The Lightkeepers

5

2. Horde There were so many. A horde of at least twenty or thirty zombies limped toward the

lighthouse. I could see them as I passed by the window on the second landing. I thought I caught

a glimpse of my aunt’s favorite emerald sweater or my grandpa’s iconic heather -gray hat.

It can ’ t be. It ’ s impossible — we left them. They ’ re not real, I thought frantically as my lungs

expanded and compressed with each short breath as I rapidly bounded up the stairs.

Henry, or rather his animated corpse, lunged at me from the shadows of a window. He

caught onto my sweater, pulling me. He clawed at my back, but couldn’t break through the stretchy

material. My hand flew to the zipper, and I quickly shed myself of the layer, tugging on the sleeve

and promptly letting go, sending the zombie of my brother stumbling back. I grabbed the wooden

pole behind me, a closet pole that I deemed a staff, and slammed it into his chest.

Bump, bump, crash.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.

My footsteps echoed through the tower as I finally reached the door to the beacon’s ladder.

The hinges squealed as I shut the heavy, aged metal door. There was no way to bolt it, but I tried

my best to jam it with the staff. The bow stood against the ladder. Hastily, I stumbled up and sought

the refuge of the catwalk.

As the wind tugged at my remaining clothing and stray strands of my sun-bleached hair, I

considered jumping.

But I couldn’t do it… mainly because of the safety bars that the park services had installed

to avoid any unfortunate accidents during visiting hours.

Bang!

I spun on my heels, my hope disappearing, nerves failing. My heart thudded against my

chest, almost jumping out of its cavity. I nocked an arrow, knowing it was useless. As the zombie

of my lovely sister came into sight, I dropped the loaded bow, opting to grab the handgun at my

hip. My hand stumbled over the vacant space before flitting to my knife. By then, the graying and

quickly decaying Ellie had come to stand before me, regarding me curiously as more of my

zombified relatives spilled out onto the catwalk. She hissed and reached an arm toward me.

A sob escaped my lips. I thrust the knife forward, connecting with the space between Ellie ’s

eyes. She dropped to the ground with a sick thud. Next, I came face to face with my parents. Tears