If you had seen the house before, it wouldn't seem like anything special. It was an old house, at least eighty long years old. Sturdier then it's newer counterparts, the house stood the test of time and now rested at it's final destination. On top of a walk-in basement at the top of a hill, it overlooked a slow-sloping hill that continued for about 20 acres. At two sides land the house sat upon, there were fences which housed cattle. At the other edge of the land there was even more land, a wide field of sorts. One lonely dirt road ran between the fields and branched off to five other houses. This formed the neighborhood. It was a quiet neighborhood on a normal day. Very little driving and neighbors were not too fond of one another. They simply lived their lives.
This was not a normal day. Loud music was blasting from the house on the hill. Shouts can be heard as well as laughter.
"Brad you suck at this game." scoffed Lucas as he added another hotel, making three, on a single Monopoly square Brad had landed on just moments before.
"I still say it's illegal to have more than one." said Brad, already trying to plan his luck ahead to avoid that space.
"You two complain too much." David said while sneaking another $500 to pay rent on one of Lucas' squares. As the banker, he figured he could take out loans and he wouldn't bother himself about paying them back.
"I'll bet if we had more players they'd protest with me." Brad continued to complain.
"Too bad your party sucked so much." said David sarcastically, confident if more people were around they'd have caught him sneaking money already.
"With a budget of $0 I think I hosted a pretty good party." said Brad second-thinking David's invitation.
"It was a great party Brad, thanks again." Lucas had totally forgotten why he was here in the first place. "Bad choice of an after-party game though. I thought you promised us some Xbox 360?"
"That was to get you two to come to the party!" Brad said with a chuckle.
"Well I am 18 now." Lucas said, deep in thought, "I suppose I could test my abilities to be a criminal and steal your 360."
"I was joking anyway." Brad said, who was not intimidated.
David snuck a few more $500 bills while he pretended to stretch. "We need to call it a night guys. I'm getting tired."
Brad and Lucas simultaneously looked at their watches. "Wimp." they said in unison.
David made a face and stood up. "This is a stupid game anyway." he said dropping several dozen $500 Monopoly money.
Brad stared at the money and shook his head. It all made sense now. David turned to look out the big window overlooking Pike's Peak. It was fairly light outside, but the sun was on it's way behind the horizon. Outside David could see a lump in the ground. He didn't live at this house so he didn't notice anything odd about it...until it disappeared back into the earth.
David blinked and took a step back from the window.
"Brad...I think the earth just ate part of your land."
"What?" said Brad, a little unbelieving. He stood up and looked out the window. "Where?"
David pointed the best he could. "It's over there. Right where your dog is heading."
Bailey, the german shorthaired pointer, was making his way through the tall grass where the lump of earth had originally been. He began to circle the area sniffing wildly.
"Nice try." Brad said, "You almost had me with the dog part."
David was shocked. "Brad I'm dead serious. There was a lump there."
"You're just tired." Brad said, a part of him not believing David and another part just not wanting to believe him.
Lucas stood up now and looked out the window.
Brad knelt to continue putting away Monopoly. "Come on David. You going to worry about your imagination's tricks or are we going to do some Gears?" he asked.
"I wanted to go home before and now I really want to go home after seeing that." said David.
"Come on dude it couldn't have been that scary." said Lucas, scanning the property of any unnatural looking things. "I'm a pro at spotting signs for bad things. Trust me on this." Lucas looked around a little more. He had seen lots of movies about scary things, monsters, bugs, zombies, you name it. He enjoyed watching it in films but he never believed any of it to be real.
"I don't see anything." he said. "You're just being paranoid David."
"Some friends you two are." David said, he face showing he was not happy anymore. "I know what I saw and it wasn't my imagination. How do you explain your stupid dog investigating?"
"Ain't my dog." said Lucas with a grin, "Therefore I can continue to not believe you."
"I don't know." Brad admitted, "Maybe he's digging for gophers and you used him as an excuse to try and trick me."
"When I come back tomorrow and find you slaughtered I won't be surprised." David said, anger clearly in his voice.
"Hey man we believe you...." Brad started, "...'ll be on our side when you wake up tomorrow with a working brain!"
Lucas high-fived Brad and they both began to laugh.
David made another face. "Screw you both. I'm outta here."
"Aw come on man you know we're only joking." Lucas said while trying his best to hide a grin.
Brad placed the cover on Monopoly. "I swear every time I pack this up I lose more and money fake money." Brad started for the window to take a look out once again. "I still don't see anything David." Brad said.
Bailey continued circling a certain patch of ground, sniffing and whining every once in a while.
"What the heck does he think he's doing?" Brad asked, fearing David may be right in what he saw.
"You tell me." replied David.
"I think he's just dumb." Lucas commented.
"He usually is." Brad said. "Goodnight David. Come on Lucas, lets go-"
Brad's thoughts were interrupted as the ground raised up again. Just a small patch about one foot high. Bailey began to bark as something reached out and grabbed his front leg. He squealed and tried to run before being pulled into the mound of dirt.
"Holy ****!!" exclaimed Lucas. All three of them stepped away from the window.
Muffled squealing could be heard as the three tried to get over the shock of what had just happened.
Without saying a word, Brad took off down the stairs, through the walk-in basement and outside.
I'm having some plot issues with this, but they're being worked on and hopefully soon fixed. While a little on the short side, I bring you...CHAPTER 2. =O
Chapter 2
Brad was heading towards the atv parked a mere 15 feet from the house.
"Get away from my dog!" he shouted as he mounted the quad. He pressed the auto-start, only to hear it sputter. He cursed himself for not remembering the auto-start battery was dead. With a huff, he climbed off and pulled the starter cord. Once, twice, third time was a charm.
Brad grabbed the knob and shoved it into forward.
"Wait!" yelled Lucas, running up to the atv. "If you're going to beat someone up I want to be your second."
Brad said nothing, but instead twisted the handle on the machine to it's maximum. The tires spun in the dirt before catching on some plants, sending the quad rocketing downhill. Lucas had no time to find anything to hold onto before Brad started driving. He fell backwards, swinging his arms wildly trying to find something to grab onto, his hand found the neck of Brad's green sweatshirt. For a moment, Brad opened his eyes wide. His air supply had been cut short, but was soon restored as Lucas pulled himself to an upright position.
Lucas peered over Brad's shoulder, it was hard to see much with the icy wind blowing in his eyes, but he could still make out the lump of ground appearing again. Brad's speed slowed as he watched the ground, it was only 30 feet away now and he didn't want to drive directly into danger. A dark figure started to rise out of the hole, Bailey's white fur clearly visible. Bailey wasn't moving and from Brad and Lucas' distance, blood streaks could be seen.
Brad slowed to a stop. For a moment nobody moved. Blue eyes began to glow on the figure as Brad and Lucas sat amazed. The unsteady idle of the atv brought Brad out of his trance.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Brad shouted.
Not even a blink from the shadowy figure. Brad shifted the atv into neutral and revved the engine, creating a loud torrent of hoarse sound. He waited for a moment, testing the patience of the figure. Brad shifted back into drive, and continued at a slow pace, directly towards whatever was in the ground. The creature ducked back as the patch of earth struggled to fill it's spot again.
Suddenly, the creature reappeared, pushing the earth up and tossing Bailey a short distance away. Placing it's hands on the ground, it began to climb out of the hole.
"UUuuuuuuuuuaaaaaag!" it shouted, it's voice gurgling from who knows what. Whatever it said was followed by a high-pitched screech.
Brad and Lucas flinched, the scream was enough to make one cover their ears. It echoed through the hills before finally disappearing. Shortly after it screamed, Lucas jumped into action.
"Hit it!" he told Brad.
Instinctively, Brad obeyed the command and twisted the throttle again. Lucas used the momentum of the quad to silently slip off the rear. He wasn't about to suicide. Brad leaned close to the quad, preparing for impact. The creature stood up moments before Brad smashed into it. The face of the creature shot up near Brad's own. Brad went into panic mode as he saw it's features. The face was down on it's chest, back bones coming out of the shoulders. It opened it's mouth and screamed, one tooth on it's bottom jaw, both fangs on the top. The teeth were yellowed except for fresh blood markings on them. There was no tongue, but instead small teeth where a tongue would be placed. It's glowing blue eyes dimmed upon impact, but soon glowed bright once it neared Brad's face.
Brad screamed and hit both brakes at once, sending him over the handlebars and just out of reach of the creature, which was impaled on the bumper of the atv. With Brad's hand and foot off the brake, the atv continued rolling. The wheels sinking into the soft legs of the creature, crushing them with it's weight and twisting them around the wheels, finally stopping the atv inches from Brad's own feet. Brad, who was laying on his stomach, spun to his back wide-eyed. The odd creature spun around entirely, the sound of breaking bones and gushing fluids were heard. Brad scooted backwards on his rear a small distance, trying to get further away. The creature fell off the bumper and tried to crawl it's upper half towards Brad, but it was still connected at the legs which were stuck in the atv.
Brad's eyes went wide again and he scooted away further, finally falling into the hole the creature had arisen from. This freaked out Brad even more and he scrambled to get out of the four foot deep hole.
"What is that?" Brad asked Lucas.
Lucas was already standing near the creature, examining it.
"Is it a zombie?"
Lucas shook his head. "Zombies don't exist."
Brad suddenly remembered Bailey. Dashing over to his fallen form, it was easy to see he wasn't moving, or breathing. There was a puncture wound in his head, while the right side of his ribcage was entirely gone, showing what was left of his ribs. Brad couldn't stand to be too close and he already knew he was dead.
"Brad?"
"What?" asked Brad, temporarily distracted.
"I think it IS a zombie." Lucas continued on by pointing out several zombie traits. Aside from the fact no normal creature tries to eat things while moving around half-rotted.
"We need to tell somebody." said Brad.
"Should I be cliche and say the police won't listen?" asked Lucas.
"Don't kill it." said Brad, "I'm going to call the police and try to...fax a picture or something if they won't respond. Or maybe I'll say someone murdered my dog and I have them captive."
"Lie." said Lucas, "Tell them it's something else and they'll be here. Then you can explain it while they're baffled! Maybe they'll want to buy the zombie and we can get rich quick."
"Get real Lucas." said Brad, "Who would want to buy a zombie? We should pay them to get rid of this thing. Keep an eye on it, I'm going for a phone." Brad started up the hill and Lucas made himself comfortable on the atv.
"I could curb-stomp you right now if I wanted." Lucas told it. The zombie spun around, making more bone-crunching sounds and some liquids came out of it's exposed abdomen. It reached for Lucas but was far too weak to rip it's own legs off.
"Yep. I should make a reality TV show starring you. We could watch you fail at stuff. Like skydiving, swimming or catching an olympic sprinter. I could call it 'Fail Ed'. You'd have to get your legs working again though, or it'd be pretty boring watching you crawl everywhere."
Lucas picked a rock off the atv's footrests and flicked it into the zombies face. It stuck to it's forehead, but only for a moment before sliding down and getting lost inside it's exposed stomach.
"You're actually going to eat that?"
Chapter 3! Forever in the making, several minutes in the enjoyment.
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Lucas continued to mock the zombie, who never tired of trying to rip it's torso from it's legs.
"I wish you'd stop doing that." Lucas told it. "You make me want to help tear you to shreds." Lucas started to hum 'Carry On My Wayward Son' before quietly singing. He closed his eyes in tune with the song. A rustling could be heard and he opened his eyes.
He scanned around the atv. The zombie was still there and thrashing and no other moving thing could be seen. It was then that Lucas noticed that there was no wind, yet on the other side of the road, the neighbor's yards were blowing in the breeze.
"That's odd." Lucas said to himself. Something in the grass moved again, Lucas could hear the distinct sound. He scanned the area again. Nothing had moved. That's when he noticed Bailey still laying in the grass. Had he moved? Lucas wasn't sure.
Bailey twitched, his now glowing blue eyes staring at Lucas. A moment passed, then his eyes shut.
"OH SHOOT." yelled Lucas, jumping off the atv. He ran over to Bailey and began to kick at his face. Glancing at the house, he hoped Brad would be coming back. He needed a weapon badly.
"Brad!" he shouted, before looking down to focus on Bailey again. Bailey's eyes were open again, this only made Lucas more aggressive as he tried to separate Bailey's head from his shoulders. As a fresh zombie dog, however, Bailey's flesh had no time to rot and he was as tough as he'd been when he died.
"BRAD!" Lucas shouted again. He looked up at the house and saw Brad gazing out the big window, he saw Lucas and he was still on the phone, but he knew something was wrong.
Bailey suddenly growled a bloody growl, blood squirting through his teeth and painting the ground in front of him. He bit at Lucas's leg, missing only by inches. Lucas jumped away and leapt onto the seat of the atv. Bailey was on his feet, his claws sinking into the ground as he gained his balance. His eyes glowed even brighter and he sprinted towards Lucas.
Before Lucas could react, Bailey was at the atv. Lucas kicked him in the face again, blood began to stream from Bailey's nose as he chomped onto Lucas's shoe. Lucas yanked his foot back, but Bailey had such a good hold on the shoe that he ripped it right off. Lucas grabbed onto the handlebars of the atv and twisted the throttle as far as it would go. The back wheels began to spin, dragging the zombie along the ground. The shoe was stuck in Bailey's teeth, but he jumped onto the atv, the shoe being the only thing preventing a bite out of Lucas' back.
Lucas elbowed Bailey off the atv before pressing the button for four wheel drive. Shortly after, the zombie began to get shredded in the atv tires as Lucas sped up the hill towards the house, Bailey hot on his tail. As the zombies head was crushed beneath the tire, one of his glowing eyeballs flew into the air and landed in Lucas's shirt pocket. Lucas was concentrating too much to notice.
It wasn't more than ten seconds before Lucas was at the house, he jumped off the moving atv before rolling to his feet in front of the single metal door that pointed to the mountains. He swung the door open and stepped inside. He gave the door a good shove, but it didn't close, it instead crushed Bailey's snout in the door, snapping it off entirely. Lucas jumped as the snout fell inside near his leg, but at least the door was closed. What was left of Bailey's nose began to sniff around, while his bottom jaw twitched on the green rug. Lucas stomped on the nose several times until it was ground into the rug. He then grabbed a concrete block that was holding up a bike and dropped it on the bottom jaw, crushing it in the process.
He was about to wipe his brow when he realized that when people do that, something else happens. He looked out the small window in the door. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but he knew Bailey was out there somewhere. He suddenly saw the blood-red snout of Bailey in his face, the broken bones from his snout rudely protruding out and scraping the glass. Lucas could see down Bailey's throat, where a green liquid was collecting. Lucas jumped back from the window, startled, not to mention thankful the window hadn't broke. The green substance sprayed against the window and began to turn yellow.
"Not acid!" Lucas thought. To his surprise, it stuck only for a moment before dribbling off the window.
"Brad get your lazy butt down here!" he shouted. Brad followed just moments later.
"What the heck?! The police are on their way! Why are you up here?!" Brad demanded.
"Your zombie dog wanted a bite out of my life that's why!"
Brad's eyes widened as he walked to the window, stepping in the snout remains he looked down. "Oh gross what is that?"
Lucas grabbed Brad and yanked him away from the window. "First of all, stay away from the window. If it breaks we're screwed. And second, that would be the remains of a so-called 'Bailey's' snout."
Brad made a face and tried to wipe the blood off his shoe and onto the carpet. "We're in a deep pile of muck dude. Zombies! Who would believe that?"
"Right about now? We all should."
"That's okay." said Brad trying to calm down, "The police are on their way. They can blow them up or something."
It was then Brad and Lucas both turned towards the window, the crushed head, shoulders and left arm of the zombie were crawling on the window. His mouth was forced open and his eye was hanging on by a vessel, but still glowing. At that time, Bailey jumped up, trying to get in the door. He crushed the eye hanging from the zombie, but it stayed firmly on the door.
Lucas jumped as he felt something moving in his pocket.
"Oh shoot it's an eye!" he batted the eye out of his pocket and it fell on the floor. Brad promptly smashed the eye under his shoe and grinded it into the concrete. Brad and Lucas turned their attention to the zombie as it stopped moving and fell off the door, leaving a shrill cry in it's wake.
"What the hell?" Lucas wondered aloud. "Brad I think if we destroy the eyes the zombies can be killed!"
Brad simply looked at Lucas, expecting a more thorough explanation.
Lucas sighed. "I don't know HOW it works, but that zombie died after it's last eye was destroyed....we should try to get Bailey's eyes..."
"OR." Brad interrupted, "We should keep the door shut and wait for the police."
"Brad you can't count of the police. They don't know how to handle a zombie any better than we do. But we know the trick now! Come on I've watched movies, I know how to handle a zombie dog."
Brad knew Lucas knew what he was doing, but he didn't want to take any risks.
"Wait for the police." Brad said. Lucas looked about ready to argue again. "My house my rules!" Brad stated.
Lucas made a face. "So you own the house title then? Your name is on it?"
"You know what I mean." Brad told him.
"I want the chance to impress!" Lucas told him. "I can handle this and you know it, so why hold me back?"
"Paranoia." Brad said. "If the police can't handle the dog, I'll let you do it. Deal?"
Lucas studied Brad's face for a moment, trying to see if he was telling the truth. "Deal."
Here we are, chapter four. Thanks for all your motivation guys!
Officer Curtis was tapping on his steering wheel. "Don't Jump" had just begun to play and he was almost at the house.
"This is a boring place." he thought to himself, slowing down so the song could last longer and so he could survey the area for signs of a robbery.
He checked his GPS, some Brad kid had given him this exact location. He accelerated up the driveway, these teens could be in real trouble. Curtis was new to the force, he had only completed his training four months ago. He had already been shot once, right through the torso, but it was more of a learning experience than a painful one. He was ahead of his class in marksmanship, usually a quick-draw at 20 feet would net him a shot wherever he liked. Preferably in the legs so the crook could be overtaken and not killed. He knew a lot about fighting styles and more than once took down a thug in under twenty seconds.
That's when he spotted the three teens waving in the window. He thought they were only showing him they were okay, but that's when he say the demon dog headed at his car. He swerved away, putting on the brakes. At that distance he couldn't tell Bailey was no longer the family pet. He put his hand on the door handle, he couldn't wait on some stupid dog before he parked and helped with the robbery. He was about to open it, but the sudden force of Bailey's skull against the windshield kept him at bay. There was a large smashed in portion of the windshield. Curtis raised an eyebrow as he watched Bailey growl while trying to bite into the glass with what was left of his snout. Blood was smeared all over as Bailey grew increasingly aggressive. Curtis grabbed his baton and his pistol. He had to get out, it was his duty.
"MOO." could be heard in the distance. It was one of the neighbor's cows. Bailey's ears perked up and he suddenly darted towards the direction of the cow. Curtis jumped out of his squad car and rushed to the front doors. They were locked.
Curtis made a face as he pulled his pistol and kept it aimed in Bailey's direction. At the same time, he knocked on the door with his baton. The door opened quickly and Curtis was grabbed in the arm. Brad tryed to yank him inside but he was trained to keep good footing, Brad simply fell backwards.
"What are you a statue? GET IN HERE." Brad shouted.
Curtis, seeing no threat, stepped inside and quickly closed the door. "Is the imposter still in the area?" he asked Brad.
"Officer, that was a lie."
Curtis sighed and pulled out a notepad. "You kinds of people waste so much time..."
"We DO have a problem." Brad explained. "I only lied because you wouldn't believe me."
Curtis was in an understanding mood, he had seen the dog out there. "You could have called animal control."
"You don't understand!" Lucas interrupted, suddenly showing himself.
"Zombies!" shouted David, who was atop some shelves in the room.
"That's a zombie dog...Currrrrtis." Lucas said, reading his nametag. "Come here."
Curtis lowered his notepad and followed Lucas. Lucas went to the other door, where the zombie had been disabled.
He simply pointed. Curtis looked at the remains. "How do I know that was alive and moving?"
There was an odd silence and the outdoors were coated in darkness, making it near impossible to see inside the house.
"Whoa." said Curtis. He could clearly see the sun, but it's rays never touched anything on the property. "I need to escort you all out of here."
He went back to the double doors he entered. It was only a hallway's length away. Brad was turning on some lights and David was crawling down from the shelves. Curtis pulled back the blue curtains on one of the doors, looking to see the status of his squad car. As soon as he opened the curtain, he jumped back from the door, pistol raised.
"Oh...boys we're in some serious trouble." Curtis remarked, looking around the house to find a way to barricade the doors.
David's scared eyes looked at the door as Brad snuck up to it, trying to stay hidden behind the curtains.
"You're dead." Lucas said. "You never look out, ever...not up close anyway."
Brad ignored him and instead pulled back the curtain. The hair on his neck stood up and he suddenly got goosebumps all around his body. Staring back at him, face pressed to the window, was a white and black cow. It's blue eyes glowing fiercely in the dark. It was chewing it's cud, each time blood would exit both sides of it's mouth, running down the window and painting the ground. There was a clash of lightning that made Brad blink. When he looked, the cow was gone.
He closed the curtain and made sure the door was locked. David was staring at the door, mouth wide open and a horrified expression on his face.
"Time for lockdown." Lucas ordered. "We need the D and W's L and B'd."
Curtis, David and Brad gave him odd looks.
"No time for stupid looks!" Lucas told them. "You guys don't know zombie slang? Doors and windows, locked and blocked. The phrase 'Damn Weapons Leveled Brad" seems to help inexperienced zombie fighters remember what to do."
It didn't take any more than that before they all left Cajun standing in the room. "Rule #2." he sighed, "Never spread out, makes you easy zombie bait."
________________________________________
"Doors?" asked Curtis.
"Locked and blocked." reported Brad.
"Windows?" he asked again.
"Locked and blocked, the pro-style." reported Lucas.
"Demon cow sightings?"
"No detected movement." David chimed in.
"That only took about four hours." Lucas commented. "You guys are lucky we're dealing with amateur zombies."
"We've got a cow and a dog." Brad said. "These aren't humans."
"Doesn't matter." Lucas informed, "Zombies share the same brainpower. Human started the chain, dog was underdeveloped, cow is probably working with it's body to find the best attack solution."
"What about phone reception?" David asked.
"I can try again." Curtis said, as he called 911 and received not even a dial tone.
"Nothing." said Lucas, "You won't get anything either. We're in a darkened state of the curse, no reception, no escape. We're lucky we have power."
"You have a plan?" Curtis asked Lucas, who seemed to know what he was talking about.
"The curse usually goes away at daybreak. It'll start early the next day though, probably around 5PM. It'll only get earlier until we can get out of here. If we stay, it'll be night permanently probably in a week."
"Seven chances." Brad muttered.
"If I were you I'd pray your squad car is in one piece tomorrow." Lucas told Curtis. "It's dangerous out there, weird things happen when under the curse's darkness."
The horn of the squad car began to honk, first for only a second, then it stopped, before blaring a few seconds longer and stopping.
Curtis clenched his fist. He wanted to badly stop whatever was out there but was powerless at the moment.
The four men were sitting upstairs, the only window they hadn't blocked was the big one, which was 14 feet above the ground and provided a great view of the property. It was pitch black outside, except for the occasional pair of eyes that could be seen.
"Since we only see one pair of eyes at a time..." David started, "Would that mean there's possibly only one thing out there?"
Lucas pondered for a bit. "Anything is possible. But it's not likely."
They all heard a 'Moo'. Except instead of ending, afterward, a scream echoed, changing pitches and continuing for an entire minute.
"Wow." Brad commented.
Behind them, a vase shattered and fell, the roses inside it were dead. It was at that time the light above them went out. Followed shortly by the rest of the lights upstairs. Downstairs, the lights were on only a moment longer before they too shut off.
There was a cold draft flowing into the room, somewhere a door was open.
"Something is in here." Lucas said, powering up his flashlight. The others powered up their flashlights. David had a crank-powered one, Brad had a small one that ran on AAs, while Curtis had both his heavy duty standard flashlight and one for his pistol, which he had attached. The stairs leading up into the living room were the first things the flashlights lit up. Leading out of the living room was the door to the two-story deck, and a doorway leading to the kitchen.
"Barricade." commanded Lucas. "We don't retreat yet."
Reluctantly, Brad and Curtis approached a large loveseat near the top of the stairs. It was rather heavy, so it required both of them to shove it against the top of the stairs. Looking down the stairs with their flashlights, Brad and Curtis saw blood at the bottom of the stairs, blood and...footprints.
"It's not just a cow." Curtis reported as he and Brad backed away and joined Lucas and David in moving the couch to block the path to the kitchen. Prior to this moment, they had installed a door in the kitchen doorway. It was a crude door, but crude is better than nothing. Moving the couch into the kitchen, Lucas closed and locked the door. Brad, Curtis and David then pushed the large couch up against the door, which opened inward.
"We sleep here." Lucas said. "Alternating shifts of course."
Brad grabbed blankets from the hallway just through the kitchen and brought them back.
"I'll take the first shift." Curtis explained. "I get the nightshift at work all the time, including today."
"Fair enough." Lucas said. "Get sleep everyone, you will not be excused your shift tonight. Sleep well and don't forget to tip your waitresses."
__________________________________________
"Brad."
Brad did not respond.
"Brad!"
Brad jumped awake. "What?"
"It's your turn." Curtis told him.
"My turn for what?"
Brad's heart sunk as he heard the next words.
"Zombie watch."
He had dreamed it was a dream. Even when Curtis woke him up he believed to be waking up in a normal world.
"Fine Curtis."
Curtis took Brad's spot on the couch. It wasn't easy to sleep sitting up, but it was more comfortable than the floor.
Brad sat awake for what seemed like hours. He checked his watch, 2:20 AM. He was so tired he layed down and the tile floor, his ear acting almost like a suction cup. He heard a low growl, probably from downstairs. Sounds traveled easily in the house. Then he heard a creak. Was it the stairs? Or was something simply making noise downstairs? In the living room? Another creak. It was definitely the stairs. Brad's eyes widened and he shot up off the floor. It's okay, they had it barricaded. He had nothing to worry about.
Brad nervously clicked on his flashlight. The door was blocked by the couch, which housed Curtis on one side, David in the middle and Lucas on the other. Brad heard more creaking. Those filthy creatures were on the stairs.
Lucas bolted upright, scaring the crap out of Brad. "The stairs." he said with wide eyes. "How could I be so stupid? You're always supposed to knock out the stairs!"
I am sorry this is going SO SLOW. Here is part of a chapter to let you all know I haven't completely abandoned this. Terribly sorry, with my school I don't have much time on compy without actually doing it....so...yeah. Well try to enjoy. =\ xD
Chapter 5 Part 1
Lucas jumped up from the couch and pressed his ear to the door, before quickly pulling it away, remembering a few moments from his late night horror shows.
"Nuh-uh. Everyone stay away from the door." he said as he ensured the couch was firmly against the door. He instructed Curtis to find his flashlight with his own flashlight.
"Find mine while you're at it." Brad asked.
"Okay everyone shut up." Lucas said, his voice turning to a whisper. "Whatever is there knows we're in here, but it doesn't need to know we're in here."
Curtis looked at Lucas. "That doesn't make any sense." he whispered.
Lucas mouthed the words "Shut up" and put his finger to his lips.
"I can't take this anymore!" David suddenly screamed, running to the opposite end of the kitchen. "I'd rather be dead than sit here in this nightmare!"
"That can be arranged." Lucas said, clearly disappointed.
There was a sudden groan on the other side of the door, stopping all conversation.
Three flashlights trained on the door, making David uneasy as the light was no longer on him. A small red dot appeared on the door.
"Is that getting bigger or am I just tired?" Brad asked.
"If it can be worse, it will get worse." Lucas said. "For those of you who cannot put 2 and 2 together, it's going to get worse."
The red dot grew slightly larger. It was only a moment later when the sound of wood cracking was heard.
Lucas took a step back. "Be prepared for hallway retreat. Brad, David, you two get something to block the doorway leading into the hall. If we need to retreat, we'll need something to block it."
"There um..." Brad started. "There's already a door there."
Lucas said nothing, instead he was busy concentrating on the red mark on and the noise. He jumped back when a white tip shot out of the red dot, now making a small hole in the door. Blood flowed out the hole for a moment, staining the couch.
"There always needs to be blood." Curtis remarked calmly.
"What could fit through there?" Brad asked.
"There is something." Lucas said. "I know it. Either that or that's the start to weaken the door."
"It's just wood!" David started, "We were screwed from the start!"
"Shut up." Lucas told him.
"Hey look!" Curtis said, directing everyone's attention to the hole. Crawling out was what appeared to be a mosquito. It was a silver-blue color and it reflected off the flashlight's illumination.
"Is that what I think it is?" Brad asked.
WHACK. Brad jumped back, Lucas had taken off his shoe and smashed the bug into the door.
"Zombie mosquitoes." Lucas said. "Cliche."
It finally hit Brad what they were dealing with. Zombie mosquitoes could get them fairly easily and his house was far from airtight. "What do you mean cliche?! I've never heard of zombie mosquitoes!"
Lucas was too busy smashing towels, utensils and anything else that would stop a mosquito into the hole. "Don't worry guys, I'll just do everything."
Brad was standing with his flashlight pointed at the floor and David was cowering in a corner. Curtis at least was holding his light for Lucas. "Guys." Lucas said, "Go get more clothes on. Sweatshirts, jackets. Anything leather is good, plastic is great and a suit of armor may be appropriate."
A tapping could be heard on the kitchen window. Shining his flashlight in the direction, Curtis saw several more mosquitoes piling up against the glass. They were far too weak to break the glass, but with their increasing numbers, it was easy to be worried about their presence.
Chapter 5 Part Two
The group focused on the mosquitoes gathered on the window for only a moment, the kitchen door began to groan. Flashlights were trained back on the hole as it was the only way of getting a hint as to what was behind the door. A drop of blood slid through the hole and dropped onto the couch. It was soon followed by more drops in increasing speed. It wasn’t long before there was a steady stream of blood running down the door.
“That’s it.” Lucas said, “Everyone retreat to the hallway.”
The hallway was fairly small, but it branched off into five rooms, the bathroom, three bedrooms and a closet. David was first into the hallway, followed by Brad and Curtis. Lucas stood by the hallway door, ready to shut it at any second. The blood leaking through the hole in the door stopped for just a moment. Suddenly, the entire door began to turn read, small beads of blood formed on the inside of the door and began to fall to the floor. Blood began to shoot out of the tiny hole in the door so quickly that it was able to reach the other side of the kitchen, a good eleven feet away. Lucas slammed the hallway door and backed away from it, giving Brad, Curtis and David plenty of room to stack furniture from the rooms in front of the door. They trailed the furniture across the small hallway so that the wall braced the furniture, making it near impossible to move from the other side of the door.
The group closed in near each other, all eyes focused on the hallway door. Blood began leaking under the door and pooling at their feet, the hallway was becoming very slippery.
“This is gross.” Brad commented.
Lucas shushed him with a finger to the lips, apparently noise was not on their side. Blood began leaking into the hallway faster and faster, pooling into the other rooms and starting to rise on the floor. Curtis climbed atop a dresser used to block the door in an attempt to avoid the blood. A couple minutes passed, the blood continued to rise into the rooms, it was now just covering the tops of Brad’s shoes. He lifted one foot out of the blood in disgust. His socks had absorbed a lot of blood and were not completely red, coating his ankles and his feet in the thick solution. Lucas and David were having the same sock issues, David started for the dresser that Curtis was contently sitting on. He motioned for him to move. Curtis lifted himself with his arms and set himself down on the other side of the dresser, leaving room for David.
David nodded his head as thanks, but before he could climb up, he was stopped by a light. It shone under the door, quite bright against the contrast of the crimson blood. He stared at it for a moment before the whole hallway was engulfed in a bright flash. Much like a flashbang, the group was left blinking and trying to get their vision back. David tried to take a step, but his feet were firmly planted. He leaned forward, as if to fall, but his shoes kept him neatly upright.
Brad and Lucas had the same realization at the same time, both tired to get their feet out of the now solid blood, no luck. Brad shrugged with panic-stricken eyes to Lucas. Lucas deliberately avoided eye contact, he wasn’t sure what was going on. The blood that was soaked into their socks and shoes now acted like cement, keeping their feet molded to their stuck shoes. Curtis’ feet were also welded into his shoes, acting like a durable pair of boots instead of feet and ankles. He slid off the dresser onto the hardened blood. Testing his footing, he grasped David and tried to pull him out of the blood. He didn’t budge.
A gurgling hiss was heard from beyond the door, Brad shined his flashlight on the door. It was turning red just like the kitchen door had before the blood started to rush in! Curtis grabbed a chair and slammed it over the dresser, breaking two of the legs off. He smashed it again, breaking another. A third blow knocked off the last leg and shattered the seat of the chair. He passed out the chair legs to Brad, David and Lucas. He grabbed his standard-issue baton in one hand and a chair leg in the other. Using these, he began to scrap off chunks of blood from around David’s feet. It was very clear it wasn’t going to be an easy effort to dig them out.
Blood began to soak through the door now, dripping onto the floor and soon becoming a constant stream. The liquid blood over the solid blood only made for difficult working conditions. The group’s tools now did more sliding than digging. Curtis began to fear another light, solidifying another layer of the blood. He began to frantically beat away at the blood, splashing the liquid blood onto his face and clothes. Finally! David had one foot out. He began to beat at the blood holding his other foot captive. Curtis began to beat the blood on David’s other foot as well, their combined efforts freed his foot quickly.
Meanwhile, Lucas had grabbed a set of shelves that were now molded to the floor. Pulling with his arms, he had managed to do a lot of twisting and almost free one foot. David and Curtis chose Lucas over Brad and dug out his foot instantly. Just as they started on his second, the door began to creak with great intensity. A large crack formed in the middle of the door, soon running up the door vertically until the door snapped in two. A very large bureau in front of the door, now molded to the floor, held the door’s pieces firmly. Blood began to rush out of the crack, quickly adding another half inch of blood to the hallway and surrounding rooms. In his haste, David dropped his flashlight into the blood. Frantically he pawed through the blood but he never grasped anything.
Brad had given up on digging himself out. He had no furniture to grab and wasn’t strong enough to beat the blood away himself. He kept his flashlight on the destroyed door. The bureau was doing a fair job of keeping intruders out, but a hand soon appeared at the top of the door, reaching through the crack, it clawed at the top of the bureau. The long fingernails on the humanlike hand were bending under the strain. Large wood chips came off at a steady rate before the hand retreated. The blood was now past Brad’s ankles. He was trying his best not to panic.
Lucas was free! David, Curtis and Lucas gathered around Brad’s feet, frantically digging. Lit only by Curtis’s light, the team made slow work. “Come on guys.” Brad encouraged, only succeeding in making the moment even more tense. A large cracking noise could be heard as the bureau split in two, blood rushed into the room, making it four inches deeper the instant it entered. A zombie figure came through the door and bureau, riding on the blood. Brad tried to step backwards, he didn’t even have one foot free. The zombie figure got to it’s feet in an instant. It was much like the zombie that had attacked Bailey earlier. It’s blue eyes were glowing, even in the glow of the flashlight. It offered a small smile at Brad, right before it raised both arms and lunged at him.
Brad ducked, covering his face and wincing, the zombie overshot and tripped over Brad, falling into the pool of blood. It was quick to it’s feet again, this time Brad couldn’t see it. Curtis, Lucas and David were already aware of the danger Brad had failed to alert them of. Curtis grabbed his baton with both hands, towering it over his own head, he waited a moment before swinging. At the zombie stretched it’s arms towards Brad’s back, Curtis swung savagely, the baton struck one arm, knocking it off entirely. Curtis’ arms collided with the other arm, sending the zombie toppling to the floor. Lucas began to smash the zombie’s skull into the floor with the chair legs. It wasn’t long before the zombie’s eyes were floating in the blood, it’s body still yearning for flesh. Lucas swung one of the chair legs at one eye, sending it into the wall and splattering into a goo. Lucas snatched up the other eye in his hand and crushed it, sprinkling the remains on the lifeless zombie.
Brad had one foot free now, Curtis and David were working at a fast pace. Lucas turned on his own flashlight and looked through the hallway entrance into the kitchen. The barricaded kitchen door was nowhere to be seen, neither was the couch. He shined his light in the other direction, revealing four other zombies, much like the one that had just attacked them.
He suddenly trained his light on a motion under the blood. Was it a snake? A slithery white creature poked it’s head through the blood, staring at Lucas for only a moment, it’s eye began to glow white, growing with every passing moment.
“Get out of the blood!” Lucas shouted, jumping onto a bunkbed. David retreated from Brad’s foot immediately, climbing up with Lucas. Curtis hesitated for a moment, beating away one last chunk of blood from Brad’s foot. He gave Brad a sorry look as he too backed away, climbing on the bunk.
“You guys can’t…” Brad started, but he was interrupted by a bright light. He covered his eyes and held his free leg as high as possible.
Admin
Tue Jan 19, 2010 2:31 am
I also am very pleased to see the last thing you said, about the way I've been describing stuff. I have been thinking and trying very hard to give good descriptions so that is GREAT to hear. 
