Emily and Spencer ran into their father’s arms and received a fast hug, but their father quickly became all business. “I’m glad to see you are both alright, but we need to-”

Is statement was interrupted by the other two adults retreating back toward them as the flimsy hallway door was torn off its hinges.

“We gotta go!” Chis yelled, while still applying direct pressure to his wounded arm.

Looking past the adults, toward where the mass of infested people hurried through the opening, Emily’s father took in the situation and acted quickly. While grabbing the two pistols from Emily’s hands, he said, “Emily. I have two rifles in the closet of my room. Go get them and all the ammo you can find, then meet us back here. Hurry!”

When she didn’t move right away, he pushed her down the bedroom hallway and yelled, “Go!” Turning back to the infested, he began to fire both pistols into the stumbling horde. Right before she reached his room, she heard him order her brother to give everyone a pistol.

Emily was so frantic that her father’s backpack sent her crashing onto the carpet. She wanted to cry, but steeled herself. Dad’s counting on me.

Snatching up the backpack, she power crawled to the closet and whipped the door open. Layers of old clothes fell out at her, but she rushed to push them aside. Out in the hallway the sounds of gunfire increased, which she hoped was a good thing.

Finally, she spied the two rifles and hurried to yank them free. One caught and a steam of curses, which should never be uttered by a twelve year old girl, passed through her lips. With a desperate pull, the second rifle finally came free. “The ammo, the ammo.”

It was on the top shelf. She knew that much, but her little body was too short to see up there. Several manic seconds were spent blindly searching for the boxes before her fingers landed on two of them. She had just pulled them down, when she heard her father shouting her name. Between the gunfire and the confusion, she hadn’t heard what he had said next.

Panic started to set in. What is happening? Are they okay?

Then, for some reason, the sound of gunfire faded.

Oh no, they’re leaving me!

Despite her fear, she hurried to load the rifle. Before her trembling fingers had finished loading the third bullet into the gun, she heard the hollow steps and the loud moaning descending down the hallway toward her father’s room. Without missing a beat, she kicked the door shut, slammed her back against it, and hasted to turn the lock. Second later, the first fists connected with the other side of the door and the impact jarred against her small spine.

With a yelp, she rushed back to the closet and continued to load the rifle.

Cracks appeared in the door.

She continued to load the rifle.

Hands tore away pieces of the door.

She continued to load the rifle.

But when the first faces appeared, she brought the rifle back against her shoulder and started to aim. “Spencer, I hope you’re right about this whole head thing,” she whispered.

Beyond the door, the snarling maniacs started to work themselves into a frenzy. Then she saw him. The blood stained man who was still wet from his dunking in Sarah’s pool.

Poor Sarah.

A rage built inside of her. They had killed her friend. She took aim even as the door began to crumble. A loud bang sounded as the gun rocked back against her shoulder, but the man from the pool fell away from the doorway as an arc of blood and gore erupted from between his eyes.

With a snarl, Emily cleared the chamber and aimed again. A large male that could have been a doctor tried to force his way through the opening, until she shot him through the eye. A third and then a fourth infected human fell. Soon their fallen bodies were helping to keep the others at bay, but there were so many of them.

It was harder to pick out the heads in the tangled masses, but after a couple of wasted shots, she might have dropped two more. It wasn’t going to be enough. The door was being torn apart. An obese zombie with a torn away face stood in front and when she went to fire, the gun clicked empty.

She grabbed for the box of shells and that was when the window behind her shattered sending glass flying across the room.

They are all around me. All around me!

“Emily, it’s me!” her father shouted. “Come on.”

She didn’t have to be told twice and even as the monsters broke through the door, she ran toward the back of the room with her rifle in one hand and the backpack in the other.

She saw her father reaching in for her, but hesitated.

“Oh no, the other rifle!”

“Leave it! Come on.”

“Emily hurry, hurry!” Spencer screamed from somewhere out in the yard.

Reaching in, her father grabbed her and pulled her through the window just as the first bloody fingers reached for her. Slick hands clutched at her ankles, but with her dad’s help, she was pulled to safety.

Once outside, she was happy to see that Jewels and Chris were still with her small family.

Her father pointed to the alley behind the house. “Get to the forerunner, quick. We don’t have much time.” The others started running, while her father paused to help Emily with the backpack. “Here’s the rifle, dad.”

“No, you keep it. You earned it.” Then without looking toward her, he added, “I’ve never been more proud of you then I am today. You kept your brother safe and even saved those people.”

Emily burst into tears on the way to the car.

To be continued next Saturday… from Spencer point of view when the Eternal Aftermath continues with… Spiking It.

You can discover where Emily and Spencer enter the Eternal Aftermath Here!