Deadlocked by A. R. Wise Page A

her finger and leaned in to kiss her. When I pulled away, she gave me a smile so sweet and perfect that it put the one she gave me on our wedding day to shame.
    “I’ve got this,” I said to her.
    “Dave, no,” she said as I let go of her hand. She grabbed on tighter and tried to pull me to her side. “There's got to be another way. Don’t go.”
    I smiled at her and said, “Trust me.”
    She finally let go and I looked around for anything I could use to defend myself. There was an eight-inch fisherman’s knife lying on the floor that the Williams must have used for killing fish that got trapped in their net. I grabbed it and stepped up, out of the boat, and back onto the dock.
    Billy looked over his shoulder and saw what I was doing. He understood and nodded his thanks my way. I pointed the knife in his direction and said, “Get them out of here.”
    Kim then realized what was happening and she screamed out for me, “Daddy, no!”
    I could hear William's gasps as the zombies tore at his flesh. I could hear him dying the way that Barry had died. The way I would die.
    “I love you,” I said to all of them.
    I stumbled down the dock. My right leg had been crushed by the truck accident on the driveway earlier, but I ignored it and continued on. My left arm had been broken by Billy’s oar, but I slipped it out of the sling and dealt with the pain. My head was bleeding from when the boat had struck me in the Everland River, but I looked past the blood that ran into my eyes. I was all that stood between a horde of zombies and the three loves of my life. Pain no longer mattered.
    The first zombie nearly fell by himself as he ran along the slippery dock. All I had to do was push him to the side and he fell into the murky bay to sink to the bottom. The second was stronger, but I slammed my shoulder into him before he caught me. I pushed him up and off his feet. I thrust him to my left and he fell off the dock, but he managed to grab hold of the sling that dangled at my side. He pulled me down to my knees and tried to either pull himself up or pull me down with him. Ne boall of th
    I chopped at his wrist, but he wouldn’t let go and I didn’t have time to saw through bone. I ducked my head and wormed my way out of the sling, releasing the zombie to fall into the water and disappear beneath the waves to join his friend.
    The next one caught me in a compromised, bent position. It bit into my back and I screamed out, not in pain but in anger. I rose up with all the strength my legs could manage and slid the blade up past my head, catching the zombie in the throat. The force of my strike combined with my upward movement caused the blade to all but sever the zombie’s head. He went flying backward through the air and landed on the dock with his head flopped to the side.
    Two more zombies were already there to replace him. I looked back to see if the boat had left. It was still pressed up against the dock. I had to buy them more time.
    I kicked the next zombie’s knee and knocked it to the ground at my feet. It grabbed onto my leg, but I didn’t have time to worry as the next zombie was already attacking. I swiped through the air as it reached out for me and caught it on the fingers, slicing off the tips. I felt the creature at my feet gnaw into the flesh of my calf. I cried out, but not in pain. I wouldn’t let the girls hear my pain. I needed to focus on the one that was still standing; the one that could still threaten my family.
    It lunged at me and I grabbed onto its neck. I twirled to the side as I fell and tried to force it off the deck as it went with me. It worked, but when I fell I was at the mercy of the zombie eating my leg. It lurched forward and pulled itself over me. I stabbed the knife down, but it deflected off the zombie's skull and into my leg. I growled with anger and pulled the blade back out to strike again.
    Another zombie tried to run past me, toward the boat, but I dropped the knife and reached out