it almost impossible to maneuver. Drew and Dave were both looking out the window and when Drew looked behind him he stepped back and let him in. Eric, out of breath, looked out the window and saw the crazed people moving forward in the flame. They would step in moving toward the house, but then most of them would start to veer off in wrong directions. He thought while they were in the fire their eyes had burned out and they could not see where they were going.
Dave grabbed the gas can from him and gave it a little shake. By the look on his face he was not impressed by its contents, but he was not going to give it back.
“That’s all I have left.” Eric said with a shrug.
Dave pushed it out as far as he could. They watched it land just passed the ten foot section of fire and when it struck the ground, flame bounced through the air and spread out to the street. Cars caught on fire, and the people that were just arriving, who were about to run into the fire were suddenly engulfed in flame. The heat from the sudden burst of fire forced them back inside the barrier of the window.
Eric did glimpse at what the fire was doing to the front of his house and the only part that was on fire was the trimming around the front door. The house was older and completely made of brick and he took a temporary feeling of comfort that they would not burn tonight, but he hooked the fish tank hose adapter to the bathrooms faucet, turned the water on and hung it out the window to put out the fire on the door.
They closed the window as much as possible without stopping the water from flowing and watched the fire from behind the window. The fire looked like it rolled in waves as the undead carried the fire closer to the house, but bounced back as it hit the mounds of charred bodies that protected the home.
**********
The four of them barricaded the back door with a two by four from the shed. They pressed it against the set of cabinets directly across from the door and jammed the wood under the door knob. The windows were set higher and unless they started to climb on top of each other they didn’t have to worry about the crazed people getting in through them.
Eric has two other roommates that are in the Coast Guard and neither of them was answering their phones. He tried to contact their units and he got a busy signal. The town house he rented was small, but really no different from any of the other houses on the block. Each house was built exactly the same and his house was in much need of a rehab. Paint fell from the ceilings, he thought more than likely lead paint, and there was not a single piece of wood that did not creak as you walked over them, but right now there was no other place any of them would dare to venture. The blaze had died down and moved away from the landing, windows and front door. The piles of charred bodies created a wall of fire that protected the front of the house. The crazed people continued to feed the wall making it larger and impenetrable. The back of the house was protected by a privacy fence. It was poorly made and a child would be able to push it over, but what it did provide was what it was originally intended for, privacy.
The smell in the house was starting to die down and the adrenaline they were all feeling was slowly dissipating, but the monsters outside never let them forget they were still out there. Their groaning was unrelenting and constant. The four of them were all sitting in the largest bedroom that faced the alley, because the front room still had the strong smell of burnt flesh in it and was very warm from the fires even with the AC set on its coldest setting.
A few hours later the sun was