Chapter 5: Pool Party Massacre

I reach Porter, and right away I know something's not right. Dozens of vacated cars litter the sidewalks outside of a two-story suburban house. I pull my Beretta out as I begin to spot droplets of blood on the driveway. "Hello?!" I shout, hoping that I have not announced my arrival to the perp, assuming that he was still around. With my pistol armed, I cautiously enter the backyard through a door that has been partially ripped off it's hinges. As the door swings open, I see kids, lying face down, some in a pool of what looks to be their own blood. I rush over to them to check on their conditions when all of a sudden a whispering voice erupts from the second-floor window of a neighboring house. "No, don't touch them! Don't go near them!" Startled, I run over to his front door to where he meets me. He opens the door, pulls me as hard as he can inside, and locks the door. "What's going on here, kid?! What happened?! " As I'm asking my questions, I notice that he's trembling and pacing back and forth. His house is pitch dark with only the moonlight to illuminate us. He finally answers me, pausing at the end of every word, "Some guy...came into my neighbors pool party...and he...he just started tearing them apart..." His eyes begin to well up with tears. I can see that the kid's been traumatized. "It's ok, alright? Just calm down." He clears his throat, "I'm in my room when, all of a sudden, I hear a scream from outside of my window. I can tell that this scream is different from the ones I'd been hearing earlier so I take a look and this guy...he's just gnawing away at some kid's face like a fucking dog..." I ask him to take me to his window upstairs. I look out the window and can spot a few of them, most likely already dead. He peers out the window with me, "Wait a minute......oh shit..." He says, backing away from the window. "What? What is it?!", I ask. His face turns pale, "I saw four of them before you came..." I don't get what he says right away, but then I realize he's talking about the bodies. He looks at me, "I didn't want to tell you this because I thought you might think I was crazy, but, I swear to god, it's the truth.....after he bit them...some of them got back up, and they started doing the same thing to everyone else." He collapses into a seated position onto his bed and covers his face with his hands. I try to comfort him, "Look kid, whatever you saw, your safe now. Just come with me back to the station and..." Suddenly we hear a crash, like the sound of breaking glass, coming from downstairs. He jumps for his baseball bat while I unholster my pistol and clasp it firmly. "Stay here." I tell him. I walk onto the wooden floor as quietly as I can. Looking down the staircase, I can see the shadow of a figure lingering near the corner at the base of the stairs. As I move down the steps, the shape quickly moves out of sight. I reach the first floor and I see that the glass that we had heard breaking from upstairs was the back yard screen door being smashed in. Whatever broke that glass is still in here. The hairs on my arms stand at attention. I feel as if something's waiting in the dark, watching me. I pull out my flashlight and survey the living room. Nothing at first first but then I hear the sound of shoes booming on the wooden floor behind me. I swing my flashlight around just in time to see a wide-eyed girl running full speed at me, blood-stained mouth agape. She hits me with full momentum and knocks me down, her jaws gnashing for my throat. As I struggle with her, I can hear the boy rushing down the stairs. "Get off him!" he screams as he swings a Louisville Slugger into her side. He helps me up as the girl thrashes wildly. She gets up and charges at me again. I put a slug into her leg. She falls down but gets right back up as if unfazed. I put another round into her arm. Nothing. Hesitantly, I aim for her head. I scream for her to stop one last time, but she keeps coming towards me. I pull the trigger. Finally, she goes down. Her blood sickeningly pours, painting the floor with crimson death. "What the fffu...?!" Both of us panting heavily. I turn her over only to see a nightmarish face. Though still recognizable, her face is as pale as snow and her pupils are darker than the midnight sky. Abruptly, the boy shouts "No, no!...oh my god! Ally?!" He says. With my eyes fixated on her, I ask" You know her?!" The boy's breathing becomes shallow. "Yeah...she sat next to me in school..." He kneels over her, sobbing. "It's not safe here..." I tell him. As we snap back into reality, we turn to see a few more of "them" trying to break through the backyard's wooden fence. "We gotta go!", I shout. We run outside as fast as we can; the boy, still in his socks and pj's. When we reach my cruiser, another girl runs towards us from the house that had been attacked, only this time this girl doesn't seem to be like one of those crazies. "Help me!...please, wait!" The boy recognizes her, "Nicole?! Hurry, get in!" We all finally get into the car. As I'm pulling out of the driveway, two teenagers lunge onto the hood of my car. I hit the gas and turn on the windshield wipers as we make a swift getaway back to HQ.