It Only Gets Much Worse

It felt like someone was splitting the centre of my head open with a dull knife. A blade zig-zagging down my scalp to crack open my skull in two. I coughed on the air, a cloud of smoke getting sucked into my lungs as my eyes adjusted to the dim light of the warehouse.

"Here, let me help you," I could hear Glenn's voice from above me as I propped myself up on my elbows. He placed his hand on my arm, gently pulling me to my feet.

"Oh my God, oh God," Nicholas exhaled as he coughed, "he's dead."

Glenn turned his flashlight in Nicholas' direction, the shelving unit completely crumbled to the ground now. We scanned the room when the light finally landed on Aiden against the back wall, a metal bar impaled through his left shoulder, holding him up. I felt dizzy. Then the groans came, the blast damaging the cage the walkers had been trapped behind.

"Noah? Tara? Eugene?" Glenn called out.

I clicked on my flashlight, looking around for them. I jumped when I spun on my heel, Noah appearing directly behind me. Dust and soot coated his face and his eyes squinted shut when the light hit him.

"You guys good?" he asked.

"Yeah. But the cage is open. They're getting out," Glenn answered.

"We need to find--"

"Over here!" Eugene's voice echoed through the room.

We followed his voice as he yelled out for us. We stepped over the shelving units that had been knocked down from the explosion, reaching the last unit to still remain intact. Eugene and Tara were on the other side. We peered through the boxes, our flashlights landing on Tara lying unconscious on the group from a pretty severe head wound. Blood coated the cement around her.

"Eugene is she breathing?" I yelled over to him. His face was whittled with worry and fright. He stuttered on his words unable to formulate a sentence. "Eugene!"

"I don't know! I think so!" he shouted back, panicked.

"They're getting close!" Nicholas called out to us.

Boxes, heavy boxes lay sprawled out everywhere cutting us off from getting through to Eugene and Tara quickly. I could hear the walkers closing in on us and we needed to think of something fast. I needed to think of something fast.

"Okay Glenn, Noah, move these boxes apart and get us through," I ordered, "Eugene you pick up Tara and everyone get in that office right now!" I yelled out, loud enough so Nicholas would hear me as he ran over.

Walkers appeared behind us as they followed Nicholas over. I turned on my heel, shooting them down as Nicholas pushed past me to get through the hole in the boxes Glenn and Noah had made. I back-stepped as I shot down the walkers I could get an easy aim on, eliminating as many as possible before I squeezed through the space myself. I slammed the office door behind me, knowing this was only a temporary safe haven. It would only be a matter of time before the walkers made their way around the aisles and back over to us, trapping us in.

"How is she doing?" Glenn asked. Eugene had laid Tara down on the office table, a pool of blood already seeping around her hair.

"She has serious head trauma. She's losing blood fast," Eugene informed us.

"How do we stop it?" Noah asked.

We all jumped when the walkers already reached us, slamming their hands up against the windows and chomping at the glass.

"Med kit was in Aiden's pack. It got blown to hell," Nicholas answered.

"There's another one in the van," Glenn said.

"She's on her way out. We need to get her there."

"Alright we'll get her there," I said, trying to calm Eugene down.

"Help! Somebody!"

All of our heads snapped away from Tara and towards the window, stunned by what we were hearing. Aiden called out for us, he was still alive. A gasp escaped my lips as the walkers turned their heads upon hearing him.

"Oh, Jesus," Nicholas cried, "I checked him. I-- I thought--"

"We've got to get to him before they do," Noah said.

"It's gonna take all four of us," I stated.

"We got that kind of time?" Noah asked, turning back to Eugene.

"We pull Aiden off of there, we could kill him," Nicholas objected.

"So you're saying we should leave him? He'd die that way too," I snapped at Nicholas. I could see right through him, he was terrified. He wasn't worried about his friend dying when pulling him from the bar, he was afraid he'd die trying to help him.

"Go, save him!" Eugene shouted, his eyes not leaving Tara. "She'd do it. I know she would." He finally looked up at us. "I'll stay with her. I'll keep her safe, I assure you."

That was enough for me. Eugene was finally stepping up the way we all would, putting the life of a friend before his own. Glenn looked over to me and I nodded my head. We needed to try.

"Alright, we'll push them back," I pointed at Noah and I. "Glenn you make a run directly for Aiden, we will catch up. You still have that flare?" I then asked Nicholas. He nodded his head. "Good, fire the flare over the shelves."

"Alright let's go," Glenn agreed, walking over to the door. He placed his hand on the knob. There was no time to think it through, just do. "One, two, three…" Glenn pushed open the door, throwing his shoulder against it two or three times to knock down the walkers on the other side.

Glenn went flying out, weaving through walkers and leaving us behind to deal with them. Nicholas stepped out next, firing the flare to our right for the walkers to follow the light and get away from the office. Then Noah and I made our way, slamming the door behind us and taking out any walkers that followed behind Glenn. I pulled my knife from my pocket, swinging the blade down on five or six walkers' skulls. We leaped over boxes, Aiden's cry for help getting louder the closer we got.

"Everything is going to be okay," Glenn was calming Aiden down as the rest of us approached him.

"Oh God," I exhaled quietly, but my stomach churned. I didn't want to worry Aiden more. He was in pain, but his body was still in shock. The damages were so much worse than I originally thought. Two rods impaled his torsos, one sticking far out through his left shoulder and the other piercing through the right side of his abdomen. He was alive, breathing, and talking with two, three-inch rods slicing him apart.

"We're gonna get you out of here, okay. You hear me?" Glenn tried to quiet his groaning. "I need you to stay quiet, okay? Can you do that?" Aiden nodded his head as he sucked in shallow breaths rapidly.

I stood by with Noah, watching the perimeter around us for oncoming walkers. I could hear Glenn and Nicholas' first attempt at pulling him off, the sound of his skin and muscles ripping further before Aiden screamed out in agony.

"The flare! It's burning out," Noah warned us.

"Glenn, get him off of there," I called out.

"No, we're not gonna make this," Nicholas panicked.

"Hey! Yes, we are," Glenn snapped at him, "But I need your help. You can do this."

"Nick-- Nick, don't leave me," Aiden pleaded. I turned my head for a moment, watching them. The blood began to spit out of Aiden's mouth as he begged his friend.

My attention was brought back to Noah in front of me as he began to shoot down approaching walkers. Aiden tried his hardest to keep his shouts quiet as they yanked at him again, but the noise was still drawing them towards us rapidly. Noah and I took down as many as we could, but they just kept coming and I was getting low on ammo.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Nicholas said before releasing his grip on Aiden and backing up until he was running by me and down the hall of the warehouse.

"Where the hell are you going!" I yelled after him.

"Scar!" Glenn shouted for me.

"They're still coming," Noah warned us.

I ran over to Glenn to help, taking Nocholas' spot. My hands gripped onto Aiden's shirt and his arm, my fingers immediately becoming soaked with blood. Glenn and I pulled on him again, his body barely moving before he was screaming again. I wasn't strong or tall enough to get him free.

"Okay-- okay," Adien said like he was objecting to it. "It was us. The others before. They didn't panic. We did. It was us." Adien explained grabbing onto Glenn's shoulder. I looked over at him, his eyes wide as he stared down at Aiden's body. Glenn shook his head and went to yank Adien off one more time. "No," Adien objected, "Go, leave me."

"They're here!" Noah shouted, grabbing at our shirts. He yanked us away, the walker's letting us run right by as they smelled the fresh blood pooling out of Aiden. He screamed like nothing I had ever heard before as they ripped his torso apart while he was still alive.

We ran back down the aisle, towards the hall Nicholas had run down just seconds before. The boys started running after him as the remaining walkers followed close behind us.

"Where are you going!" I shouted after them.

"We have to get Nicholas," Glenn answered.

"Our exit is right over there, we have to get Eugene and Tara!" I objected, my head whipping behind me every couple of seconds as the walkers caught up.

"Get them out! We'll get Nicholas," he yelled back before his feet carried him down the hallway with Noah close behind.

I cursed under my breath, not wanting us to separate for a guy who clearly wouldn't do the same for us. But that was Glenn, no one gets left behind, and that's why I turned on my heel and ran back towards the office to get Eugene and Tara out as well. The pathway back to the office was clear, other than the walkers that split off from the herd and followed behind me. I leaped over and weaved around boxes before reaching the window of the office. My hands slammed against the glass, cupping them around my eyes and looking in. The room was empty, they were gone.

My breath hitched in my throat, the unknown twisting my stomach like a whirlpool. I was separated from everyone, not knowing what trouble they were in and no way to help. I ran for the exit, pulling open the door and yanking it shut behind me to trap the walkers inside. I threw my arms over my eyes, the sun blinding me as I two-stepped down the stairs. My head spun to my left, hearing the sound of the EDM mix blasting from the van as it drove down the alleyway and around the back of the building. Eugene got Tara out.

My feet carried me down the side of the building. My lungs burned with each breath I took as it was a long run to make. The van was long gone by now, I could only very faintly hear the music as I approached the end of the alleyway. My hand gripped the gun in my belt hostler, making sure it wouldn't fall out in case I need it when rounding this corner.

My eyes landed on the back of the van again once I made my way around the building, Eugene was driving at a glacier pace as he lead a herd of walkers behind it. What was he doing? What was he steering the herd away from? I felt like I was going to puke. I ran further down the back of the building, seeing Nicholas falling on his back outside of the revolving doors.

The scene before me was begin engraved into my brain for the rest of my life. Glenn remain trapped in the revolving door, all the walkers that followed them down the hall pressed up against the glass, locking him in. Noah. Where is Noah? Nicholas got to his feet, backing away from the revolving doors slowly. There was a guilty look on his face like he knew he had done something horrible.

"Nicholas, where is Noah!?" I shouted at him. He stared blankly ahead, not answering me. I grabbed him by the back of his shirt, yanking him as hard as I could. "Where is he!" I screamed.

Then I saw it. Noah's body was thrown up against the glass of the revolving door Glenn was trapped in. Noah pressed his hands up against the glass, screaming. One walker ripped apart his shoulder, while another one hooked its claws in his cheek, pulling the skin to the back of his head. Glenn just had to sit there, his body curled up in a ball as he tried to push himself as far away from the scene as the small space would allow him.

I threw Nicholas to the ground behind me, his feet stumbling to catch himself before his back hit the pavement again. I ran to the doors, tugging on them inch by inch to try and get Glenn out of there. I slammed my hand on the glass while shouting Glenn's name to try and get his attention. He covered his mouth with his hand as he cried. The walkers couldn't get to him, but Noah only sat inches away from him as he was ripped apart before our eyes.

Finally, the door moved enough that I was able to reach my hand in and touch Glenn. He jumped, turning his head to look at me. He was in shock, the tears staining his cheeks and his hands covered in blood.

"Come on," I encouraged him. I yanked on the door again with my right hand, my left still holding onto Glenn's shirt. He pressed his weight hard against the door, squeezing his arm out as I pulled. Then he got his chest out, then his waist, and then his legs slipped free. I hugged him tight as we sat on the floor, holding him as his body shook. I shut my eyes as his arms squeezed the life out of my lungs.

Noah's screaming had finally stopped. His pain had finally ended. But for us, it had only just begun.