When he was done talking, the shades stood and followed him. They were headed into the direction of the mountains, far from the village.
We both looked at the departing, black creatures, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
" This is amazing!" I finally said. "They are gone. GONE! They will not ever return. All they were doing, was looking for their pearl. It's so easy if you think about it."
" So that was it then?" Karl asked. "They just wanted their pearl back."
" Yes, and remember you said you wanted to perform a heroic deed? Now you did! We just prevented the deaths of many villagers. We just prevented a war! Aren't you happy with yourself?"
" A little," Karl said. "I just pictured it to be different. You know, with sword fighting and swinging and picking up a beautiful girl to save her from the scourging flames of a fire, or to be carried on the villagers' shoulders and have an after-party."
" Oh, come on. You have to admit this was cool. It does not matter that nobody saw it. We know what we did, and that counts for something."
Karl was still a little upset when we walked home. He didn't get the same brave feeling as I did. We talked some more, going over the events that had been taking place since we found that strange pearl.
Then, suddenly out of the blue, he said, practically weeping, "But we could have won the lotto!
THE END
Zombie Outbreak
Chapter 1: Anguish
Dear journal ...
No, no, no ... that's not how I should begin. I am a tough man for crying out loud! Let's begin over, since it may be journal but that does not mean I have to seem like a wimp. These are hard times, so let's put it in a way that will get the adrenaline in your blood going.
Look, we had just hardly come to the stupid barn, but as quickly as we arrived, the zombies were already pounding at the doors. They just wouldn't disappear. A consistent howling, gnashing of teeth, and wailing were heard. Their sounds were renting the air, as it were, and the reeking odor of corpses entered our senses each day we left.
There were lots of them ... THOUSANDS of them. I lost count of how many I already killed. Two of my friends were keeping the score though. I think one of them already reached number 765 or something. It was a cool pastime if you ask me; something to keep them busy and help them focus on other things.
Not me though. Such trivial activities didn't occupy my mind. I was only consumed with just one thing: Finding civilization. I just knew there were others out there like us. Others who had made it through the disaster and were now waiting on a rescue or were developing their society the way it used to be.
But listen to me rambling about this or that. I am sure that you understand. We were stuck in a barn, surrounded by zombies, thinking that we would be safe but discovering that quite the reverse held true. Let me introduce myself and my team to you.
There were four of us:
Initially there was me.
My name is Jake. I am 25 years of age. I had been battling zombies for a whole year and it was almost as if I did nothing else in life. Naturally, I was just a student when the entire thing came crumbling down on us and panic emerged, but that's another story. Let me assure you that my preferred weapon was a golden sword. Do not ask me how I found it. I just did; and besides, that too, is another story.
Then there was Liam. He was 24. He still had a difficult time getting used to the circumstances, and he flaunted everything all the time as his hormonal agents fluctuated all day. The fact that there were 2 girls and two guys made him go a little crazy sometimes, and he certainly liked the brunette. Either way, they flirted back and forth all the time, which put me and the other girl in an uncomfortable position. Liam's favorite weapon was an iron axe. He got it from a barn just like this one, and he never parted with it since.
The 3rd member of our little made-up team was Darcey. She was only 19 years of age and had just completed high school when the zombies attacked. Her brown hair and blue eyes made her a target for many flirty guys in school, and the fact that she had been a cheerleader all that time made it worse. All she ever spoke about, was make-up, hair, outfits, and nails. She wore short skirts and tight t-shirts all the time, and I doubt that she ever got good grades in school, as I've seen her handwriting and spelling ... Awful ... Like I said, she flirted a lot with Liam-- the only person in the area that would show interest in her-- but I often questioned if she was actually into him or if she just liked the attention. By the way, she often used a shovel to protect herself. In some cases, I caught her tossing a bottle of perfume or nail polish remover in a zombie's face. 10 points for imagination whenever.
The last one in our group was Melody. In my eyes, she was a lot smarter than the brunette, and contrary to the popular viewpoint about her hair color, this blond was a bright, strong survivor. With her pickaxe, she would bust the heads of countless zombies and pull out her weapon within seconds each time as if she had been fighting all her life. It was always a satisfaction to watch her from the corner of my eyes, especially when her hips swung one way and her arms the other ... it was just amazing how she ... well ... anyway, I am daydreaming here. Melody was 21 and she had a charming face, but she didn't put a ton of effort into beautifying herself. She was in survival mode, and she just had a way to get things done quickly, working on solutions and quick ideas to get us to the next place.
So there we were, discussing what to do and where to go. It was an issue, because we thought we had lost them, and now we had to move again.
" How far is the town?" Melody asked.
" If I am right, it should be about 10 minutes from here," I said.
" Let's go then," she said.
" But how?" Liam asked.
" Through there," she said, pointing at a fracture in the back of the barn.
" Do you think there are any zombies there?" Darcey asked.
" I do not know," Melody admitted. "But I hear sounds from all sides of the barn. All the doors are being smothered while it seems like that opening might actually help us slip out. It's our only chance."
All of us agreed that it would be the best way to get out of there, so we rushed towards the fracture. It was at the bottom, so we had to lie on our stomachs and crawl through it. Melody was the first one. She lay flat on her stomach and began crawling through. All of us waited and after that we heard a whisper, "Guys, it's safe. Just keep silent and follow me."
I went second. I crawled through and securely made it outside. There I saw Melody hiding in the bushes and signaling with one hand to go to her. Liam was after me and soon joined us in the bushes, gone from the barn with zombies. Darcey was the last one to crawl through, but when she stuck her head through the crack, a zombie appeared and shouted in her face.
" Wraaaaah!”
Darcey quickly drew back and shouted, "Eeeeeh!”
" She didn't make it," I said, burying my face in my hand.
" Well, don't just stand there! Let's go get her!" Melody said.
She hurried towards the barn and smashed the zombie in the head with her pickaxe. His screech alarmed the zombies on the other side, who came running towards us within seconds. Melody helped Darcey crawl through while the 2 of us were fending off a few zombies with our weapons.
" Let's go! Let's go!" I shouted.
All of us ran as quickly as we could. I observed immediately who was really out shape and who wasn't, because there I was, running and observing Melody's behind, who was way ahead of everybody, running her lungs out and reaching the village long before we did. Outstanding. What woman!
Darcey kept up with me, but it was sad to see that Liam, the one who displayed so much, could not really back up his mouth by running quickly. He fell back, though still ahead of the zombies, and I actually broke a smile when I saw him panting heavily and getting here late.
" Ugh ... ooof ... owowow ... Heeesh ... hi, men. What's the hurry?" Liam said. "It's not like those zombies are the fastest in the world or something."
" That seems like an outstanding idea," I said.
Shortly afterwards, we tiptoed to the church and went inside.
No zombies.
Good.
Our next move was to climb up the stairs to the belfry and hide there. We even found some food hidden in one of the rooms in that building. When we showed up, it was beginning to get dark. We closed the hatch and all went to sleep. It had been a long day.
Chapter 2: Where It All Began
It was all a huge mishap. At least, that's what we heard. Not too far from one of the larger towns in the country, there was a speculative laboratory. I didn't think our clinical research had advanced this far yet, since we all lived under reasonably primitive situations, but apparently, they knew how to develop mysterious compounds.
One of those substances was the Y412, a chemical green slush that was supposed to treat clients from certain diseases. Instead, it did the opposite. When they tested it on rats, it didn't seem to do anything, so the biggest mistake they made, was presuming that it would be safe for humans too.
And after that it happened.
The man lying down on the bed was injected with the Y412.
Immediately, he arose and attacked one of the scientists. The patient jumped at him and began choking him while the others were kicking and punching him, attempting to stop a murder.
But this made it even worse.
It stirred the hostility in the client's brain. He ended up being even more wild and ferocious than before. His nails turned into claws and his teeth into fangs within seconds. As the drool from his mouth hit the floor, the newly-bred monster attacked the other researchers too, biting and scratching each of them.
Before they knew it, they were all the same: It only took seconds before they developed into zombies themselves and started damaging the place. They broke out and terrified the town the clinical center was at.
There was a soldier there, Bart, a retired hero who heard about the outbreak. He didn't waver and got his silver sword. Then he stormed out of his house and opened his mouth in wonder. Dozens of zombies were quickly going through the streets, breaking homes and biting victims along the way. He had never seen anything like this.
" Let's fight back!" Bart shouted. "Resist! We cannot let them take the village."
He banged his sword on the doors of those who were still unaware of the situation. The civilians gradually came out and looked at the continuous turmoil.
" Get your weapons!" Bart shouted. "Let's kill these men!”
Some of the villagers got pitchforks and shovels. Others armed their kids and spouses with hammers and knives, but most of them escaped in fear.
" Come on!" Bart shouted as he stabbed one of the zombies in the stomach. "We can win this!”
He stabbed and yelled and slashed. He fought back with all his might, but the zombies were becoming too many; they were growing greatly. They were dashing through windows and turning everyone in their way into zombies. Panic was all over.
" We can beat these monsters!" Bart kept shouting. "We can beat ... ".
THUD!
Some zombie punched him in the face. It knocked him out and left him there, being stepped on by various zombies but allowing him to remain human. Who knows what occurred after that ...?
I heard it didn't take long before the whole town became zombies and dead people. From there, the illness spread right across the country. This was the beginning.
Chapter 3: The Note We Got
I got up by the sound of snoring. Liam was lying on his back and seemed like a saw cutting through a log. It wasn't the best way to wake up, but I discovered the sun came up anyhow, so it made a lot of sense to start taking a look around.
Melody was covered up with a blanket, and so was Darcey. They were so tired from the day before that they kept sleeping, regardless of the incoming rays from the sun.
I just sat there for an hour. I was going to leave them there, as I knew they needed it. Besides, I took pleasure in watching Melody sleep. She was so pretty. I questioned if she even knew that I was so satisfied by her. Most likely not.
Darcey got up.
" Whe-where am I?" she asked.
" We're in a church tower," I answered. "We're safe here. No zombies."
I guess the word "zombies" woke Melody up, since she immediately increased from her sleeping position and reached for her weapon. "Zombies? Where?" she said.
" Do not worry," I said. "We locked the hatch, remember?"
" Oh yeah," she said as she rubbed her eyes and yawned. "So what is the strategy?"
" We should look for any clues to find a group of survivors," I said. "There is only so much we can do by ourselves, but if we join others, we can withstand all the zombies."
" Well, how about awakening this sleepy head?" Melody said, pointing at the snoring Liam.
" Sure," I said. "Hey, Liam, time to wake up."
No response.
" Liam!" I yelled. "Wake up! It's time to get up!"
Nothing.
" I can poke him with my pickaxe," Melody said.
" Amateurs," Darcey commented. "Let me show you how it's done."
She leaned over and softly whispered something in his ear. It seemed to permeate through his brain immediately, since his eyes opened and he stood, taking a look at Darcey with big eyes.
" What?" he asked.
" Oh, nothing," Darcey said.
" What did you tell him?" Melody and I inquired.
" Do not worry about it. Isn't the most important thing that he is up?" she said.
" I think so," I said.
Liam was trying to get his hair straight. "What now?" he asked.
" Let's go downstairs," I suggested. "We'll search the homes for any indicator that people left and grouped someplace. We can't stay here for long. We need to find others."
After carefully opening the hatch, we decreased the stairs and searched the church. Luckily, we didn't have to look anywhere else, since on one of the benches, there was a note that read, "Meet us at Paradise. Turn left at the Elephant Rock."
When I picked it up, we all stared at it for a while.
" Man, that's remarkable," Liam said.
" Where is Elephant Rock?" Darcey asked.
" It's on the other side of the country," Melody said a little disappointed. "It's not that awesome. All we have, is a note and some vague directions. And it's far. It will take at least a few days to walk there, if I'm not mistaken."
" But it's a chance," I said. "Before this, we had nothing. Now we have an objective."
Chapter 4: Journey right across the Country
We took the note and tried to find other supplies. None of the zombies in the area were alarmed by our slipping around the village. Fortunately, they were all gone or hiding from the light.
Something that I had been seeing before, was that the zombies seldom came out during the day. They were unsusceptible to light and often they did appear in the daytime, but the majority of them disliked the light. They remained in the shadows until the sun would set.
This would give us a long time to fill up on stuff. So we did. We found food, water, and blankets; and we loaded every little thing that was useful.
Then we left town.
On our way to the presumed group that we hoped would exist.
The plains were dangerous. If there would be any zombies there, they would have seen us by that time, but there weren't. I was just hoping none of them would be clever enough to take a peek there.
And since there was nothing else to do, Liam got into bragging mode, like always.
" You know, Darcey," he said. "It's good we came back for you or you would have been bitten and turned into a zombie."
" Obviously, if you had gone as the first one, then one of us would have been at risk. It was just a coincidence," Melody said.
" Still," Darcey said. "Liam was brave to come back."
" No, he wasn't," I said. "He just returned since Melody told us to return."
" But I would have gone anyway, whether she said it or not," Liam firmly insisted.
" Sure," I said. "I still think you should be thanking Melody instead of Liam, Darcey."
After that, it was quiet. All of us sensed it. Darcey was just trying to find a reason to flirt with Liam and Liam was just boasting again, despite the fact that he was the last to show up in the town just because of his sluggish speed.
Melody and I exchanged looks. It was type of like teaming up against the weirdos in the group or something. By having two people to tease, it was as if we were connecting better. We both smiled and shook our heads.
" So where did you get that golden blade?" Melody asked.
" Well, let me tell you," I began.
Chapter 5: All the Survival Stories
This is the story of how I found the golden sword. The simple truth is, I had been trying to find a weapon for days after the outbreak. My parents tried to protect me, telling me to hide in the basement when the zombies assaulted. When the sounds had vanished, I came out of my hiding place and discovered an empty home. After all that time, I still didn't know what had happened to them. Perhaps they had developed into zombies, or maybe they had just died. Nevertheless, I still had an unclear hope of finding them in the colony, which was why I was so determined to find it.
I truly hoped my parents were still alive someplace.
Anyhow, I climbed up out of that basement and found the whole village to be empty. I knew there were zombies prowling beneath the corners of the homes, so I hurried to a nearby castle.
Anthology of Horror Stories Page 8