STAY DEAD: Kings of the Castle (Part Three)

Keith fought to suck air back into his lungs; the fall from the tree literally knocked the wind out of him. He only slightly twisted his ankle, grunting, he stood up. He could hear Kayla screaming something but he couldn’t make it out. His head was spinning and his eyes locked onto Henry, who was almost to the tree. Keith took off in a sprint and headed for the front door of his home. Connor hung out the window with a shocked expression.

“What are you doing down there?” Connor asked his brother.
“Fell. Get the door! Hurry,” Keith yelled up to him.
“There’s more,” Kayla screamed.

Connor ran down the stairs to the front door. He tried desperately to move the couch that he and his brother only days ago moved there. He pushed and pushed and managed to barely budge the couch an inch. Keith banged furiously at the door.

“C’mon! Open the door,” he yelled.

Connor pushed again and again. Another inch and another step closer Henry was. Keith continued to smash his small fist into the door. Connor gave up on the couch and ran to the window a few feet away. He climbed up the small bookshelf and unlocked it. He put all his strength into pulling the window up and he nearly fell back as a result.

“Keith! Over here,” Connor called out to him.

Henry stood between the boy and the window. Keith ran straight at him and dodged his slow lumbering hands as they swooped down for him. By the time Henry turned around Connor was pulling his brother’s arm inside the window as Keith kicked his feet up and eventually in. Henry’s dead fingers clawed at the window as Connor locked it. The two boys ran back to the safety of their headquarter. Munk-Munk remained vigilant in his duty of guarding the stairway.
They looked out the window and waived at Kayla. She waived back and looked as relieved as a scared little girl could. Down below on the neatly mowed lawn gathered a small contingency of the local neighborhood dead. Their moans filled the evening air.

“You have to be really quiet and they’ll go away,” Kayla yelled.
“We know that already,” replied Connor.
“When they go away I’ll shine my flashlight at your window,” said Keith.
Kayla nodded. She sat below the window staring at the door her mother still scraped at. She wept silently and pulled her knees into her chest. Keith and Connor sat under their makeshift tent silently thumb-wrestling. The creatures gathered around the home scratching and clawing at the siding, the windows, and the doors. They carried on till early morning when the chirping of birds broke their focus. Dead eyes looked into the sky as the birds created a cacophony. They littered the trees and rooftops and a select few adorned the electrical wires. The dead things stumbled in different directions, each trying to find a noisemaker to take apart.
The kids had all fallen asleep hours ago and the chirping birds served to stir them to wake. Kayla refused to fall back to sleep but the boys had no trouble shaking off the early morning intrusion and returning to their dreams. Kayla sat by the window staring out waiting for one of them to wake. She rummaged through the bag Keith was so kind to get to her and grabbed a cereal bar. She nibbled at it slowly, trying not to make any noise. Her mother had wandered off in search of noisier prey.
Now awake, the boys wiped the crust from their eyes and stumbled to the window. They didn’t see any creatures around but when they turned to Kayla’s window she was smiling and waving at them. The boys waved back.

…to be continued in Stay Dead: Kings of the Castle Part 4!