Melanie has just enough time to confirm that the stairwell below them is clear before Daniel's hollering for help. She dashes back up the stairs, legs going like pistons, to see Daniel locked in battle, holding one at arm's length as it scrabbles to reach him.
For a moment, she really wishes he had a gun, after all.
She launches herself at the hungry's midsection. Though she doesn't weight much, she's worked up enough speed that it's enough to knock the thing back a few paces. Leaping away from its flailing limbs before it can get a grip on her, Melanie turns back to Daniel and hauls him down to the next landing. The first hungry is already in pursuit, along with a couple of its friends. Melanie considers their options, mind racing…
… and then shoves Daniel, not down the stairs, but into the corner. "Get down," she says urgently, tugging him into a crouch, "and stay still." She's done this before. It'll work a second time, right?
Without waiting for acknowledgment, hoping he'll just trust her, Melanie turns back toward the approaching hungries and holds up her hands, palms out. The forerunner pulls up short as if she's thrown up a forcefield, head beginning to sway uncertainly. Melanie stands her ground, moving her hands slightly to keep them between the closest hungries' faces and Daniel, her familiar, unremarkable scent baffling them into momentary complacency.
"They don't want me," she explains in an undertone. "They only want you." She chances a glance back down at Daniel, her expression faintly apologetic. Then, her attention squarely back on the hungries, she adds, "It's clear farther down. Move real slow. I'll stay between you and them."
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For a moment, she really wishes he had a gun, after all.
She launches herself at the hungry's midsection. Though she doesn't weight much, she's worked up enough speed that it's enough to knock the thing back a few paces. Leaping away from its flailing limbs before it can get a grip on her, Melanie turns back to Daniel and hauls him down to the next landing. The first hungry is already in pursuit, along with a couple of its friends. Melanie considers their options, mind racing…
… and then shoves Daniel, not down the stairs, but into the corner. "Get down," she says urgently, tugging him into a crouch, "and stay still." She's done this before. It'll work a second time, right?
Without waiting for acknowledgment, hoping he'll just trust her, Melanie turns back toward the approaching hungries and holds up her hands, palms out. The forerunner pulls up short as if she's thrown up a forcefield, head beginning to sway uncertainly. Melanie stands her ground, moving her hands slightly to keep them between the closest hungries' faces and Daniel, her familiar, unremarkable scent baffling them into momentary complacency.
"They don't want me," she explains in an undertone. "They only want you." She chances a glance back down at Daniel, her expression faintly apologetic. Then, her attention squarely back on the hungries, she adds, "It's clear farther down. Move real slow. I'll stay between you and them."