DEAD: Darkness Before Dawn Read Online Free
Author: TW Brown
lead him away from the zombies and back towards the treehouse that they had holed up in. When they arrived, Mel was still out cold. Cynthia started checking on her while the two men moved away and discussed what to do next.
***
Chad threw his weight into the door. He heard the crunch of bones being pulverized as the hands belonging to the undead were crushed in the doorjamb. Dustin moved in beside him and used his machete to hack at the wriggling nimbus of fingers that were keeping the door from being closed.
At last they managed to get it shut. Looking around, Chad’s eyes took inventory of every possible escape. He was more than a little impressed with the job that had been done boarding up all of the ground floor windows. Still, those would not last forever as they shook and vibrated with the rhythm of countless sets of fists pounding away to be let in. Meanwhile, Dustin was kneeling beside the boy and two girls who were huddled in fear on the stairs leading up to the second floor.
Chad felt as if he were being torn apart from the inside. His daughter, who he had been forced to set down when he got i nside so that he could shut the door, was curled up in a fetal position on the floor. In the accumulated dirt and grime, a pool of darkness was growing around her. She was bleeding to death. The problem was that if he did not get them out of there, they would all die a horrible death at the hands and teeth of the zombies gathering outside that were now causing an amazing racket as they pounded on the exterior of the house. Their moans and cries were almost sounding more frantic, as if they sensed how close they were to their prey…or meal…or whatever they considered living humans to be. But if he did not stop Ronni’s bleeding, she would die and he would not care what happened to him from that moment on.
As harsh as it would seem to an outsider, Chad would care nothing of the fate Dustin and those other children suffered if his daughter died here in this house. He glanced once more at the door. It was vibrating and shuddering, but it was solid oak, and this house looked to be made of pretty firm stuff. It would not hold much longer, but they had a few minutes.
Kneeling beside his daughter, he turned her face up to his. Her eyes were squeezed shut as if that would keep out the pain. She was shivering and he quickly peeled out of his protective leather jacket and draped it over her.
Climbing up, Dustin was there, the trio of other frightened children in his wake, none of them seeming to be able to let go of the other as they clutched at anything that might make them feel safer.
“ We need to get out of here,” Chad had to shout above the pounding that rumbled through the house. “But I have to get Ronni’s bleeding under control first.”
“ I hear what you are saying, brother,” Dustin hollered back, dreading the next words he would utter. “But we can’t wait…if we do, we all die.”
The two men locked gazes. In that instant, everything was communicated between the m. Chad clasped the man’s hand and nodded. He did not watch as Dustin and the others moved through an archway and vanished towards the back of the house.
Picking up his daughter, Chad took her to the sofa and laid her down. He knew that time was not his ally as he dashed to the bathroom. That would be the most likely place where he would find something. Other than a few rags that were moldy and some medication that he had no idea of its purpose, it was a bust.
“ Think outside the box,” he told himself as he tore through every closed closet and cupboard he found.
He dumped out drawers, creating almost as much noise as the creatures outside. He thought he heard a distant scream, but his mind was now on one track: save Ronni.
He knelt beside her again as he prepared to run upstairs. “I am going upstairs, sweetie,” he whispered as he brushed her hair from her face. “Just wait here a moment and I will be right back…just
***
Chad threw his weight into the door. He heard the crunch of bones being pulverized as the hands belonging to the undead were crushed in the doorjamb. Dustin moved in beside him and used his machete to hack at the wriggling nimbus of fingers that were keeping the door from being closed.
At last they managed to get it shut. Looking around, Chad’s eyes took inventory of every possible escape. He was more than a little impressed with the job that had been done boarding up all of the ground floor windows. Still, those would not last forever as they shook and vibrated with the rhythm of countless sets of fists pounding away to be let in. Meanwhile, Dustin was kneeling beside the boy and two girls who were huddled in fear on the stairs leading up to the second floor.
Chad felt as if he were being torn apart from the inside. His daughter, who he had been forced to set down when he got i nside so that he could shut the door, was curled up in a fetal position on the floor. In the accumulated dirt and grime, a pool of darkness was growing around her. She was bleeding to death. The problem was that if he did not get them out of there, they would all die a horrible death at the hands and teeth of the zombies gathering outside that were now causing an amazing racket as they pounded on the exterior of the house. Their moans and cries were almost sounding more frantic, as if they sensed how close they were to their prey…or meal…or whatever they considered living humans to be. But if he did not stop Ronni’s bleeding, she would die and he would not care what happened to him from that moment on.
As harsh as it would seem to an outsider, Chad would care nothing of the fate Dustin and those other children suffered if his daughter died here in this house. He glanced once more at the door. It was vibrating and shuddering, but it was solid oak, and this house looked to be made of pretty firm stuff. It would not hold much longer, but they had a few minutes.
Kneeling beside his daughter, he turned her face up to his. Her eyes were squeezed shut as if that would keep out the pain. She was shivering and he quickly peeled out of his protective leather jacket and draped it over her.
Climbing up, Dustin was there, the trio of other frightened children in his wake, none of them seeming to be able to let go of the other as they clutched at anything that might make them feel safer.
“ We need to get out of here,” Chad had to shout above the pounding that rumbled through the house. “But I have to get Ronni’s bleeding under control first.”
“ I hear what you are saying, brother,” Dustin hollered back, dreading the next words he would utter. “But we can’t wait…if we do, we all die.”
The two men locked gazes. In that instant, everything was communicated between the m. Chad clasped the man’s hand and nodded. He did not watch as Dustin and the others moved through an archway and vanished towards the back of the house.
Picking up his daughter, Chad took her to the sofa and laid her down. He knew that time was not his ally as he dashed to the bathroom. That would be the most likely place where he would find something. Other than a few rags that were moldy and some medication that he had no idea of its purpose, it was a bust.
“ Think outside the box,” he told himself as he tore through every closed closet and cupboard he found.
He dumped out drawers, creating almost as much noise as the creatures outside. He thought he heard a distant scream, but his mind was now on one track: save Ronni.
He knelt beside her again as he prepared to run upstairs. “I am going upstairs, sweetie,” he whispered as he brushed her hair from her face. “Just wait here a moment and I will be right back…just
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