They Walk by Amy Lunderman Page B

are getting louder, and I’m not the only one that was woken up. Matt and Alex are no longer sitting behind me they are now sitting on the bed watching Austin. Nice to know they left me alone to be comfortable.
    Not.
    Austin’s voice gets so loud he makes me jump in surprise. And I finally make sense of what they are arguing about.
    “ Dammit, I can’t stay here! Those things are going to get in! I will not die like them!” Screams Austin, his face is red with anger.
    “ Be reasonable, Austin. You can’t just walk out the front door. That’s suicide, and you know it!”
    “ What choice do I have, huh? Unless you happen to have an airplane in your back pocket, then we’re screwed. I’m not waiting around, just to be eaten and turned!”
    “ We all feel the same way you’re not alone in that. I’m just trying to get you to understand, that we have to come up with a better plan of action.”
    “ Plan of action? Are you high Gabriel? Who said I was including any of you?” He laughs, and it sends chills down my spine.
    Still sitting on the floor near Gabe is Sam, and he’s watching them argue back and forth. He snickers at Austin’s comment and shakes his head.
    “ I figured that was what you already had in mind. You’re too much the shallow type to actually want to help anyone but yourself.” Sam says. He must regret it the moment he says it though, his eyes get wide and his cheeks go red.
    Austin doesn’t say anything he just turns and glares at him. He stands there for a minute, before he begins to shake. I instantly have a bad feeling, like he’s going to start hitting Sam. I must not be the only one, because Gabe comes closer to him and Dan is now standing and approaching him slowly. They both are taking their time, almost afraid of how he’ll respond.
    He doesn’t seem to notice them though, his eyes are for Sam.
    “ You can think whatever you want of me, loser. But I’ll make it out of here alive, and you can sit here and wait to die.”
    Sam is sitting while leaning against the wall so hard I think he’s trying to push through to the other side. If it was possible, I know he’d be gone by now. Austin is freaking me out, and he’s not even looking in my direction.
    “ Dude, will you chill. We’re all scared, but we have to work together.” Alex says from the bed.
    “ Listen to Alex, Austin. None of us want to stay here we want to go as much as you.” Dan says, he talks quietly trying not to spook him.
    “ Stop trying to confuse me! I know I can make it to my car, it’s in the driveway for Crist sake!”
    He turns then and he’s facing towards me, and I flinch at the hard look on his face. His eyes are wild, and look too big for his head. His face is so pale, that he has dark circles under his eyes. His shirt is already wet with blood, and I don’t know how he’s even standing up.
    But he’s not looking at me though he’s looking out the window.
    I can almost see a plan forming behind his eyes, and I barely have time to duck when he runs at me. I can feel the wind as his body passes over me, and he crashes through the window with no resistance.
    When Austin went through the window, the glass rained down on me. I didn’t have time to try to move, and I can feel the pieces pierce the skin of my back and arms through my light t-shirt. I sense some of the other’s rush to the window after him, but I’m still crouched too low to see who. Everyone seems to be yelling, but my ears are ringing from the sound of the window smashing. Hands grab for me and pull me up, I stumble to my feet and am facing Gabe. He pushes me behind him to Matt though, and he grips me tightly.
    Gabe, Dan, Brian, and Alex are staring out the window and yelling for Austin to come back inside. I’m confused for a moment, not understanding what they are talking about. Then I step away from Matt, so I can see out the ruin of the window. There is a wide ledge of the roof, right below. He landed on it easily, and is