Anthology of Horror Stories

by Daphne Haydens

  I was a little hurt that he thought of me like some pitiful woos who would care about something like that, but I accepted his offer, however. We hacked and slashed, and the zombies were still can be found in. Within minutes, the whole pub was filled with townspeople who had been developed into zombies and were now turning on us.

  Suddenly, I heard a cry from the opposite side of the room.

  " Aaaargh!”

  " Hey, what's going on?" I asked.

  " Aaargh! One of the zombies bit me, Titus. You need to finish me off!”

  It was my good friend. I wanted to the left; I wanted to the right. There weren't that many zombies left. My friend was kneeling down. His weapon had dropped. Every little thing ended up being blurry, as if a slow-motion influence was being put on my life. I hacked at another zombie in front of me and kicked another one through the window as I ran forward.

  I bent over and put my arm on my good friend's shoulder and asked him how he was doing.

  " This is it, Titus," he said. "It was good to meet you. I am all set to meet my wife in the afterlife."

  " What are you talking about, man? We can get help. You will be all right."

  " You know I will not be," he said laughingly. "It doesn't matter. I knew this would happen sooner or later. Proceed. Finish me. Do not let me turn into one of them."

  " But I do not want to end your life. Come on!" I said. "This isn't right. There has to be something we can do."

  Then he got me by my t-shirt, looked me straight into my eyes, and said, "Toughen up, Titus. Do what needs to be done. Stop caring, and DO it!”

  I killed him. I closed my eyes when I did it. Yeah, that was the most difficult kill I've ever made. I still remember it so well.

  His name was Jake.

  Chapter 3: The Life I Had

  After this pleasant (ahum ... ahum ...) anecdote, I hope you understand that my life isn't all anguish and darkness. You see, Jake wanted to meet his marriage partner again, and he strongly really believed in paradise. He was prepared, and he had done his part. Besides, after this, I did precisely as he said. It was an important lesson for me. I conditioned, and I distanced myself from friendships. Now, that might not be the best thing to do for everyone, but for me, it became a hassle-free lifestyle.

  The good life; that's what I called it. Stop caring, stop thinking, and just do it. That was sort of my slogan.

  I've lived this way for a long period of time, and I do not get tired of it. Do you need to know where I get my enjoyment from?

  Action!

  It's really all about the action. I really love it when the enemy appears larger and unsurpassable. I love an obstacle. I love the rush of cheating death over and over again, and I particularly crave the adrenaline that streams through my body each time I chop off the head of one of those meaningless, ugly zombies. It gives me a sense of fulfillment that I do not think I could find anywhere else.

  And after that there is another thing: I have A LOT OF money. That's right. I am pretty loaded, so when I need to choose between inns, I can afford the most elegant one. I give to beggars when I see them, I purchase fruit at the markets when I feel like it, and I change weapons and clothes when I need a different style. It's all part of the good life: The freedom to spend whatever I want, and not having to care about saving up or footing the bill. My cabin, where I live, is relatively low-cost anyway. I started living there because I didn't need a big home, and it suffices.

  The 3rd thing that thrills me in life is the perfection difficulty. I have yet to learn so many moves, it's not even funny. After having mastered the art of sword battling and different styles of martial arts, I went into archery, studied the ancient ways of butt-kicking without weapons, and became a specialist at navigating through hordes of zombies without even touching them. Everything is fascinating. Interest drives me, and I often review my battle skills after another day of "cleaning up" the streets of some taken advantage of town by those undead creeps.

  So there you have it. I love my life, and although you could say I am alone a lot, I do not get lonely. I take pleasure in the action whenever, I have enough wealth to keep me happy, and I improve my abilities and knowledge about the ancient combating arts each day.

  Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, it was, until something went extremely wrong.

  Chapter 4: Worrying Events

  It was a dawning day full of doom and anguish. It had never resembled this before. I mean, the Fargo Meadows had had their problems, but not like this, and even for me, it would be a tremendous barrier to the survival of our species: Mankind.

  I got up that day, feeling normal and ready to eat a good meal. I had several breakfast items in my cabinets, and I instantly prepared some bacon and eggs to fill my stomach. As quickly as I was done with that, I went to my little training room. But as I was practicing my moves in front of the mirror, I became aware of something that was coming for me.

  BANG!

  The door flew open. I was shocked. No after several seconds later on, zombies were all over my home. They overturned my properties and furniture. With my sword, I kept them at a substantial distance.

  " Stay back!" I screamed as I killed a few of them.

  When I glanced at my kitchen area, however, I felt really silly. I had left the stove on. It was a true miracle nothing had happened before. The gas was dripping and the zombies were running into combustible objects, making the threat something to be taken seriously.

  That's when I ran out of my cabin. I took the back door, on the other end, the emergency exit in my small training room, and rand as quick as I could. When I looked behind me ...

  Boooooooom!!!

  The remains of the structure collapsed after exploding into a thousand pieces.

  I fell onto the ground. I covered my head, making sure that no debris would fall on me. A few seconds later, I looked back.

  " My gorgeous cabin," I said. "I just hardly paid it off. Gggrrrrr ... I definitely know who is going to pay for this. Those silly zombies!"

  This was it. I had nothing to lose now. I think it was kind of my fault, but those zombies had been obstructing my way. If they hadn't come, I would have done something about the stove. But it was gone now. My cash had all been in that house. It was gone, all gone. I checked one more time to make sure, but I could not find anything valuable that hadn't been developed into ashes. I felt empty-handed, almost naked, in a metaphoric way. I was left with nothing. Where did those zombies come from? It made no sense.

  " Vengeance," I said. "It's not just business any longer. This time, it's individual."

  And that's when I chose to get to the bottom of it. I went to the closest town, only to find that there weren't many individuals left. When I asked a random pedestrian on the street what had occurred there, the answer was, "Zombies."

  So I left. I went to another town. I walked for 2 hours and found the little town undergoing the same problem. Again, I asked some lady, who walked outside, what was going on. Her response, "Zombies."

  So I went to the city. And even there, when I showed up, I saw some homes depending on ruins. Others were deserted. People were terrified. The streets were fairly empty. I wanted to know every little thing about it. I knew zombies would sometimes attack in different places, but not all surrounding towns at the exact same time, and seldom in the city. I went straight to the town hall, intending to find my answers there. When I got to the square in front of the building, the mayor was resting on the stairs that led to the main entrance.

  " Are you the mayor of this city?" I asked candidly.

  " Yes, I am. Who are you?"

  " My name is Titus. I am a zombie hunter, and it appears like your city has been raided by zombies. Am I correct?"

  " Yes. Yes, you are. Did you just say you are a zombie hunter?"

  " I did."

  " Then you are who we need, my good friend. Please, come inside, and I will clarify every little thing."

  I was still suspicious. I wanted more answers, and this r
andom figure didn't have them for me yet, so I asked, "Why were you resting on the stairs here? |Don't you have better things to do?"

  " Actually," he began, "I was sort of 'out of it.' I asked my therapists for a break. I needed some fresh air. There have been so many problems coming at us that I didn't know what to do, but I am grateful that you are here. Perhaps you can help us. But don't worry about it now. We will answer all your questions in the meeting room."

  And that's when I shut up and just followed him.

  Chapter 5: The Illness Was Dispersing

  I got in the conference room in the great city hall. It was a modest room with seats and a table, like any conference room should be. With my sword on my back and a knife in my pocket, I was definitely the last single person that stuck out amongst these classy bureaucrats.

  " Mister mayor, who is this?" one of the therapists asked.

  " This man is the solution to our problems, gentlemen," the mayor said. Then he turned to me and said, "Please, have a seat."

  I sat down and stared some of these educated individuals in the eyes. They weren't too sure about my rough look and my dusty outfit, and when they saw the huge sword on my back, I think some of them ended up being rather anxious as well.

  " Gentlemen," the mayor began, "this is Titus. He is a zombie hunter. Tell them what you do, Titus."

  " Like he said, I hunt zombies."

  " Elaborate, please."

  " Well, I stab them, I cut them to pieces, I break them in half, I pound them to piec ..."

  " Okay, we get it. We understand," the mayor said, interrupting my graphic description of the daily assault that represented my life. "Titus is the response to our issues. He will hunt down the zombies for us and make them vanish, won't you, Titus?"

  " Sure. But I do have a question: How come there are so many of them? It's not typical."

  " That's a good question," the mayor said. "Several days ago, zombies were found, but they weren't regular zombies. As you might know already, a human being can become a zombie after being bitten. But these zombies were different. All they had to do, was sneeze, and the people would become infected quickly. It was a catastrophe. The disease was spreading like wildfire. People were panicking. Whole towns were being developed into zombie towns. Men and women left their homes and fled to the city, but even here, we couldn't hold them all back. Many of us hid in our houses, and the zombies disappeared from the city, but I know they will be back. They are assaulting other surrounding towns as we speak. Something must be done."

  " And what makes you think that I can stop that? If they sneeze on me, I will develop into a zombie too. Did you consider that?"

  " We have created a vaccine. It is being offered to people at this moment. A lot of my messengers and servants are taking this remedy to all people in the nation. So at least that is being looked after. The disease will stop spreading. The remedy is being carried all over."

  " Then why do you need me? If you're already managing it, then what's my role?"

  " We are willing to pay you if you kill the zombies. Simply because we are unsusceptible to becoming a zombie, does not mean that we aren't at risk. There still is a whole army of zombies out there."

  " Makes good sense," I said.

  We talked about the payment and the regards to the agreement. Every little thing else was clear to me. This was what I was trying to find. Now I could kill these zombies to get my revenge AND to get money. Wow. What else does a man need, right?

  Chapter 6: An Interesting Fact

  As I talked some more with the mayor and one or two of his less suspicious counselors, I began to comprehend where and when all this drama with the zombies had begun.

  It was several years ago. Individual health was useless, and nobody knew about bacteria. It was only after this occurrence that people comprehended the significance of cleaning hands and other preventative measures against health problems. The result was the black Plague, a horrible illness that took the lives of many. No one knew the remedy, and in order to create a cure, lab scientists started fiddling around with chemicals. Nothing could have been worse for humanity than what they did. They injected needles, threw potions on the floor, and integrated the components of the Fargo Meadowsto develop a remedy.

  If only they knew what they would let loose by doing so ...

  The first indications were increased hostility and disturbed mental conduct. The researchers should have stopped with the experiments at that point, but the authorities kept pushing them to keep going, and they did.

  Once the infection took control of, it was too late. Zombies were a fact, and ever since, zombies have become part of life. They always assault in groups or hordes, but the hordes have never been big enough to swipe out whole towns. That's why I was always able to stand my ground and kill as lots of them as was essential without getting killed.

  Intriguing, huh? Yes, I thought so myself.

  But now, times have changed. The hordes have become larger. Their numbers have increased, and for some reason, they have revealed different conduct than before: They stick together, forming big hordes that crash through any town, any city, and any stronghold. There are tons of them, and everyone fears them.

  And then they turned to me: Their last hope. I knew not to let them down. They were going to have the best show of their lives. Bring it on, zombies!

  Chapter 7: Killing Them All

  It was early in the morning. It was the day after I met the mayor and his counselors. All of them had high expectations. The city didn't have many soldiers, and they were all too scared of the zombies. Bunch of pushovers.

  They depend on me, and on me only. This was my moment; my moment to shine or to die. Either way, with a sense of desperation, the gut feeling of a guy who lost every little thing but still wants to fight back-- that sensation-- I went and stood my ground.

  And if that wasn't bad enough, then listen to this: The whole city (or however many individuals were left in it) came to watch; lots of them. They were standing on the city walls and were cheering me on. There I was, outside the city walls, on a noticeable, giant grass field awaiting my doom. I closed my eyes and put my hands in some kind of meditation position. The hordes were coming. All of us knew it. The city walls were air tight, and everyone hoped that I would be able to stop these beasts from invading their fortified habitat. The city gates were closed, although that didn't stop the zombies last time, and the soldiers were watching with the citizens.

  When I opened my eyes, I glanced at the mayor. His eyes were big. He didn't know what to think, but when he saw the persistence in my eyes, I knew that he knew for sure that he made the right decision. It was just one of those nearly telepathic moments.

  There they were: The hordes of zombies. At first, only a few appeared on the horizon. Then lots, then hundreds, and this army of the undead grew bigger and larger. I spat out a piece of gum I was chewing. I tightened the headband around my head and I took the sword from my back and the knife from my pocket. Its shiny surface was reflected in the sun, and an impressive, remarkable moment had started. I walked forward at the crowd that was running to me. Then I increased my speed, and when I came closer, I sprinted towards them.

  " Graaaaaaaaaaaah !!!!!" I yelled. "Die, zombies! Die!"

  Tsyaack!

  My sword cut through a bunch of them, and within a tiny peek, they were all concentrated on me. I slashed, I cut, I punched, and I kicked. I threw some of them away and used others as a guard when they were fighting.

  Bang! Clash! Thud!

  The battle went on and on. I had never dealt with so many zombies at the same time. It was a brand-new turning point for me, and the chances of dying were so high that I stopped caring. Periodically, I got a fist in my face or a zombie who was trying to eat me. Throughout my kicking and shouting and slashing, I ensured that none came close enough with their teeth.

  One time, though, one of the zombies came too close. He practically bit me, and I was glad I stepped back just in time.


  " That was close," I told myself, after which I punched him in the face.

  The zombies became overwhelming. They all assaulted me at the exact same time. On a pile of dead undead bodies, I was fighting them off one by one. But I knew I would not last long. They leapt at me and piled up on me, pinning me to the ground and making me lose my sword. Between the arms, the legs, and the lifeless bodies, I frantically grabbed my blade.

  Useless.

  Too far. I had to do something.

  Then I kept in mind that I had another spare knife, hidden in the back of my boot. I had always kept that one there, just in case, and I absolutely forgot it up to this point. I wiggled my hand down and tugged at the knife.

  " Got it," I said.

  After almost choking beneath the lots of zombies on my body, I was finally able to cut through several of them and battle my way back to the surface area. I dove to my sword, got it, and dealt with the monstrous opponents again.

  " You thought you were done with me? Reconsider!" I screamed loudly.

  The zombies were decreasing in numbers. Piles of zombie lifeless bodies were joined by other falling opponents. The slaughter was incredible, the massacre immense, and the likelihood of this ever happening again was virtually absolutely no. I was like a ferocious monster. I was caught up in the most adrenaline I had ever felt in my life. I hacked and slashed and stabbed as if I had an endless flow of energy going through my veins.

  And after that it almost stopped. Just a couple of zombies were still standing. Some of them had already escape. Others were looking at me with doubts in their empty, brainless heads. 2 of them came at me, in a last effort to take me out.

  Stab! Stab!

  Bad idea on their part, as they died that immediate. The others escaped.

  " Is that all you've got?" I said, catching my breath. I wanted to yell more taunting one-liners, but I didn't have it in me.