Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse
Chapter 55: Into The Storm

Chapter 55: Into The Storm

Moving so that I was standing behind Prue, I watched as the killer clowns reached the second floor, their clothes and knives dripping with blood.

Calling out to Teddy in my head, I pulled a long hunting knife of my own out of thin air and got ready.

The killer clowns should... theoretically... according to the sins... disappear as soon as the wish maker was gone.

Posed behind Prue, ready to slit her throat the second the clowns approached us, I wasn’t expecting what happened next.

The clowns walked through the rest of the women and me as if we were nothing more than pillars in the house. They didn’t touch us or look at us in any way. It was like the eight of us were invisible to them as they continued to skip on their merry way.

"Where are they going?" asked Lily under her breath as if she was too scared to speak out loud in case the clowns heard her. I didn’t blame her. I could feel my lungs burning as I realized that I was actually holding my breath.

Her question was quickly answered as the first clown, and then the rest of them slipped into the bedroom where we had been awoken only a matter of minutes ago.

Jennifer’s piercing scream caused all of us to cringe as, once again, the gang of clowns started to laugh and giggle.

"Should we save her?" asked Prue, turning to look at me from over her shoulder.

"You’re more than welcome to try," I replied, swinging the hand not holding the knife toward the bedroom door. "I, on the other hand, am not."

"Jennifer still owed a price for her third wish," said Elizabeth, holding up her head as she looked down at Prue. When she shifted to hide the knife in my hand, I knew that she knew what I was going to do.

And yet, she didn’t try to stop me.

"That seems like a steep price," murmured Emma as she leaned to the side to see into the room where Jennifer was tied to the bed.

"If you don’t specify a cost, assume it’s your life," I advised with a bright smile on my face and a careless shrug of my shoulders.

After what felt like a lifetime but was only a matter of minutes, Jennifer’s screams died back to only the sound of gurgling liquid.

The army of clowns came out of the room, skipping in enjoyment as they silently spoke to each other. The exaggerated expression on their faces told us all we needed to know about what happened to the woman.

When the first clown stumbled to a stop, its finger frantically pointing at us as it raised the knife up high over his head, I knew whatever stopped them from killing the women around me before Jennifer was gone.

"Ah, shit," grumbled Emma, frantically looking around for an escape as more and more clowns started pointing at us. Their red mouths formed a perfect "O" as it mimed killing us. "I wish..." she began before Fleur clamped her mouth shut with her hand.

"No wishing. That is what got us into this trouble in the first place," she hissed, her voice low as she glared at Emma. "The Lord only knows what will happen when the killer clowns disappear."

It was almost comical to watch Emma gulp before nodding her head in understanding. When Fleur finally removed her hand, Emma mimed zipping her mouth and throwing away the key.

When the giggles started again, I narrowed my eyes at the clowns. Only three of us were guaranteed to make it out of tonight alive...

To save, or not to save... that is the question...

"Save if you can," murmured Elizabeth from beside me as if knowing what was going on in my head. "There are not many of us left, and none of us living right now deserve that death."

Shrugging my shoulders, I was a bit relieved that I didn’t have to make that decision.

The clown nearest to us had its eyes firmly on Lily, its knife raised as I quickly slit Prue’s throat.

The woman in front of me, not expecting the strike, gasped quietly as her trembling hand touched the wound.

Ever so slowly, she turned around, blood gushing from where I must have nicked an artery or something. "Why?" she whispered as she dropped to her knees, her hand still trying to stop the flow of blood.

"I told you. If you don’t specify a cost, assume that it will be your life," I shrugged, wiping the blade on my skirt before returning it to Teddy.

As soon as Prue drew her last breath, the clowns around us disappeared in a cloud of smoke as if they never existed.

Lily, crouched in a small ball, looked up as the smoke drifted away. "Are we safe?" she whimpered. "I’m tired of being scared."

"That depends," I replied. I felt Envy’s hand letting go of my shoulder, and for a moment, I missed his touch. Once again, encased in darkness, I held out my bloody hand to get my bearings.

Elizabeth, without a second thought, took my hand in her own and pulled me closer to her as if she understood what was going on.

She really was too good for this world. Hopefully, she will be one of the ones who can help turn it into the place it was meant to be.

"On what?" asked Emma, her voice trembling.

"On what you chose to do next," I said, clenching Elizabeth’s hands. This might just be the last time I ever saw her, and my fractured heart was breaking just a little bit more. "If Elizabeth lets you stay here, then there is nothing to fear. If you chose to leave or do something stupid to get kicked out... then you’re on your own."

"Liz?" murmured Damaris. "What does she have to do with anything?"

"Her wish is peace, and that is what this house is going to be for her," I replied. "If you want to live here, then her word is law."

Closing my eyes for a second, I fought back the tears. "I’m going to have to go now," I murmured, turning to the only woman I had ever met who was genuinely kind to me.

"Stay," replied Elizabeth, brushing a strand of hair out of my face. "At least until the rain stops. You can’t go out in this storm."