Dead Beginnings (Vol. 2) (6 page)

              Lee turned his head and saw that the little girl had left her perch at the window. He didn’t hear the patter of her footsteps coming to the door.

              “Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”

              Another set of fingers touched his leg. If one of their fingernails scratched his skin there was a chance he could become infected. Lee was pressed so hard against the door that he wouldn’t allow himself to take a full breath. Instead, his chest flared rapidly with shallowed wheezing. His eyes moved to look down.

              All of the undead had gathered around the length of the shallow porch. Any way he could have used as in exit was blocked by gnashing teeth and mottled hands. Then, his eyes turned upward. Above his head was a small, triangular overhang. If he jumped he might be able to grab onto it and pull himself up.

              The thought sent his stomach churning. If he didn’t make it they would have him in a matter of seconds. But if he didn’t try he would be stuck on that porch eternally. The girl inside was not going to open for anything. There was no other way. If there was ever a moment for Lee to be thankful of his grand stature, it was now.

              His heartbeat thumped in his eardrums. His chest clenched.

              “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

              He looked one last time to see if the girl was watching from the window, if there was the slightest chance that she might open the door and give him the shelter he so desperately needed, but she wasn’t there. Lee closed his eyes and turned his face upward toward the sun.

              “And lead us not into temptation.”

              He took a deep breath in through his nose and exhaled out from between his parted lips.

              “But deliver us from evil!”

              He bent his knees and shot upward toward the awning, his body twisting in mid-air. The hot summer sun beat against his face. All he could see was its white blaze. He stretched his arms as far as he could, but felt nothing.

              “Amen.”

XI.

              The ends of Lee’s fingers gripped the edge of the roof peak. He adjusted his hands for a better hold. Every muscle in his arms shook as he attempted to lift all two hundred pounds of his body.

              The growls from the dead grew with intensity as their meal dangled over their heads. Their fingers grasped at thin air in the hopes that the man above would fall into their arms.

              Lee felt a cool, damp hand swat his ankle. He quickly tucked his legs up under him as he pulled himself upward. Finally, he was able to rest an arm on the roof. The black shingles burned at his skin. The urge to pull back overwhelmed his nerves, but he resisted.

              Using his scolding arm as leverage, he pulled himself further up until he was able to rest both arms and swing one leg over. He yelled out deeply as he conjured every last ounce of strength he had in him to throw himself over the edge of the overhang.

              He lay on his back, feet braced for support, his arms raised above his head to grip the peak to hold him in place. His chest rose and fell in full breaths. He turned his face to look down at the mass of ravenous beings a few feet below him.

              Though the tempting flesh had moved farther away, they didn’t give up or lose interest. Instead, they fought harder, using each other as leverage to climb up onto the porch. They fell, one-by-one, over the railing and landed with cracks and thuds.

              Lee was safe for now, but how long would he last up on that roof? Without water in the blistering heat it wouldn’t be long. His only chance was to venture further up where he would be hidden from plain sight. Maybe if they couldn’t see him they would move on.

             
Maybe someone else will wander by and they could go after them, leaving me enough time to climb down and get away
.

              The very thought disgusted Lee. He couldn’t believe his mind had gone to something so hateful and cruel. He threw an arm over his face and hid his eyes in the crook. The scent of burnt flesh traveled up his nose and settled in his stomach. He was too angry with himself to see how bad the burns were.

              Even if he got away this time, there would only be more at the next place he tried to hide. And more after that, and more after that. There was no getting away from them. The infection was spreading too quickly. Who knows how far it had traveled already. Maybe it had consumed all of Chesterton, all of Northwest Indiana, all of the Midwest!

              Panic rose in his chest. He had to get ahold of himself. If Anna were alive, she wouldn’t want him to give up. She would want him to survive for as long as he could and help others to survive as well. She wouldn’t want him to be angry with the little girl for not letting him in. That wasn’t what Lee Hickey would have felt yesterday. That Lee Hickey would have worried himself sick that the murderous monsters would find a way into the house to get her. He had to find himself again.

At that, the primal instinct for self-preservation was pushed aside by the more intense desire to save lives. It was what he was made to do. He decided he would do whatever he could to get the girl out of there safely and find somewhere they could hide out. He would save her, not curse her.

Lee pushed himself upward with the soles of his shoes and grabbed onto the next tier in the angular roof.

              With ease this time, he swung himself up to lay on his stomach overlooking the driveway of the overrun house. The creatures were still pawing at the air, some beating against the door and window now that they had found a way onto the porch. They weren’t able to see Lee slip back out of view.

              He stood erect for a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view. More were coming from the north, probably lured by the sound of their own kind closing in. A few straggled alone to the east near another house that appeared to be empty.

              West. That was the direction Lee had to go if he wanted to make it out of there alive…but first, he had to get the little girl.

              Carefully, he moved around the sloped shingles to the back of the house. There were several windows on the second floor to choose from. As he lay on his stomach again, his head leaning over the edge to see inside, he spotted the girl curled up in the fetal position on her twin bed. Her hands grabbed desperately at her head as her shoulders moved up and down with sobs.

              Lee stood up and moved over to the next window. Inside was another bedroom, empty. He squatted with his feet balanced over the edge, his fingers loosely gripping the edge of the roof like a perched gargoyle.

              He looked down at the length of the drop. At least the yard was fenced in, leaving a clear open space free of zombies. If he fell he might break his leg or sprain his arm, but at least he wouldn’t be devoured alive. But if he made too much noise, they would gather at the fence leaving him no way out. He couldn’t rely on the girl letting him in again, and there was no low hanging roof peak to swing himself up onto from that side of the house.

              That meant he had one shot at this.

              He closed his eyes and let the thick breeze blow gently through his hair.

             
I can do this,
he thought to himself calmly,
I have to do this. I have to save her.

              With a deep breath, he leaned over the edge and fell forward.

XII.

Lee Hickey went crashing feet first through the second-story bedroom window. Jagged pieces of broken glass scratched at his legs, but he didn’t feel a thing. He was too wired on adrenaline to worry about himself.

A door slammed nearby.

He sprang forward through the doorway and into the hall. The girl’s bedroom was to the right. Frightened by the noise of Lee breaking in, she had locked herself inside.

With one swift kick, the door flew open, pieces of broken wood flying from the frame. The girl gave a high-pitched scream as she cowered on her bed.

“Please don’t eat me! Please don’t eat me!” she shouted over and over again.

Lee walked over and kneeled down next to her. “I’m here to help you,” he said gently. “But you need to listen and follow me, okay?”

“You’re the man from the porch?”

Lee nodded his head, sending his dark hair brushing against his shoulders.

“Are you an angel?”

“I wish, lass,” he said with a soft, breathy laugh. “I’m just the man who’s going to get you out of here.”

“But those people are outside,” she whimpered as tears welled up in her round, blue eyes.

If he didn’t contain the situation, he would have to carry her out of there kicking and screaming. That would ruin his plan of escaping without being seen or heard.

“My name’s Lee. What’s yours?”

“Jessica,” she said with a sniffle. She hid half her face in the fur of her teddy-bear.

“And what’s his name?” Lee nodded to the stuffed toy in her arms.

“Brutus.”

Lee smiled. “What a fantastic name for a brave little bear.”

The girl raised her head and gave a weak smile.

“Do you think we can be as brave as Brutus so the three of us can find somewhere safer to hide?”

Reluctantly, she nodded her head sending her blonde curls bouncing around her face.

“All right then.” Lee scooped her up and walked out of the room.

As he headed down the stairs, he looked to the window in the front r. The afternoon sun had been blotted out by shadows of banging hands. Jessica hid her face in the nape of Lee’s neck. He wanted to tell her everything would be okay, but it was best to keep quiet.

He walked carefully past the entryway and over to the west-side of the house where the living room was located. Two large windows sat side-by-side. Lee gently placed Jessica’s bare feet down on the hardwood floor.

“I’m going to climb out through the window first.”

Immediately, the girl starting shaking her head with her eyes squeezed tightly shut.

“Jessica, darlin’, listen to me.”

She opened her eyes again slowly to stare at Lee, terrified.

“I’ll go through the window first and then I’ll grab you and make a run for it. I’ve already checked and there’s no monsters on this side of the house. We have a clean getaway and I’m a really fast runner.”

“Faster than that bird on TV that’s always being chased by the coyote?” she asked with her face turned upward, her innocent eyes wide with fear.

“Faster than the Roadrunner. I promise.”

“Okay,” she said.

Together they headed quietly over to the windows. Lee turned the lock on the top of one and lifted it open. They must have been recently installed because it slid upward on the track without making a sound. Lee let out a huff of air from between his lips. Sweat ran down the side of his face, wetting the roots of his thick hair.

He took out his pocket knife and sliced through the screen from top to bottom. The ripping noise made him cringe, but he moved quickly. The moans of the dead masked it. Hands continued to bang at the front as Lee slipped out the window on the side.

With his arms raised, he motioned for Jessica to lower herself down to him.

She stood there, Brutus clenched in both her arms, staring down at Lee.

His hands beckoned to her desperately, his eyes practically shouting at her to jump into his arms.

If either of them said a single word, they were dead.

Lee stared into the little girl’s eyes. His heart beat fiercely. The back of his shirt was drenched in sweat. He waved his arms to get her to jump, but she wouldn’t.

A snap echoed nearby.

They both turned to see a pair of stiff feet, awkwardly bent, sticking out from the edge of the house. Lee heard a quick gasp come from Jessica and his stomach sank. That was all it took to alert the corpse of their presence.

“Now, lass!” Lee shouted.

Jessica jumped through the window and landed in Lee’s hulking arms like a sack of potatoes. He didn’t waste a moment before taking off westward. The prescriptions in his pockets shook as they had before. The little girl sobbed into his chest. Lee breathed out in huffs as he ran full-force past the house next door.

He didn’t bother to look over his shoulder to see if they were following. It didn’t matter. He would save Jessica no matter what it took.

XIII.