Chapter 26
Ashes
Olivia
Everything is going perfectly. My plan is working better than I ever could have hoped, and the people in the car are no longer in immediate danger of being eaten.
Until someone opens the gate, potentially dooming the entire community. Now all that death and danger is spilling into Haven.
I watch in horror as zombies shove their rotting bodies through the small gap in the gate, throwing the man who opened it to the side. He stumbles and falls to the ground with a yell, drawing those terrifying glowing eyes to him. He tries to scramble away, but they’re on him in a flash.
Rhys curses, and several gunshots crack in the darkness.
The heads of the zombies attacking the man explode into a bloody hail of bones and brains.
However, as soon as they’re dead, others race in to take their place.
Seeing this, Rhys growls out another curse before taking off, no doubt intending to save the idiot who caused all this.
Using the height advantage, I fire off several arrows, covering Rhys as he bolts to where the man is still on the ground, crying and screaming. He barely reaches him before another zombie tries to take a chunk out of the man’s leg. Luckily, Rhys is faster and yanks the crying man away.
“Get out of here,” he snarls at the man before shoving him roughly in the opposite direction of the gate.
The man stumbles and hesitates. “B-but…” He blanches at the incoming horde and scrambles away as fast as he can, completely forgetting what he was about to say or his wife.
By now the gate is wide open, and more and more zombies are spilling through it.
Alex and Theo throw themselves down the ladder to support Rhys as they draw their knives to slash and stab at any undead that comes close to them.
Other members of the security team, including Anthony and Simon, race to help them while Tobias, Rachel and, surprisingly, Tamsin keep to the side and pick off zombies with their guns.
I stay where I am, firing arrows at any zombie that tries to sneak up on my guys. Unfortunately, I run out of arrows and since I have no idea how to shoot a gun, I clamber down the ladder and join the fray.
The stench of rot and death is almost overpowering, causing my eyes to water and nausea to strangle my throat. It’s all I can do not to gag as I unsheathe my knife and get to work.
The fight becomes a blur of stabbing at zombie heads while narrowly avoiding clawing rotted hands and gnashing yellow teeth.
Sweat drips down my spine as my heart slams against my rib cage and my breaths turn into frenzied pants.
My muscles burn from the strain of constantly having to stab, kick, and dodge.
At some point, more people join the fight, and I end up next to Andy. The guy is a beast, wielding what looks to be a fucking sword with deadly precision. Each swing decapitates at least one zombie around us with surprising ease, and I can’t help but gape at him.
“I need one of those,” I blurt as he turns to me, a bloodthirsty grin on his face.
Andy throws his head back and lets out a booming laugh. “Let’s make sure you’re not going to fire it from your bow first, huh?” he teases before whirling around to behead a zombie that’s just about to reach for me.
I sigh and slam my blade into the eye socket of another undead. “I’m never going to live down that arrow incident, am I?”
“Not if I have anything to do about it,” Andy chortles before killing another zombie.
Unfortunately, our teasing gets pushed aside as more undead filter through the gate in a never-ending stream.
The fight quickly turns into a battle for survival as people grow tired and the horde overwhelms us.
I barely dodge a pair of particularly greedy hands when I spot a zombie go for Andy’s back with its open maw.
“Look out!” I shout as I surge towards him.
Andy whirls around, and his eyes widen. He brings up his sword, but he’s not fast enough and the zombie closes its jaw around his shoulder. He yells out a pained curse before thrusting his blade into the glowing eye of the zombie.
It immediately releases him, but the damage is already done.
“Oh god, oh god,” I mumble as I grab his arm and wrench him towards me. “Did it break skin? Are you infected?” I try to examine the bite, but it’s too dark and we’re both covered in blood and gore.
Andy shrugs me off. “Don’t worry about me,” he says with a grunt. “You need to stay focused, or you’ll get bit, too.”
Tears burn my eyes. Does that mean it broke the skin?
Is he going to become one of them? Are we going to have to kill him before he turns?
Nausea, horror and guilt slam into me, stealing my breath away as I choke on the lump in my throat.
I should have been faster, or more aware, or done something, like push him away.
But I was too late.
“Ollie,” Andy snaps as he shakes my shoulder, jarring me from my spiralling thoughts. “Get your head out of your ass and focus on surviving.” He gives me a stern look before turning away to kill more zombies.
I swallow hard and blink my watery eyes as I still struggle for breath. Despair wants to press down on me, but I shove it aside and force myself to focus on the fight. A fight we’re losing.
Every stab, slash and kick has my muscles screaming and my lungs burning for air. My limbs feel like they’re weighed down with lead and my movements become sluggish and sloppy. A quick glance around shows that I’m not the only one struggling; everyone else is as well.
And there’s still no end in sight.
At least the fucking car is inside the walls, although the occupants remain inside. No doubt they’ve seen how bad it is out here and took the coward’s choice.
I sneer in frustration at the car before reining those emotions back. They’re useless to me. Right now, I need to focus on stopping this madness.
As I stab and slash at the zombies around me, I keep a lookout for something to inspire an idea or plan.
But nothing is coming to me aside from somehow stopping the flow of the horde, which means closing the gate.
The only issue is that the gate is wide open and stuffed with hungry zombies willing to take a bite out of anyone.
“We need to close that fucking gate!” Rhys bellows above the din of fighting and screams, echoing my thoughts.
Yeah, no shit. The issue is how?
And then one of the fires outside the gate catches my attention. They’re still a ways back from the horde streaming into Haven and don’t seem to catch enough of the zombies’ attention. Not when there’s fresh meat here. What we need are fires closer to the gate.
We need to throw more Molotovs.
I look at Rhys and our eyes meet. Somehow he seems to understand what’s going through my mind because he gives me a small nod and points to the watchtower behind me.
“Go!” he shouts before turning to stab a zombie that almost takes a chunk out of his arm.
Andy taps my shoulder. “Do what you have to. I’ll help cover you,” he says as he takes position behind me.
Theo and Alex, having heard Rhys, flick their gazes to me.
There’s a desperation and fear in their eyes that makes my chest ache.
I blow them both kisses before surging towards the watchtower, barely dodging several hungry mouths on my way there.
I have to throw myself at the ladder and kick at a few undead as I scramble up it.
It’s only when I get to the top and look down that I see the true extent of how fucked we are.
The living are outnumbered by the undead at least twenty to one, if not more.
They surround people like a sea of monstrous glowing eyes and yellowed teeth as they try to bite and grab anyone within reach.
The horde is so thick, I can barely make out my guys, let alone the security team, my brother and my friends.
I have no idea who’s dead or alive. Who’s been bitten and who hasn’t. Bile burns my throat as icy terror trickles down my spine and dread knots in my stomach. I want to cry and scream but I don’t.
I turn to the Molotovs, grab the first bottle, light it and then throw it.
It hits the horde where the car had once been, setting a few of them on fire.
Since they’re undead, they don’t react beyond stumbling as fire licks at their rotting flesh and tattered clothes.
Several zombies around them stop their forward motion and turn to the fire.
It’s exactly what we want but it’s not enough. I need more and bigger fires.
I grab several more bottles and throw two unlit ones at the fire, causing it to flare up in a whoosh of heat and smoke.
The flames spread, engulfing more zombies and distracting more and more undead around it.
I throw more bottles—both lit and unlit—to create two more huge fires.
The stench of smoke and petrol is thick in the air, the wind carrying the noxious fumes towards Haven and causing me to choke.
Through watering eyes, I can see that the stream of zombies coming through the gate has slowed to a trickle. But there’s still an overwhelming amount of undead inside Haven.
I could set some zombies on fire inside and hope that it’ll be enough to distract them so they can be put down.
But there’s a chance that the fire could reach the car, and I’ve seen what happens when lithium batteries burn.
Not to mention I’d be putting everyone at risk because I can’t confidently spot the living in the sea of undead.
Unless I set something else on fire…
My eyes fall on the small shed that sits a few metres in front of the watchtower.
It’s used as a break room and storage by the guards when the weather’s bad.
I know there are a couple of things in there, like a small wood-burning stove, a wooden table and chairs, blankets and other furniture.
All things that would be lost if I set it on fire.
But it might be the only way for us to survive the fight.
Fuck. Rhys is going to kill me once he realises what’s going on. If Alex doesn’t do it first.
I make sure no one’s close to the shed before embracing my inner pyromaniac.
Since the shed is made of wood, I don’t bother using unlit bottles and throw three lit Molotovs at it.
Maybe three is a bit overkill because the next thing I know, the entire shed erupts into flames, the heat almost unbearable even though I’m not that close.
The light from the fire is also blinding considering we’ve been fighting in the dark for so long.
Immediately, zombies turn and shuffle towards the blaze. The first few stumble straight into the flames, setting themselves alight and only growing the fire. This attracts more and more undead until a good half of the horde inside are distracted by it.
I watch, both awed and nauseous, as they move toward their impending doom without a single care.
It’s times like this that remind me that these creatures are no longer human.
Unfortunately, I see one or two security uniforms within the horde, telling me we’ve lost at least a few people.
Much to my relief, I don’t see my guys, my brother or anyone I know.
With so much of the horde distracted, the living cut down the remaining zombies. With trembling limbs, I climb down and help until the only ones remaining are those so engulfed in flames that they’re burning to ashes in front of our eyes.
The gates are shoved closed, ending the nightmare.
I don’t know how long it takes us, but I’m pretty sure it’s well past midnight.
We’re all exhausted, our is skin slicked with sweat and our bodies are covered in gore and soot.
The only sounds that permeate the night are our laboured breathing and the roar and crackling of the fire.
I think we’re all in a state of exhausted shock as no one says or does anything; we simply watch the shed and zombies burn.
Rhys is the first to rouse himself from his stupor. “Let’s move to the dining room. We need to have a meeting and check for bites.”
At the mention of bites, grief slams into me, and my eyes find Andy as he stands on the other side of the fire.
He’s staring deeply into the flames, his brow furrowed and a look of heavy sorrow on his face.
He glances up and catches my gaze before nodding his head toward where everyone else is moving.
I swallow hard and go to move, only to get tackled by Theo and Alex as they hug me between them.
“Thank fuck you’re okay,” Alex breathes into my hair, a slight tremor in his body.
Theo cups the side of my face and tilts my head upward. “You are okay, right?” His eyes flick over me, but with the low light and the gore covering me, he won’t be able to find any injuries.
Not that there are any. I got surprisingly lucky.
Unlike Andy.
I’m once again struck with a toxic cocktail of grief and guilt that clogs my throat and burns my eyes. Some of it must show on my face because the guys tighten their hold on me.
“It’ll be alright,” Alex murmurs soothingly as he rubs my back. “Everything will work itself out.”
Theo nods and strokes my cheeks with his thumbs. “Exactly. Even if Rhys will probably want to spank you for vandalising Haven property.” He gives me a small smile and a wink.
I let out a watery laugh but the amusement dies as quickly as it came.
“I’m not worried about myself.” My eyes flick around just to make sure we’re alone before I speak.
“Andy got bit on his shoulder and I don’t know if—” I break off on a choked breath.
“I don’t know if it broke skin.” From the way the older man is acting, it seems likely.
“Oh, sweetheart.” Alex crushes me against his chest. “I’m so sorry.”
Theo gazes at me intensely, and I know he can see right through me.
He can see the guilt I’m harbouring about Andy’s potential death, and he’s silently telling me with his gaze that it’s not my fault.
Of course he is. This is the same man I’ve confessed my deepest, darkest secrets to.
The man I rely on when the darkness becomes too heavy and I need someone to lighten the load.
I close my eyes and allow myself to lean on them for a moment. Alex continues to whisper soothing words of comfort while Theo cradles my head. I know I don’t deserve these amazing, sensitive men, but there’s no way I’m giving them back.
They’re mine now and I’m theirs.
All too soon, I pull myself together and move away from them. “We should go to the dining room and get this over with.” I don’t want to go, not when there’s a high chance Rachel’s dad will have to be put down before he turns. But I’m not a coward.
So I suck in a deep breath, straighten my spine and force myself to walk to the communal dining room.