The Dead of Night

Everything, and everyone we knew was gone, or so we thought. The sound of gun fire, and sirens in the distance, along with horrifying screams filled the streets. Damien placed his hands on both of my shoulders, looked me straight in the eyes, "just keep your eyes on me, do not let go... do not look around... don't do anything but run. Okay? I will keep you safe" he said reassuringly. Still in shock from everything that has already happened, all I could do was nod as I tried pulling myself together. My legs felt like rubber, my arms were tingling, and my head was spinning. “How did this happen? What is going on?!” I thought to myself.

We slowly, and cautiously snuck back towards our house through the backyard. As we cut through the bushes and hopped the chain link fence into our yard… they were already there. The back door of our home was completely blocked by those monsters, those... things. I took a slow step to the left, then suddenly, a twig snapped under my foot. That was like ringing the dinner bell at a 24/7 'all you can eat buffet'. My stomach dropped; my heart started racing... I was having a panic attack. Something that happens way too often now-a-days. Without thinking, I turned and started to run across the yard to the back fence. Damien tried reaching out to grab my right arm, but I slipped out of his fingers. I just kept on running. I could not stop, because I knew if I did... I would die. Just like Joanne, Frank, and those other people in their basement. Damien quickly followed without hesitation but caught up to me within seconds. “What are you doing?!” he anxiously whispered as he grabbed me by the arm. I looked at him with tears forming in my eyes, “we need to get out of here… we can’t stay here!” I anxiously said in a panic. Damien put his hand over my mouth, “yes I know that, but we also need to be quiet”, he said as he slowly uncovered my mouth. The sound of intense groaning and shuffling feet across the grass. They were coming, straight for us. There must have been eight or nine of them, all hungry and dripping in blood. Some of which, I do not even think was their own. “Go…go… go, I’ll be right behind you” Damien whispered as he boosted me over the back wooden fence. I jumped down from the top, turned around and looked up expecting to see Damien coming over the fence after me… but he was not there. “Damien… Damien!” I worriedly called out. Moments later, cold, bloody and chewed up hands started reaching through the holes in the fence, as the others banged against the wood planks separating me from them. I backed away so fast, I almost tripped. “Damien!” I yelled with tears rolling down my cheeks. Standing there watching in horror, I took one more step back, and a hand quickly covered my mouth. I was dragged backwards about eight feet from where I was standing before there was a split moment, the grip on me was loosening. Now would possibly be my one and only chance to get away. I flung my head backwards and hit them square in the nose. I felt the crunch and the blood running down the back of my neck. “What the hell was that for? …” they yelled while holding their bloody nose, “it’s me!”. The second I heard their voice, I spun around in hopes that it was who I thought it was. Their hand lowered so I could see their face. It was Damien. The biggest feeling of relief surged through my body; he was alive. Having a hard time containing myself, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in close, “ah, watch the nose”, Damien proclaimed in pain. I pulled back, “oh right… sorry. I just thought --” I said anxiously. Damien interrupted, “it’s okay, I’m okay”, he said as he wiped the blood from his nose and sniffled a couple times. The screaming and sound of gunfire in the distance has begun to fade; humankind was losing. The fence that was keeping the dead from tearing into our flesh was starting to give way. It was now or never, “we have to go, come on!” Damien said while grabbing my right hand. As terrified as I was, I grasped his hand tightly, looked him in the eyes and nodded.

Between hopping fences and ducking through bushes, we finally found a spot, deep in the woods that surrounded our neighbourhood, to catch our breath. I collapsed from exhaustion, "I can't do this, I can’t…" I muttered with tears in my eyes. Damien pulled me up to stand and into his arms, "yes you can, I know you can" he stated reassuringly. "You're the strongest, smartest, most beautiful woman I know... meeting you that day...”, Damien sighed, “I don't know what I would do if something happened to you". I looked up, and saw a tear roll down his cheek. "We'll camp here for the rest of the night…" he said as he wiped away the tear, "you sleep. You need it more than I do". I honestly did not know what to say, but as I went to say I love you, he got up and went for this backpack he had with him. Rummaging through the big pocket, Damien started to get a little flustered. “What are you doing? Where did you get that?” I asked in an exhausted daze. “After we got separated for those few minutes or so, I ran back into the house and grabbed the bag I had stashed under the stairs just in case”, he said while continuing to look through the bag. A moment later, he pulled out a small roll of string and some tin cans. “Do I even want to know what that is for?” I questioned in confusion. “I’m just going to set up what some like to call, a little alarm system. Can never be too careful” Damien answered, “just… try and get some rest, I’ll keep watch”. I was hesitant at first, but my body and mind were so tired after everything we endured over the last couple hours, I knew I had to rest. By this time, all we could hear was the sound of crickets chirping in the long grass amongst the trees. It sounded so peaceful, I laid my head down for just a moment, then everything went black.

When Damien was done setting up the only kind of alarm system we had, he came back to make sure I was okay. I was already asleep. He sat down beside me and placed his hand on my shoulder. After everything I dealt with that night, the sudden surge of panic flowed through my body. I sprung up out of my sleep, breathing so heavily it felt like I was hyperventilating, almost as if it was all just a bad dream. "Babe, it's okay... it's just me, I got you" Damien said as he tried to calm me down by pulling me into his arms. I could not help but break down into tears, "I'm sorry!" I sobbed uncontrollably. That seemed to be the only thing I could do and say in that moment. Burying my face into his shoulder as tears ran down my face, he looked down at me, kissed my forehead, wiped away my tears and said, "It's going to be okay; I'm not going to let anything happen to you... I promise". Feeling a little better, I was getting drowsy from all the excitement. As I closed my tired eyes, I slowly started to drift off in his arms. As the world went dark, I quietly heard him whisper, "I love you".