The Countess Lives Twice in the Apocalypse-Chapter 27: Twenty-six

"Crap, crap, crap, crap.." Jannah hissed under her breath, changing the same word over and over again as she struggle to close the gates.

The screams of the people have been getting louder and clearer. She could tell that only a few had survive in their group and from her spot, she could see that there are a lot of zombies hot on their trails.

Each one of them are covered in blood, bites in visible areas in their skin. They are all snarling, growling, and lunging forward to catch the humans in front of them.

Insatiable hunger clawing beneath their skin, craving the warm and fresh human flesh.

Jannah let out a grunt, pushing the gate harder and aligning it on its usual place. She is panting lightly, heaving deep breaths as she lock the wooden right gate in place.

"My lord, hurry!"

"Agghh!"

"Loren!"

"Zan!"

"Run! Just keep running!"

"Don’t fall back!"

She’s torn between of saving them and closing the gates on them, but then again, her big speech in front of her little sister would be nothing if she decided to abandon them.

"A person’s life is not something we should easily take especially now that human lives are at stake."

Were the words she spouted when her sister killed a man without hesitation. She would be just like her little sister if she were to close the gates on them, right?

Hell no. Jannah grumbled, looking over to the horizon where she could see the people running for their lives.

As the knights approach the town of Kentucky, she continued on closing the other wooden gate. Once she’s done with right one, she immediately moved to the left one.

"Someone’s closing the gates!"

"Don’t look back!"

"Keep running!"

"My lord, focus ahead!"

From what she could hear, she can tell that one of them is a noble and the rest are the noble’s knights. They have been yelling non-stop about running and encouraging their comrades.

Which is good, but they better hurry! Jannah inhaled sharply and pushed the gate forward, the zombies are approaching and we won’t be able to close the gate on time!

She left the left gate slightly open so she can squeeze through. She looked out to the people and squinted her eyes, pressing get hands on her forehead once again.

There are two to four knights who are much closer than the rest. She could see how their faces looked red because of the impending doom trailing behind in an incredible speed.

She purposely left the gates ajar so two to three people could fit if they want to, but she can’t leave it wide open because it would be hard to close it later on.

She looked past the four people to see if anyone got snatched by the zombies, eyes squinting as she tried to watch them run.

Her breath got caught in her throat when she saw one of them stumble on their feet. The zombies didn’t waste any time and was quick to jump onto the person, biting on their cheeks and neck, making their blood spray out in a unsightly manner.

"Run faster!" She screamed on the top of her lungs, her voice echoing.

Those who have looked shaken when they heard one of them have been taken again have looked up when they heard someone yell from the distance.

It seems like she encouraged them to go faster because all of them have let out a series of cheers, their pace getting faster.

She nodded her head, relieved that they have not lost their will to live just yet.

Seeing that they are all fired up and eager to be inside those wooden walls, Jannah walked back inside the town and looked for the wooden plank that is used to lock the gate of the town.

She saw it laying under the staircase of the watchtower and immediately scrambled to get it, in a hurry to drag it to the gates. As she was dragging the wooden plank towards the gate, two men came sprinting through the gates’ gap, wheezing and catching their breaths.

The men locked eyes with her for a moment and before she could bark an order, they quickly moved and took the plank from her hands.

"Our lordship is still out there, please help us." One of them managed to wheezed out.

Jannah did not say anything. She merely and wordlessly walked out of the town to see if they are almost at the gates.

"Get your asses over here!" She screamed once more, voice dripping with authority and urgency.

She knows that such words are not fitted or cannot be used by a noble lady like herself, but remember, she was a knight first before she became a Countess.

"Is that a—"

"That’s a woman!"

"So what, idiot?!"

"Just hurry up!"

"Arthur and Dante are already inside!"

She could hear one of them try to say something, but was silenced by a familiar voice. Her eyebrows furrowed, not being able to identify where she heard the voice nor the owner of it.

However, seeing that they are doing their best, she walked back inside the town and run towards the watchtower. She bumped into one of the guys on her way there, she could not apologize properly because she need to assist the ones outside.

She grabbed a quiver which are filled with arrows and a bow that she saw near the stairs of the watch tower before she went up the stairs.

She slipped the quiver on her head down to her torso and wrapped it comfortably around her right hip.

She stepped closer to the edge of the watch tower where she could see everyone and everything. Her face scrunched up when she saw the zombies not getting tired after running in full speed.

On the other hand, the knights looked like they are getting tired so she immediately went to work.

She pulled the shaft from the quiver, placing the arrow in the bow— quietly, slowly, and smoothly as she remembered.

Without taking her eyes from her target, her practiced fingers led the nock to the string while her arm raised the bow to her cheek.

Even and deep, yet quickened breaths were released as she pulled the bow taut, feeling the fletching on the arrow’s end tickle her jaw momentarily before she let go of it.

Then nothing.

No noise, no motion. No breath. No reaction.

Jannah’s fingers simply went limp as the string of the bow slipped past them.

In an instant, the weapon of death twanged and went silent as the faintly whistling point found its target, startled, and sank deep into the muscle through the bone, finding its mark, stopping the zombie’s movement.

The female zombie that she shot buckled, falling on to the ground face first with another zombie tumbling in behind her who immediately went back up to chase the warm and live meat in front of them.

Jannah bit her lip to ground herself, pulling another arrow from the quiver and aiming the point on another zombie that is dangerously close to the people scurrying away from them.

She let go of the string, letting the arrow fly to its target again.

Her attacks to the zombies have helped the people gather themselves and run towards the gates with a lessened worry. She didn’t look away from the horde, eyes brimming with determination to lessen them as much as possible.

She might not be a fan of bows, but she’s accurate with her aim!

"Run! Quick!"

The voices of the men below her sounded shaky and worried. The rustling of their clothes as they grab their friends and drag them inside had reached her ears.

One by one, they managed to reach the gates in time before the horde could get to them. The two men who were the first one to get inside the town were quick to lock the gates, slamming the plank on its place to keep the gates from opening.

The men simultaneously let out a yelp when the zombies started banging on the wall, snarling and growling while pounding their heads on the wood.

"Lock the back gates!" Jannah yelled from her spot, shooting an arrow after arrow to the zombies in front of the gates.

"The back gates!" One of them screamed.

"Hurry!"

"Let’s go!"

Jannah successfully shot another infected in the head and reached for another arrow, but her heart dropped to her stomach when her hand touched the air.

She looked down on her quiver, eyes wide and mouth agape.

"Crap! I’m out of—"

"Here."

She was about to curse herself out for running out of arrows, but stopped herself when someone gave her a quiver full of arrows— it was covered in splotches of blood, but usable.

"Great." She murmured, not even looking up to the man who gave it and snatched it from his hand.

She replaced the quiver in her hip and immediately went back to shooting the heads of the infected below her. She aimed for those who specifically looked fit and strong, just in case her people need to go through Kentucky to scavenge.

As she was about to shoot another arrow, the zombies suddenly started to back away from the gates.

What.. Jannah’s arms froze mid-air while she was aiming and watched the zombies look around, whipping their head left and right, as if they are looking for something.