He heard it once, then again and again. The girl said something and ran toward the house. She went and grabbed her own gun-thing from the place where it leaned in the corner and ran out into the front yard. She fired the gun thing twice into the air and then yelled out loud. The dog started to bark because he did not know what the shooting and the yelling was about, and he barked, and the girl yelled. Then the dog heard the sound of someone else yelling. It was a deep voice. A man's voice.
The man's voice yelled and the girl's voice yelled back at it and the dog barked. Little by little the man's voice got louder and louder. At last the dog saw a man come around the bend in the dirt road. Then there were more figures following behind the first, and the dog smelled the rotten-leaves smell of the the dead-things carried on the wind. The man ran toward the gate and the girl opened it to let him in and then shut it again so that the dead-things would not get in. The man had a gun thing over his shoulder and he pointed it through the fence at the dead-things. The gun thing banged again and again, and some of the dead-thing fell down, but there were more behind them, and the gun thing stopped banging and made a clicking sound instead.
The man yelled and threw the gun down to the ground. The girl said something to the man and ran toward the back yard. The dog stayed by the man and sniffed around his pants and his shoes. The dog did not like the way the man smelled. The man smelled bad. The man said some words to the dog, and the dog did not like the way the words sounded. The dog decided that the man was a bad man. He did not like the man and he wanted him to go away, but the man did not go away.
The girl came running back with the big fork and waited for the dead-things to get close enough for her to stab them. The bad man said something to the girl and the girl said something back. The dog did not like the bad man at all. The girl stabbed at each of the dead-things as they came until they stopped moving, but there were so many of them and they came one after another out of the trees and the girl went on stabbing them until their bodies started to pile up at the outside of the gate.
After a while girl was breathing hard, and the bad man took the big fork from her and did some stabbing for a while. After a long time, when the sun began to sink into the earth and the shadows grew longer, the flow of the dead-things slowed and then stopped. It was getting very dark now, but the bad man and the girl went outside the gate and the girl held the big fork while the bad man pulled the bodies away from the gate.
The man's voice yelled and the girl's voice yelled back at it and the dog barked. Little by little the man's voice got louder and louder. At last the dog saw a man come around the bend in the dirt road. Then there were more figures following behind the first, and the dog smelled the rotten-leaves smell of the the dead-things carried on the wind. The man ran toward the gate and the girl opened it to let him in and then shut it again so that the dead-things would not get in. The man had a gun thing over his shoulder and he pointed it through the fence at the dead-things. The gun thing banged again and again, and some of the dead-thing fell down, but there were more behind them, and the gun thing stopped banging and made a clicking sound instead.
The man yelled and threw the gun down to the ground. The girl said something to the man and ran toward the back yard. The dog stayed by the man and sniffed around his pants and his shoes. The dog did not like the way the man smelled. The man smelled bad. The man said some words to the dog, and the dog did not like the way the words sounded. The dog decided that the man was a bad man. He did not like the man and he wanted him to go away, but the man did not go away.
The girl came running back with the big fork and waited for the dead-things to get close enough for her to stab them. The bad man said something to the girl and the girl said something back. The dog did not like the bad man at all. The girl stabbed at each of the dead-things as they came until they stopped moving, but there were so many of them and they came one after another out of the trees and the girl went on stabbing them until their bodies started to pile up at the outside of the gate.
After a while girl was breathing hard, and the bad man took the big fork from her and did some stabbing for a while. After a long time, when the sun began to sink into the earth and the shadows grew longer, the flow of the dead-things slowed and then stopped. It was getting very dark now, but the bad man and the girl went outside the gate and the girl held the big fork while the bad man pulled the bodies away from the gate.
