The gaps in the stairs are no obstacle for Melanie; she vaults up onto the railing and scampers up to the landing. One of the pursuing hungries blunders into the hole Nick's left behind and goes down, and the other three trample heedlessly over it and continue to climb.
Can they really outrun three of them?
"Keep going," Melanie says tersely. "Shout if there are more."
She spins on her heel, then leaps back down the stairs towards the frontrunner. Her bare feet curl over sharply defined hip bones, her hands grip its desiccated shoulders. Its teeth snap together once, a reaction to the impact but not to her, because she is nothing to them. It stumbles back, colliding with the others, already wavering uncertainly at the loss of stimuli. It won't last long, but it will buy Nick more time.
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Can they really outrun three of them?
"Keep going," Melanie says tersely. "Shout if there are more."
She spins on her heel, then leaps back down the stairs towards the frontrunner. Her bare feet curl over sharply defined hip bones, her hands grip its desiccated shoulders. Its teeth snap together once, a reaction to the impact but not to her, because she is nothing to them. It stumbles back, colliding with the others, already wavering uncertainly at the loss of stimuli. It won't last long, but it will buy Nick more time.