#2

Levi sprinted to the most imminent source of danger; the cracked aperture that had been the kitchen window just a few moments ago. Walkers were clumsily attempting to pile in and, although their combined mass was preventing them from entering the log house at the moment, the structural weakness was growing larger and larger. In less than a minute, the entire herd would be able to get in.

He plunged his sword into the skull of the first shambler that had managed to crawl halfway in, ripping the weapon out of its head before turning around.

"GO! Evelyn, take these two and get out of here!" he commanded urgently, gesturing at Lily and Calliope.

"Shut the fuck up, this is no time to play heroics!" she shot back. "You're coming with us, [i]now![/i]"

"This isn't a discussion and these aren't heroics. Just listen to me, I'll be out right after!" he reassured her, now gesticulating wildly for her to escape.

There was no time to argue. Evelyn grabbed Lily and Calliope forcefully and shoved them towards the hallway that led to the bathroom. Before the three of them were out of his sight, Lily and Levi's gaze connected. It was a wordless connection; the slate was now clean. There would be no grudges held beyond this point.

Lily hurried along the corridor, keeping Calliope in front of her. As soon as they reached the bathroom, she hoisted her up onto her shoulder and onto the marble sink, her uncharacteristic strength a sign of how perilous the situation had become; each wasted second could mean their gruesome and macabre deaths.

"Don't turn back, keep running!" ordered Lily as soon as Calliope had managed to pull herself out of the window.

She climbed onto the sink with nimble agility, easily climbing out of the window and immediately turning around to lend a helping hand to Evelyn. Evelyn reached up with both hands and, with their combined strength, was easily able to escape the death trap. 

---

Although Levi had now dispatched six walkers with the sword, their sheer numbers were becoming overwhelming. Confident that he had drawn the herd's attention just long enough for his companions to escape, he vaulted over the kitchen table and planted a firm, mid-air boot into the walker on the opposing side. Although it staggered back and knocked some other walkers to the ground, he was still vastly outnumbered. Before he could reach the hallway, he felt a cold, dead hand hook into his shoulder. Whirling around to face his attacker, he lost his footing and landed hard on his back, the rotting corpse's former face rasping and salivating just above his.

"Fuck you!" he yelled, attempting to push it away as the other walkers came nearer and nearer. Its grip was too tight and its gnashing teeth were becoming dangerously close. From this angle, swiping at its skull with his sword would be impossible. He shifted his right hand to its neck and was barely able to hold it at bay as his left hand frantically reached for the gun in his pocket. Finally able to grasp the handle firmly, he whipped it up and pressed it firmly into the chin of the walker before squeezing the trigger and closing his eyes.

Blood and decayed grey matter exploded from the walker's skull, splattering his face. He groaned as the full weight of the corpse collapsed onto him, eventually heaving it off him and scrambling up to his feet before the other zombies could get to him. He sprinted into the bathroom and began to search through his pockets once more, producing a small box of matches and setting it onto the counter next to the sink.

If he wasn't about to be ripped apart by walkers, he would have enjoyed a raucous bout of merriment at the way in which his pharmacy degree was about to aid him.

With his hands back in his trench coat's pockets, he retrieved the hydrogen peroxide bottle that Samantha had given him and unscrewed the cap with urgency, flinging it aside and leaping forward. Slashing the bottle through the air with the herd mere feet away from him, he covered a large section of the wooden wall adjacent to the corridor with the colourless liquid before retreating into the bathroom and dumping the rest in the doorway.

The pace and force with which his heart was beating was all he could hear as he waited, hoping against hope that this grand scheme of his would work. As soon as he saw a shambling foot through the doorway, he grabbed the box of matches and pulled one out, striking it against the coarse strip at the side. With a spark and crackle, a small but fierce flame was produced at the end of the bud. By now, the walker had stepped into the puddle of hydrogen peroxide. 

Levi flicked the match through the air with precision, breath bated as he watched it arc through the air as if in slow-motion until it finally landed at the walker's feet. 

The abomination roared as fire swept across its body until it was completely engulfed in tall, bright and sweltering flames. Seizing his opportunity, he lunged forward and kicked it hard so that its back slammed into the soaked, wooden wall. 

The effect was instantaneous. Fire swept throughout the entire house, whipping and crackling across the walls until it had consumed the entire herd. It wasn't going to kill them instantly, but it had to slow them down... or so he hoped. Not wanting to wait and find out, he twirled around and leaped onto the sink. Narrowly overshooting the jump, he lost his footing on the slippery marble and landed hard on his knee, crying out in pain, but he was too close to sweet freedom to fail now.

He grabbed the broken window ledge with both hands and pulled his upper body up, then rested his stomach against the ledge and lifted his knees up, planting his palms against the other side of the window and pressing against it to use the leverage to his advantage. Left foot out.

Right foot stuck.

He gasped as a vice-like grip wrapped itself around his ankle, feeling his body start to fall backwards through the air as his right foot flailed wildly, unable to free himself from the walker's grip.

"Oh fuck, [i]oh fuck[/i]!" he cried out in terror and panic. "Don't let them kill me, please, help me! HELP ME!" he screamed at the figures in the distance.