by Tim Miller
He had two choices, call the cops and the pounding could go on for over an hour until they got there. Or he could open the door and look outside and tell whoever is doing this to fuck off. He figured option two would have to work for now. Reaching up, he unlatched the deadbolt and slowly turned the door knob. Just as the door cracked open, someone kicked it back, hitting him in the face with the door as it burst open, knocking Jerry to the ground, flat on his back.
Four people came running in, all wearing white plastic masks. They stood around him. One was a girl, the rest were men.
“Hey Jerry!” one of the men said. “How ya doin’?”
“What the hell is this? Did Clarence send you assholes?”
“Did Clarence send you assholes?” one of them mocked. “You think you’re really smart, huh?”
Jerry scooted himself back and began to pull himself up using the couch. The girl kicked him in the stomach, sending him back to the floor in the fetal position.
“Did we say you could move smart guy?” the girl yelled. “You’re never getting back up again!”
One of the men took out a large knife and knelt down.
“Time to shut you up for good, pal!” the guy said as he held the knife inches from Jerry’s face. Jerry grabbed the man’s wrist and pushed the knife away as he brought his leg up and wrapped it around the man’s head, rolling him to the ground in a head lock. He had no idea what he was actually doing, but he’d seen this in a movie once.
As he rolled the man down, he rotated his hips and legs and the man let out a muffled scream. There was a loud popping and snapping sound as he jerked and twitched beneath Jerry. He was able to pull the knife away from the man and jump to his feet. One of the other masked men let out a scream as the girl began sobbing.
“No!” the woman screamed. “You killed him! You fucking killed him!” She lunged at Jerry who thrust the knife at her, stabbing her in the throat. Blood sprayed all over as she grabbed her throat while gurgling sounds came from behind the mask. She went to her knees as Jerry was on her, stabbing her repeatedly in the chest and stomach. One thrust went so hard he felt his hand disappear inside her stomach, amidst the warmth of her intestines.
The other two men jumped him as they all three toppled to the ground. One was trying to get Jerry around the neck while the other was grabbing for the knife. Jerry swung the knife wildly, slashing up the man’s hands, causing him to cry out. The guy on his back got a forearm beneath Jerry’s chin. Jerry knew if the guy started choking him he’d go out in a matter of seconds, then it would be all over.
He lifted the knife and began slicing at the man’s arm around his throat. Finally his grip loosened as blood gushed all over Jerry’s face and clothing. Jerry broke free and lunged at the other man, thrusting the knife into his chest. The man let out a long gasp as the air left his lungs He spun around as the remaining assailant was running for the door. Jerry ran and hit him slamming them both into the wall. He dropped the knife on impact as they both went back to the floor. The other man’s arm was gushing blood in large clumps all over the carpet.
Jerry ripped the mask off the man and began punching him in the face. He recognized the man from some of the acting workshops, but didn’t know his name. The man tried to defend himself, but after a few blows stopped moving completely. Jerry stopped and noticed the blood around them was so thick, it was actually pooling on the carpet. The guy had bled out. Jerry stood and looked around the apartment. It looked like a slaughterhouse. Blood and dead bodies were splattered and strung all over the apartment. Looking down at himself, he saw his clothes and arms were soaked in blood.
It all started to sink in. These people came here to kill him. Somehow, he fought back and killed all four of them. They must not have expected him to fight back. It’s not like these guys are trained assassins. They were a bunch of actors, and not even good ones. Either way, Chloe was right. Not that he hadn’t believed her, but he hadn’t expected this. Maybe something to try and scare him at most. Maybe leaving a horse’s head in his bed or something.
He looked around on the floor and located his phone. Doing his best to wipe his hands on his jeans, he called Chloe’s number.
“Hey Chloe,” he said. “You were right. A bunch of them were just here and umm...I think I need some help.”
Chapter 25
Brody stood in Jerry’s apartment looking at the carnage. Chloe was in the bathroom throwing up while Jerry was sitting on the couch staring off into space. Chloe had called him and told him about the attack.
“We’ll have to clean this up,” Brody said.
“Shouldn’t we call the police?” Jerry asked.
“We could. I don’t think it will go well for you. Plus it will bring too much focus on Clarence and his pals. It might even shut down production.”
“Isn’t that a good thing? Clarence is a fucking crook.”
“I know. But I have a plan.”
“What plan?” Chloe said from the doorway.
“I’ll explain after a bit. But we don’t want Clarence in jail just yet. There’s still a way to make this work for us. We just have to play it right,” Brody explained.
“I’m still not following,” Jerry said.
“Clarence isn’t going to pay anyone. Like you already figured out, there is no script and no movie. With my plan, we can make money with this. It’s rather crazy, but this has all been crazy so far. There may as well be a payoff.”
“Well this sounds interesting,” Chloe said.
Brody proceeded to explain his plan to them both. He also told them about the shoot where Clarence killed the actors and used them as props. They were both horrified at that story. As he explained his plan they both nodded and even smiled at times. He could tell they were both all in.
Once they agreed, they began the cleanup. It took several hours and three separate trips to the hardware store for cleaning products and other tools. They got some large Rubbermaid garbage cans for the bodies and a steam cleaner for the carpet. It was well into the next day before they were finished. They were exhausted, but at least the place was spotless.
“What do we do with these?” Jerry asked, pointing at the trash cans.
“We’ll put them in my pickup truck and I’ll take them to my dad’s ranch and bury them there. No one will ever find them,” Brody said.
“I still can’t believe I killed four people,” Jerry said.
“You had no choice. They came here to kill you, but didn’t expect you to put up a fight. That’s the problem sending actors to do something like this. None of them had ever been in a fight. They figured this would go like in the movies. You showed them different and you won.”
“I guess so.”
They carried the trash cans out of the apartment and loaded them into Brody’s truck. It took several trips, but they got it done. Jerry looked like he was about to keel over. At least he’d showered once the apartment was clean and threw his clothes into one of the trash cans.
“I’ll take care of these,” Brody said. “You should get some rest.”
“Not here though,” Jerry said. “I don’t think I can sleep here. I don’t even know if it’s safe.”
“Right. I’ll drop you off at my place, you can crash there.”
“I want to come help you Brody,” Chloe said.
“All right. Hop in.”
They squeezed into the pickup truck as Brody drove away. Jerry was sound asleep the instant they started moving. Once they got to Brody’s house, Chloe helped Brody walk Jerry inside. From there Chloe and Brody drove to the ranch.
“You think your plan will work?” Chloe asked.
“I have no idea. I hope so. I think it’s a solid plan.”
“It sounds like it.”
“I can’t believe he did that to those other actors. And no one did anything?”
“I’m telling you, it’s like everyone is in some trance around him. Haven’t you noticed?”
“Yeah, I have. Especially at that la
st meeting. I’m amazed a whole lynch mob didn’t come after Jerry,” Chloe said.
“Me too. I can’t believe how out of control this shit has gotten. And these folks still believe him.”
They arrived at the ranch where Brody drove out past the house near an old barn.
“How are we gonna do this? The ground can be pretty tough.”
“There’s a sinkhole back here. We just roll them in and away they go,” Brody said.
They got out and unloaded the trash cans. One by one Brody rolled them into the sinkhole. Once the last one disappeared his phone began to ring. He took it out of his pocket and answered.
“Hey Brody! It’s Clarence!” Oh Christ.
“What’s up Clarence?” Brody said as Chloe’s forehead wrinkled.
“Hey, we are going to start shooting in a couple days. I was thinking Saturday. Got a big scene I want to get done.”
Brody wanted to ask him when they were going to get paid, but this would work perfectly for his plan.
“Oh ok,” Brody said. “It’s about time we get to do some filming.”
“I know, right!” Clarence said. “This is exciting. Once this scene is done, we should get our funding and can get this thing done soon.”
“Yeah, that sounds great. Definitely.”
“Thanks Brody. I knew I could count on you. I’ll text you the details,” Clarence said as he hung up.
Brody looked up at Chloe.
“So what was that?” she asked.
“We’re filming Saturday. Some big scene he wants done. I told him I’d do it. I want you there too. We’ll put it all in motion then.”
“Are you sure? That’s awful soon?”
“We don’t know when he’ll want to film again. It could be six months from now.”
“Good point. I’m scared.”
“Me too,” Brody said. “I think this will work. I’ll fill Jerry in when he wakes up.”
They got back into the truck and Brody dropped Chloe off. Once he was home, he found that Jerry was still sound asleep on his couch. The guy didn’t look like he could fight much. He was a little pudgy and even slightly nerdy looking with his Dr. Who t-shirt. But they had underestimated Jerry. That’s how he would beat Clarence. This whole thing had gone to his head. He thought he was smarter than everyone else. Brody would show him who the smart one was.
Chapter 26
When Saturday arrived, Chloe was nervous as hell. She hadn’t heard from Brody or Jerry in several days. Jerry really had her worried. Last time she saw him he was so tired he couldn’t even stand up straight. Hopefully they’d be putting Brody’s plan into action today and it would work. If it didn’t work, well she didn’t even want to think about that.
“Ok everyone! Are we ready?” Clarence called out as he walked up to the set. As usual for Zombie Reign, “set” was a strong word. They were on an abandoned farm. Chloe figured it belonged to someone and just wasn’t being used at the moment. So Clarence in typical Clarence fashion just decided to film there. This was supposed to be some big, epic scene for this film that didn’t actually exist.
Ever since he’d asked for $3,000 for SAG dues, several people left the cast. Problem was several still paid the money. Some took out payday loans to cover it. Others made payment plans the size of car payments in order to fulfill their “dreams.” Brody fronted her the money to keep her around. As far as the cast that left he just cast more people who were willing to pay. It was so crazy.
“Ah, there they are!” Clarence said. “My beautiful family!”
Chloe looked to see Lisa and Sarcelles were walking up. Actually they were skipping, hand in hand. It was weird as hell.
“Hey daddy!” Sarcelles squealed as she ran up and hugged Clarence.
“Hey sugarbear. You guys excited?” he asked.
“Oh yeah. She just wanted some mommy time,” Lisa said as she looked at Sarcelles, brushing her hair away from her face.
“How sweet. My little girl has always wanted a mom like you.”
Chloe thought she was going to throw up right there. Thankfully Clarence turned and started giving directions. There were more actors dressed as Marines there with fake guns. Clarence was in his Marine outfit while there were dozens of actors with zombie makeup on. For a couple of the zombies they had run out of makeup, so they were wearing rubber zombie masks. The masks looked completely ridiculous, but Clarence insisted this is what the big, Hollywood productions use.
Lisa came up and began shouting as usual. Chloe wished Lisa had a bigger role in Brody’s plan.
“Ok! Listen up everyone! This is a huge scene in the film! So it is very important we be spot on when we shoot this! We have a big budget for this movie!” Lisa yelled. It was funny she was saying they had a big budget as none of them had seen a nickel yet.
“So remember! This is a big budget major motion picture! It is not some pathetic little indie film! So when we get started, you give it your all so our investors will be proud!” Lisa stepped back as Brody and the “cameraman” who was still using a tablet came walking up.
The Marines walked to the end of the dirt lane while the zombies went behind the house. Chloe was with the Marines as they came walking up.
“Ready! Action!” Brody called out.
They began walking and Clarence was in front of the group. Chloe was behind him as they approached the house. The zombies came lurching from the back of the house making their way to the front. Clarence remained in character as he shouted his lines.
“Contact front! Contact front!” he shouted as they all pretended to fire their guns. One of the Marines however was shouting “Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!”
“Cut!” Brody yelled. “What the hell was that?”
“Was what?” the actor asked.
“That Pew! Pew! shit. What the hell?”
“Sorry, since the guns don’t fire, I figured I’d make my own sounds.”
“We edit the sound in later,” Brody explained. “So don’t do that.”
The actor nodded as they got back into place.
“Ok, from where we left off. Action!”
They continued clicking their guns as the zombies ran up on them. Some were lurching slowly while others ran. One ran up to Chloe and grabbed her as she toppled into Clarence. He took out a pistol and pretended to shoot the zombie who fell to the ground. After a few more zombies fell, they continued rolling. Clarence looked around at the “survivors.”
“Is everyone ok?” he asked. They all looked around and checked each other. Chloe took Clarence’s hand and slid his sleeve back.
“Oh my God!” she exclaimed. “You’re bit!”
“What?” Clarence said, looking confused.
“He’s been bit!” she yelled backing away. Once she was a few steps away, she began pointing at him. “Look! He’s about to turn!”
Clarence looked totally bewildered as he glanced at Brody and back at Chloe.
“Get away from me!” she screamed as the door to the house burst open. Jerry came running out carrying a hatchet doing some kind of battle cry as he slammed the hatchet into the side of Clarence’s head. Clarence looked around, blood running down his face which had an even more bewildered look as Jerry swung again. This time he collapsed to the ground as Jerry repeatedly hacked away at Clarence’s face. Blood, flesh, and pieces of skull splattered onto Jerry’s face until Clarence’s head was nothing more than a lump of pulpy mush.
As Jerry was hacking away, Chloe had grabbed the other Marines and had them run to the end of the lane with her.
***
“Ok! Cut!” Brody called out. “That was beautiful! Thank you!”
“Clarence?” Lisa said. “Clarence? What did you guys do? What is he doing here?” She pointed at Jerry.
“It’s ok,” Brody explained. It’s all part of the special effects.”
“Why is my daddy not getting up then?” Sarcelles asked. They both tried to run around Brody to reach Clarence, but he held out his arms, holding them back.
“He’s method acting. We’re going to do the next shots and he needs to say there like that. We can’t reapply the makeup.”
Lisa looked around at the camera guy who shrugged.
“Trust me. This is what he told me to do.”
“Why would he kill off his own character?” Lisa asked.
“It’s all part of some big reveal he has at the end. He’ll tell me more later when he’s ready to reveal the script.”
Lisa and Sarcelles looked at each other and back at Brody suspiciously.
“Look. We have a lot more to film here. Why don’t you two go and have some mommy and daughter time. Wouldn’t you like that? Clarence will be busy here for a while.”
“Can’t we just talk to him real quick if he’s really ok?”
“Trust me, he’s fine! Jerry is here because he came to us the other night and apologized. He really wants to be a part of this, and as you saw, he did great. Go get some ice cream together. Have a girl’s day out and we’ll be done here in a few hours.”
“I would love to have ice cream with my mommy,” Sarcelles said.
“Awe, you’re such a sweetie,.” Lisa said as she put her hands on Sarcelles face and kissed her on the mouth. Sarcelles hugged Lisa around the waist and squeezed.
“I love my mommy!” Sarcelles said.
“I love my daughter,” Lisa said.
Brody didn’t even try to process the weirdness between the two women. He wasn’t sure if this was some kinky lesbian role play they were doing, or if they were both just totally fucked up. He was guessing the latter. Finally the women joined hands and skipped away. This plan just might work after all.
Chapter 27
Over the next several weeks, Brody took over the production and even wrote his own script around the footage they already had. Brody had managed to figure out where Clarence kept the money for the “SAG dues.” Since almost everyone had paid in cash, it was stuffed inside a duffel bag in Clarence and Lisa’s apartment. He’d managed to sneak in and find it when Lisa and Sarcelles were out having “mommy and daughter” time.