Chronicles of the Fall- #1- Empty Night

Chapter 33: Silence Falls

Time stops. Searing pain. Blood. There's so much blood.

Everything goes so fast and yet at the same time excruciatingly slow. Hampton hears the shot ringing in his ears for what feels like decades and he hits the ground with a thud. His hands shake furiously as he reaches for his calf, which is coated in wet, sticky blood. His head swims and the world spins around him. He sees the shocked, fearful face of DJ as she hits her knees beside him. Talon's head floats higher above him. Hampton doesn't even feel DJ's hands on the sides of his face but from far away he hears her speak.

"Stay with me, Hamp. Stay with me," she pleads, but she sounds like she's at the end of a long tunnel. More gunshots echo in the background and the groans of the lurkers become louder with every second. His heartbeat seems so slow. He counts each one.

Thump... thump... thump...

Blood continues to flow.

"DJ," he breathes and their eyes meet.

"T-Tripp" he stutters. His hand twitches up, an accusing finger pointed in Tripp's direction. Black invades the corners of his vision, lined with red.

Blood. There's so much blood.

"We have to get him out of here," DJ says, but in Hampton's head her voice skips like a scratched CD.

The lurkers are getting closer. The guns are running out of bullets. The chaos is steadily increasing.

"EVERYONE TO THE RV!" Vealy screams above the noise. There is so much noise; the hissing and snarls of the infected, the last gunfire before the ammo is gone, Hampton's groans as Talon and DJ begin to carry him, knives pulling out of undead skulls, and the rev of the RV's engine roaring to life.

"Dude, we have to go. Come on!" Lucas yells, pulling on Tripp's arm who stands frozen in his place. He stares at Hampton's limp body, legs dragging in the dust and leaving a thick trail of blood. His face is cold and horrified. 'What have I done?'

"Tripp! Tripp!" screams Lucas, shaking Tripp's arm violently.

"For the best," Tripp whispers. The icy snake in his veins freezes into slumber; he cannot move.

Lucas finally snaps him out of it and the two make a mad dash for the RV.

"Go! Go!" DJ chants as she and Talon pull Hampton's weight as their own, rushing him inside the small door of the RV. Jackson ushers as many people as he can towards the RV, their last remaining hope of escape. He pushes Todd, William, Owen, and Laken in front of him.

"Wait! Where's Faith?!" Laken screams, looking frantically around for her friend. All she can see are more infected. She makes to exit the RV once more.

"Faith!" she yells as she pushes against Jackson's chest, attempting to run back into the herd of lurkers.

"I'll find her! Go!" he shouts, shoving her away, back into the vehicle,  and turning around to scan the scene. The infected roam everywhere, shuffling towards the survivors as quickly as they can, grabbing at anything that moves. Faith's shriek pierces the air and Jackson's eyes dart to her.

A few feet away she lay on the ground with a lurker grasping at the ankles. She fumbles with her golf club, unable to raise it and strike the monster that holds her. Her face is the color of her hair and streaked with tears. Jackson rushes towards her, knocking a few lurkers down in his path, momentarily rendering their attacks ineffective. His knife comes down on the lurker's skull and the body falls limp on Faith's lap. She screams and closes her eyes as Jackson yanks her up and begins forcing her towards the RV.

"Come on Faith, come on Faith," he screams. Claws snag in his jacket. Teeth clack behind his neck. Faith's head stands out like a flame in a dark cave. She's still alive; he needs to keep it that way.

Fire, life. Fire, life.

Jackson swats away the lurkers' reaching claws and pushes aside their hungry lunges. Blood flies like rain, but Faith does not falter. She hears Jackson's rasping, heaving breaths, yet she remains moving, and she does not stop until Laken and Lucas pull her into the safety of the RV.

But she has come alone.

Jackson has finally been caught. He is dragged backwards into the pack of lurkers, their bony fingers curling around his shoulders and ripping at his jacket. As he begins to drown in the sea of the undead, he reaches towards all of his friends. Lucas' face is the last thing he sees as he utters his last words, full of fire and defiance and acceptance.

"Live for me!" And then he is gone.

As all prey doth fall, so does Jackson Carter.

***

The sun is low. Time does not exist After the Fall.

The edge of night is here, the sunset staining the clouds red. Like the blood of the lost warriors, risking their lives to carry on the legacy of the group. The group that stands against the fallen world.

The night is as empty as their hearts, stained with the blood of a friend.