Death's Awakening

Chapter Fifty-Five: Parrish

Parrish lifted her sword to the giant zombie.

He narrowed his red eyes at her, then reached out and took the sharp end of the sword in the palm of his hand. Parrish struggled against his grip, but the blade didn't even slice through his skin. He yanked the sword out of her hands and flung it to the side.

Parrish's jaw dropped open and her breath became short and shallow.

Noah rushed forward with his bat, but even a blow to the head didn't faze it.

The giant zombie's red eyes focused in on Parrish alone. He wanted her. The truth of it slammed into her. This thing had been sent for her and it wouldn't stop until she was dead.

She was caught now between the side of the room and the zombie, with no real escape. All she had were her fighting skills. Skills she didn't even know how or why she possessed.

Still, she had to trust that she knew these things for a reason. She had to believe in herself.

Parrish moved into fighting stance, ready to face whatever would come.

Strange coolness pulsed through her and she noticed with astonishment that the tips of her fingers were glowing with a bright blue light. She brought her palm in front of her face, fanning her fingers out and turning her hand around to study it. Deep inside her core, she could feel the pulse and energy of that blue light. She didn't understand it, but somehow, she knew she could use it. Control it.

Following her instincts, she closed her fists and concentrated all of her energy into them. She felt the power flow down the length of her arms. It was cool and calming, growing brighter and more radiant. She thrust her hand forward, aiming at the giant zombie. A flash of blue shot out from her fingertips, sending him backward.

Ice hardened on her fingertips, then fell to the ground like crystals, melting as they hit the carpet.

"What the hell did you just do?" Noah shouted.

"I have no idea," she said, her voice trembling.

She didn't have much time to ponder what had happened, or to celebrate her victory. Karmen screamed and Parrish turned to see that the two stretched-out zombies had come out of their temporary comas. They reached out toward Karmen, their long arms stretching far in front of them.

Without taking time to think about it, Parrish launched herself toward the closest zombie. She jumped on top of a desk, then somersaulted across another, flying across the room and finally landing on top of the closest stretch-monster. He went tumbling to the ground, knocking down his partner as he fell.

Parrish quickly got to her feet again, grabbed a letter opener off the desk where Karmen stood, and shoved it straight through the eye of the first stretch-monster. The zombie let out a single piercing scream, its body convulsing for a moment before it went still and its eyes dimmed. The second stretch-zombie was climbing to his feet, but Parrish was too fast for him. She spun around with all her might and sent a flying kick straight into the zombie's hip. He tumbled to the ground once more and she jumped into the air, coming down on his chest with both feet, trapping him.

Noah rushed up, bat in hand, and swung fiercely down at the thing's head, crushing it instantly. Bright red blood splattered from its eyes, then blackened.

Parrish let out a huge sigh. They were all dead. It wasn't over yet, because the sun was setting fast and soon the hordes would come out into the streets, but for now, they were alive and that was all that mattered.

She stepped over the stretch zombie. She turned toward the back of the room, determined to retrieve her sword before they left.

She made it halfway across the distance before the trench-coat zombie rose from the spot where he had fallen. Parrish stopped in her tracks, then turned and ran back toward the others. Whatever she'd hit him with earlier must not have been enough. It had only stunned him.

Trench stood and roared, the sound so low it vibrated the floor and walls.

He was so big and slow, it would take him some time to get to them, but he plowed through the debris like a truck.

"We need a plan," Parrish said.

"He's too strong," Noah said, clutching his leg. He must have gotten hurt somewhere in the madness. "I can't even begin to hurt it."

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'll be okay," he said. "Watch out!"

Parrish rolled out of the way as a desk came down on the spot where she had been standing.

Trench lifted another desk high in the air.

Parrish wasn't sure how she'd done it before, but she needed to figure out where that blue light had come from.

She breathed in, then held her palms out in front of her just like she'd done before. She reached deep inside herself, searching for it. Trusting that it was there and that it was real. A cold blossomed inside her and the blue light flowed from it like water. It was as if she'd tapped some secret well inside her soul.

Her fingertips began to glow a bright blue and when the light was bright enough, she thrust her hands forward, sending the cold energy toward the giant zombie. It hit him squarely in the back and he fell to his knees with a groan.

She summoned her energy again and sent it toward him again. This time, she was able to send a steady stream of light toward him and as it hit his body, a hard shell of ice began to form over him. He lifted his arm in protest, but the ice flowed over him and solidified, holding him to the spot.

"Run!" Parrish shouted. Noah grabbed Karmen's hand and pulled her up, running to Parrish's side. The three of them all turned toward the front of the office and ran toward the street.

Then she remembered her sword.

"Go, I'll be right behind you."

She jumped and ran through the debris, found her sword and ran back to the others.

Outside, the sun was almost completely gone, leaving the city in darkness. The street that was almost empty just a few minutes earlier was now beginning to fill with undead. Parrish searched the faces of the zombies in the street, looking for any sign of glowing red eyes like the mutants. To her great relief, she only saw slow, lumbering zombies with milky-blue eyes. Of course, her relief turned to hopelessness when she realized how many of them there were.

They poured from every entrance, every broken window, their mouths open and hungry. They had either smelled human flesh or been attracted to the noise of the fight. Out here in the middle of the street, killing them wouldn't be as easy as it had been before. Instead of the handful they had faced earlier, there were now hundreds. They were never going to make it to Crash's.

"What are we going to do?" she asked, raising her voice over the moans of the zombies in the street.

Tears ran down Karmen's face. "I don't want to become one of those things."

"We fight," Noah said, reaching out for Parrish's hand. "We won't ever give up."

Parrish concentrated on the feel of Noah's hand on hers. There was no denying the attraction between them. It may have taken the end of the world to bring them together, but she wasn't about to let a few zombies spoil her chance of ever kissing him. She gave him a smile and let go of his hand as she turned to fight, her sword lifted.

Then, in the distance, the sound of machine guns.

Machine guns, yay! haha. Thanks again for reading! Please vote, comment, and be sure to follow me on Wattpad!