Jed woke in the dark. He wriggled his chains and checked his handcuffs to make sure he was stuck. He stopped moving and concentrated on listening for clues to what was going on. It sounded like he was alone until he heard a low groan and a wolf howl outside.

"Bessie?" he whispered.

“Drip,drip,drip” a leak dribbled somewhere in the attic above. There were fierce gusts of winter winds banging branches outside the house. Downstairs it sounded like someone was knocking before crashing and breaking glass from broken windows on the first floor. The front door was also being pounded by somebody from outside and it sounded like they were trying to break in.

“Let us in!” the desperate muffled voice outside yelled.

Meanwhile Nate Spit had found the gas and was filling the container from a pump in the ground before an evil cackling pierced his eardrums. On the bank above him zombies emerged from the mist and began falling down into the gravel pit. They picked themselves up and slowly lumbered towards those still living.

He ran back towards the farm carrying the gas can in one hand and a gun in the other. He dodged the enemies easily at first, but the number of dead grew rapidly boxing him into the tightening paths leading out. The dead were well decomposed with frayed rags and exposed skeletons. Then he saw the narrow exit ahead was flooded with corpses before turning around and finding himself surrounded from all angles. A crawler even tried to bite his ankles after falling out of their wheelchair because the pit wasn't handicap accessible.

Nate Spit had to think fast or die soon. He reached for his big iron to take down as many meat-sacks as possible. The gas can had to be dropped.. Suddenly he knew what he must do and threw the can as far in front as he could manage. He was using the last seconds he had to aim as the horde was close enough to taste.

"Bang."

“BOOM!”

The bodies next to the inferno blasted into smithereens. Nate jumped over the path he had cleared with no time to spare. Next up the rickety rope bridge he had to cross while the horde chased him. The mist had grown the entire time and now was thick as pea soup and only getting worse. He had to take a leap of faith in running to the other side when he couldn't see what was there. The zombies swarmed in behind him while the mad cackling had reached a fever pitch making the choice much easier.

The bridge dangled over a steep drop to rocks. It was covered in a layer of slippery snow while more blew in from the wind that rattled those ropes. As he worked forward he had to keep clearing his eyes to see anything. Suddenly two cold hands emerged grabbing his neck.

“Brains,” it groaned, opening its mouth while dragging in its prey.

Nate lifted his gun and shoved it in instead of his flash.

“Bang.”

His ears were in serious pain when he reached the other side and found the horde eating his horse that had saved him indirectly. Nate ran away yelling out so he wouldn’t be a victim of friendly fire. Finally at the exit of the meeting the three others waiting for them. They sprinted not stopping to look back as they raced for the safety of the barricaded old house. There was the small family graveyard they had gone through on route.

“Let’s go around that,” said Nate.

“Fantastic idea,” agreed the others already spotting skeleton hands digging out from underneath the tombstones.

It sounded like a battering ram was being employed downstairs. It was now or never to get out.

“Bessie can you hear me?” Jed whispered.

Bessie started mumbling in her sleep, but he couldn’t see her. He could however make out the shadow of the old man laying forward in an extremely uncomfortable position dangling off the radiator he was cuffed to.

“yawn … Yes,” she replied.

“Where did they go? I think I passed out,” he said, trying to roll closer towards her voice in his many shackles.

“Who's going?”she asked, confused.

“The knight and medic,” groaned Jed.

“I don’t know.. Where’s papa?” she asked.

“He should be sleeping next to me but it's too dark to confirm. Are you tied up tightly?” Jed asked.

“Not really I'm way ahead of you, hold on,”she said.

Suddenly a zombie groaned somewhere close. Jed thought it was outside until he heard the chains hooked on the radiator next to him begin to rattle. The sounds intensified as the shadow where the old man had been began to move while his former wheeze returned to life this time much more sinister.

“Papa?” asked Bessie.

“Grrrrrrrrr,” it responded, suddenly lurching forwards.

Jed rolled onto his back. The zombie inches from his face gnashing its teeth. The old man’s remaining gray hairs fell off in chunks as it salivated for brains. The only light in the room was a capped crystal tooth glowing in the attacker's mouth. Jed lifted both legs together holding them apart so the chain was by itself in between his boots.

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“Brainssssssss,” wheezed the zombie. “Chomp,” it bit the middle section of the handcuffs.

“Clink!”

A link of metal fell on Jed’s lap with the bottom section of dentures. He had no time to act in disgust rolling under the deceased family turned enemy. The radiator and floor it was anchored to started loudly protesting ready to break.

“I’m sorry Bessie, where are you, we need to run?” said Jed, crawling through the dark room as far away from the light as he could reach.

“Hold on man,” she fumed, struggling to stretch very uncomfortable angles to free herself.

“Grrrrrrrrraaah,”.

“I’m sorry,” said Jed.

A flashlight turned on and pointed right at him before it turned to focus on her father. Jed flinched nearby as a gunshot erupted outside.

“He’s already dead, now it's time we bury what's left, and clear the property of scum,” sneered Bessie, cringed while the monster salivated over them.

As it thrashed mad it was restricted from getting brains, however the bolts holding the zombie to the floor had been slowly vibrating, twisting, and turning the entire time. Suddenly the radiator was pulled out along with several boards.As the thing charged forward Bessie tried to open the door. It had been locked from the other side. She turned to see her mutated father charging right for her.

“Daddy please no,” she cried.

He didn’t slow down and neither did Jed who tackled her to safety at the last second.

“Smash!”

The charging heavily crystalized zombie smashed right through the wood. It continued dragging the radiator in its wake. The entire house shook as it smashed through the interior balcony and crashed to the floor.

“Shit I knew he would turn upstairs,” a voice yelled.

“Bang, Bang, Bang!”

At the same time Ned Spit and his men had broken down the front door to escape the zombies pursuing them.The four of them rushed into the living room. They were covered in shit from a protracted battle with the dead on their failed mission to retrieve the gas outside.

“Hold your fire damn it. Look bullets won’t penetrate its mutated crystal scales,” Nate ordered.

“Where are the others?” asked another

“Hiding or dead I figure..we need to get away from it go upstairs and board up doors and windows with the supplies,” called Nate.

“Watch out they don’t jump out of somewhere and bite you,” somebody yelled as they ran upstairs.

The zombies from outside shambled through the front door slowly clogging the house. Bessie had quickly untied the rest of the ropes around Jed’s arms. They switched rooms somehow creeping to one with a door that they locked without being seen in the firefight.

She used her flashlight to pry boards off the window to where she knew the way to get to the ground. Jed shuddered looking outside. The visibility through the mist was garbage but there had to be at least hundreds of zombies slowly walking through the wasteland of smoking craters. The heavy zombie shook the house with each slow step up the stairs in pursuit.

“I think you ought to know your old man told me that he set up an escape vehicle loaded with a shine worth a fortune, either way we are going to need weapons and I also know there’s plenty down there.. Too bad he forgot to tell me the lock combination,”

“I know the code.. Now shh let's go quickly follow me,” she said, gently removing the last of the wood blocking the window.

She climbed outside as the doorknob behind them started rattling.

“Who locked this,”.

Jed followed her to walk along the roof. He held the light and her hand lowered her onto the top of the covered porch. The door in the room they had just left was kicked open.

“Clear,” a knight called.

“Fuck what now?” called another.

“Out that window to the roof we got nowhere else to go,”.

Bessie carefully began climbing down alternating between using a window sill,a drainpipe, and finally the deck railing. She skirted just out of the way from a zombie by hiding inside the hole offered by the basement window well. Jed was trapped on the copper roof because if he moved those standing above him would see him and shoot. He motioned to Bessie to go forward. She acknowledged and slid the small window open before sliding her body through to the basement. As soon as she entered there was a piercing scream.

“Shit,” said Jed, as he jumped off the roof.

“Bang,Bang, Bang."

The cops shot at him as he fell. Jed grabbed onto the deck railing and kicked a zombie in the face. He rolled underneath the arms of the horde diving into the open window.

Bessie used her flashlight to hold back the zombie leprechaun on top of her. It had a hole in its chest but that didn’t stop it from scratching her while she had her hands full with its teeth.

“Get bench gun,” she hollered, as a tooth broke off biting the metal rod of the flashlight.

With no time to think more Jed scrambled for a gun. He saw a shotgun and picked it up racking the slide but it wasn’t loaded. He saw the slugs on top of a gun cabinet across the room and sprinted kicking the zombie leprechaun off Bessie and underneath the car. He jumped over the hood.

”Splat.”

Ratom was curb-stomped with his brains turned to a puddle of mush that coated everything underfoot.

”Braaaains,” groaned a fresh zombie Knight bursting from a monster closet.

Jed got to the ammo tearing apart the paper box and knocking the rest of the slugs on the floor for the one he loaded.

“Bang.”

The body collapsed near Bessie who was shaking and unresponsive. Jed grabbed her and threw her into the car. He added the shotgun in the backseat and three boxes of ammo with it. The only other gun he had time to grab was the sub-machine with a drum mag on display. His heart skipped a beat turning the key.

“VROOOOM, VROOOOOOOOOOOM, VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!”

The custom car exploded out from out the basement garage plowing over any zombies in its path. Sheriff Nate Spit and the rest of his men started shooting from the roof of the house, but the vehicle was too fast. Jed pushed the pedal all the way to the floor accelerating them out of range in less than four seconds. He swerved past the hole where the barn used to be and onto the straight stretch leading off the property. Where the bridge was out was an easy jump to clear with momentum.

Jed drove and drove, not willing to risk stopping. It was well past morning now and the deserted countryside looked like nothing had happened. Bessie held her face with a wet rag after waking.

“We need to get back there so I can bury my father as soon as possible.. The condition is no longer human and the man he was never deserved it. The longer whatever animal keeps lives inside his deceased body.. Sigh the guilt I feel increases,” she said.

“I know, but first I know where we can get paid, and use it for our hospital bills, then return when we are all patched up and finish things for good.. Is that a deal?” asked Jed.

“That’s a deal partner,” mumbled Bessie, drifting off again as the adrenaline was wearing off and they were starting to hurt mighty bad.