red hill - jamie mcguire

I pulled my chin away from my rifle, and then forced myself to reload and search for them again.
Miranda was scooting backward, pulling Bryce with one hand, shooting with the other.
“No!” she cried, aiming at the shufflers closing in on her. “Help us!”
I shot one after another. Skeeter did, too, but Miranda only managed to get off two more shots
before half a dozen monsters obscured her from view and then began to feed. When her screams of
pure anguish filled the air, I closed my eyes tight. Skeeter’s rifle popped. Even after Skeeter ended
her suffering, the echoes of her screams lingered in the surrounding wheat fields for a few moments.
I looked up, seeing Nathan, Jenna, and Halle emerge from the field and then run across the road
and toward the porch. I watched the girls until Ashley corralled them into the safety of the house, and
then I looked through the scope again. Nathan ran toward the herd with my hatchet to help his brotherin-law.
As much as I wanted to go inside the house and hug my babies, I knew none of us was safe
until the last of the herd was taken down.
In one moment, it was as if they were endless, and in the next there were only a few left. I shot,
Skeeter shot, and Nathan hurled the hatchet. Bodies lay all over the road and in the ditches. It looked
like a scene out of a horror movie; a massacre. Nathan and Skeeter didn’t return to the house, instead
they stood over the bodies of Miranda and Bryce. They were lying together, chewed and bloody.
Skeeter pulled out a handgun, and shot Bryce in the head. He’d already made sure Miranda wouldn’t
come back. Spending another bullet wasn’t necessary.
I climbed down the ladder, and stood in shock as I watched Jenna and Halle push through the
screen door and bury their faces against me. I wasn’t sure if I collapsed, or if they did, but all three of
us were sitting in a sobbing mess on the porch.
Ashley stood over us for a moment, and then began running toward the road. Her wails were the
background music to my reunion with my children. Elleny and Zoe stood in the doorway in shock,
neither of them seeming to be able to make sense of what had just happened, nor of the scene on the
porch. It seemed like everyone was crying, both happy and sad tears.
Night was falling, and Skeeter and Nathan guided Ashley back to the house. She was sobbing,
fighting to stay with her sister. Skeeter had to force her the rest of the way into the house.
Nathan watched Ashley and Skeeter until they disappeared behind the door, and then looked down
at my family, offering a small smile. “You have some incredible kids there.”
“Miranda” I asked, already knowing the answer.
He sighed. “Bryce was attacked. She tried to save him. I couldn’t get to them in time.”
Halle’s face was buried under my arm, and her dirty fingernails dug into my skin. I kissed her
head. “Come on, girls. I’ve got you. Let’s go inside.”
Nathan helped us up, and we walked inside together. The girls were filthy, and I couldn’t be sure,
but I thought they were still wearing the same clothes they put on the last morning I saw them.
I couldn’t stop staring or smiling at them. It almost didn’t seem real.
“We saw your message,” Jenna said, trying not to cry.
I shook my head. “Where’s your dad”
“He was bit,” Halle said in her small voice.
“He made us leave him,” Jenna said, her voice quivering. “He made us.”