[ WP ] At night , the Unread rise and devour their checked-out brethren . The zombie Apocryphalypse has begun .

Cassie woke with a jolt, sat bolt upright in bed and threw the duvet off. There came a thud from downstairs, it sounded like it was coming from the back door. 
 
 “ Tom? ” she hissed, reaching out to knock his shoulder, 
 
 “ Tom! I think there is someone outside! ” 
 
 “ Muuu... Huh? Cas? ” He rolled towards her. 
 
 “ Listen ” Helen breathed, “ I think they are trying to get in the back door. ” She slipped out of bed and started rummaging in the bedside drawers for something, anything which had some weight to it. 
 
 Tom jumped to his feet. “ Cas, stay here. Get your phone ready to call the police. ” 
 
 He moved toward the door and gently opened it, wincing as the hinge whined.There was a second thud and rattle against the glass of the garden doors, it sounded like someone was flinging their arms against it. 
 
 Casey, phone in hand crossed the room to stand by the door, “ I don ’ t think they are inside ” she whispered. 
 
 Tom crept down the stairs, avoiding his rucksack and the books that lay to the side of the treads. He cast about for anything he could use as a weapon, eventually settling for a statue that they had bought back from Thailand last year. He stepped into the hall, the lounge door was open as were the curtains of the rear glass doors leading to the lawn. 
 
 There was someone in the garden, they were stumbling into the glass repeatedly, their head twisting against the glass. Tom rushed forwards assuming that whoever it was was hurt or confused. He dropped the statue, it clattered to the floor and rolled away from him 
 
 “ Shit! ” He rushed forward, banging into the sofa in the blackness. “ Cas ” he called urgently, “ I think he ’ s been injured. ” 
 
 Cassie clattered down the stairs, stealth forgotten. 
 at the sound of Tom ’ s call the figure jerked to attention and renewed his hammering on the glass. 
 Tom and Cassie rushed forward, finally up close to the man, separated only by the glass. 
 the left side of his face had been shredded and blood glistened in the slight light of the moon. His left shoulder was cricked back at a painful angle and his arm hung uselessly to the side. On spotting them he bashed his dangling arm against the glass, seemingly oblivious to pain. 
 
 “ We have to help him. ” Tom reached for the key in the lock. 
 
 “ Wait! Look at his eyes, I don ’ t think we should let him in. He looks deranged. ” 
 
 The fence at the bottom of their small garden shuddered and as they glanced toward it one of the panels fell inwards. Two more figures stood in the gap, they seemed to catch sight of the first and crossed the lawn with a shambling but determined gait. 
 Cassie tugged at Tom ’ s arm, “ Tom we need to go back upstairs, Now! I ’ m scared ” her voice broke as she spoke. 
 
 He nodded, not taking his eyes off the figures in their garden. They backed out of the room and closed the mdf door to the lounge, blocking the figures from view, though the sound of them flailing against the glass followed them into the hall. 
 Tom ducked right into their kitchen and reached for the knife block. There was nothing else in the house which could be used as a weapon. 
 
 Kitchen knives in hand they headed upstairs and into the spare room at the front of the house. 
 “ Cas, help me with the wardrobe. ” 
 They manhandled the antique wardrobe in front of the door. 
 Cassie pulled her mobile from her pajama pocket and dialed 999. Someone answered on the fifth attempt, 
 “ Hello you have reached the Devon Police emergency line, how can I.. ” 
 
 There was a sound of scuffling feet and a clatter down the phone, 2 seconds later the screaming started.
