Zombie Boy 2: Level Up (Adventures of Zombie Boy)

by Val O. Morris

  "Hurry! Use the key!"

  "I'm trying!" Rhonda held the flashlight while Liam inserted the key unlocking the chest. Liam reached in and retrieved a sword!

  If it had been an action movie, the music would've swelled like the Indiana Jones theme.

  But it wasn't just any sword. It was a +10 sword, which gave Liam a nice boost in his Attack, or, more appropriately, his ATK stat.

  Upon closer inspection, there was also an axe, a spear, and a crossbow. Liam's eyes lit up. "Jackpot!" They had indeed hit the jackpot. There were enough weapons for all three of them with one to spare. Rhonda wielded the spear, and Caleb, who wasn't afraid to get up close and personal, took the axe. Liam stuffed the crossbow into Katie's backpack for safe keeping. He had a feeling it would come in handy soon enough.

  "Now this is more like it!" exclaimed Liam as he thrust the sword into the air. He turned to Caleb. "Not that I didn't appreciate your nail bat creation, but this, this is awesome!"

  Caleb pointed at Liam's sword, "Time to slice" then gripped the axe with both hands and chopped the air, "and dice!"

  Bag o' Bones continued his rampage down the hallway until it stopped just outside the sanctuary door.

  "He's here," Liam whispered as he tiptoed to the front of the room. "Don't let him corner us. When he bursts through the door, it's all out attack!"

  A millisecond later, the skeleton ripped through the door and stepped into the sanctuary. The tall ceilings accommodated its height, and it stood in the doorway as its massive ribcage heaved with anger. For the first time, Liam noticed that the ribcage protected the skeleton's tiny red heart.

  Liam swung his sword at the skeleton's left leg. The sword bounced off it like wood against metal. In return, Bag o' Bones let out an ear piercing scream that forced them to cover their ears. Then it began chunking bones, everything from small hands and feet to larger femurs.

  "Hide!" Liam dove behind the altar as Caleb and Rhonda took refuge behind the pews. Without something to shield the boney attacks, they were essentially trapped. A bone smashed into the cross above the small altar and crashed at Liam's feet. He quickly shed the backpack from his shoulders and reached in for the crossbow. Cursing the fact that Katie was the bullseye shot and not him, he heaved it into the air and squeezed the trigger.

  A bolt soared through the air at the skeleton before striking a rib and clanking to the floor. "Crap!"

  Caleb yelled, "Come on, man, you can do this! Remember what Katie used to tell you?"

  Breathe. Feel the bolt puncturing the heart. Take a breath. Aim. Gently blow it out. Squeeze the trigger.

  The second bolt flew through the air. It was just about to hit its mark when the skeleton raised its enormous shield. Again, the bolt clanked to the cold, stone floor.

  The skeleton screamed again. With nothing to absorb the shriek, it echoed in the room long after Bag o' Bones stopped screaming. Holding their ears left them defenseless to the bones shattering the pews. Soon there would be nothing between them and the skeleton but splintered wood.

  "Dude, when I make a run for it, SHOOT HIM!" Caleb didn't give Liam any time to argue. He jumped up from behind a pew and ran to the back of the room where he grabbed a large brass plate off the wall to shield the bones.

  While the skeleton was distracted, Liam raised the crossbow once again. He thought back to how Katie always beat him at Chaos Caliber. 'This is for all those game-winning headshots.' He took aim and exhaled. The bolt immediately found its target and punctured the skeleton's heart.

  The skeleton stumbled forward as it grabbed for its chest. Now it was the vulnerable one.

  "Now! Do it again!"

  Twice more, Liam shot a bolt of love, not for the skeleton but for Katie, into Bag o' Bones' exposed heart. The second bolt knocked the skeleton to the ground, smashing what was left of the pews. The heart had weakened considerably but still beat.

  Liam grabbed his new sword and ran over to the skeleton. With two hands, he raised the sword high above his head and then slammed it with all his might into the wounded heart. The heart erupted, and blood splattered the sanctuary walls as the skeleton took the final, deadly blow.

  "Woohoo!" They all cheered and high-fived just like they had done when they felled the giant zombie in Emerald Cave.

  Rhonda smiled. "Katie would be very proud of you."

  Caleb pumped his fist in the air. "Dude, when we rescue her, this'll be the first thing I tell her. That was awesome!" Then he reached down and picked up the skeleton's shield. "Here," he smiled, "I think you've earned this."

  Liam slid his free arm through the +10 DEF shield and thrust the sword into the air. A big grin spread across his face. He was smiling like a kid on Christmas who just unwrapped a new HoriZon console. With his new, more powerful weapons, he was ready to take on the world. Of course, he would have to get through Thomas first.

  Liam opened the sanctuary door. Moans echoed down the hall. Zombies! The giant skeleton had busted open the door leaving them vulnerable. However, the zombies would be no match for their new, leveled-up weapons. Luckily, only a few undead flesh-eaters had wandered into the mausoleum.

  Liam stepped toward the first zombie. He pulled his new sword from its sheath. He swiped upwards and across at the zombie, and its head toppled off with little effort. "Whoa! I like this!"

  Rhonda's new spear, which also gave her a boost in attack speed, was really cool. On one end was a sharp point, which she used to stab a zombie in the chest pushing it back. The other end had a sharp curved blade, great for the finishing touch. She spun that end around and the force from the motion cut right through neck and bone.

  Liam watched with amazement at her graceful but powerful moves. "Niiiice."

  Outside, hundreds of zombies still shambled around aimlessly. Finally, they had a little more room to play and try out new moves. The axe that Caleb got was heavy but packed a big wallop. With it, he was able to take out multiple zombies within close proximity to each other. He waited until three zombies were in a line. He moved to the side of them and swung. All three heads popped off. "Now that's what I call a three-fer!"

  When they rounded the corner of the mausoleum, they were met by a small horde of zombies. "I got this," said Caleb and he swung with all his might. The axe cut through both the zombies and then slammed into a tombstone behind them. Broken marble crashed to the ground. "Uh, is it bad luck to break tombstones?"

  "Yeah." Liam said as he sliced through an armless zombie. "It's called desecration. It's probably worse than breaking a mirror, so don't do it."

  "Too late." Caleb whispered under his breath, "It's not like our luck could get any worse."

  Rhonda was close enough to hear him. "Don't jinx us!"

  Time seemed to stand still in the cemetery. The full moon still hung high in the sky, unwavering from its midnight position. Crows continued to caw in the distance, and zombies climbed from their earthly graves. But the threesome made progress. The new and improved weapons allowed them to cut down their enemies with swifter ease. The giant skeleton was a distraction from their main goal, which was finding and rescuing Katie. Yet, the battle against Bag o' Bones was another lesson in teamwork that continued to strengthen the unit. That strength would be tested soon enough.

  As they walked along the shredded ground, Caleb said to Liam, "You've really gotten good at using your weapons to take down enemies. I bet you could make the team now, no problem!"

  Making the baseball team was a distant memory to Liam. It had been his dream and, with all that has changed, it felt like a lifetime ago. "Thanks, man. I really hadn't thought about it."

  "I hope we still have a team when we get back."

  Liam did, too.

  They had finally reached the exit at the other side of the cemetery. Liam slashed his sword and decapitated the last zombie with ease thanks to all the experience he had gained, and the zombie head went tumbling down the hillside. There were so many dead zombies scattered across the foggy ground, the severed head look
ed like a pinball bouncing around from obstacle to obstacle.

  He turned to Rhonda, who had stopped in front of a nearby tombstone. "You ready to go?" When she didn't answer, he walked over to her. "Sorry. Was hoping we wouldn't find his, too."

  They stood in front of her friend, Michael Stalling's tombstone. She nodded. He could tell it freaked her out and made her sad. Then she perked up, and said, "But it's not them, right? Michael and Katie are still alive."

  He forced a smile. "There's still hope."

  She nodded again and walked away. Liam stared at the tombstone for a moment. Repeating his solemn promise to find Katie, and hopefully to also help Rhonda become friends with Michael again. He turned to join his friends. His breath escaped him as it felt like he'd been punched in the gut. His friends' new weapons were laying on the ground.

  Rhonda and Caleb were gone.

  10

  Liam was alone. Flashbacks to the night of Katie's death bombarded his thoughts. Even though he had, by that time, gained two friends, seeing his best friend laying lifeless on the ground sent him to a dark, lonely place. A place that, fortunately, he was brought out of by the love and support from Rhonda and Caleb.

  And now they were gone.

  "Rhonda! Caleb!" he yelled. "Where are you guys?"

  Liam looked behind Michael's tombstone. Nothing. He peeked around several more hoping it was just a prank, but there was only grass and disturbed graves from the zombie awakenings. His friends were nowhere to be seen. With his hands on his hips, he walked back to the gate. "Ha ha, very funny, Caleb. You win, I'm scared." A branch cracking made him jump. "You can come out now."

  But they didn't reappear.

  "Guys?"

  He turned to the gate. "I can't leave. What if they're here, trapped?"

  But what about Katie? Abandoning her was not an option. Growing up, he always had trouble fitting in. He was so engrossed with his video games that making friends didn't come easy. He never got invited to other kids' birthday parties, or asked to go the movies. Katie was the only one who ever gave him the time of day. She understood his geekiness. She gamed, too, but it was more than that.

  Katie walked to the beat of her own drum. Never caring what the other girls thought. Never tempted to try to please them with the latest fashion sense. She was a bookworm who studied and aced her classes. Next to playing the latest game at Liam's house, her favorite thing to do on the weekends was hanging out at Arcade Dungeon. Perhaps that made her an outcast, too. Either way, Liam liked her just the way she was.

  Was.

  That was Old Katie. New Katie was different. She did care what the other girls thought and lately, she wouldn't be caught dead at an arcade. Still, he believed he could save her. Not only from Thomas but also from whatever hold Thomas had over her. The fact that she asked for his help gave him hope.

  He pulled the matching controller keychains from his pocket. There were too many memories for him to give up. Maybe dying in the digital world caused amnesia. He would help her remember. She still had the same parents, so it made sense that she was still the same person. Even if he couldn't reach the old Katie, he was willing to make friends with the new one. Assuming she would have him, of course.

  But first, he had to find his other friends. Thomas wouldn't hurt Katie without Liam there to see it. Of that, he was certain. Progressing on without them wouldn't be wise. Rhonda and Caleb had helped him get out of more than a few sticky situations.

  "Think, Liam," he said aloud as if doing so helped him think more clearly. "If this were a game..." his voice trailed off as he realized the ridiculousness of what he'd just said. If life were testing him, it was abundantly clear now more than ever. Liam was at the point in any game where the stakes had risen and all bets were off. Losing Katie in the first game was his darkest point by far. It was what drove him to where he was now. And that place was literally surrounded by death.

  Alone in a graveyard was not his first choice, and like any game character, any good one, at least, he knew in order to get out, he'd have to fight. Not just with his sword, and his new sword was pretty awesome, but also with his brain. And speaking of brains, keeping his out of the mouths of zombies would be tougher and more important than ever.

  Whenever he played an RPG, he was never one to hit the reset button if things weren't going his way. He muscled on, and more often than not, muscling on brought even greater rewards. Liam stopped in front of the gate. He sheathed his sword. Took a deep breath. Then stepped into the portal.

  Again, he landed with a thud, this time in a huge empty white room with only a long, tall staircase in front of him. He was immediately grateful to be out of the graveyard and hoped his excitement wasn't premature. After searching behind the staircase, like any good gamer would, he shrugged. There was only one place to go. Up.

  Liam took the first step and stopped. He half expected something to jump out at him or the room to turn colors and rotate. But all was still. It was just a tall white staircase. The odd thing about it was that it didn't appear to go anywhere. Just up. Into infinity. Was there a top? If so, could he reach it?

  He continued to climb, getting higher and higher. He wished his dog, Shadow, were with him, and he wondered how Morgan fared at his job interviews. His legs felt heavier the higher he climbed. His breathing intensified. Finally, he had to stop, which was a mistake because as soon as he did, he looked down and noticed how high he was.

  Closing his eyes tight, he fell against the wall and spread out his arms to gain additional balance. He had lost track of time, but he felt like he'd been walking for a while. He had to regain control. "Breathe, Liam. Slowly."

  One eye opened. Then the other. Still controlling his breathing, he leaned forward just enough to get a glimpse of how far he had climbed. Peering over the edge, he exhaled. Gasping, he fell back against the wall again!

  "That isn't possible. It's just a staircase. Calm down. Breathe." He talked himself through it once again. "Get a grip, man." He carefully peered over the edge of the staircase again. Just like last time, he couldn't see the bottom!

  "That's okay," he continued. "It just means I'm almost to the top." With that, he fought the urge to look up. There was no guarantee he'd see the top, and he really didn't want not to, but the pull was too great. He glanced up, and just as he suspected, he was staring off into nothing.

  "It's okay. I can do this. I have to do this... for Katie." He blew out a forceful breath. Stretched his neck and shoulders, and then began climbing. Then the most awful, nails-on-the-chalkboard sound he'd ever heard forced him to halt and cover his ears.

  SHRIEK!

  Liam held his hands tightly against his ears. The shrieking continued, but it didn't take long to find out what was making the awful noise. From out of the white nothingness haze, a flying zombie head complete with bat-like wings was soaring right for him!

  Liam ducked and almost lost his footing. "Whoa, whoa!" He waved his arms around to catch his balance as another zombie head zoomed past him. Then another and another. He drew his sword. As the next one approached, Liam lashed out and sent the flying zombie head tumbling end over end in the other direction.

  The need to reach the top of the staircase increased, so Liam picked up the pace. He was taking two steps at a time, pausing only long enough to slash at a zombie head.

  "And I just thought that level in Castlevania was annoying."

  He continued to slash and make contact with his sword. Sometimes he had to slash at one zombie head and then immediately bring up his shield to block the attack from other. He was getting better at balancing despite his fear of heights. Suddenly, the zombie heads came faster and faster. Their numbers outweighed his ability to run and fight, so he kicked it up another notch and ran as hard and as fast as he could up the stairs. The whole time, praying to reach the top without running out of room.

  Finally, the top of the staircase appeared! Only, it was as he feared- a dead end. His eyes bulged out of his head. Glancing back, he knew the
re was no stopping. He hoped the staircase had been a segue into the next area, like a loading screen, and that he would not run face first into the fast approaching wall.

  He squinted, afraid to look. It must have worked because when he opened them again, he was no longer on the staircase. And, more importantly, the flying medusa, er, zombie heads were gone.

  He had landed right in the middle of his bedroom floor. He set the sword down on the carpet beside him. Wiping his forehead, he leaned back to rest on his legs and take in the sights around him. Everything was still pixelated, which meant that he was still in the game world. That was the only good thing.

  "No, no, NOOOO!" His fist slammed into the bed.

  But while still being in the game world had its advantages, there was one big disadvantage. Had he started over at the beginning? Did someone reset his game? What about the progress he'd made following every move Thomas had made and tracking down Katie?

  There was a whine behind him, and he turned to welcome Shadow. "Hey, buddy." He scratched Shadow's head. "Sorry I was gone so long."

  He continued to pet Shadow all the while getting more and more frustrated about being back in his room. He was so close! Or at least he felt like he was. Now he'd have to try again. His shoulders slouched. If there was one thing he dreaded most it was having to replay difficult areas in games all over again. Except this was no mere game. His life and others were at stake.

  Could he return to Thomas' house and re-enter the portal? It appeared to be closing when he and his friends first chased Thomas and Katie through it. Could he re-open it? Thoughts of the jungle, Emerald Cave, and the graveyard fluttered back to him. The thought of having to trek through all of those enemies again, this time alone, really bummed him out.

  He blew out the air in his lungs in one long sigh. He felt defeated. Like the boss had won.

  He picked up the sword and carefully ran his fingers on the hilt. It was the first time since finding it that he had a chance to really admire its beauty. Despite its pixelated appearance, it had beautiful etchings and carvings of fine lines all throughout the hilt.