought I heard him whisper, but knew it was impossible. They would be distracted by him and not notice the window. I dragged him over to the side of the tub and propped him up facing the door, "Goodbye, Tony."
Climbing through the window I jumped onto the soft grass. We listened as the door broke down, we could hear their barks and growls louder than before. Then the sound of squishy skin and rough bones burst through the air, and Eve threw up, we ran, they were tearing him apart. There was nowhere to go, we didn't know if we were running to the front or the back. It was the back. The back was fenced in by a ugly broken down wire fence, that looked like barbed wire. We crawled through a large hole in the bottom and went into the back yard. It was big, full of trash, bones from the dogs dead victims, and mud.
I lead them to the big tree in the back, it was large enough for all of us to sit in. I went up first with Eve on my back, I took her to the biggest branch so she could lay on it, Dani got the one next to her. Number 1 climbed the tree with ease and took the branch next to me, we were the highest up. You could see she had been crying because the dirt on her face had lines of clean cheek showing. It was the same for all of us. Dani and Eve were talking, loud enough for all of us to hear.
"Stop talking like that." Dani commanded.
"But it's true." Her voice was soft and delicate.
"What's happening?" I ask.
"She wants us to leave her here. She says she's slowing us down." Dani complained.
"Come on Eve that's so cliché, even for you"
"But I am. I can't walk, obviously, and I can't fight back anymore. You may as well leave me here, this way I might not get hurt anymore."
"We're so close though, if you just last a little longer, this may be the last one we have to deal with before this ends and we can all go home together." I say.
"But I'm slowing you down, and maybe if Dani hadn't been holding me, Anthony wouldn't have...."
"You don't know that." Dani told her,
"But I do! This whole thing sucks, I feel like I'm dying slowly and the more I die the more I bring you guys down. And even if we survive this I don't want to live like this useless piece of shit for the rest of my life!"
"Evelyn! Stop right now. You're over exaggerating and being dramatic." Dani yelled at her.
A few solid seconds passed before Eve pushed herself out of the tree. Dani was unable to grab her. We were high enough to cause some real damage, and she had purposefully fell face first. We could only watch as she hit the ground. A loud crunch echoing in the air. She lay motionless at the bottom of the tall tree. We immediately began climbing down, Dani reached her first, and began screaming her name. She had committed suicide. We almost had a safe space. Dani was holding Eve's corpse and bawling. Number 1 was crying with her hands to her face, I was in shock. Eve hadn't been talking much and was apparently depressed. We had been friends for a while and I couldn't tell, no one could.
"What the fuck just happened!" Dani yelled in between breaths.
In the distance I heard the sound of the beasts coming closer, before we could accept what had just happened, I pulled Dani to his feet and we raced back up the tree, without hesitation. We climbed higher than before, trying to get as far as possible. Following the beast's growls, there was the faint sound of my father. The beasts sprinted to the tree, passing Eve, they began to jump and scratch the tree and growl louder than before. My father followed behind them, he was carrying a rifle. He stopped to look at Eve and then passed her, he seemed his normal size, and the dogs seemed to have gotten bigger. We hid behind branches and leaves, he began to shoot randomly missing us every time, but getting closer with each shot.
He fired a shot and it glazed Number 1's arm, she let out a whimper loud enough for me to hear but no one else. How were we gonna get out of this. All of my fears were pushed into one big nightmare, how should I react, should I take control, should I fight back, should I just sit here and let us all die. I took action. Getting a good grip on the large branch, I swung myself around the other side, so the only thing he could hit was my fingers, and that was a very small chance. Dani and Number 1 followed my lead, and eventually, the firing stopped, he must have realized just how bad of a shot he was.
Peaking my head around the side of the branch, I saw him throw the gun on the ground, he had finally ran out of bullets. He kicked the beasts aside and they scurried away, returning to their original size. He stomped his way over to the shed and started throwing things this way and that. He was searching for his box of bullets. We immediately started crawling down the tree. Jumping off we ran to the other side of the house unsure if we should go inside or try running away again. We stood still. He came back from the shed with the box, and picked up his rifle. Looking up into the tree, all the leaves had begun to fall. Small white snowflakes followed.
An indescribable odor came next. We were standing outside of my parents bedroom. "What is that smell!" Dani complained.
Number 1 and him were covering their noses. I recognized the smell almost immediately. My father turned away from the dead tree and walked around the other side of the house. "I get the feeling you're about to find out."
"You make it sound like you already know the answer to that question, why are you being so mysterious?" Dani asked.
"I'm not... it's just hard to talk about."
We peeked our heads around the corner. I looked over at where Eve had been and she was gone, he hadn't taken her and neither had the dogs. It was changing again. Running to the side of the back door, we stood against the wall. The snow fell harder, it was getting colder by the second, we had to go inside or we were going to freeze to death.
"We aren't going to go in are we?" Dani asked.
"It might be better to just get it over with." Number 1 stood behind me, she took a deep breath. I tried to get my legs moving but they wouldn't inch forward. I knew what awaited us and didn't want to go. She must have been able to tell because she put her hand on my back and nudged me forward, just enough to get me to twist the door knob. Pushing the creaky door forward, the odor poured out like water.
"It's smells like rotting flesh!" Dan exclaimed after wiping away the vomit from his mouth.
"I think that's more disgusting than anything." I point at the vomit.
"I'm surprised neither of you did!" He yelled.
"Stop yelling." I whisper.
He pulled his shirt up to his nose to try and cover the smell, but it had already attached itself to our clothes like a parasite. Stepping into the dark kitchen, a loud banging could be heard coming from the door leading to the basement.
"What is happening now?" Dani whispered, walking to the door.
"Don't open it."
"I'm not an idiot." Dani said.
Under my breath I mumbled, "I beg to differ."
Luckily he didn't hear me or else he would've started something.
He put his ear close to the door and waved us over. We stood next to him and listened, trying to hear past the loud banging that was echoing through my head. Following the banging was a cry, it was hard to decipher through the noise and mumbles, but eventually I figured it out "Dad please! Let me out! Let me out!"
"I'm not the only one who hears that right?" Dani asked.
"No, I hear it too, it's me."
Daniel looked over at me, tears had begun to swell in my eyes. He pulled us back and behind the counter in the kitchen, "Alright, it's time you explain yourself."
Sighing, I looked around the edge, "Okay. When I was younger, my mom was diagnosed with some kind of incurable disease, I was never told what it was, just that it was genetic, she had to stay in the house all day every day, and always had machines hooked up to her to keep her alive. One day, I left to go out with Johnny," I stopped to look at Number 1. She was looking down, Dani didn't want to look me in the eyes, I continued, "I didn't know that my dad was out drinking, just so you know it was noon, when I got home, 6 hours later, I heard a loud thud from my mom's room. I ran into her room to see her lying face down, her IV had come out of her arm and she was bleeding, she was barely conscious. I tried calling 911, but my dad came home and stopped me, he blamed me and threw me in the basement and locked the door. I never heard any sirens or our car start up. I don't know how long I was down there, but it was longer than a month, he would open the door only to throw food and water at me. When he finally let me out, he dragged me into her room where she had been left. She had begun to smell. He had a heart attack, and I was left in the care of my aunt. My fear is my dad, and myself, I'm afraid that I'm going to be like him."
"Dude. I don't know what to say." Dani grabbed my shoulder, he spun me around and hugged me tight, "Don't ever tell anyone about this."
He pushed me back and leaned against the cabinets. Clearing my throat I say, "Well, that's what's happening here..." I was cut off by a shout from the hall.
"Alex! Shut the fuck up you brat!" We stopped talking, the banging stopped as well.
"What should we do?"
"I don't know. How did you guys stop your fears."
"I ran like a wimp." Dani whined.
Number 1 looked at me, we knew what she did, she nearly killed herself, "Tony didn't confront them, Eve killed the zombies but she got hurt, Emma and Johnny were killed. This is all very helpful."
"I don't know why, but this feels different. It's not something inanimate like Tony's, Number 1's, and mine, it's not a large crowd of monsters like zombies or aliens. It's one person, and yourself, this one seems, hard." Dani said.
"I know, I've been thinking about that too."
A rush of cold air went through the kitchen, the smell got worse, "We need to think of something quick or else I'm going to be sick again." Dani gagged.
I peeked around the corner again, we have to conquer my fear, but how? I could kill my dad, but that's horrible, and I can't kill myself. I could stand up to him, but, that might end in one of us getting killed. I can't put my friends in danger. I have no choice, I have to kill him, this is going to be hard. I turn around and walk to the counter, I grab a steak knife from the set.
"Don't tell me you're thinking what I'm thinking?" Dani grabbed my arm.
"I'm pretty sure I am, but just to make sure, what are you thinking?"
"You're going to go kill your father."
"Yeah that's it. I don't want to, but it's the only option."
"It can't be the only option, it's the only one you want to consider, if you do that, you are no better than him."
Number 1 jumped up and covered Dani's mouth, "No he's right. I can't kill him, that's what they want me to do." I threw the knife back down, "But, what now?"
Number 1 let go of Dani, she had a worried look, "We can't leave, we tried that, what if, what if we set the younger you free!"
"That's, not a bad idea, it's worth a shot."
We walked to the door, the sound of crying got louder. I stood right next to the door, Dani was looking down the hall. The glow of the TV was seeping under the door. Grabbing the handle I let out a deep breath. I swung the door open, the crying seized, the glow disappearing, the smell vanished.
"Did that do it?"
"No, something feels off." The house was silent, but there was an itch on my spine that told me to run. We were all looked down the basement, when the floorboard creaked behind us. I spun around but not quick enough, we were thrown down the stair, I could hear bones cracking and snapping. My head hits the cement floor with a crack, and once again, the room spins, and eventually goes black.