The Night Shift - Chapter Eight

John

Don't listen to the screams.

John could barely catch his breath, the weight of his young daughter Emma in his arms was beginning to feel heavier and heavier.

But they're so loud!

John' brown hair was sticking to the sweat on his forehead, his green t-shirt doing the same with the sweat on his back. He hadn't had to run so fast in a long time, he'd almost lost his glasses during the exertion. Emma's tears were dampening his flushed cheeks and flowed down to settle in his sideburns. He hoisted her up further onto his shoulder, picking up his pace again.

We're going to die...

Several grey hands grasped at John out of the darkness, snarling as he slipped past each one. They were all coming for him, him and Emma. The creatures that fed on the living. They were coming in their hundreds, maybe even thousands. He had to get home. He should never have left Will, Connor and Cordy alone. But he thought there had been time and now...now...

Laura's dead. Emma's Mum is dead.

The thought alone almost brought John to a halt. It had only been a few minutes ago that he had heard the reports of the infection, that he had received Sasha's text to head to Northlands mall. He had left his two boys, Will and Connor, as well as his eldest daughter, Cordy, alone to pack. Meanwhile he'd run around the corner to Laura's house, hoping to warn her and get both her and Emma to the mall as well.

When he'd arrived at Laura's house the door had been broken in and there was screaming coming from inside. He'd run inside and into the lounge where he bore witness to the slaughter before him. Three creatures were huddled over Laura's body, it was her screams that John had heard. However by now they were little more than the tail end of death throes.

And then John saw the fourth creature. It was incredibly tall, wearing a hoodie that had been ripped to pieces around the neck. The creature was advancing upon the little girl curled up into a ball at the end of the room. She was whimpering softly and had her eyes shielded from the monstrosities before her.

John had leapt across the room, using his momentum to push the creature to the ground. He wrapped an arm around Emma, who shrieked at first before seeing his face. Her big eyes were brimmed with tears but widened at the sight of her Daddy. She buried her face into his neck and he lifted her in one motion and turned to face the four monsters that had now turned at the sound of Emma's shriek.

What could he do?

Run.

So he did.

Run fast.

Faster and faster with every footfall.

Cordy's dead.

He could make out his house up ahead. A large pack of the creatures were huddled about outside, they were preoccupied though. Some unfortunate people had been unable to escape the large group of monsters and were now the cause of the feeding frenzy.

Connor's dead.

As John approached his house he almost tripped upon a bloody hammer that had been discarded on the ground. As he bent mid-pace to pick it up he realised it hadn't been discarded but dropped. Glancing outwards he could see the old man with greying hair who'd only gotten a few metres after losing his weapon. Beyond that there were two smaller bodies being torn into; they hadn't gotten much further than the man. Children, the man's presumably.

Will's dead.

John felt sick looking at those creatures feed upon the family, he couldn't let his die too. He began resuming pace to his house but he'd been standing still for too long. His legs were already burning and he wasn't prepared for the sudden imbalance of weight as he careened into the gutter. He hit hard, wrapping his body around to protect Emma from the fall. As soon as the impacts effect began to recede he bolted up, gripping the hammer tightly.

Every single creature on the street had stopped feeding, turning to stare at fresher meat. John wet the cave of his mouth with his tongue, it felt bone dry. The first howl was what had him running, he never looked and didn't let up the pace for a second. But he could feel them like a weight, inches behind and hungry.

If Will hadn't swung the door open John might not have managed to get inside in time. As soon as the door was slammed shut behind him John turned and twisted the lock, wincing as the door shuddered under the weight of the creatures. He backed down the hall, not taking his eyes off the shuddering door. Finally he ushered Will into the lounge where Connor and Cordy were waiting.

"Daddy!" Connor exclaimed, grinning as he ran to hug his father. Cordy followed suit and in a matter of moments the five of them were locked in a big group hug. The sounds of movement about the entire house now moved John to action and he gently pushed them apart and set Emma on the ground.

"I'm so glad you're all okay," John rasped, his voice cracking. "But now we're in a bit of trouble okay? So we need to be a team. You guys up for that?"

Will, Connor and Cordy nodded earnestly, but Emma kept her gaze locked firmly on the ground. She was completely shut down, unwilling to move or even react now. He tousled her mousy brown hair and stood up. He breathed in and out, collecting himself.

"Okay guys," John began." I need you to do something very, very important. You each have a job okay? Will, head to the kitchen and grab some cans. And Connor? How about you go around and get some clothes for each of us yeah? Grab some extra clothes from Cordelia's room for Emma."

Connor gave a mock salute, winking and running out the lounge and into the bedrooms. Will picks a schoolbag up off the ground and runs into the kitchen, a hard-set look of determination in his eyes. John felt a tug on his t-shirt and looked down to see Cordy looking up at him, brimming with barely contained excitement.

"And what can I do Daddy?" Cordelia asked, bouncing on her heels.

John ran a hand through his damp hair and glanced back out the hall. The sound of banging on the front door was incredibly loud now and he hated not being sure when it was going to give way. He had to make a call, a risky one at that. Slowly he knelt beside Cordy and looked her in the eyes, making sure to stress how very important what she had to do was.

"It's going to be dangerous," John said, speaking softly. "Do you understand?"

Cordy nodded, but John could see his tone had drained her of her previous excitement. This wasn't running errands or packing a bag; this was about keeping them safe. And it was her job.

"I need you to go out to the hallway and watch the door, Cordy. You tell me if it starts to break or splinter okay? Even if it seems small, just yell for me."

He reached out his hand and she took it, John smiled and gave her hand a soft squeeze before letting her move past and sit cross-legged in the hallway. He only hoped they'd all be able to get out of the house in one piece. He was still figuring that part out really, but if the kids were busy then he could think.

John looked down at the hammer still clutched tight in one hand. It struck John that he had picked it up to protect Emma if he had to, especially with the crowd of creatures outside. But it was a weapon that had failed to save lives already, it had the blood of one family on its hands already. Was he putting off the inevitable? Were they going to die in their house like Laura did?

He had to keep moving, keep his mind occupied. They could escape this, slip out through the back door or a window or something. But moping about in the lounge was only going to waste time, he should keep busy like he'd made the kids do. Maybe he could give one of them a hand with their job, check that they were on top of it.

John cast a glance back, checking Emma was still sitting safely upon the floor before moving through into the hallway. He stopped in his tracks at the sight of Cordy at the front door with her ear pressed up close, listening to the thudding of the creatures as they surrounded the house. He moved quickly down the hallway, gingerly pulling her back from the door. She looked up with surprise at him, worried that she had done something wrong.

"The door's okay daddy," she whispered.

"I can see that," John grinned "You're doing a good job taking care of it. But Cordy...you can't get that close to it. What were you doing?"

"Listening."

"To what?"

"The things outside," Cordy exclaimed, pointing at the door exuberantly. "They sound like animals but they look like people."

"How do you know what they look like?" John asked, a little more sharply than he'd meant to.

"I-I peeked. When Will opened the door for you, I saw all of them. They look like people. Are they people?"

"Sort of."

"Are they dead? They look dead; all slow and grey."

"I don't know Cordy."

"Are they going to get us?"

"No they're not."

"Why not?"

"Because I won't let them" John said firmly, smiling at her.

John wrapped his arms around Cordy, embracing her and forgetting about the horrible noises outside for just a second. It would be John' last happy second for a long time. At that moment a heavier creature slammed against the door causing the hinges to strain against the wall. One of the hinges nearly broke off and Cordy shrieked at the sudden impact. Howls met the cry and suddenly it seemed like every creature on the street was moving against the door.

John rushed forward and put all of his weight against the door, straining to hold it in place. He had to hold it, it had to stay closed. His family couldn't die like this. Suddenly Cordy was alongside him pushing against the horde too, it was one of the bravest things he'd ever seen. Yet there was no way that the two of them could hold the door for much longer, one man and his little girl couldn't hold back the weight of all the bodies heaping upon the doorway.

And then just as soon as the struggle had begun it was all over. The sound of shuffling as a few of the creatures were drawn away; the door could handle what was left for a little while longer at least. John breathed a sigh of relief and stepped back, ruffling Cordy's hair absent-mindedly. What had drawn the creatures away?

Two shrill cries pierced the air. There was no question who was making them.

Already moving as fast as he could, clutching the hammer tightly, John rushed to his room. That was the last place he'd seen Connor and that was where he had to be. As he ran John noticed that Cordy had already moved from the door back to the lounge, towards her sister. Good girl.

The window of his room had been completely smashed inwards, shards of glass all over the floor. Connor was halfway through the hole that had been created, caught in the grip of the creatures that had amassed outside the window. He still had a bag of clothing clutched tightly in his hand, he was refusing to let go despite the numerous cuts and bites upon his arm. A bloody gash on his forehead had rendered his right eye momentarily blind. He was pulled through the window completely with a lurch; Connor's head snapped back just long enough for him to make eye contact with his father before sinking into the night.

"Connor!" John cried out. He was only met with hisses and a throng of the creatures attempting to clamber through the broken window. John steeled himself, prepared to leap after his son.

"Daddy!"

Will.

John was already moving, back out into the hall and past the girls in the lounge. Cordy was pointing at a figure in the window of the kitchen. Not again, John gritted his teeth. Yet the broken window in the kitchen was a result of a creature breaking through, John realised as he drew near and saw the feral thing. Beyond the creature scraping through the window was Will, running quickly out the back door.

John moved fast, through the laundry and out the back door into the cold night air. It was getting worse out here, he could sense it. The screaming could be heard from all around now, but the howls that rang over them made it seem as if a pack of wild animals had descended upon the city. Fair to say, it seemed as if they had. John could also taste smoke and blood in the air, it was so thick he choked on the taste in his mouth.

He moved in the direction he'd seen Will take but was stopped short by a group of the creatures who had trapped Will. Three of the creatures held him while several others bit into him. It was impossible for John to see his face and he couldn't even hear Will anymore.

The sight of the carnage and destruction of his child built up in him and he let out a roar. The monsters were distracted from their meal and lumbered towards John upon hearing his outcry. There was at least five John noted vaguely. He only had eyes for the one in front of him.

Swinging fast John embedded the claw of the hammer in the skull of the first creature, already sweeping past towards the next two. Kicking out he collapsed the knee of one before beating the other several times in the face with the head of his hammer. He gave a lazy kick at the one on the ground then yelled as he buried the hammer deep in the skull of the next beast. Blood on his glasses was beginning to impair his vision and he only managed to impale the next creature's neck. Blood flew, coating John and causing him to stagger backwards.

The creature whom he had impaled, as well as another that wasn't far behind, fell upon John and he landed on his back. The beast he had kicked gnashed its teeth and began crawling its way towards John. He gasped under the weight of the manic animals on top of him, already losing his previous bravado now he was being driven by a desperate need to survive this; to get back to Cordy and Emma.

He got a hand free and twisted the handle of the hammer, letting one creature's weight to fall upon him and impale itself. He twisted the body, throwing it to the ground and blocking the crawling beast's approach. Swiftly following through he landed an uppercut with the hammer upon the remaining creature. Already staggering to his feet he swung the claw of the hammer as rapidly as he could until it fell to the ground and the handle of the hammer was pulled from his grip. Turning slowly to the crawler, he stepped a couple of feet closer before stomping on the monster's head as many times as he could manage.

He fell to his knees and struggled to catch his breath for a few seconds, finally spitting into the grass. John clambered to his feet and walked over to the creature whom had his hammer buried in its head. He worked away at it until the hammer was dislodged from the skull and he could finally feel safe again for now.

He looked over at the small body of Will, who he had fought so hard to get to. He didn't know if he could go over and look at what the creatures had done to his boy, it was too much to see. He needed to get back inside, back to the girls.

John walked stiffly back inside, locking the door behind him and moving back into the kitchen. Just as the body of the creature that had been scrambling to get inside fell heavily onto the floor. He halted in his tracks; in the lounge beyond he could see Cordy clamping her hand firmly over Emma's mouth. The creature swung its head towards the lounge and began to amble in that direction. John had to stop it, he couldn't let this happen.

So he stepped in the creature's path, holding the hammer high. The creature hissed but didn't lunge at John like he'd been expecting. Instead it seemed confusing, even tilting its head like it was trying to smell him. Finally it seemed to lose interest, focussing on the lounge behind John and starting to move past.

John moved quick burying the claw of his hammer thick in the monster's skull. He didn't expect the sudden scream from Cordy at the sight of that, nor was he prepared for the sound of a fresh bunch of bodies impacting upon the front door. The howling had gotten louder and John finally had to admit it; they were out of time.

Stay calm.

John ran to Cordy and Emma, wrapping them both tightly in his arms. He was going to protect them, he'd kill every last monster that got in. And then he'd kill every last one outside too, he wouldn't stop swinging his hammer until they were free of this nightmare.

The man outside had probably thought the same.

And just like that his bravado was torn to shreds, his breath caught and Cordy looked up at him. He was afraid, he knew that this was a dead end. John wasn't strong enough to take on fifty of those things; he didn't even know if Cordy and Emma would make it out anyway. The banging on the door was getting louder and the wood was beginning to splinter.

The creature in the kitchen didn't attack me.

Holy shit.

John scrabbled to the kitchen and pulled the creature on the floor back into the lounge. Emma tried to wriggle out of Cordy's grip but she held her tight, eyes wide. John looked the body all over, was this creature less sick than the others? Was it blind? It seemed to be no different than any of the other creatures he had seen.

So then the cause must be...him? John looked down at himself only to be appalled by the amount of gore and blood that covered him. He hadn't even realised how badly coated he had become in the fight outside. When the creature had stopped before him it must have been confused by his scent; the remains from the other monsters had acted as a type of camouflage.

"Cordy, Emma," John began slowly. "Daddy has to do something that's going to be gross, like really truly gross. Just-just close your eyes and we'll get it over and done with."

Cordy covered Emma's eyes while screwing her own eyes shut. John really hoped he was right here, if we was wrong they were dead anyway. Raising his hammer high John swung down hard, embedding the claw of the hammer in the creature's stomach. Ripping viciously at the stomach, while holding his free hand to his mouth, John mutilated the body until the guts of the stomach were completely exposed.

He began reaching in the hole he had made and pulled out blood and fluid by the handful. Gently he began to rub it on Emma's shirt; John could feel her body tense as she was covered in gore. He frowned as she began to shiver in fear but she wasn't screaming or crying and that was good enough for him right now. He turned to Cordy and began covering her all over as well, being careful to only dab a slight amount upon her face.

"What about Connor and Will?" Cordy asked as John finished covering her in gore.

John hesitated, wincing at the fresh grief that was already stinging the back of his mind. He looked down at Cordy's earnest expression and realised that no matter how grown up she acted she was still only ten years old. He couldn't expect her to handle the reality of the truth just yet.

"They're going to stay behind," John said softly. "Just in case Grandad comes by wanting to know where we've gone."

"We're not all going to Grandad's?"

"No," John replied, his voice sounding hollow. "We've got to get away somewhere safe. But when I say we go, we all have to move slow and stay extra quiet."

"Okay Daddy," Cordy mumbled.

The sound of the front door smashing inwards caused John and the girls to start in alarm. They stood and John picked up Emma, none of them making as much as a squeak. The first groans and howls from the creatures made them tense but they waited for the first few to shuffle into the lounge. Eventually the lounge was full of senseless beasts, sniffing the air for the meal that had been inside minutes ago.

While the monsters looked about confused John lumbered forward, ambling like one of the beasts himself. Emma hung on tightly and Cordy trailed behind, mirroring John' gait. John breathed in the heavy night air again and blanched. The house was behind them but they still had an entire city brimming with death before them.

The night was far from over.

Written by Ciaran Findlay

Edited by Nicole Campbell and Blair Findlay