Free It'll Come Back... by Lisa Richardson Page A

escaped from in the High Street had followed them.
    ‘Let’s just get out of here while we can,’ said Louie.
    ‘No.’ Kate glanced back at the ice cream van. Another two Dead staggered from a side street and began banging on the windows. With four Dead on one side and only one on the other, the van began to rock under the pressure of the blows. Kate heard someone cry out from inside.
    ‘Come on!’ she said as she darted out from the cover of the café.
    ‘Kate, don’t!’ Louie called out after her but she ignored him.
    She thrust the tip of the umbrella at a Dead’s head but she only managed to scrape off some of its rotting flesh.
    ‘Bloody stupid thing,’ she muttered at the umbrella.
    She tried again, this time spearing the creature through the eye with the metal tip before yanking it out and swinging it to knock two more back from the van.
    Out the corner of her eye, Kate saw a slim young woman with long brown hair piled up on her head stand up inside the van. She pressed her palms against the glass and watched as Kate speared another Dead, while the other three turned from the van and staggered towards her.
    ‘Kate, come on!’ said Louie as he glanced from her to the mob of Dead heading their way, while all the time side-stepping away from them in the direction of the clear street ahead.
    ‘Help me!’ Kate called to him. She glanced back the way they had come to see the mob only a few metres away. The faster front runners would be on her in seconds. ‘Louie, help me!’
    Kate watched as Louie continued to shuffle in a sideways manner further away from her as the Dead headed towards her.
    ‘Shit, Louie!’ Kate drove the tip of the umbrella through the head of a Dead, wishing that she had a samurai sword instead so she could slice and dice numerous heads at once. She swung the umbrella at the front runners as they descended on her, attempting to keep them back.
    ‘Get out of there now!’ Kate yelled at the girl inside the van. ‘I can’t hold them off!’
    But the girl stared at the Dead heading their way and she didn’t move. Instead she began to scream as more creatures staggered towards the van. The screams caught the attention of the Dead who made a beeline for the van. They slammed their fists against the glass.
    Kate swung the umbrella, desperate to keep the Dead back so that she could get the girl out but the mob forced her back. She watched as the ice cream van began to rock once more from the blows it received and the girl ducked down inside. Kate saw the van tip over and heard the sound of the windows smashing. She gave the umbrella a hefty swing, intending to beat the Dead off so that the girl could get free of the wreckage. That’s when Kate saw the girl being dragged out through one of the windows by her hair. She screamed as the jagged glass that remained in place around the window sliced her arms and legs as the Dead grasped her hair and flesh and pulled until she was clear of the small vehicle. They swarmed her and began their feast.
    ‘NOOOO!’ screamed Kate. She stabbed a Dead through the ear and swung the umbrella at a few more that lurched towards her, but then she did the only thing she could – she turned and ran after Louie.
    ‘You fucking selfish bastard,’ she said to him once she had caught up with him. ‘Why didn’t you help?’
    ‘Because I knew that was going to happen,’ he replied. ‘I knew it was a lost cause. You’ve got to choose your battles.’
    ‘This one,’ said Louie, as they drew up to a picturesque terraced cottage.
    Kate glanced up and down the street, checking for Dead while Louie fished his key out of his pocket and stuck it in the lock. Both directions remained clear. He unlocked the door but Kate placed her hand on the back of Louie’s before he could push the door open.
    ‘Careful,’ she said.
    Louie nodded to her and he pushed the door open a few inches. He peered inside the gap, before easing it open enough to squeeze inside. He