The truck came to a stop just a few feet inside the clinic. Dust and smoke filled the air from the crumpled hood. The smell of gasoline spread quickly. People screamed and stumbled back, panic taking over.
The wall behind the double doors had stopped the truck from going further. If it hadn't, several people near the front would have been crushed.
Dean's heart pounded. He looked at the driver slumped over the wheel. Blood ran down the man's face from a deep cut on his forehead.
"Shit," Dean muttered, his stomach twisting. He knew the man in the truck. It was Kevin—the same man from Colony House who had opened the bathroom window and caused deaths with his recklessness. Dean's pulse spiked. He didn't have time to wonder why Kevin was here or why he had driven a truck into the clinic, as things got worse.
A man stepped into the ruined doorway from the night outside. He climbed onto the hood of the truck, his boots scraping metal. His posture was relaxed, as he crouched above the driver's seat.
The man's arms twitched. His fingers stretched and transformed into sharp claws. In one quick, brutal motion, he drove them through the roof of the truck. The claws pierced Kevin's skull like a spear.
With sickening force, the man yanked his arm upward. Kevin's head ripped free from his body, the spine still attached to his head. Blood sprayed across the windshield.
Gasps and screams filled the room.
The man smiled wide, showing teeth covered with blood. His voice was gentle. "Such a cozy little gathering. Would you mind if me and my friends joined?"
His smile grew even wider.
Suddenly a few presences appeared in the range of Dean's true awareness ability. He sensed it before anyone else. Six or seven of them. Monsters. Near the entrance. Their movements were slow and deliberate, like they were savoring the moment.
Dean raised his voice sharply. "Everyone up! Get to the basement—now!" His command cut through the chaos. People froze for a second, before getting their shit together.
The order to move toward the basement had barely left Dean's mouth when a voice cut through the air.
"Stop! Don't go down there!"
Dean turned toward the hallway. Boyd came running, his boots loud on the floor, Tom right behind him. Boyd's chest rose and fell fast as he skidded into the room, gun in his hand. His eyes locked on Kenny and Dean, sharp and urgent.
"The exit and basement are blocked," he said. His voice was tight, with urgency underneath. "Break the windows. It's the only way out."
Dean moved first. He grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall and ran to the row of windows at the side. Kenny and Father Khatri joined him. They picked up whatever they could—chairs, trays, even a crutch.
Dean slammed the extinguisher against the window. The glass cracked, then splintered. A second hit shattered it. Kenny and Father Khatri smashed the rest. They pulled down the curtains and used them to sweep the broken glass away.
"Out, now!" Dean shouted.
Tom grabbed the frame, shoved himself out, and landed on the ground. Peter followed, scraping his leg on the sill as he went.
The man on the truck stayed still, watching with interest. More presences pressed close. The monsters were moving in.
"Jade next!" Boyd ordered.
Dean and Kenny lifted the unconscious Jade by the arms. His head sagged, his breathing weak. They shoved him through the opening into waiting hands. Tobey followed helped by the both.
"Matthews family—go!" Dean shouted. Jim pushed his kids forward. Tabitha followed after them and so did Jim.
Outside, Tom caught each person and pushed them away from the wall. "Don't stop! Head to my place!" he shouted at Peter. His house was the nearest safe spot.
Inside, the monsters pushed closer. Some of the monsters were walking slowly towards the broken window form the outside too.
Boyd fired his gun at their feet, but other than delaying them it did nothing. More monsters appeared behind slowly pressing forward.
"Go!" Boyd shouted. He fired again. "Get them out!"
Dean and Kenny shoved the Kristi and Gina through. Then the monsters reached forward.. One swung at Boyd, its hand passing inches from his face. He pulled back, teeth clenched.
Now Boyd, Khatri, Dean, Kenny along with Harry and and Mark were cut off. Monstrous claws reached from outside the window at them as more monsters gathered there.
"Shit," Kenny said, backing away as jumping out wasn't an option now. Thankfully Gina and Kristi had already ran away following the group.
Dean's pulse raced. "Other side—move!"
They ran. A monster swiped at them. Dean activated the Ghost Veil and smashed the extinguisher into its face, buying a moment. Another claw tore through Kenny's jacket but missed his skin. He stumbled, and Father Khatri yanked him up.
Dean had already reached the windows on the far side of the room. He swung the extinguisher with every ounce of strength he had left. The glass cracked once, then again, before finally bursting outward in a rain of shards. Cold night air rushed inside.
"Go!" Boyd barked, shooting bullets at their legs
Dean didn't stop to think. He jumped through the broken frame, hit the dirt hard on his shoulder, and rolled across the ground. Pain shot through him, but he pushed himself back up. Kenny came down beside him a moment later, groaning and holding his chest. Father Khatri and Harry stumbled out after them, with Boyd right behind.
Mark was next.
Just as he was about to climb out when a hand grabbed his shoulder and held him down. The grip tightened, pressing hard, and he couldn't move.
He screamed as his shoulder cracked with a loud snap, the bones breaking under the pressure. Blood spilled from the wound, soaking his shirt, while the monster dragged him back.
"Mark!" Boyd yelled shooting bullets at the mosnters face. But that just made the monster press on Mark's shoulder even harder.
Mark struggled, swinging his free arm toward the window. "Help me!" he shouted. His voice was hoarse and broken.
The monster pulled harder again. It twisted, tearing deeper into Mark shoulder until his arm ripped off in a burst of blood. He screamed and shook violently. Another monster slashed across his stomach. His intestines spilled onto the floor as he collapsed to his knees, still trying to crawl toward the window.
"No! No!" Kenny shouted, frozen in shock.
Boyd grabbed him and pulled him back. "We cannot save him! Move!" He yelled.
The monsters rushed at Mike. One grabbed his head and yanked it back while another clawed into his chest. His screams turned into a choking gurgle as a monster bit into his throat and tore it out. Dean caught his terrified eyes staring at him before Boyd pushed him away from the window.
"Run!" Boyd ordered.
The group of six men—now five—ran towards Tom's house with all their strength but Mike's brutal death stayed still in their minds.
The first group stayed close together as Peter led them toward Tom's house. "This way! Keep moving!" he shouted.
Dean's chest burned, but he kept running. He glanced back once and saw the clinic crawling with dark shapes. They moved slowly, like hunters playing with their prey.
In no time the group of five men reached Tom's house.
At Tom's house, the other group was already going inside. Tom held the door open. Peter pulled down curtains to cover windows. Kristi checked Tobey and laid Jade on the floor with Gina's help.
"Faster!" Boyd urged, almost pushing the last few inside.
Once everyone was inside, Kenny slammed the door and Father checked the Tailsman hung beside it. Only then he sighed with relief.
The room filled with heavy breathing. No one said anything for a while. Kids clung to parents.
Kristi's hands shook as she worked. Gina sat against the wall, knees to her chest.
Outside, tapping started. Fingers on glass. Scraping on the siding. Voices followed, calm and smooth.
"Let us in," one of them said. "We only want to talk."
Another voice joined in, playful. "Poor Mark. He was so close, wasn't he? Just a hand away and he would've been safe."
"All that running, all that fighting… and what did it buy him?" one sneered. "A painful death?"
Another voice whispered close, making Kenny flinch. "You didn't save him. You watched. You let him die. How long until it's your turn?"
Dean looked at Kenny. His face was pale, his hands pressed over his ears, but the words cut through anyway.
"We can give him back," a new voice said, soft as silk. "Not as you knew him. No, no. He'd be better now, wouldn't he?"
Laughter filled the night, poking fun at the people inside.
Boyd checked the talisman again. His face was hard. "Ignore them," he said. His voice was flat but firm. "They want to break you. Don't let them."
The monsters did not stop. Their voices overlapped in a cruel chorus.
"Mark… Mark… Mark…Oh poor Mark!" they sang, dragging his name until it sounded like a hymn.
Dean shut his eyes. Rage and helplessness burned in his chest. He could still see Mark's face. He could still hear his voice begging for help. Dean focused on his breathing, trying to calm himself down.
The tapping outside grew louder, closing in from all sides of the house. The monsters had it completely surrounded.
Then one of them spoke, its voice sharp, like a warning.
"You'll all be joining him soon."
Another voice came from the other side of the house.
"You'll all be joining him soon."
A third voice joined in.
"You'll all be joining him soon."
More and more voices followed. They came from the windows, the doors, the roof, even the walls. The words overlapped, circling the house like a slow, steady beat until it became a chant.
"You'll all be joining him soon."
Inside, nobody moved. The air felt heavier with every word.
The chant went on, slow and drawn out, until it was the only sound filling the house.
***
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