Finally, the loose doors were again across the stairway, but the zombis were still battering their bodies against it, the defenders equally using their bodyweight to keep it in place.
“Stay where you are, we need more objects to barricade and weight this section down.”
The men nodded, they weren’t going anywhere anyway. I rushed around the different rooms finding anything of note that could be used, dressers, sideboards, throwing them out onto the landing. I handed as much stuff as possible to the men who put everything in place, it would do for now.
“Peter, we need to move a bed frame over this landing.”
I moved over to the rails that surrounded the stairway and kicked them out, much to the horror of Peter who was looking on, though he said nothing.
“Follow me, the heaviest bed frame is in my room,” Peter said.
We entered his room, a sturdy oak bed lay in the centre. Tipping it on its side we slid it through the doorway and out to the landing. The men were now moving out from the stairway, seeing what we were doing. We slid the heavy bed over the hole of the landing. I looked to the three men awaiting my command.
“Now stuff everything you can through the gaps between the legs, furniture, curtains, anything!”
“Peter, have you any more ammunition for your rifle?”
“Sorry, but that is all,” he replied.
“No matter, then be ready here with the shotguns and prepare any hand weapons you have, I will do what I can with the rifle.”
I went back to the window to observe our work and continue what we had started. We had culled about half the number of creatures outside the walls, it was a good start. I had just twenty four rounds left for the SchmidtRubin, enough for two full loads. I picked up the empty rifle and quickly inserted the stripper clip. Within minutes the rifle was again empty, this time for good, the dead outside now amounted to what can only be described as a mound, with the beasts tumbling over each other’s bodies.
I left the rifle where it was and made my way back to the landing. The four men were sat around, weapons in hand, waiting. The continuous hammering of the beasts on the barricade was ever present, with wood buckling ever so often as they smashed parts of it down.
“What now?” Peter asked.
“We have done what we can to reduce their number, we must now face what’s left. Let’s remove the mattress and slats from this bed and let them come. We have a solid field of fire from here; they will only be able to come through in small numbers.
“It sounds like a solid plan,” said Peter.
“Why let them in? We are safe here,” one of the men insisted.
“What is your name?” I asked.
“Norman.”
“Well Norman, you can either wait here and maybe live a few more hours or days, or you can fight and perhaps help end this horrible nightmare forever. Fight for something and you may die, hide and you will definitely die, just a little later,” I said.
The man looked down, not willing to argue the point and clearly considering what I had said.
“Let’s get this done!” said Peter.
The men hoisted the heavy mattress from the bed and threw it into a nearby room. Peter continued to smash the bed slats through with his empty rifle as I stood reloading my revolvers. The men looked nervous, unsurprisingly. The noise from below became louder as they broke through more and more of the barricade, getting closer to our position.
“I fire first. We will take it turns, no one wastes ammunition!” I shouted over the noise.
Finally, the last of the barricade caved in below us, allowing a small gap for the creatures to get through, two at a time if they were close. I fired, but this time carefully, only ever one gun at a time with well aimed shots to the brain, it was easy at this range and angle. I fired until all ten shots were gone, each one a kill, then allowing the two men with shotguns to take over, taking their turn between reloads. Bodies amassed at the base of the stairs as bodies collapsed one on top of another. The flow of creatures slowed now as their path was blocked by their ever increasing number of dead.
I reloaded my Adams guns but holstered them, drawing my sabre, as it was perfectly suited to this scenario, and would do a good job of saving me ammunition. The shot gunners were soon out of their ammunition, but they had played their part well, brain matter and gore decorated the ruins of the stairway, a truly disgusting sight for the owner of this fine establishment.
A beast rose through the dead, struggling over the bodies, until it came into reach, my 1796 light cavalry sword bore down on to its brain, splitting the skull in half, instantly killing the foul creature. The flow of enemies stopped, it was fortunate, for we were all out of ammunition, save my Adams guns, which I was saving. There may be the odd straggler left, but for all intensive purposes, this battle was done and over, we were utterly victorious.
I looked over to Peter and the other men, they were all relieved, but still in shock, staring at the gore below, it was not a pleasant sight, even for the triumphant defenders.
“Well done gentleman, but I must now leave you, for I have a task of my own.”
“Thank you Mr Watson, and I am so sorry to have had to call you back at such an hour,” said Peter.
“If we are not fighting for each other’s survival, what would be the purpose to all this? I said.
“Well, thank you again, and I am sorry we cannot give you anything to leave with, for we do not even have bullets left for our guns.”
“I will manage. If this is the majority of the surrounding populace done for, I suggest you stay where you are, you are safer here than anywhere else. Wait here as long as your food and water will last, and with any luck, we can bring an end to this new enemy.”
Peter nodded and extended his hand to thank me, I gladly took it. I would have liked to have taken these men with me to the falls in assistance, for even armed only with hand weapons they would have been a valuable asset. However, looking at their faces, they were near breaking point, the humanity nearly drained from their white faces, the horrors of war dragging them to depression. I could not ask any more of these men than to stay put.
“How can I now get out of this building?” I asked.
“The rear has a porch roof, it is how my son made his way to you.”
“Thank you, I replied and good luck.”
“And to you,” said Peter.
I headed to the back bedroom of the building, not having anything to collect. My rifle was empty, my satchel likewise, I now only carried the revolvers with the rounds they had in them and my sword, a poor arsenal to head out into a dangerous world with. Opening the window I leapt out on to the roof and slid down to its lowest level, where I could jump to the ground.
Walking around to the street, the town was now eerily quiet again, but with firm evidence of the fight. At least fifty bodies lay outside the front of the inn, so close together that I could not see the ground between them; it was a bloodied mess, I did not want to hang around to find if any were still alive.
A dreadful thought then hit home to me, that I had now gone from being a doctor to a butcher, and all the lives I had saved in my time of medicine were now being offset. It did not matter that those I killed were foul beasts, they used to be human, and every hour that went by that we failed to stop this disease meant more lives being lost, resulting in more butchering required. Killing these creatures was at first necessary, then enjoyable to be making progress, but now it merely left me feeling unclean.