He glanced back as the ghoul rose from the floor, even as more of its brethren gave up on assaulting the other parts of the window and converged on the opening. They attacked the entrance with wild abandon, slashing their flesh against the jagged glass, thick rivulets of tainted blood arcing through the air and splashing the tiles and counters and shelves.
Run run run!
He darted into the last aisle and saw the open backroom door waiting for him at the very end. The brass handle stuck out in the semidarkness, gleaming with promise.
Natasha, already inside, was shouting at him. “Move your ass! Move your ass now!”
Gee, thanks for the suggestion, Natasha. I was just going to lollygag out here for a few minutes and then—
TAP TAP TAP!
He glanced over his shoulder again—
A flying swarm of twisted limbs and seemingly rippling flesh leaped onto the top of the shelves and knocked over products as they hopped their way toward him. Black eyes pierced the darkness and he imagined Kate, somewhere out there, looking through those very same hollowed holes at him.
“How did you ever think you could beat us when you know so little?”
She was right. She was so right. He knew so little. After all these months, he still knew so little about them. How did he—
“Come on!” Natasha’s voice cut through his thoughts.
He turned and lunged into the backroom and spilled against the cheap tiled floor. He landed on his outstretched arms and spun around until he was on his back, his hands scrambling to unsling the M4. Pain from the torn flesh underneath the bandages roared, but he pushed them aside and concentrated on getting a solid grip on the weapon.
Natasha was slamming the door—BANG! — then groping for the deadbolt and shoving it into place. She turned around and pressed her back against the slab of wood as if that would be enough to keep it shut.
It wouldn’t be. He knew it, and she knew it, too.
He looked into her eyes and knew that she wanted to live. Desperately. The woman he had met earlier, who had murdered Michael in cold blood and had some kind of death wish, really had come to an epiphany. She didn’t want to die.
He wished he could tell her that she had a choice at this moment.
Thoom-thoom-thoom!
Natasha was stunned by the ferocity of the attack and staggered forward before regaining her composure and shoving herself back against the door. The sections of the wall that flanked the door quivered as the creatures assaulted it from the other side, over and over again, a ceaseless pounding of flesh against wood. Weakening wood. There was no way in hell the door was going to last the entire night. Not even close.
“Now what?” she shouted at him.
Thoom-thoom-thoom!
He picked himself up from the dirty floor and glanced around the semi-dark room. He saw it right away — a small pool of moonlight shining inside through the three-by-three-feet window at the back. The same one Natasha had climbed through earlier.
“Will.”
There was an ethereal quality to her voice that seemed to sing only for him.
“It’s over, Will. Stop fighting and open the door.”
No.
“Open the door.”
No!
“Why do you always have to fight?”
Why? Because that was who he was. He didn’t surrender. He couldn’t. Lives were at stake. His. Natasha’s. Lara’s. Because he had to get home to her. Get back to Song Island. Whatever it took. However long. He had to get home.
Thoom-thoom-thoom!
“Hey!” Natasha shouted behind him. He looked back at her, still pressed against the door, both feet sliding each time the creatures crashed against her on the other side. “Do something, goddammit!”
Good idea. Do something. Why didn’t I think of that?
“Will…”
Get out of my head!
“No.”
Get out of my head, damn you!
“Open the door, Will.”
No!
“Open the door!”
NO!
“Hey!” Natasha’s voice again, loud and raw, drawing him constantly out of Kate’s soothing embrace. “Don’t just stand there! Do something, for God’s sake!”
Thoom-thoom-thoom!
“This door’s not going to last! Hey! Can you hear me?”
Thoom-thoom-thoom!
“Do something!”
He nodded back at her. Or thought he did.
What do to? What to do?
The window. Use the window.
And then what?
Later. No choice.
Out there, he had a chance. A tiny chance. Miniscule. But it was better than in here. There was absolutely zero chance within the confines of this small backroom. Out there, in the wide open, maybe…
You almost believed yourself that time. Ha!
He slung the rifle and hurried across the room to the back.
Thoom-thoom-thoom!
The window was locked by a simple latch at the bottom. Will stood on his tiptoes and looked out at the darkness, expecting to see a pair of black eyes staring back at him. Instead, there was just the pitch-black of night.
Was it possible the creatures were all converging on the front windows, trying to get in through the door? Was the back of the store really clear? His heart actually raced at the possibility of surviving.
Thoom-thoom-thoom!
“Are you kidding me?” Natasha shouted behind him. “Aren’t there more of those things out there?”
“I don’t see any!” he shouted back.
Thoom-thoom-thoom!
He swore he could feel the entire room trembling with each crash, and he pretended that he couldn’t hear the sounds of pieces of the wall falling apart around the door. Not long now. A few minutes, at the most…
Thoom-thoom-thoom!
“Do it!” Natasha shouted. “Whatever you’re gonna do, do it!”
He flicked open the latch and pulled the window up and open. Cold wind rushed inside and swamped him. He shivered, though he wasn’t sure if that was from the chill or something else.
“Will.”
He ignored it.
“Why do you persist?”
There was such a lyrical quality to her voice that made it difficult to shut out.
“This is for the best.”
He stuck his head out through the opening and looked left, then right.
“This is inevitable.”
Nothing. Emptiness.
“Song Island is gone. And Lara and Danny with it.”
There was nothing out there. He had expected to see a legion of them, but there was…nothing.
Just…nothing.
“Will…”
He didn’t answer the voice. Instead, he looked back at Natasha and nodded.
“Oh, God,” she said.
Thoom-thoom-thoom!
“Come on,” Will said.
“You first.”
He gave her a grin. Or close. It might have been something awkward or half-assed. Or maybe both.
Thoom-thoom-thoom!