Bobby. “Stop hitting!”
Dalton screamed and gave Bobby a hard shove.
Bobby's body slammed against her. The railing beneath her upper
back gave a loud creak, then gave way.
Angie fell back onto the deck. Pain shot
down her spine as it connected with the wood. The back of her neck
hit the edge of the broken railing. The pain made her grit her
teeth.
Bobby fell with her, biting and clawing. He
landed on top of her. Angie kicked her legs and pushed back at him.
He was close.
“Mom!” screamed
Dalton.
“That's two,” said Park,
leveling the gun at Bobby's head. He moved the barrel back and
forth, trying to get a clear shot.
“Not so close to my head,”
yelled Angie, struggling with Bobby.
“Figured you might say
that,” said Park. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and stepped
forward. He brought up one of his hunting boots and kicked Bobby's
rear. Bobby slid forward, past Angie's head and off the deck. Angie
heard him slam against the truck below.
Angie stood, loose bits of wood falling from
the deck beneath her. The wood cracked against the truck. She and
Park looked over the edge. The truck's front was worse than before.
Bobby had landed in the center of the hood, buckling it. Bobby
rocked back and forth in the indentation he had made. Soon he would
stand up, Angie knew, but the truck was too far away from the deck
for him to be an immediate threat.
“Some plan you had,” said
Park.
“There were complications,”
said Angie.
Maylee screamed from behind them. They
turned to see a female corpse stumbling across the living room. She
was nearly to the deck.
“Where’d the hell she come
from?” said Angie.
“Bedroom closet,” said
Maylee, backing away and holding her bat in front of her. She
bobbed the bat up and down, waiting for the corpse to get closer.
The deck creaked under her steps.
“Don't do anything stupid,
Maylee!” yelled Angie as the corpse stumbled onto the deck. It
moaned at them, dragging its feet across the wood. It now blocked
the door.
Maylee grunted and swung her bat hard,
nearly hitting Angie in the head with her backswing. Angie leaned
back as the tip of the bat whipped past. She started to fall
backward off the deck. Park grabbed her shoulder and stopped her
fall.
“Stop it, Maylee!” yelled
Angie, using Park's grip to hoist herself back up straight.
“There's not enough room!”
The bat smacked against the corpse’s temple.
The corpse's head whipped to one side from Maylee's blow. Several
rotten teeth flew from its mouth and clattered across the deck.
Its head came to a stop pointed at Dalton.
It groaned and took a shaky step toward him. Thick blood seeped
from its right ear, running down its cheek and neck.
“Sorry lady,” said Park,
stepping around Maylee and shoving the corpse away from Dalton.
“Not today.” The corpse stumbled until her stomach rammed into the
right-hand railing. The railing shook and cracked. More pieces of
wood fell to the parking lot. The corpse doubled over. A thick glob
of blood fell from her mouth.
The corpse groaned and straightened, turning
toward them all. Dalton tried to back away, but was blocked by
Angie. Angie tried to back up to give Dalton room, but her feet
were at the edge of the deck .
Park aimed the rifle at the corpse's
head.
“Not so close to the kids!”
yelled Angie. She grabbed Dalton and pulled him sideways across her
front. She almost fell off the deck doing it, but she managed to
jerk him away from the corpse and Park.
Dalton stumbled sideways
into Maylee. Maylee had been focused on the corpse and hadn't seen
him coming. She screamed in surprise and fell backward. Her back
collided with the left-hand railing. It cracked. “Oww!” she yelled,
nearly dropping the bat.
Park adjusted his aim and cocked the rifle.
The deck beneath them all creaked and groaned.
Then it gave way.
They all screamed as the deck fell to a
forty-five degree angle and then stopped. The deck hung
precariously, sloping downward
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