Bone Magic by Brent Nichols

over the events of the past few days.
    The sky was
bright with pre-dawn light when a distant metallic clank reached
her ears. She couldn't see a thing, so he hurried down the stairs
and prodded Tam with her foot. Then she headed outside.
    It had rained
during the night, and the yard of the inn was full of puddles. The
overcast sky looked spectacular, streaked red and orange with the
first light of the morning sun. She ignored it, standing on the
porch, listening, and stiffened when she heard a distant, rhythmic
splashing.
    Someone was
marching through puddles.
    Tam stepped
onto the porch. He didn't speak, just raised his eyebrows, and she
whispered, "Get the children. I'll saddle the horses."
    "Too late," he
whispered back, staring past her.
    She turned her
head and froze. An army was coming up the road, a shambling,
disheveled army of the walking dead. They marched into view past
the nearest row of trees, one after another, and the cold knot of
dread in her stomach grew heavier with each walking corpse. There
were fifteen of them in total, including four soldiers in dirty
breastplates and helmets. She was glad of the helmets. She didn't
want to recognize a face she knew.
    With every
lurching step she waited for them to turn toward the inn, to begin
the final nightmare. Tam was a statue beside her, barely breathing.
The grisly army reached the end of the weed-infested lane where it
met the road – and kept going.
    Tira stared,
scared to blink. The porch was in shadow, but she was plainly
visible to any undead who really looked. She wanted to duck, but
any movement might draw attention, so she stood there, exposed,
watching death go shuffling past. All it would take would be one of
the children waking up, one horse deciding to give a good loud
whinny, and it would all be over.
    After what felt
like a lifetime the last of the undead was past the end of the
lane. Another few steps would put them far enough along that the
inn would be out of their peripheral vision. Tira watched, counting
her own heartbeats, and when she was sure it was safe, she dropped
into a crouch. Only her eyes and the top of her head were above the
porch railing now. She stayed in that position until the last
corpse was out of sight.
    "Are they
gone?"
    Tira glanced
backward. Sari crouched in the doorway of the inn, her face pale in
the morning light. Tira released a breath she'd been holding for
far too long, and nodded. "Yes. They're gone."
    "You have to
take the children," said Tam, his voice strangely calm. "I don't
know where you should take them. I don't know how far you'll have
to go to find somewhere safe."
    She stared up
at him, then stood. "What are you talking about?"
    "They're
heading straight for the village," he said. "I have to warn them. I
have to get home."
    Tira opened her
mouth to argue, but no sound came out. The problem was, he was
right. Raven Crossing was doomed.
    Unless somebody
went barreling past the undead on a horse, to carry a warning.
    Mikail came
out, holding Lina's hand. Their wide, scared eyes told Tira that
they had seen the undead army, too.
    "Lina, you'll
have to double up with Mikail," Tam said. "Be good and do whatever
Tira says, okay?"
    "I should go,"
Mikail said. "I'm getting to be pretty good on a horse now."
    "I want to go
home," said Lina.
    "Tam, I don't
want you to go," Sari wailed.
    Tira just
watched, her mouth still open, with no idea what to say. "What if
you don't get through?" she asked at last.
    "I'll get
through."
    "I think we
should stick together," Mikail announced. "Somebody has to get
through, or everybody at home will die. We can't risk just sending
Tam."
    The four of
them argued in circles for several long minutes, the girls wanting
to go wherever Tam went, while Tam kept insisting that they flee
with Tira. Finally Tam turned to Tira and said, "Tell them, will
you?"
    She surprised
herself by saying, "I think Mikail's right." Tam gaped at her,
flabbergasted, and she almost smiled. "There's no safe place