So I started to write a story.. not the first time I have begun to write a story.. I really love to read.. and I feel like I have a lot of creative ideas.. (then again Michael Scott thought he was creative and we all saw the reality there.. so.. maybe I am not creative lol).. Below you will find the beginnings of a book I wrote.. one day when I was bored.. maybe I will revisit it again some day.. maybe it will just face the eternal void as is.. time will tell I reckon..
Chapter One ~ Andy
As he sat in the window staring off into the distance he wondered how things got to this point. This time last year he had a wife, a family, a job, people who died stayed dead. Now, he sighed to himself, now it’s just chaos. Growing up he had seen all the movies, played all the video games. The zombie genre was a form of entertainment, frankly his favorite form of entertainment. Now, having seen it happen in front of him. Having had to pike his wife to save his son. Now, zombies were no longer fun, they were no longer entertainment, a mere work of fiction. Now zombies were a not so pleasant reality in his everyday life. Drew never thought he would long for the days of making grocery lists, or stressing about making deadlines at work, yet here he was gazing at the sunset thinking fondly of the “stresses” of life before it all happened, before the outbreak.
December 31st, 1999 “the world was going to end”. There was endless panic over Y2K. The computers were not built to accept 00 as a date and “everything was going to fall apart, society as we knew it would end”. Drew had read all about it in history class, and growing up in the 22nd century it was laughable. So when the prophecy was made, that December 31st, 2099 the world was going to end, no one took it seriously. Even when Drew started hearing stories about the attacks he still questioned the validity. It had to be some type of joke, some teenagers being funny, not knowing when enough was enough. Again, it was laughable right up till the moment his wife tried to take a chunk out of his son.
“I guess I better stop daydreaming and go check my traps, I’d hate for some stencher to stumble across my catch and ruin it” Drew mumbled to himself as he stood up. As Drew walked across the meadow toward his snares he made sure he kept one hand on his scythe. The last thing you want is to be caught off guard by a stench.
SNAP!!!
To his left Drew heard a twig break and immediately hit the deck, hidden beneath the growth of the meadow Drew attempted to slow his racing heart, thankfully he was so paralized by the snap that he did not utter a sound. He knew first hand what happens if a whole mess of stenches get wind of you. Seemingly hours tick by in the seconds Drew slows his heart and regains his breath. What do I do Drew thinks, what do I do? Do I just lie here and pray whatever made that noise passes by, or do I dare sneak a peek?
Hey moron, his brain hollers, use your nose, do you smell anything? No? Then clearly whatever snapped that twig is not a stench, you would smell them a mile away. It was probably just an animal, get up and quit being a coward.
Need I remind you brain, if it is a stencher you’ll be the first to go Drew chuckles to himself. Cautiously, Drew rises to his knees and looks over the growth in front of him. Behind the massive oak tree he catches a glimmer of pink.
“Hello” Drew loudly whispers, “is someone there?” “My name is Drew, I realize how scary and crazy it is out here, but if you can hear me we really should work together to try to survive.”
Should I respond to him, or just hope he goes away Andy thinks to herself.
“I am coming over there, I would say I am unarmed, but, is anyone unarmed these days”, Drew laughs. “ I will say I mean you no harm, there are too many of them and not enough of us for us to be hurting one another”.
Ohmygoodness!!!! OHMYGOODNESS!!! He is coming over here. I am so stupid I can NOT believe I stepped on that stick. Ok, breath Andy, just breath, he is not wrong. An ally in this world is always a good thing. “My name is Andy, I am coming out.” “Do you have any food, I am starving?”
“I was out here checking my snares when I heard you, let’s see what I got. There is one over there, by the elm and one over there about 15 feet before the creek. You want to check one and I will check the other?”
“Sure, I will take the creekside if that is ok.” He seems nice Andy thinks as she walks toward the snare.
Man I hope there is at least one rabbit Drew thinks as he walks toward his snare.
“Anything there?” Drew asks as he sees his snare is empty
“Nope”, sighs Andy
“Well I do have a little back at my camp, but we won’t be able to heat it up. It is getting dark and our fire would draw stenchers like moths to ah.. well a flame” Drew chuckles.
“Thanks, hot or cold. I just really appreciate anything I can get at this point, it’s been a few days since I have had anything but tree bark and acorns. That’s why I stepped on that stupid branch, I was reaching up to grab some bark from the tree.”
“So how long have you been on your own?” “Uh, I mean if it is not too difficult to talk about.” Stammered Drew.
“It’s ok, I have mostly been on my own from the beginning.”
“Five months out here all on your own!!!” Exclaimed Drew. “I guess I was right when I said we could help each other, but now I’m wondering if you will be helping me more than I am helping you. To survive that long on your own, you are clearly one tough cookie.”
“It has mostly been luck.” “Being small helps too, I am able to squeeze into spaces and hide better than most”.
“Well here is, it’s not much to look at, but, it gets the job done.” Drew says while pointing at a run down looking two level home at the end of the path. “I’ve baracadded the entire first floor so there is no way in or out. There is a ladder hiding in the overgrowth here that gets us up, then inside there is a drop ladder to get us out”
“How long have you been here?”
“Thirty-five years come November.” Chuckled Drew. “Been my home since birth, my parents gave it to me five years ago when they retired and moved to Florida” “I really hope they are ok, but.. “ Drew sighs. “Anyway, let me get this ladder up, then I will let you head in first, if that is ok with you?”
Could this be some kind of trap, thinks Andy. “Sure, I don’t mind”
As Andy clears the window pane Drew sees a stencher in the distance and hurries up the ladder behind her.
“Got one out there, but I don’t think it saw us. I’ll keep an eye on it, if it gets too close we may need to be extra quiet for a bit, but otherwise we should be good”.
Wow, this is better than I imagined, he has done a good amount of scavenging Andy muses to herself. “Ok” “ I really appreciate you taking me in like this, you.. You did not have to call out like that”
“Really, it was no big deal, once I realized I could not smell you I knew you were not a stench. The opportunity to have an extra pair of hands around here was too good to pass up.”
“Makes sense. Either way I appreciate it, and I would be thrilled to pull my weight around here. I was never raised to be a freeloader, been pulling my weight and more my entire life”.
“OH I am so sorry, I just remembered you were famished here let me get you something.” Drew guffaws. “Let’s see, we got” Drew thinks while he shuffles through some cans on a shelf. “Uh, pears, beef stew.. Uh”
“Oh BEEF STEW!” Exclaims Andy. “Oh sorry, beef stew if that is ok, it has always been my favorite ever since I was a kid, oh and it is Dinty Morre. That is the best beef stew out there.”
“I am happy to oblige ma'am” “Man I felt like a cowboy saying that.” Chortled Drew
He is goofy, but nice, thinks Andy. “Ya a little”
“Well dig in, you need help with that pull tab?” “You want a spoon or a fork?” “I wish I had some bread, closest I got is some crackers”
“Oh, just a spoon.” Andy replies as she pop the top off the can. “Oh I just love the smell”
They sit in silence as Andy eats her stew and Drew gazes out the window. Partially lost in thought, partially keeping an eye out for stenchers, Drew's mind drifts to the last time he had someone here with him. Before he lost his son Manny.
“Oh, that was so delicious, thank you so much”
“I am glad you enjoyed it” Replied Drew as he stared into the darkness. “We should be pretty secure here for the night, if you would like to settle in and get some sleep. I will probably sit here for a little bit then turn in myself. Feel free to just roam around and find a spot or I can give you the tour whichever”
“You have done so much for me, no need for you to get up and move around when you look so content sitting in that window” Responds Andy. “ Thanks again Drew, I’ll uh, I’ll see you in the morning”.
“Night Andy”
This place is much bigger than I thought it would be, maybe I should have taken the tour Andy laughs to herself as she gazes into the hall. Oh well too late now. I just hope I don’t bring a million stenchers down on us bumping into things. Oh where is my flashlight, what pocket did I, ah there it is. “Wow!” She whispers silently to herself. He sure has a lot of pictures in this hallway. Awe, this must be the parents he mentioned. Hmmm a wife and a son, oh poor Drew. Ok Andy, focus, get some rest, find a room, oh, uh, maybe I will just look downstairs on a couch. I do not want to take his bed from him, and I would feel bad sleeping in his son's room. As Andy makes her way downstairs to find a couch Drew wonders if he is able to let someone else get close again. It was hard enough having to dispatch his wife. He was able to accept that because it needed to be done to save Manny. After what happened to Manny though, “ I am not sure I can go through that again.”
Chapter Two ~ Manny
What’s that!? Where am I!? Andy cautiously opens one eye and takes in her surroundings and sighs a breath of relief. That's right, I met Drew yesterday, he welcomed me into his home. I am on his couch. You are ok Andy, you are ok. Is that, do I smell bacon? Ok now you are losing it Andy, there is no way, no, it is I smell bacon. Andy sits up and looks around, to her right she sees Drew in what she now realizes is the kitchen and sure enough he is making breakfast. After a big yawn and a stretch she moseys her way into the room.
“Mornin’ you manage to sleep? That couch as seen some better days, but still gets the job done.”
“Best night of sleep I have had in months.” yawns Andy. “How do you have bacon, and, are those eggs?”
“Well, yes these are eggs, powdered mind you but yes eggs” “The bacon is the precooked kind you just have to heat up, not as great as the “real” thing, but it keeps longer. Been holding onto it for a special occasion. This seems as good an occasion as any.”
“I feel like a broken record, but again thank you so much, I am so grateful.”
“Really Andy it’s ok. It’s just so nice to see a friendly face, or really any face that isn’t trying to eat me” “Have a seat, here dig in”
“Thanks. Those are some beautiful pictures in the hall upstairs. Did you take them?”
“Ya, I dabbled a little in photography before.. well before.. you know..”
“Ya, I know. Well they are great pictures” Andy replies between bites. “Are the pictures people you know or?”
Drew sighs deeply as he settles in with his plate.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to, I’m so insensitive, I didn’t.. Sorry”
“No, it’s ok. It will probably be good to tell the story anyway, maybe let go of some ghosts that have been haunting me. The older couple I’m sure you gathered are my parents. The givers of this house.” Drew utters with a smirk. “The rest of the pictures are all of my wife, and our son Manny.”
Drew gazes off pensively, casually poking the food on his plate not really eating. Andy has completely forgotten about her food, she is completely enthralled by Drews story.
“It’s ok Drew, really, I didn’t mean to pry”
“No no, It’s fine. I really think I need.. I need to tell the story. I need the closure. Nowhere to go, but forward. My wife.. Well my wife is when I finally realized this outbreak was not a hoax. I had heard rumors of what was happening, but it all seems so fantastical that it couldn’t be real. There is no way people die, then come back and eat the living. That is make believe, I grew up watching the movies, playing the video games. Zombies are not real, they are a cult phenomenon but not a reality. Then one day I came home from work and heard a ruckus upstairs. Fearing a home invader I grabbed a knife from the counter and stealthy made my way upstairs. As I made my way up the stairs I realized the noise was coming from my son's room. As I neared his room I heard a vicious snarling sound and just below it I heard my son whimpering no mommy please stop. The moment I heard my son I sprung into action, there was no more stealth or caution. I burst into the room as my wife, or whatever she had become, was just bursting through the closet door where our son was hiding. Fortunately for me she was so fixated on him she did not even notice I was there. Had she noticed my presence I am not sure I would have been able to overpower her. As it were I was able to get close enough and drive my knife through the base of her neck. Told ya video games and movies, I knew exactly how to eliminate that particular threat. Lucky for me, lucky for Manny, life imitated art in that instance.” Smiling a sad smile at Andy, Drew transitions, “Finish up your eggs, we need to go check the snares and do some scavenging.”
Almost as if being broken from a trance Andy realized she had been holding her breath. She took a gulp of air, nodded, wiped a tear from her eye and focused on her eggs. As she finished up Drew took his last bite then headed to the sink to wash up his plate. Wow, that, I can not even imagine going through that Andy thought to herself as she finished her last few bites of eggs. He does look slightly less haunted having gotten that weight off his shoulders at least. I am glad I was able to give him that in return for all his kindness.
As Drew heads upstairs to get ready to depart Andy gives her plate a quick wash then heads to the living room to collect her bag and her pink machete. Looking around the living room Andy wonders if Drew has any lanterns or if he has even considered shedding some light in this room. It seems he mostly keeps to that one room upstairs. Andy briefly wonders if it is.. uh.. was Manny’s room.
Andy enters the room just as Drew is unfurling the upstairs ladder to climb downstairs. “Ladies first? Or you want me to head down?”
“I’ll go first”
As Andy's feet hit the ground she starts to scan the area, her nose tells her they are safe. There are no stenchers in the area, but even still better safe than sorry. Scanning the horizon she breathes a sigh of relief, things may be starting to look up. Andy hears Drews feet make contact with the ground and turns to see him bend over to pick up the ladder.
“I wondered how you got that back in the room I guess it makes sense use one ladder to climb up and put away the other”
“Yup” laughs Drew. “ I know it seems silly to use one ladder to put away another, but, I don’t know, just makes me feel safe. I know a stencher is not going to climb up. Any human will see this ladder and use it just like I am now, but, just does not seem safe leaving this hanging out the window”
“So we checking the snares first or scavenging?”
“May as well walk by the snares first, that way if we do have something we get it before a stencher. Also frees the trap up to catch something else”
As they pass the creek and the elm they see they still have not gotten anything.
“Oh well, just have to keep checking”
“Have you ever caught anything?”
“Nope”
Andy lets loose the longest hardest laugh she has laughed in a good long time. Tears start streaming down her face. Drew just smiles and looks at her. Ya, this is a good kid, I am glad I said something when I saw her machete poking out from along the tree yesterday. “Come on chuckles, we got a lot of work to do today”.
As Andy and Drew come over the hill they see their destination for the day. A handful of houses and a few smaller stores.
“I have been through most of these houses, some of them have things we can use, I just never took part because I was leaving it for someone else, part because I just felt I did not need it then. Today we may end up taking the lot, if we can carry it all.”
“You ever see any lanterns in your passes?” Inquired Andy
“Seen a few but never thought to take them, why do you ask?”
“Well, if you’ll have me, I’d like to stick around. I was thinking, maybe if it is ok, we could get some lanterns and light up the place a bit.”
“Never really thought about it, I usually just keep to that one room, especially at night. I imagine it would be ok to have some light, it is boarded up quite well down there I don’t think anything outside could see, we can test it out tonight. Oh and uh, of course I’d like the company.”
For the first time really in her life Andy started to feel some hope
“Thanks Drew”
“Yup. Ok so the houses with the red X are the ones I have picked pretty clean, the yellow still have some stuff, and well obviously if there is no X I have not been there. If you want we can go through the red again with a new set of eyes, but maybe our time would be best spent on yellow and no X.”
“Sounds good.” replies Andy
After a few hours they managed to track down 2 lanterns, some rope, a few more can goods, a med kit, and some matches.
“Not too bad for a couple of hours, and we knocked 5 more houses off the list. This is really a lot easier having someone else help carry stuff and to watch my back.”
“My pleasure” smiled Andy
As they were walking back to the house they both caught wind of the stencher at the same time. Without saying a word they both knew what they had to do. Setting their bags down and drawing their weapons they both moved quietly towards the smell. Drew saw it first, near the elm tree by his snare. Of course I probably got a rabbit and the stencher got it first Drew thinks to himself. Drew motions for Andy to head right, he goes left. Andy nods understanding Drew is going to distract it and she needs to put the pink lady to work. As Andy cycles behind the tree Drew gives a quick look to make sure there is only one. Upon confirming just the one threat Drew gives a swift whistle, the stencher looks up and him, moans, then shambles towards him. Like lightning Andy pops out from behind the tree and cleaves the stenchers head with the her machete.
“Chalk up another one for The Pink Lady” she quips.
“The huh” Inquires Drew
“My machete, I uh, I call it The Pink Lady, cause uh, well she’s pink” Responds Andy sheepishly. “ It’s silly, but all that time alone she kind of became my friend”.
“Makes sense” Shrugs Drew. Drew looks down at the snare, of course there is a rabbit in there. He finally catches a rabbit and a stencher gets to it first. “Lets get home, have some lunch, and plan out the rest of our day” He says with a sigh.
As they walk silently toward the house Andy thinks about how she first encountered The Pink Lady.
Chapter Three ~ The Pink Lady
Andy never had an easy life, but she would not change a thing. It made her who she was, a survivor. These days survivors are all that are left. She never knew her mom, and when her dad died when she was fourteen she learned real quick how to take care of herself. She did not want to end up a child of the system, so she made sure no one knew she was living alone. She stopped going to school, started working at the local grocery store and did what had to be done to survive. Sometimes maybe bending a law or two, but, a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. In the six years since losing her father Andy has always been careful to never go too far, to never do anything that would actually hurt another person. Her dad raised her better than that. Taking a little food here or there from the store is one thing, but she never took any money. Since the outbreak she has been trying to live by the same moral code. When she saw The Pink Lady she knew she needed to have it, not only because it was super cool looking, but weapons are necessary today if you happen to stumble across a stencher.
When the outbreak first happened Andy tried to just avoid the stenchers, she could not get past seeing them as humans. Her strong moral code just would never let her hurt a human. After two months of just avoiding stenchers, hiding in small places whenever they would shamble by she found herself facing death in its stinky face with nowhere to hide. Terror paralized Andy as she stared into the cold dead eyes of the stencher that was creeping toward her with malicious intent. As moments crept by with agonizing slowness Andy could only think that maybe she would get to be with her father again. As Andy was preparing for her inevitable doom there was a sudden crash from her right.
Chapter Four ~ Lyle
As he ran down the alley terror flooded his heart. They are going to get me, they are going to get me, they are going to get me. I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die.
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