"Ed... Eddie... wak... up... I'm begging you...Eddi....WAKE UP!!!!".
Something slammed against the metal.
A single, hollow boom.
Eddie's eyes opened in a snap... before he could remember where he was. His heart drumming from the same usual nightmare...The air was cold; the kitchen still smelled of mould and rust. He blinked once, twice—listened... something slammed agains.
Another hit. Louder.
The shutters trembled.
Next to him, Liam already sitting... his calloused hand instinctively reaching for his bag. His breath was shallow.
Eddie Didn't move. Just listened... Boom... Boom...
Boom.
A scraping sound followed, like nails dragged down steel. Then silence again. Too long. Too still.
From the floor beside the kitchen wall, Melissa shifted. Her head up as soon as she heard the next thud.
Cas blinked himself upright, a cold sweat already dripping from his temple.
Another crash hit the shutters—hard enough to make the floor vibrate. The noise tore through the small house like a scream. Liam was already on his feet.
Eddie swallowed, his pulse loud in his ears. He jumped up... his foot trembling as he moved toward the stairs as fast as he could...
The air smelled wrong—wet metal and decay, the kind that sticks to the back of your throat.
He reached the that old room he knew so well...watching from the window... and froze.
Outside, pressed against the rusted shutters, were bodies. Not people—things.
Pale, swollen flesh clinging to broken bone, skin split like parchment. They moved like they'd forgotten how. One dragged itself upward on twisted arms, another pressed a hand with too many fingers against the glass. Their heads jerked in tiny spasms, mouths opening and closing soundlessly—like something trying to remember speech.
Then one turned, and Eddie saw its face.
If it could still be called that.
It was half melted, half torn, a hole where the nose should be, teeth exposed in a red ruin. Something thick and dark dripped down its chin and hissed when it touched the metal.
Eddie couldn't breathe. He stepped back, the board under his foot groaning.
The creature froze—then turned its head sharply toward the sound.
The next blow shattered the silence. The shutters buckled inward.
Liam was already moving—swift, controlled—dragging the others up. "Everyone, weapons!! Now!!"...
Melissa's jaw tightened. She didn't speak. She was already reaching for her hatchet.
Eddie turned to run, but his foot went through the step—wood splintering beneath him with a violent crack. Pain shot up his leg as his knee jammed between the boards. "Ah—shit—" He tried to pull free, but the jagged edge bit into his skin.
The smell hit stronger now—wet, metallic, alive.
Something crashed through below. The shutters gave out. A heavy thud, the clatter of glass, and then the sound of feet—wet, uneven, dragging.
Liam swung the pipe he had pulled out from his bag. The hit landed against a skull with a hollow, meaty sound. The creature staggered, its head tilting in a broken angle, but it didn't stop. He swung again, harder. The jaw broke loose.
Cas backed toward the kitchen window, eyes wide but silent. His hands shook as he reached for a drawer, pulling out anything sharp.
Eddie looked down, panic clawing at his throat. He tried again to pull free—nothing. The wood held tight... then it was that creature... the possessed thing that had sensed him...
It limped to him... quick like a wild beast.
Eddie struggled... his leg didn't come out... he used all his force... tears' already blurred his vision.
He couldn't die, he thought.... not here, not before finding her... not without Edna, not when he had just found the courage to be the big brother he was supposed to be, not when he'd finally decided to be the man he should've been instead of her... no... no...
Time slowed down... his heart clenched... he was going to die... going to drown in eternal pain... in eternal guilt... he was guilty... it was his fault... what if he stopped his mother from leaving home that day? From leaving them alone... what if he was brave enough, strong enough to get his always-drunk father come to his senses...to leave this damn city before it gets too late?... what if instead of praying to heavens and earth, he actually did something?... to try to be an anchor rather than a burden?...
Yes that was all he was until now... a burden... a pitiful thing... a coward... a jerk that sent a small innocent girl outside in danger while hiding under his blanket like a miserable weakling...
Edna was dead, how could she not?... and it was all his fault... that's why she haunted his nightmares every single night... begging him to wake up... and see what he had done to her...
Eddie closed his eyes shut... seeing her face, Edna's crying face as she rots... blaming him with furry and desperation...
BAM.
Someone appeared.
No hesitation. No word.
Just motion.
She stepped into his field of vision, hatchet flashing once in the dim light. Another creature lunged—she ducked low, swung upward. The blade caught its shoulder, carved through flesh and into the base of its neck. The body dropped, twitching. Another one reached over it; she spun, gritting her teeth, and drove the hatchet into its mouth.
Hot, dark blood spattered her cheek.
She didn't flinch.
Her eyes met Eddie's for a fraction of a second—hard, focused, human.
"Hold still," she hissed, breath trembling. "You'll make it worse."
"Melissa—"
"Shut up."
She braced a boot against the step and yanked the plank sideways. The wood cracked, tore free, and Eddie fell forward—straight into her. Her arms caught him roughly, steadying him for just a second before she pushed him upright.
There was no time to speak. But Eddie saw it—beneath the mask of control, a flicker of something raw. Fear. Guilt. Maybe both.
Liam's voice cut through the chaos: "Back window—now!"
Cas slammed his elbow against the frame, breaking the glass and rusty metals. Wind and rain burst in.
Melissa grabbed Eddie's arm. Pulling him with force. He didn't resist.
Behind them, the creatures were coming fast—crawling, clawing, twisting their way through the doorway. Their limbs bent wrong. Their faces dragged along the floor as they moved.
The sound of the shutters still echoed—metal on bone, the house shaking like it was alive.
And as Eddie limped toward the kitchen, pain burning through his leg, he looked once at Melissa—her jaw tight, blood dripping from her chin.
They burst out of the window... running for their lives... Liam carried Eddie on his back, his legs lunging forward... jumping off the fences... they ran... and left the city alone with death.