Keeping his eyes glued to Conrad, James pressed himself to the wall. He winced slightly as his injured shoulder went over the raised frame of one of the tall windows that were between each coatrack pair. The sun threw his shadow onto the zombie.

Conrad matched him inch for inch until the man's grasping fingernails were scraping the wall where James needed to pass. He stopped just beyond the zombie's reach.

"Fuck!" James exclaimed.

Conrad moaned and waved his arms as if he was swimming in mid-air.

Maybe he could outrun him?

Billy's moans of pleasure and intermittent strings of dirty talk were increasing in the other room. They mixed with Conrad's moans of hunger to create a dissonant song.

James pressed his toe to the floor and heel to the wall as if it was a starter's block. Hesitation could get him killed or Petra attacked. He launched himself forward.

It was roughly eight feet across. One, two, three steps. Conrad was just beginning to rotate to follow James.

He was almost halfway there! This would work!

His foot slipped out from under him. Gravity grabbed his body and slammed it down onto the unyielding marble, knocking the wind out of him and banging his chin hard.

James lay dazed, gasping for air.

Billy's groaned, "Open your mouth, Petra! Open it wider! I'm gonna cum a big load for you! If you fucking bite me, I'll take a fucking week to kill you, bitch. Then I'll go after everyone you love, and I'll take two weeks to kill them."

James pushed his left hand down to raise himself and give his lungs more room to inflate. He blinked as the air from Conrad's hand swiped past his nose just as he lifted up. Glancing up he saw the man's other hand was just reaching down for him.

He was leaning towards the monster!

James pressed down with his right hand to lean the other way.

His hand slipped in the puddle that had tripped him up in the first place. He barked his chin in the liquid when he impacted the ground again. It was slimy and viscous, but clear like water.

He rolled his body towards the door just as Conrad's hand flew through the place he'd just been.

A long string of drool fell from the man's mouth onto the floor. In the exact spot James had been.

Drool! Fucking zombie drool!

If only he could slide right through the man's legs. Zombies were slow enough that it might work.

If only he had something as slippery as zombie drool.

James got to his knees but he was too close! He jumped to the side to avoid Conrad's reaching hand and grabbed onto the window frame to steady himself. He looked outside for a moment.

"Bingo!" he didn't know if he shouted it or said it at all. He didn't really care.

It was clear from Billy's moans and the high-pitched tone of his words that he was about to finish. There was no way he was going to let Billy violate Petra. He would literally die to prevent it.

Bounding out the door, James snatched the bucket beside the rainwater barrel and scooped up a bucket of water. It sloshed out as he bolted back to the front door.

Directly on the other side of the room just over the threshold, Billy wasn't paying any attention to him at all and Petra had her eyes squeezed shut.

Holding the rim and base of the bucket, James swung it back then forward, tipping it down on the leading arc and taking careful aim to send a stream of water down the centre of the room. There was a risk Conrad would slip in it, but he had to take it.

James tossed the bucket back out the door where it bounced softly in the grass.

Using the edge of the front door as another runner's block, he pushed off and after two steps threw himself to the ground in the water.

He was inches away from being zombie-lunch as Conrad snatched at him when he slid between the man's spread legs.

The water carried him right into the main house.

"Fuuuck! I'm coming!" Billy was yelling. He was just levelling his cock at Petra's mouth when James slammed into his legs. Billy landed hard on top of him.

James heard the gun skitter off over the floor.

Billy rolled off and jumped up, his underwear still strung around his thighs. "Oh, you're going to die, you fuck head!"

James couldn't move at all. Pain so intense it took his breath away was shooting from his back. Billy's elbow must have landed right on his kidneys or something when he fell.

He knew he had to get up. He just wasn't sure he could.

Billy's bare feet appeared in front of his face. "Get ready to pay."

"Hey, Billy!" Petra called.

James turned his head to the side so he could look up. Petra was swinging her backpack forcefully. It connected with Billy's face with the sickening crunch of bone as his nose broke on one of the nail guns. The walkie gave a startled squawk from inside.

Hands flying to his nose that began spouting blood, Billy stumbled backwards.

James pushed himself up just in time to see Petra bring the bag around again and hit her attacker on the side of the head. Billy spun around and reeled drunkenly towards the front door.

Petra dropped the bag and helped James stand.

Billy reached for the doorjamb but missed. His foot slipped on the water slide and he fell forwards through the open door. He landed with his arms splayed out in a parody of flying. The slick marble carried him forward a foot or so.

With a loud groan, Conrad reached down and grabbed at his son's shoulder.

Billy shrieked. "Let go, you stupid fucker!" He clawed at his dad's hand and somehow managed to get it off.

The wet surface gave no purchase to Billy's flailing limbs. He put his hands on his dad's ankles and pushed. He was only able to move forward a foot before Conrad swiped again, catching Billy's underwear.

"No!" Billy shouted and flipped his body over, luckily twitching the fabric from his father's grasp.

Scrambling backwards in a crabwalk, Billy scrambled to get away. His hands skated out from beneath him on the glistening surface, landing him flat on his back.

Conrad snatched at Billy's leg. His massive hand closed around Billy's shin and hauled him up, dangling the boy upside down effortlessly.

"No, Dad! No! I'm your fucking son! Nooooo—AHHHHHHHHH!" Billy's shriek of pain followed the sound of tearing meat. Blood rained down over Billy's upturned face. He coughed and spluttered, spitting it out when it filled his open, screaming mouth.

"Oh, shit!" Petra said. She clutched at James' hand and pointed.

The horde that had chased them from Poor Man's Hill emerged from the driveway.

James was pressing his hand to his back. He could barely move and wasn't able to draw in a full breath yet. If they had to run, he was zombie meat.

"Close the front door. Billy said the glass in this place is unbreakable. It'll hold until we can get away."

Petra ran to close the door. The sound of the thumb lock shunting home sent a modicum of safety through James.

The large inset pane of glass gave them an unobstructed view of Billy's continued attempts to get free.

"You don't have to watch this, Petra. Let's go," James said. He hesitated to take her hand. How was she going to react to Billy's treatment of her?

She reached out and linked her fingers through his and drew closer to him. Her face was serious and calm, but her voice betrayed a deep turmoil. "No. I need to watch. If I know he's dead, then I know he won't be coming after me anymore." Her voice trembled over the last.

James nodded. He held his arm out inviting her to cuddle into his side. He was so afraid of making the damage Billy had done worse. She stepped into him and wrapped an arm securely around his waist.

Billy's shrieks were a dinner bell for the group that shuffled in the outer door.

When they first laid their hands on him, James and Petra instinctively clutched each other at the level of horror in Billy's screams. JJ had been silenced very quickly, but hanging upside down, it would take the horde a long time to get to his head.

Petra began to tremble, so James rocked her as they watched.

"Petra, will you be okay if I go around and close the door on the other side? It'll trap that whole whack of zombies instead of letting them roam free when they're done. We can take care of them with the Chief or Father Lee later."

She nodded, keeping her eyes fixed tight on Billy's braying head. "I don't think we should leave any zombie alive. A zombie we kill today is one less to bite us tomorrow."

"Where do you think they keep extra keys? Billy said you need one to open the doors."

"His car keys are in his trousers. I bet there's a master key for all the doors on the ring or at least the main ones."

James gave her a squeeze and went as fast as his aching body would travel around the outside of the house.

As quietly as he possibly could, he snicked the outer door closed and locked it. At least it muffled Billy's still unbelievably loud voice somewhat.

The zombies attacking Billy looked like a hive of maggots swarming over a piece of rotten meat he'd once seen in a trash can. The floor was a spreading pool of crimson.

Petra stood hugging herself and rubbing her upper arms. Her mouth was turned down in a frown, but her tears had dried up.

James left the zombies to their meal and hobbled back to the kitchen door.

Joining Petra, he slid an arm around her waist. "Whenever you're ready, we'll call the Chief to come and get us. Or we can take Billy's car since we both have our learner's permits. Not that that really matters anymore. But the more skills we can master, the better, I say. We should really start practicing, like, chucking knives and stuff." He clamped his lips shut to stop babbling. He was just so relieved to be alive. More slowly, he continued, "Just say when, and we'll go. Okay?"

She nodded, still silent, eyes on Billy. After several minutes, she said, "Am I a bad person because I'm happy he's dying in such a horrible way?"

James laid his head on top of hers.

She pulled away with an "Ouch!" Tenderly she touched the side of her head where Billy had hit her with the gun.

As gently as he could, James kissed the spot. "I'm so sorry I wasn't able to rescue you earlier than I did. That he touched you at all."

She turned in his arms and laid a hand on his cheek. "If it weren't for you... I don't even want to think about it. That was a great idea to slide in like that."

James gave a short laugh. "Billy's dad drooled a whole pool of saliva that I slid on. Well, with a bit of water I added from the barrel outside. It was gross, but effective."

Petra pulled back and grimaced at his wet shirt. "You mean you have zombie drool on you? That's disgusting."

He looked down at himself. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

They looked at each other and burst out laughing. Their laughter increased until they were supporting each other while holding their sides, begging each other to stop. One look and they'd be off again. Finally, their guffaws lessened to chuckles then tapered off to giggles.

James followed Petra's glance into the anteroom. "I think it's almost over," he said.

Billy still hung upside down. His head resembled a prop from a horror movie. The entire thing was coated in a thick layer of blood.

Sometime while they laughed he had stopped screaming.

"Listen," Petra said.

They both strained. Low moans were coming from Billy's mouth. Not of the undead, but of the soon to be.

"And Petra, I don't think you're a bad person for being happy he died like this. Who knows how many people he hurt while he was alive. This is just karma in action."

A zombie they didn't recognise slipped on the slick surface and fell. Small splashes of bloody water sprayed up on its tan trousers and white shirt in an array of crimson polka dots. With steady determination, it climbed to its knees.

James gulped down his queasiness when it leaned forward and tore out the side of Billy's neck.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Zombie drool, eh?

Thank you for reading!

WORD COUNT: 2162

NANO WORD COUNT: 45, 067

TOTAL WORD COUNT: 46, 892