Though he was just as rattled as Blair, the prospect of having her there to protect focused Chuck, gave him something (both literally and metaphorically) to cling to. He slipped an arm around her, holding her securely and pressing his nose into her hair, which still smelled good, despite the running they'd been doing.
"I don't know," he admitted breathily. "But we're going to get out. I promise."
And then the moan. He felt Blair tense before he his eyes focused on it, and he froze in horror as the thing, the body that had clearly been dead a minute ago, began to rise and shamble toward them.
It couldn't be. It couldn't. Chuck's mouth opened and shut ineffectively for a few precious seconds before he remembered the knife in his hand, which was already slick from the clamminess. "Stay back!" he told Blair as the thing bore down on them, unleashing another blood-curdling moan.
At the very least, Chuck's quick internet research had told him that if, in fact, these things really were zombies (and the evidence seemed to support this), the only way to be rid of it was to go for the head. And so, bracing himself, that was exactly what he did.
As the thing reached for them, he didn't have time to think, didn't have time to gather his courage. He just lunged, letting out a frightened cry as his blade stuck into the zombie's cheek. (He'd been aiming for the neck, and missed.) His eyes widened as the thing looked back at him, seemingly unfazed, even as blood oozed from the wound. Frantic, Chuck yanked out the blade, trying to dodge the zombie's jowls as he reoriented the knife for the neck and began to saw at the head.
Tears were streaming from his eyes by the time the thing finally stopped moving, the head hanging grotesquely from the bit of skin still left after the brain stem snapped.
Chuck sprang away as soon as the thing thumped to the ground, shuddering and sniffling. The knife was still in the thing, but it didn't rise again as he flattened himself against the wall, his eyes wide with terror and his thousand dollar suit now stained with zombie blood.