Scavengers: July by K.A. Merikan Page B

feet hit the mattress, he tumble rolled with a grace that told James he must have been in such situations numerous times before. Taking out his serrated dagger, he killed two zombies in an instant. There were still too many of them.
    “Down!” he screamed, stumbling over a hand that stuck out from below the broken bed.
    James shivered uncontrollably but didn’t wait a second longer as he followed suit, jumping through the hole and onto the bed’s mattress. His fall wasn't half as good as Ira’s, though he did manage not to get scratched or bitten. There was no time for talk. Stepping over the killed monsters’ rotting bodies and avoiding the ones under the bed, he ran straight to the stables’ entrance, with a saber in his hand. The loot was heavy on his back but fear gave him wings. As they left the stable, Ira immediately grabbed his hand, leading him to a large tree nearby. A group of twenty or thirty creatures came right at them. The sound of gunshots must have led the former townsfolk to the mansion.
    “Hide! I’ll lead’em away!” the man breathed, directing him towards the tree and then suddenly ran off, the jewels in his backpack clattering. “Come on! Come on, you scum!” he yelled, taking out a gun and shooting a way towards the mansion for himself.
    James managed to mutter a very scared ‘No!’ as he watched Ira run. His heart shrunk in panic, when he heard a hungry moan only inches away.
     
    *
     
    “Fuckfuckfuck!” Ira hissed over and over, shooting the beasts on his way and trying to make as much noise as possible. When he stole a short moment to look back, it seemed that the tactic proved useful, as all the undead shuffled in his direction. He hoped his inexperienced companion would be all right. From what he remembered from the blueprint, he could outmaneuver them inside the mansion thanks to the separate space formerly used by servants. It even had its own door.
    In the main hall, there was only one zombie, but he outran it, racing through a richly decorated corridor and into the drawing room. As he broke through the door, a creature launched itself at him, almost knocking him over, but he managed to kill it with the dagger and shoot another one before continuing the flight into yet another corridor. His heart was hammering rapidly and the growing nervousness only powered the unpleasant lightheadedness. All his senses were wide-awake in panic. He knew that a single mistake could cost him his life.
    With a horde of zombies following him, his best option was to run. Following his instincts, he stormed through a small door to his side and almost fell over human skeletons piling up at the center of a sparsely decorated room that must have been a part of the servants’ quarters. He aimed for a door on the other side, but as he saw something move behind it, his mind went practically blank and he launched himself at a wooden staircase at the side of the room. He felt something grab the crossbow on his back and let it slip down without a second thought. All he cared about now was to get away. The servants’ corridor was empty, but with the sound of numerous feet behind him and seeing another way out, he stormed into every other room, seeking a way through. With downstairs blocked, he couldn't use the planned escape route and somehow, he couldn't recall the blueprints anymore either. Each time he tried to find a passage, it cost him precious distance from the zombies.
    Moving through the house, he barged into a massive bedroom with yet another pair of rotting corpses on an expensive looking carpet. The smell of mold, dampness and death almost made him sick. The windows were covered, so it was dark. Though he was extremely agile, in all the chaos Ira fell over with another curse on his lips. A zombie, which was right behind him, took advantage of the situation and grabbed his jacket, but Ira turned swiftly and jabbed its forehead with a dagger. Another undead hand was already reaching into the room,