by Mark Tufo
He was effen pissed as he slapped the bottle out of my hand and maybe a little amused. He chewed me a new one for a minute or two but didn’t give me a ticket. So I figure that’s a win for me because up until the day the zombies came that was still a source of amusement among me and my friends.
“Oh dude, you remember that time. That cop told us to get rid of our beers and you just started drinking all of yours?”
Of course I do, that shit’s hilarious!
Talbot – 2, Cops – 2
TALBOTSODE #5
This next story once again does involve alcohol. It was my first foray into a more serious realm of difficulty and more importantly I now had a record. It started off innocently enough as most things like this do. It was the summer after freshman year and I had gone to one of my high school buddy’s house for a party. He used to live in an awesome house right next to a lake. You could literally walk off his backyard and into the water.
The party went as you would expect most parties to go, there was beer drinking, much raucous noise, loud music and the occasional couple necking in discreet corners. Chris Walsh changed all this when he committed the most heinous of party fouls. He passed out first. I’m not much into what happened to him next, but if you pass out first, it’s pretty much an unwritten rule you’re going to get fucked with. He got the typical sharpie treatment to the face, you know ‘Insert Penis Here’ and then someone drew an actually pretty good replica of a penis next to the message. I came back later to find out that someone had busted open some make-up and applied some liberal amounts of eye shadow and rouge. He was the ugliest hooker I had ever seen.
When it became evident that these small time measures were not going to awaken Sleeping Beauty, the ringleaders upped the ante. They wrapped him up in a blanket, walked him through a cheering crowd in the backyard (I might have been one of them), to the end of the pier and then unceremoniously threw him and the blanket into the water. At the end of the pier the water is somewhere in the three foot range, entirely too shallow to drown in, under normal circumstances. But when you are passed out drunk and wrapped tightly in a blanket the equation changes a bit.
The trio that had carried Chris and then dropped him in the water had walked off the pier and were busy high-fiving themselves. A few party goers, myself included, were beginning to become concerned when Chris didn’t immediately surface spitting out lake water. This girl Maureen was the first into the water. Her friend Sandra was next, followed almost immediately by myself. By the time I got in the water the party was quiet. Someone had even lowered the music to a dull whisper. Maureen had grabbed the soaked blanket and was dragging it ashore, Sandra and myself quickly aided her.
Within a few seconds, we had the frantically thrashing about Chris on the shore. He looked like a butterfly trying to shake its cocoon. He wasn’t having much luck. He had been moving so violently to get free that he cracked Maureen in the side of the head with his fist as she helped him. She fell to the ground with a solid thump. Chris was enraged as he stood, screaming at the now cowering Maureen.
Everything seemed to slow down as he picked up a fist-sized rock. He raised it high over his head and was threatening Maureen. Terror showed in the whites of her eyes. If he brought that rock down it would be all over for her. Nobody moved. It seemed like the moment was frozen in time. I didn’t think, I reacted. In the four steps it took me to get to him I was going full speed. It’s amazing what adrenaline can do for you. I didn’t punch him, I didn’t tackle him, I didn’t try to swat the rock out of his hand, I just full on slammed into him, right into his back. Maureen scrambled out of the way as the both of us toppled like cut trees in a forest. Chris had brought his hands in to brace for the fall, unfortunately one of them was still clutching the rock. The force of me landing on him drove his face and chin into the stone. The horrifying crack that resounded from the rock shattering his teeth and jaw was ear splitting. When I got off of Chris and he rolled over I thought he was wearing a mask. What remained of his jaw line was two inches left of center. Seven teeth had been shattered and blood poured profusely through his nose and mouth. More than one person came up to help only to walk away retching. I stumbled away stunned. I hadn’t made it more than three steps before Chris’ mournful wailing began. If I thought the bones breaking was bad, this was horrible. An ambulance showed up within minutes, the cops a minute or two after that. They found me sitting in the living room, drinking a beer. They let me finish it before they arrested me. I was charged with attempted manslaughter. It was dropped down to assault after the police figured out that I had nothing to do with the initial near drowning.
Talbot 2 – Cops 3
TALBOTSODE #6
This final encounter with the police is what saved me and my family’s life. When I was a kid, nineteen, I used to work for a small paving company. We were working in downtown Boston and if you work on any street in Boston you have to have a police detail for traffic. So it’s high summer, it had to have been 90 degrees and 90% humidity. Crappy combination to begin with. Then you throw on top of that the 375 degrees of the material we are working with and you have a recipe, not so much for disaster but definitely for flaring tempers. My job that day was to operate the ten ton street roller. As the paving spreader machine lays down roadway it is my job to follow behind and compact the material down.
Before the asphalt is rolled it is a very soft and pliable material, so much so that a man walking across it can mar the new surface up to two inches deep, not to mention what a car can do to this new material. Well, our traffic detail cop decided that he was going to let crossing traffic go across the new hot top. I asked him for just two minutes so that I could get the roadway rolled and at least reasonably ready to withstand traffic. He didn’t listen. What happens to cops that they get such an arrogant attitude about them? I know they deal daily with some of the scummiest people on the planet but to become so jaded to the rest of us doesn’t make any sense. You would think that they would want to cling to those people that are the reason they do the job in the first place. Somewhere along the way they must have lost their people GPS.
In a nutshell he basically tells me to ‘Go fuck myself.’ No matter that this cop is the dick that lets the traffic cross over, I’m going to be the one blamed for letting the pavement get ruined. So I gunned the engine on the roller and was now traveling somewhere in the whopping 4 mph range. I was going to try to get at least one roll through before the cars started across. All the cop could see was this giant machine bearing down on him. So even though he could have made himself a sandwich and half finished it before I got to him I was charged with intent to commit harm with a deadly weapon. Are you kidding me? A toddler could have outdistanced me, but this fat, doughnut eating, cynical prick was just pissed off that I held up the traffic and went against his direct orders. The life I was living came to an abrupt halt as I stood in that court room.
The judge had my record in front of him and he wasn’t impressed.
“Mr. Talbot, I have thought long and hard about what I should do with you.” I kept silent, it seemed the better part of valor. “You have a decent high school record. You are in college. You work, which a lot of kids your age choose not to do. But you have this streak that runs through you, Mr. Talbot. Something which I feel if it is not reigned in will lead to an untimely demise for you. I am going to give you an option Mr. Talbot, it might not be the easy route, in fact, I’m hoping that it isn’t. But it might be just what you need. The court recommends twenty-four months of jail at the Dedham correctional facility followed by thirty-six months of probation.”
My heart dropped. Jail? That was my option?
“Or...”
I seized ‘Or’ like a drowning man seizes a life jacket.
“Five years active duty in the United States Marine Corps. Which is it, Mr. Talbot?”
“Semper fi, your honor.”
“I had hoped so. Good luck young man.” The gavel crashed down. “Court is adjourned.” The judg
e actually came down and shook my hand. I was in a mild state of shock, but it wasn’t jail.
Talbot - 2, Cops – 4, Marine Corps - 1
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Check out these other titles by Mark Tufo
Zombie Fallout
It was a flu season like no other. With fears of contracting the H1N1 virus running rampant through the country, people lined up in droves to try and obtain one of the coveted vaccines. What was not known, was the effect this largely untested, rushed to market, inoculation was to have on the unsuspecting throngs.
Within days, feverish folk throughout the country, convulsed, collapsed and died, only to be re-born. With a taste for brains, blood and bodies, these modern day zombies scoured the lands for their next meal. Overnight the country became a killing ground for the hordes of zombies that ravaged the land.
This is the story of Michael Talbot, his family and his friends. When disaster strikes, Mike a self-proclaimed survivalist, does his best to ensure the safety and security of those he cares for. Can brains beat brain eaters? It's a battle for survival, winner take all!
Zombie Fallout 3: The End…
Continues Michael Talbot's quest to be rid of the evil named Eliza that hunts him and his family across the country. As the world spirals even further down into the abyss of apocalypse one man struggles to keep those around him safe. Side by side Michael stands with his wife, their children, his friends and the wonder Bulldog Henry along with the Wal-Mart greeter Tommy who is infinitely more than he appears and whether he is leading them to salvation or death is only a measure of degrees.
As Justin continues to slip further into the abyss he receives help from an unexpected ally all of which leads up to the biggest battle thus far.
Dr. Hugh Mann – A Zombie Fallout Prequel 3.5
Dr Hugh Mann delves deeper into what caused the zombie invasion. Early in the 1900’s Dr. Mann discovers a parasite that brings man to the brink of an early extinction. Come along on the journey with Jonathan Talbot is bride to be Marissa and the occasional visitations from the boy with the incredible baklava. Could there be a cure somewhere here and what part does the blood locket play?
Zombie Fallout IV: The End…Has Come and Gone
The End…has come and gone. This is the new beginning, the new world order and it sucks. The end for humanity came the moment the U.S. government sent out the infected flu shots. My name is Michael Talbot and this is my journal. I’m writing this because no one’s tomorrow is guaranteed, and I have to leave something behind to those who may follow.
So continues Mike’s journey, will he give up all that he is in a desperate bid to save his family and friends? Eliza is coming, can anyone be prepared?
Indian Hill
This first story is about an ordinary boy, who grows up in relatively normal times to find himself thrust into an extra-ordinary position. Growing up in suburban Boston he enjoys the trials and tribulations that all adolescents go through. From the seemingly tyrannical mother, to girl problems to run-ins with the law. From there he escapes to college out in Colorado with his best friend, Paul, where they begin to forge new relationships with those around them. It is one girl in particular that has caught the eye of Michael and he alternately pines for her and then laments ever meeting her.
It is on their true ‘first’ date that things go strangely askew. Mike soon finds himself captive aboard an alien vessel, fighting for his very survival. The aliens have devised gladiator type games. The games are of two-fold importance for the aliens. One reason, being for the entertainment value, the other reason being that they want to see how combative humans are, what our weaknesses and strengths are.
Follow Mike as he battles for his life and Paul as he battles to try and keep main stream US safe.
Timothy was not a good man in life being undead did little to improve his disposition. Find out what a man trapped in his own mind will do to survive when he wakes up to find himself a zombie controlled by a self-aware virus.
Please look also for:
the story ‘My Name is Riley’ published in the Undead Tales Anthology by Rymfire books!
Follow Riley an American Bulldog as she struggles to keep what remains of her pack/family safe from a zombie invasion.