On the sixth night, the zombie attack again.
“A sharp quick downward motion,” Kyrios says as they struggle with the broomsticks. “Just like fish in a barrel.”
It’s the second zombie attack this week. Over fifty of the things are pressed up against the main barricade, clawing at the wood, surging against it with the weight of their bodies. The moaning tide of grey flesh is illuminated by torches from above. Kyrios, Nixxter, and Ed Solomon, perched at the top of the barricade, thrust sharpened broomsticks down at them.
“You keep hitting them in the shoulder,” Kyrios snaps. “Take your time. Line it up with the top of the head or the face. Pretend it’s a nail. You know how to hits nails.”
“Nails stand still,” Ed protests. “These guys keep moving. Their arms keep getting in the way.”
It’s a cold January night, but the three of them are drenched in sweat.
“Hold it over their arms until you’re ready to stab it. Like this.” She leans perilously over the barricade to reach one of the zombies under Ed’s position. With a quick confident jab, her broomstick plunges into the zombie’s upturned face, just below the eye. It falls away, but another zombie grabs at the broomstick. A brief tug of war follows and the gore soaked broomstick is pulled down into the mass of zombies.
“We need more broomsticks. I think there are some in Jarrod’s apartment. Ed, take a break and see if you can find them. He keeps them in his workshop.”
“Gladly.”
Climbing down from the barricade, Ed loses his footing. His foot falls through the ladder. He tumbles backwards and wrenches his leg painfully at an awkward angle.
“Goddammit. God damn it to hell. Goddammmit.” He pulls his leg loose and lets himself down to the ground. The moans from the other side of the barricade get more frenzied at the sound of his pain.
“Hold on, I’m coming.” Nixxter climbs down as Ed struggles to stand.
“I’m okay, I’m okay. Goddammit.” He hops ridiculously on one foot back toward the apartments. “I’m going to get those broomsticks.”
“Let me have a look. Just sit down for a second.”
“I’m okay, I’m okay.” Ed lets himself to the ground and winces as he stretches his leg out. “I just have to catch my breath is all. Goddammit.”
The ankle is purple and starting to swell. He’s bleeding from a gash in his calf muscle. Blood is streaming freely into Ed’s shoe. “Kyrios, you okay on your own up there?” Nixxter asks.
“Fantastic,” she says without turning around. She leans down and jabs at another zombie.
“Three days? I have to stay here for three days?” Ed asks once everyone has decided that he can’t keep working on the hospital barricade.
“That’s how long it took Jesus,” Delta says.
“Yeah, but he was dead. I just have a sprained ankle and a cut. What am I going to do for three days? I’ve already read all the magazines we have.”
“You ever read those Harry Potter books?” Tim asks.
“My youngest one did. She saw the movies and everything.”
“They’re pretty good,” Tim says after a brief pause. This is often how they learn things about each other. A casual comment, a careless reference. It’s almost never clear whether it’s a matter of sharing or letting slip. The end result is the same. “I’ll go get you the first one. Philosopher’s Stone.”
“Hold up, I’ll come with you,” Nixxter says. “So this is really bad news,” he continues in the hallway. “He was half way through setting up the hospital after we cleared it out. Now we’ve lost all that time. We’ll have to go back in and clear it out again, which is going to take two days, and Ed will have to start from the beginning, which will take four days. One step forward, two steps back.”
“Well, at least there’s that one step forward.”
“I don’t think you understand math.”
“Here’s some math. We have enough food for ten days, and last night me and Jarrod got another two days’ worth. We’re fine for now. But there’s a bigger issue.”
“What?”
“I don’t have Goblet of Fire. If Ed gets to the fourth book within three days, we’re going to have a serious problem on our hands. Make sure he doesn’t read too fast.”
Day 7 results:
Ed Solomon injured and has to rest for three days, hospital construction canceled, morale down from 30% to 25%
Tim James and Jarrodhk return with ten rations of food
Day 7 missions:
Nixxter and Delta to recruit in farmland, 80% chance of success, 13% chance of mishap
Kyrios clearing out the hospital, 9% chance of mishap