Revenge of the Dead

Chapter 11: The Ringing of Gunfire

My hand falls away from the button and I turn to my parents who are now stood up rigidly, my Mum shakes her head and snaps to attention- her voice frantic. 

"Right, everybody come here and take a weapon," she states and starts pulling an array of weapons from the wall, her eyes narrowed with determination. I jog over to her side and she turns to face me, she slowly hands me a gun and I flinch as the cold metal slides into my hands. "Madeline, you're going to be fine," she consoles me as I look at the weapon numbly and nod.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's a complicated story," I mumble as my mind wanders to the tiny girl in the petrol station. My Mum gives my shoulders a sympathetic squeeze and I grimace before sliding my bag onto my shoulders, my heart thundering against my constricting chest. I scoop Ashia up into my arms and rock her soothingly, grateful for the welcome distraction.

We all stand nervously in the kitchen and I drum my fingers on the granite island, adjusting the knives in my waistband and running my fingers across the cold metal of the gun. I watch as the rest of the group takes weapons from the racks that line the walls, their eyes wide and alert. Elijah walks over to me and sends me a tight smile, I send him a reassuring look but I'm not sure the expression meets my eyes. 

"Look, Elijah, I don't expect you to come to France with us. I'm sorry we've brought you into this mess, as soon as we're clear of the zombies you can go," I say apologetically, but Elijah responds with a sad smile. 

"I'm coming with you, Madeline," he responds and I frown deeply. 

"But what about your brother?" I ask curiously to which Elijah shakes his head. 

"I'm sure we would have seen him, your parents most certainly would have with their cameras all over the island- but your dad said he hadn't seen human life for months," Elijah explains. "I think he's gone, Madeline, the best thing I can do for my family is to try and find a cure."

"Thank you, Elijah," I reply gently, "we'll get justice for your family, for everyone," I assure him. 

"Eli, call me Eli," he adds, "that's what my family used to call me," he says with a hint of sadness in his voice. I reach over and squeeze his hand gently before turning to face my dad, the same apprehensive expression on our faces. 

"So Dad, what's the plan?" I ask cautiously. My Dad clears his throat and stares at me, his voice uncertain when he does speak. 

"Well, the long-term plan is to go to France, but what I propose first, is that we go up to the roof and take out the zombies. Then, we make a run for it down to the port and take a smaller boat across to France, that way there's less infected to worry about," he explains and then lapses into silence. I purse my lips and tilt my head to the side, milling over the hundreds of ways our plan could backfire but deciding it's the only option we've got. 

"I think that will work, then again, I don't think we have much choice," I mumble and then clap my hands together. Everyone snaps to attention and we climb up the stairs to the roof, our footsteps heavy on the metal ladder. As we reach the roof I turn to Soph and smile, although it fails when I meet her determined expression.

"I need you to stay inside with Ashia," I state and she shakes her head at me playfully.

"Madeline, I'm helping. You can't protect me forever and I'm never going to improve my survival skills if you're constantly sheltering me," she states and walks past me. I shake my head at her and chuckle, we're too similar for our own good.

I take Ashia and place her in a chair gently, putting a blanket over her and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. I back away slowly and walk over to the edge of the roof where I stand with the others. Our weapons vary from knives, bows and arrows, spears and guns but our emotions remain the same in a mixture of fear and anticipation.

My mum counts down on her fingers before she lowers her arm in a swift chopping motion and sends a knife flying into the horde. I raise my gun in front of me, pulling the trigger and firing into the mass of bodies that sit below us. They fall with groans and gurgles but I keep firing, all the anger and emotion from the past months coming out and soon tears are running down my face. They killed Amelia and Toby, they killed them and I will kill them all. I fire hard and aim for their heads and chests, filling them with as many bullets as their bodies allow.

The ringing of gunfire echoes in my ears and I look around me, Maria sends knives into the herd and they fall hard to the ground. Josh holds the bow to his face and lets the arrows fly through the air with definite precision, lodging them deep into the infected. The group slowly thins out and I let the gun fall to my side, wiping my face of the tears that fell silently.

We all slowly back away and the gunfire ceases, I jog back over to Ashia and scoop her up into my arms. We walk back downstairs and to the front door where I press the button, my gun still raised anxiously. The door slides open and I walk down the stairs into the blood-stained remains of zombies, I step through it lightly and hear a groan at my feet. A zombie claws weakly at my foot and I bend down next to it, its body is full of bullets and a graze slides past its temple.

I missed.

I get close to it and my lips move rapidly, balancing Ashia on my hip as I crouch- keeping her out of reach of the infected's grip. 

"You're lucky, I missed you," I whisper and pause for a moment before continuing, "you killed Amelia and Toby, you murdered them," I spit and stare into its cold dead eyes and grind my teeth together.

"This time I won't miss," I seethe and aim the gun at the zombies head, it stares at me and slowly closes its eyes. I frown but pull the trigger nevertheless, the shot echoes around me and I slowly stand up whilst wiping blood splatters off my arms.

I tuck the gun in the waistband of my jeans and run my fingers through my wavy hair, looking out across the ocean and taking a deep breath. Ashia giggles on my hip and raises her palms to my cheek, her tiny fingers gentle on my skin and I cradle her against me tightly.

I know what I have to do, to protect my family and friends.

I can't ever miss again.