10.

The first zombie that charged at me, I stabbed right in the chest with the broomstick. It was an older zombie, so his chest and bones gave in easily as I drove the stake through his heart.

Right before the next zombie was upon me, I ducked down. It ran right into me, its legs slamming into my head, and I stood up, sending it flying head over feet. It landed on the ground, its face pressed against the concrete, and I stomped on the back of its head, crushing its skull into the street.

I heard the bang of the gun going off and felt the spray of zombie blood on my back. I turned around to see a zombie with its head blown off collapsed on the ground, and it was safe to assume that Boden had shot it.

Two more zombies were racing at me, and I had no weapons. I simply dodged one and pushed the other one out of the way. They both chased after me, and I ran until I was in front of the store.

A zombie stood directly below the M, and I kicked it in the stomach. It bent forward and collapsed to the ground on its knees. I jumped onto its back and then jumped up so I could grab onto the M.

Even as my fingers were grabbing hold of the sign, I could feel the other zombies latching onto my legs. Their fingers dug into my flesh, and when I tried to kick them back, they pulled off one of my shoes.

I swung back and forth, trying to free myself, and the sign groaned loudly above me. My pants were starting to slip off my waist. When a zombie tried to bite my foot, I managed to kick in the roof of its mouth, but things weren’t going well.

Then the sign finally began to fall. The metal screeched as it snapped, and the M began to swing forward, taking me and several zombies with it. The M moved like a pendulum as it came free, so by the time the S finally came loose, we had started to swing up higher in the air.

I let go, falling to the sidewalk. I scraped up my arms when I landed, and I rolled out of the way, pressing myself to the brick of the building. A zombie was still hanging onto me, but most of the zombies were hanging onto each other, in one mass.

The sign crashed to the ground, smashing the zombies beneath them. Even though the zombie still hung onto my leg, his body had been crushed under the metal. That didn’t stop his head from moving though, and he tried to sink his teeth into my calf.

I rolled onto my back and kicked him in the face with my shoed foot. He kept gnashing at me, so I kept kicking him until he finally stopped moving.

While the sign had managed to take out most of the zombies, one of them was still lurching toward me. I was scrambling to my feet when Boden shot it, and it fell to the ground.

Boden and Bishop had come out of hiding, and they walked across the street toward me. Boden still had his gun raised, in case another zombie came out of the woodwork.

“Is that all of them?” Boden asked.

“I think so.” I picked up my shoe that a zombie had pulled off and slipped it back on.

He lowered his gun when he reached me. “That was really stupid, you know. If that sign hadn’t fallen, they would’ve ripped you to shreds.”

“But they didn’t.” I shrugged.

I headed in to the store, which was now thankfully zombie free. Max poked his head down through the hole in ceiling. When I came in Stella had been beside him, but as soon as she saw me, she disappeared.

“Max, lower down the ladder,” I said.

“Did you get rid of all the zombies?” Max asked.

“I wouldn’t have you lower it if I hadn’t.”

“Who are they?” Max asked as he dropped the rope ladder down.

“That’s Boden,” I pointed to him, and then pointed to Bishop. “That’s Bishop. They came with to help me.”

“Hello.” Bishop smiled at him and waved.

“Hi,” Max said, but he didn’t smile.

I climbed up the ladder, and Bishop followed me. Boden stayed down on the ground, presumably keeping an eye out for zombies.

“Get your stuff together,” I told Max. “We’re getting out of here.”

“And going where?” Max asked.

“North,” I said simply. I grabbed one of their sheets and went over to the corner where they’d stored all their food and supplies. “It’s safer up there. Less zombies.”

Max did as he was told, first shoving his things into a backpack, while I put their provisions in a makeshift sack I’d made from the sheet. I grabbed the lighter stuff first, avoiding most of the canned goods. They would get impossible to carry if we had too many.

“I thought you said there was a girl,” Bishop said.

“There is.” I turned back to look around and saw Stella buried in the blankets, trying to hide. “She’s right there.”

“It’s okay, sweetie.” Bishop crouched down in front of her and smiled. “We won’t hurt you. We’re here to keep you safe.”

Stella only buried herself deeper, so I got up and walked over to her, trading places with Bishop. Max had finished packing one backpack and moved onto putting Stella’s things in a smaller pink one.

“Stella, honey, it’s okay.” I knelt down. “Come out of there, please.”

She poked her head out farther, her matted hair all but hiding her eyes. “Why?”

“I need you to come talk to me for a second.” I held my hand out to her. “I won’t hurt you. I promise.”

She seemed hesitant, so Max chimed in, “She’s nice, Stella. You can trust her.”

Reluctantly, Stella pushed off the blankets and walked over to me. She still clung to the ratty old teddy bear. When she got closer to me, I put my hands gently on her arms, and she tensed up, as if expecting me to hit her.

“Do you have anything here that you want to take with you?” I asked. “Max is packing a bag for you, but I want to make sure you get everything.”

“I’m not going,” Stella said, her voice muffled because she spoke into her teddy bear.

“You have to go, Stella,” I insisted as gently as I could. “Max is going. I’m going. Even Ripley is going.”

Ripley wasn’t in the loft right then. I wasn’t sure where she was, since she’d left while I’d been gone. But since she’d followed me across the country once, I was pretty sure she would do it again.

“I’m not going,” Stella repeated, her little voice getting more indignant.

“Why not?” I asked, trying a different approach.

“I don’t go down there.” She pointed to the hole in the floor. “That’s where the monsters are. I’m not going anywhere there’s monsters.”