It didn’t hurt that the entrance to the attic was in the closet of his bedroom. He opened it easily and, after a moment of hesitation, he climbed into the stygian darkness. Below him, the hammering of the infected beat a chaotic rhythm on his bedroom door. The disturbing sound pulsed like a sick heartbeat as he got his feet onto one of the two-by-sixes that ran along the floor of the attic

They had suffered through a small leak during the last monsoons that he had not gotten around to fixing and tried to make his way toward it in the dark, Crouching low, he heard the women talking in angry voices, but could no longer make out what they said.

As he passed by a ventilation window, he paused to glance outside. He couldn’t be sure if the presence of the first few zombies had drawn others, but in just his side yard, he could see at least ten of the infected madman stumbling around and trying to break through the secured French doors.

Working his way over where he guessed the leak was. He felt out with his hand hoping to find some weakened wood. He cursed himself for not grabbing his tool box before fleeing into his bedroom, but he hoped his metal bat would be enough.

After two minutes of blind searching, he found a place where the wood felt frayed. Once he had positioned himself under it, he got to work smashing it with his bat. Dust flew and threatened to get into his eyes, but he closed them and got busy.

Hammering with a bat in a confined area proved difficult, but the wood began to crack and give. Soon his near constant blows drowned out both the women’s voices and the beating on the bedroom door. After what felt like hours of hard work, his bat broke through the roof and a thin ray of light created a dim circle of illumination under his feet.

Devon had paused to catch his breath and was about to start up again, when he heard a horrific screaming from below. From his position he couldn’t be sure if it was Nicole or his wife.

Clutching his bat, he hurried back to the attic door. Long before he got there, he heard Tracy screaming up at him.

“Devon, oh my God, hurry! Andy became one of those things. He has Nicole and he’s eating her. Oh no, he heard me. He’s coming for me. Devon! DEVON!”

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