by TJ Weeks
It had now been a full year since they had moved out and they had made it through semester finals and their birthdays were in the next few days. Tonight was their night to celebrate. Dinner at Red Lobster together was their celebration. Next, was a couple of guys they knew from school that had invited them out for a drink. Neither of them was old enough, but the guys were sure they could get them into the club and promised to buy them drinks all night.
“Bathroom?” Silvia asked.
“Yes, need to make sure I look somewhat presentable after stuffing my face.” Rachel agreed.
The two finished their meal, paid the bill and made their way to the bathroom. They stood next to each other in new dresses they had just brought. Rachel’s red straight hair flowed down past her shoulders and went perfectly with her new short black dress. She wore a dark blue choker to bring out her blue eyes and found the cutest navy blue heels to match. Silvia’s blonde hair was piled on top of her head and pinned so that just a few of her natural curls fell down around her face. The new red dress she had picked, made her look like she was worth a million bucks.
“Selfie!” Silvia rang out.
The two stood with their faces cheek to cheek and snapped a picture with Silvia’s cell phone.
An older woman walked out of a stall and began to wash her hands.
“You kids will never know what life is really like, all these damn selfies!” She stammered as she walked out.
The two laughed at the old woman and took another one.
They hugged each other and agreed that they were ready to go.
“Let’s go see what kind of trouble we can get into.” Silvia joked.
The streets were lined with cars waiting for a red light as they stepped out. It was a warm night which was perfect since both of their dresses were a bit short. They both tiptoed quickly across the street in their high heeled shoes and over to Rachel’s high school graduation present of a black Camaro.
Rachel backed out and headed a few blocks down to meet the guys.
“Here we go!” Silvia stated opening the door.
The two tall, dark and handsome juniors met them at their doors and both offered their hands to help them out of the car.
“Well HELLO LADIES!” Rachel’s date belted out.
“Hello gentlemen.” Rachel stated back with a small curtsy before she closed her door and locked it.
The foursome walked around the corner of a building which was bumping with music and stood in the line at the door.
“ID’s?” The big man asked at the door.
“These are our dates Ricardo.” Silvia’s date explained.
The bouncer moved to the side and allowed them all to enter. Rachel and Silvia looked at each other and cocked their heads to the side and raised their eyebrows at each other with surprise at the guy’s connection.
“Guess we chose the right men for the night.” Rachel stated grabbing her date’s arm that was sure to make her night unforgettable.
Once inside the night club, the men took drink orders and left their ladies at a bar table. Rachel and Silvia grabbed each other’s hands and squeezed, both smiling from ear to ear.
Rachel sipped her margarita as soon as it was sat in front of her and Silvia downed her beer from the bottle.
“Dance?” The two men asked.
The girls rose from the table and led the men to the dance floor and began to dance more risqué than they had ever danced before. They rubbed on their dates with their bodies and ran their hands on their own, both hiking their dresses up just enough to leave something to the imagination.
After a few songs the group moved their small party to a couch in the back of the club. Silvia and her date quickly made it known that PDA was going to be part of their night. Rachel moved a bit slower with her date. He wrapped his arm around her and rubbed on her bare thigh a few times before leaning over and kissing her lightly on the neck. Rachel could feel the tingling throughout her body but held back on the excessive PDA. She peered over at Silvia and her date’s hand was already up her skirt and hers held his bulge.
“We will be right back.” Silvia looked over at Rachel.
Rachel smiled and was happy she had a little more room on the couch. She scooted over a bit and shook off the want to do the same.
“What’s your major?” Rachel asked him.
“Psychology. Yours?” He returned the question.
“Chemistry, I am going to be a pharmacist.” She answered.
“Are you from here?” She asked.
He shook his head no as he drank the remainder of his beer. “We are both from up North, we have been friends since grade school and decided to come here together for college.” He explained.
“That is funny. Silvia and I have grown up together as well.” Rachel smiled at him.
“You are a bit more reserved than your friend.” He stated.
Rachel smiled and dropped her head in a bit of shyness. The man lifted her head with his finger. “I like that.” He said before kissing her softly on the lips.
“Want to dance?” He asked.
Rachel nodded and they headed out to a slow song and he held her close and swayed to the music with her. He was the perfect gentlemen.
They soon made it back to the small couch where Silvia and her date had returned.
“Did you have fun?” Rachel questioned.
“Yep a blast!” Silvia squealed.
Rachel smiled as the men offered more drinks and headed to get them.
“He was great and it felt so good to be back in the swing of things again.” Silvia expressed to her friend.
Rachel smiled. “Did you know his major is psychology?
“That is what you found out? How about does he have a big dick?” Silvia questioned.
“I would rather have a big mind than a big dick.” Rachel spat back.
Silvia laughed. “Same old Rachel.”
The two men sat down and handed them their drinks and went back to basic conversation for a while.
“How about our place for a nightcap?” Rachel questioned. “I have some rum that is to die for.”
The guys looked around both of the girls and nodded to each other.
“Follow us!” Silvia rang out to them.
The girls walked them up the stairs and into their small apartment. They began making some drinks and handed them to their dates. Silvia and her date didn’t last long in the living room and headed to her bedroom. Rachel sat sipping on hers for a few minutes before her date removed her glass from her hand and sat back down next to her. He kissed her neck, then her cheek and then back down to the bit of cleavage that showed over the top of her dress.
“You are absolutely awesome.” He stated as he ran his hands down her body.
Rachel leaned back accepting the compliment and gave him access to what he wanted. He ran his hand underneath her dress and gently pulled on the string that covered her hip. He pulled it down just far enough to rub everything he wanted.
“Let’s go to my room.” Rachel offered.
She led him to her room and shut the door. The next morning was Rachel’s birthday. She laid on her bed still covered with her sheet and stark naked underneath. Her date was gone as she had expected, because men were just that way. Her bedroom door opened and in walked the man she had spent a glorious night with.
“So I saw on your calendar that it was your birthday and wanted to do something special.”
He handed her a mimosa filled wine glass, and sat down with a plate of strawberries. “Happy Birthday.”
Rachel sat up and stared at the man in confusion for a moment.
“Thought I left, huh?” He asked.
Rachel shook her head as she sipped the mimosa and set it to the side.
“Is it okay that I am still here?” He asked.
Rachel nodded again. He smiled and fed her a strawberry. The two sat in bed and ate the rest of the plateful before Silvia barged in singing Happy Birthday at the top of her lungs.
After a shower and dressing, the two made their way out to the living room and saw the gentlemen off on their way. Rachel and Silvia talked about their wonderful night and in the midst of the details a scream sounded from the end of the hallway.
Rachel and Silvia jumped up and ran to open the door. Both stuck their heads out to peer down their small hallway and saw a man bent over a woman that laid on the floor.
“Hey, you son of a bitch, get the fuck off of her!” Silvia screamed down the hallway. “Call the cops Rachel!”
Rachel ran for the phone and dialed up emergency. She plugged one ear with her finger to be able to hear the dispatcher over Silvia still yelling at the man. Rachel stood by the small dining table and furrowed her brow as Silvia ran to her room and back out with a bat. Rachel followed her to the doorway and watched Silvia run down the hallway, without hesitation hit the man in the back of the head. He fell to the ground and she stood over the woman that laid bleeding on the tan carpet covering the hallway. Silvia reached down to feel the woman’s pulse and the man began to stand and towered over Silvia.
“SILVIA!” Rachel screamed as the man reached his arms over to her and she ducked while turning and hitting him in the legs with the bat. The man fell again, Silvia hit him in the head again with the bat and kept swinging until he was unrecognizable.
Rachel explained to the dispatcher what was happening and waited for a response on what to do when her phone suddenly lost service. Rachel peered at her phone and all of her bars were gone. She tried to call back and the emergency number would not even ring. Rachel ran to the window hoping to see squad cars pulling up, but what she did see confused her.
Two women were walking towards a man, he was screaming and held his hands up in front of him as he coward behind the side of a truck. The two women walked straight to him and grabbed each of his arms and bit into them. The man screamed as his head moved from side to side and tried to pull his arms free. A child joined in as it slowly and calmly walked up to the man dropped to her little knees and bit him on the chest. All three drew their mouths back from the man for a moment before going in for another bite. One of the women turned her head after a second bite and looked as though she was scanning the area. Rachel pulled her head back from the window hoping she did not see her watching them. Rachel went to grab the set of binoculars that Silvia kept near her bed to watch the handsome man across the street sunbathe nude on a regular basis and went back to the window. She peeked around the curtain to make sure that the two women and child were not noticing her and pulled the binoculars up to her face. She scanned the area and ran across the mess they were making of the poor soul. The man’s face had frozen into a feared look.
“Oh God, it’s him!” She whispered.
It was Rachel’s date from the night before. A bouquet of flowers laid at his feet and his bloodied remains propped up against the truck tire. The two women went back in several times for more bites of her date and the child still snacked on a piece of flesh that hung from its mouth.
Rachel pulled away from the window again and backed against the wall. She slowly walked to the door and rounded the corner to the hallway.
“My phone won’t work, but I got a hold of them and hopefully they are on their way.” Rachel told her friend.
“She is gone.” Silvia stated walking back down the small dimly lit corridor.
“You mean she is dead?” Rachel asked.
Silvia nodded as she entered and closed the door.
“Oh shit, come look at this.” Rachel requested.
She handed her the binoculars and pointed at the two women and child. Silvia pulled the binoculars up to her face.
“Oh shit!” She stated still watching them. “Is that the guy from last night?”
“Yep.” Rachel replied.
“What the hell is going on?” Silvia questioned.
Two cop cars sped up to the group and the officers jumped from their car. The two women rose from their kneeling position and headed towards them. Even from their third floor apartment, they were able to hear the cops yelling at them to stop, but the women kept moving forward. The officers fired and shot the two women and knocked them off of their feet. One ran to the man laid at the tire of the truck and picked the child up and ran with her to the back of the car. The other held his gun on the squirming women on the ground.
Both of them began to get up and head toward the man holding the gun again. He backed up as he yelled again and he fired two more shots and hit them both again knocking them off of their feet again. The officer at the back of the car, cradled the small girl, then screamed and dropped the child to the ground. He grabbed at the side of his face and rolled himself across the trunk of the car leaving a trail of blood as he did.
The child scurried under the car, made her way out from under the front side and back over to the man that had already been torn to shreds and began feasting again on his innards.
“Go lock the door” Silvia stated.
Rachel ran to the door, before she was able to close it a man was trying to push it open. Rachel screamed and tried to push the man out of their apartment and close the door. He pressed his face through the small opening as far as he could. Rachel was smashing his face and could hear the bones cracking as she forced the door shut. The man stuck in his hand and tangled his hand into Rachel’s hair and groaned loudly. He pulled her to the crack in the door before Silvia ran to the door and tried to help push it closed. The man was stronger than they were, he gave one good push and threw Rachel and Silvia to the floor. He growled at them and headed in their direction. Silvia and Rachel scooted backwards and to the front side of the couch. The scarred face man peered at them from the other side and made his way around the couch as they both grabbed each other’s arm, caught their feet and headed out of their apartment.
They closed the door behind them and ran to the end of the hall. They threw open the heavy metal door and let it close behind them. Rachel looked up and Silvia looked down the flights of stairs that led throughout the building.
“Up or down?” Silvia asked.
“Down, we don’t want to get stuck here. Maybe we can make it to the library next door and see who is there that can help.” Rachel suggested.
The two began running down the steps and breathlessly stopped at the door marked ground.
“We don’t know what is out here, so be ready to fight.” Silvia stated with her hand on the door.
Rachel nodded and got herself ready to run. Silvia pushed down on the silver handle and released the door from its strike plate. She slowly pushed the door open and peeked outside. She scanned both ways and saw some people walking but they weren’t trying to hurt anyone, they were walking slowly but looked normal.
“Let’s go!” Silvia stated.
She pushed the door open all the way and ran out of the door. Rachel followed behind her but was cut off by a man and woman that looked as though they had been living in the streets for months without a shower or food. Rachel swung and hit the woman in the face and the man grabbed her arm as she reared back to swing again. He leaned in to take a bite of Rachel. She kicked his knee, it easily buckled under him and he released her arm and fell on his stomach, he growled loudly at her and reached for her foot, she kicked hard and struck him in the face. She could feel the bones crush through her shoe; the woman had made her way back over to them and proceeded to growl with anger while coming at Rachel. Rachel ran back into the door and closed it with a slam. Silvia had already ran on without her, expecting her to be following close behind.
Rachel closed the door wondering why these all of the people so far were not following her through the doors and running after her if they were so set on hurting her as they had others. She stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked up. It was the only direction that she had to go. Rachel stood for a moment and contemplated her situation
. She began to leap up the steps and stopped at the third floor door. She tried to decide on if she wanted to try going back to the apartment where she had locked in the man and see if maybe he had been one that was able to move on or if she needed to go up further and see what was there.
Suddenly the door flew open and a woman came flying threw it.
“Are there zombies down there to?” The woman asked with wide eyes.
“Zombies?” Rachel questioned.
“Yes, fucking zombies, they are all over up here, eating everyone!” She explained to Rachel.
Rachel had always heard that one day the zombie apocalypse would happen, but always thought it was just something for horror fanatics to hold onto to have something to talk about. Rachel was pretty sure this was one of the horror fanatics. She laughed a bit at the woman and watched her run down the stairs.
Rachel opened the door and scanned the hall way before stepping into it. The dead woman and man were still lying at the one end and two more bloodied bodies laid at the other. She could see a man standing over one of the dead bodies with his back to her. She quietly took a step into the hall way to see what exactly he was doing, maybe he could help her. She accidentally let the door shut and it made a light click, he turned his head slowly towards her and then his body, his skin was dirty and blood splatter covered his face, his hands fell to the sides of him as he bounced from wall to wall. He growled a low moan at her and opened his mouth and closed it again and once Rachel was within arm’s reach of the man, he placed his arms across her shoulders and pulled her into him like he was getting ready to hug her neck. He again opened his mouth wide and leaned in. She could feel the drool hit her neck and she pulled back. She flung the man’s arms off of her shoulders and ran back through the door, Rachel ran up the stairs as she heard the door squeak back open and slam shut. She peered down to the level below and watched the man come out. He scooted his feet forward and bumped off of the railing and fell down the flight of stairs. He was moving but only to push himself down another flight of stairs.