Day 5 Part 6

The gunshot boomed in the rear of the hummer, causing my ears to ring, as blood blossomed on the Sergeant’s chest. Casey had turned away and was sobbing as he sagged backwards limply; his hand still held a death-grip on my wrist. I tucked the pistol into my waistband and began trying to pry his fingers free, when I heard the Rattle.

Sergeant Wood’s lifeless eyes snapped opened and he pulled me down towards him. I braced my free hand on his chest, just barely managing to keep his hungry jaws at bay.

“Case! I need a hand here!” I yelled.

She turned to face me and wiped the tears from her eyes; her despair was replaced by alarm as I wrestled with the dead man. She spoke in incomplete sentences, overcome with shock. “How is he…you shot him…why isn’t he…Dennis…why isn’t he dead!?” Her voice rose in pitch with delirium.

“I dunno, but, um…can we worry about that later?” I said with a grunt, adjusting my hand to hold him by the throat.

“What can I…how can I help?”

“The gun, Casey, get the gun. It’s tucked into my pants.” I nodded down toward it.

She walked up with surprising bravery and took the pistol, then looked at it hesitantly. “Dennis…I don’t know if I can do it…”

“Are you kidding? He’s already dead, this is just…a monster, or something. I don’t know what it is, but if you don’t shoot it it’s going to kill me!”

Finding her resolve, she leveled the gun at his head. He craned his neck angrily and bit at her, but I held him fast by the neck. A single tear fell from her eye as she pulled the trigger, and blew Sergeant Wood’s brains out.