Hey reader.
Please note that this story is rated R for violence, language, and other things. If this isn't your cup of tea, try some other blog.
Please also note that I'm posting my chapters chronologically. If you're new here, find the earlier posts on the right sidebar. If you're coming back to read the next chapter(s), you'll find them closer to the top of the page.
This post is dated for the last day of the month as a gentle reminder to me that time is ticking, and also to keep this post at the top of the page. Thanks.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Withdraw From the Race
For those of you keeping track at home, in order for me to "win" NaNoWriMo by midnight this Friday I would need to write about 27,000 words in less than four days. That's about 7k per day which isn't gonna happen.
That said, I'm officially giving up on NaNoWriMo, because the pace is a little too crazy for me. I have two big things, notably spending time with my family and getting my academics on track that take precedence over trying to crank out a new chapter every evening.
My story, however, will continue. At irregular intervals I will post chapters as I see fit, ending on whatever word count I end up on when the story I have in mind is told. Thanks for your support, comments, and readership to this point.
That said, I'm officially giving up on NaNoWriMo, because the pace is a little too crazy for me. I have two big things, notably spending time with my family and getting my academics on track that take precedence over trying to crank out a new chapter every evening.
My story, however, will continue. At irregular intervals I will post chapters as I see fit, ending on whatever word count I end up on when the story I have in mind is told. Thanks for your support, comments, and readership to this point.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Chapter 18 - One Way
June 12th, 2008
12:02am
Upstairs Headquarters
T.Rex and Angel Hair headed towards the roof to start their night watch shift. As they climbed into the attic, Ryan tried to make sense of his spinning thoughts.
"So what was that all about?" Angel Hair asked. "You said something about Jenny and looked like you were having a bad dream."
"Quite the opposite," T.Rex said. "I dreamed that Benji drove here in his car. Except it wasn't his normal car, it was like a souped-up battle chariot, and he had a chainsaw and a shotgun. We slaughtered an entire crowd of zombies and rode out of town packed in like sardines. It was only after we were clear that I remembered Jenny, and then I woke up all confused."
Angel Hair pulled the tarp that covered the roof hole and took a deep breath of the cool nighttime air. "Sounds awful."
"I don't know what was worse, that we forgot my girlfriend or that I woke up in the first place," T.Rex admitted. Together the two Fools shared a pensive stare into the foliage behind the apartment, trying to see more than shadows. Normally, street lights, porch lights, and a host of electronics kept the night at bay. Tonight, just the moon shone dimly on the group of survivors and the horde of zombies infesting the campus.
The longer Ryan sat staring into the dark, the more he began to worry. The Fools had been trapped in their upstairs apartment for one day shy of one week, and there was no sign of help. Worse, signs of life seemed to be deteriorating around Purdue. Power had not been restored, phone service was degrading, and they hadn't seen any signs or sounds of normalcy in quite some time.
T.Rex grabbed his pack of equipment and rummaged through it until he found his binoculars. He silently motioned for Angel Hair follow quietly, and then indicated he was going to scout around with an exaggerated sweeping spyglass motion. Hanging them around his neck, he very gently climbed out of the hole cut in the roof and rested his body on the rough shingles, trusting in friction to hold him on the roof.
Together they army crawled to the peak of the roof. Ryan motioned silently to Angel Hair to remove his glasses before they continued, and once he did they peered very slowly over the top of the roof.
The sight they saw was much more frightening than peering out of a window. Hundreds of shambling creatures in various states of decay walked the streets uncontested. Their horrible groans and stutter step on the gravel weren't nearly as bad as the awful stench that corrupted the air. The same breeze that brought temporarily relief from the humidity also carried a putrid decomposing odor. Ryan's nose rankled as he glanced around. Apartments and trees blocked a good portion of the view.
"Here's the plan," he whispered to Angel Hair. "We need to get a better look of the neighborhood. I'm gonna shuffle to the edge of the roof and hop on that awning over there. After that, I should be able to climb on the neighbor's roof. Watch for me to cross and wait for my signal to follow."
Angel Hair nodded silently and tapped his temple with two fingers. Ryan very gently slid down a few feet, out of sight of the front side of the apartment, and worked his way to the edge of the roof.
Sure would be great if I had some sort of loud distraction, Ryan thought. Perhaps some fireworks. He very gently reached his short leg out to try and test the sturdiness of the overhang he would land on, but it was several feet out of reach. T.Rex gripped his binoculars, gritted his teeth, and launched himself from the roof.
He landed on the awning with little room to spare, and the resultant clatter seemed like a percussion feature in the relatively still night. Ryan quickly scrambled across and reached the neighboring roof, and began to climb. Fearing the noise had attracted the creatures nearby, he carefully maneuvered behind the chimney and paused to let his heart stop pounding.
Ryan brushed aside a nearby branch and held up his hand for Angel Hair to see. He splayed all his fingers to form the "Run Play Five" signal. Nodding, Angel Hair slowly worked his way to the edge of the roof and also took a leap. He cleared the gap, and Ryan very carefully extended his arm to help him up.
They climbed to the peak of the roof and very carefully stood up, legs planted apart for balance. Ryan gave Angel Hair the binoculars and leaned against the chimney. He cupped his hands and nodded upward, and very carefully he hoisted Angel Hair on top of the brick chimney. From there Angel Hair was able to reach up and grab a nearby branch.
He climbed slowly up into an enormous tree that hugged the building. The branches thinned at the top and so did the leaves, which gave Angel Hair a massive view of the surrounding area. Carefully wedging his skinny body between two branches and removed the binoculars. He peered down the entirety of Harrison street to the west, South Grant street to the south, to the Wood street parking garage to the north, and to South Chauncey Avenue to the east.
Ryan held onto the chimney for support as he craned his neck upward, trying to see his partner through the foliage and darkness. Several uncomfortable minutes passed in relative silence. He shook a nearby branch three times to get Angel Hair's attention.
"Status report?" Ryan whispered, trying to project his voice above him.
"I've got a really great view," came a muffled reply. "I want to stay up here for a bit and really study things, confirm?"
"Confirmed. Shake three times when you're coming back down." Ryan carefully sat down behind the chimney and waited, shifting uncomfortably every few minutes. Attempting to distract himself, T.Rex silently rhymed names in his head for Do Run Run.
Finally, there was a distinct trio of leafy rustles and Ryan stood up. Angel Hair carefully descended from the branches and back onto the chimney before looking down, nervously.
"C'mon," T.Rex urged.
"I don't think I can," Angel Hair admitted. "It was tall enough that I needed a boost up, and when I jump I'm gonna land on either angle, break my leg, and roll off onto the ground. And then I'll be crippled and zombie bait."
Ryan held out his arms and curled his fingers in a supportive posture. "C'mon, and I promise I won't let you fall. Toss me my binoculars, first."
Angel Hair lowered the binoculars by the strap and then very tenderly slid his body from the top of the chimney. Still holding onto the rim with his arms with a death grip, he flopped over until he was dangling. Ryan grabbed Angel Hair's pant legs just as he fell, and when he hit the rooftop his right foot rolled inward.
There was a very stifled yelp as Angel Hair's ankle folded awkwardly, but T.Rex hang on and kept him from going over the edge.
"Oh damnit," Ryan said quietly.
"It's fine, I think I just twisted my ankle," said Angel Hair.
T.Rex paused. "No, not that. I mean, props for staying quiet and I'm glad you're okay, but I just realized something."
"What?" Angel Hair said nervously.
"We jumped down onto this roof," Ryan said. "I wonder how we're gonna get back across to the upstairs apartment..."
Current Word Count: 23,226
12:02am
Upstairs Headquarters
T.Rex and Angel Hair headed towards the roof to start their night watch shift. As they climbed into the attic, Ryan tried to make sense of his spinning thoughts.
"So what was that all about?" Angel Hair asked. "You said something about Jenny and looked like you were having a bad dream."
"Quite the opposite," T.Rex said. "I dreamed that Benji drove here in his car. Except it wasn't his normal car, it was like a souped-up battle chariot, and he had a chainsaw and a shotgun. We slaughtered an entire crowd of zombies and rode out of town packed in like sardines. It was only after we were clear that I remembered Jenny, and then I woke up all confused."
Angel Hair pulled the tarp that covered the roof hole and took a deep breath of the cool nighttime air. "Sounds awful."
"I don't know what was worse, that we forgot my girlfriend or that I woke up in the first place," T.Rex admitted. Together the two Fools shared a pensive stare into the foliage behind the apartment, trying to see more than shadows. Normally, street lights, porch lights, and a host of electronics kept the night at bay. Tonight, just the moon shone dimly on the group of survivors and the horde of zombies infesting the campus.
The longer Ryan sat staring into the dark, the more he began to worry. The Fools had been trapped in their upstairs apartment for one day shy of one week, and there was no sign of help. Worse, signs of life seemed to be deteriorating around Purdue. Power had not been restored, phone service was degrading, and they hadn't seen any signs or sounds of normalcy in quite some time.
T.Rex grabbed his pack of equipment and rummaged through it until he found his binoculars. He silently motioned for Angel Hair follow quietly, and then indicated he was going to scout around with an exaggerated sweeping spyglass motion. Hanging them around his neck, he very gently climbed out of the hole cut in the roof and rested his body on the rough shingles, trusting in friction to hold him on the roof.
Together they army crawled to the peak of the roof. Ryan motioned silently to Angel Hair to remove his glasses before they continued, and once he did they peered very slowly over the top of the roof.
The sight they saw was much more frightening than peering out of a window. Hundreds of shambling creatures in various states of decay walked the streets uncontested. Their horrible groans and stutter step on the gravel weren't nearly as bad as the awful stench that corrupted the air. The same breeze that brought temporarily relief from the humidity also carried a putrid decomposing odor. Ryan's nose rankled as he glanced around. Apartments and trees blocked a good portion of the view.
"Here's the plan," he whispered to Angel Hair. "We need to get a better look of the neighborhood. I'm gonna shuffle to the edge of the roof and hop on that awning over there. After that, I should be able to climb on the neighbor's roof. Watch for me to cross and wait for my signal to follow."
Angel Hair nodded silently and tapped his temple with two fingers. Ryan very gently slid down a few feet, out of sight of the front side of the apartment, and worked his way to the edge of the roof.
Sure would be great if I had some sort of loud distraction, Ryan thought. Perhaps some fireworks. He very gently reached his short leg out to try and test the sturdiness of the overhang he would land on, but it was several feet out of reach. T.Rex gripped his binoculars, gritted his teeth, and launched himself from the roof.
He landed on the awning with little room to spare, and the resultant clatter seemed like a percussion feature in the relatively still night. Ryan quickly scrambled across and reached the neighboring roof, and began to climb. Fearing the noise had attracted the creatures nearby, he carefully maneuvered behind the chimney and paused to let his heart stop pounding.
Ryan brushed aside a nearby branch and held up his hand for Angel Hair to see. He splayed all his fingers to form the "Run Play Five" signal. Nodding, Angel Hair slowly worked his way to the edge of the roof and also took a leap. He cleared the gap, and Ryan very carefully extended his arm to help him up.
They climbed to the peak of the roof and very carefully stood up, legs planted apart for balance. Ryan gave Angel Hair the binoculars and leaned against the chimney. He cupped his hands and nodded upward, and very carefully he hoisted Angel Hair on top of the brick chimney. From there Angel Hair was able to reach up and grab a nearby branch.
He climbed slowly up into an enormous tree that hugged the building. The branches thinned at the top and so did the leaves, which gave Angel Hair a massive view of the surrounding area. Carefully wedging his skinny body between two branches and removed the binoculars. He peered down the entirety of Harrison street to the west, South Grant street to the south, to the Wood street parking garage to the north, and to South Chauncey Avenue to the east.
Ryan held onto the chimney for support as he craned his neck upward, trying to see his partner through the foliage and darkness. Several uncomfortable minutes passed in relative silence. He shook a nearby branch three times to get Angel Hair's attention.
"Status report?" Ryan whispered, trying to project his voice above him.
"I've got a really great view," came a muffled reply. "I want to stay up here for a bit and really study things, confirm?"
"Confirmed. Shake three times when you're coming back down." Ryan carefully sat down behind the chimney and waited, shifting uncomfortably every few minutes. Attempting to distract himself, T.Rex silently rhymed names in his head for Do Run Run.
Finally, there was a distinct trio of leafy rustles and Ryan stood up. Angel Hair carefully descended from the branches and back onto the chimney before looking down, nervously.
"C'mon," T.Rex urged.
"I don't think I can," Angel Hair admitted. "It was tall enough that I needed a boost up, and when I jump I'm gonna land on either angle, break my leg, and roll off onto the ground. And then I'll be crippled and zombie bait."
Ryan held out his arms and curled his fingers in a supportive posture. "C'mon, and I promise I won't let you fall. Toss me my binoculars, first."
Angel Hair lowered the binoculars by the strap and then very tenderly slid his body from the top of the chimney. Still holding onto the rim with his arms with a death grip, he flopped over until he was dangling. Ryan grabbed Angel Hair's pant legs just as he fell, and when he hit the rooftop his right foot rolled inward.
There was a very stifled yelp as Angel Hair's ankle folded awkwardly, but T.Rex hang on and kept him from going over the edge.
"Oh damnit," Ryan said quietly.
"It's fine, I think I just twisted my ankle," said Angel Hair.
T.Rex paused. "No, not that. I mean, props for staying quiet and I'm glad you're okay, but I just realized something."
"What?" Angel Hair said nervously.
"We jumped down onto this roof," Ryan said. "I wonder how we're gonna get back across to the upstairs apartment..."
Current Word Count: 23,226
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Chapter 17 - Head Games
June 10th, 2008
2:36pm
Apartment Parking Lot
Every zombie in the immediate area was trying desperately to get to Benji. The Fools took full advantage of the distraction and immediately began attacking the closest zombies which had their backs to the group.
The first kill by a Fool went to Beard. He ran forward and buried his hatchet in the skull of the first zombie before wrestling it free and attacking again and again. Directly to his right was Peace who wasted no time with own hatchet, covering Beard's flank. They worked in tandem and very quickly had created a salient into the horde of living dead.
Angel Hair and Rubble formed a similar duo, each wielding a pool cue. Rubble swung his with enough momentum that the thicker end would crack into the enemy skull and drop the foe to the ground. Angel Hair preferred to use the sharpened end of his as a spear, deftly stabbing into select eye sockets between Rubble's attacks to kill those that stumbled too close.
Cowboy went crazy with his bat like a kid in a candy store, wildly smashing any skull within arm's reach. Kamikaze was a bit more select with her machete attacks, carefully lopping off heads and only occasionally grinning like she enjoyed it.
T.Rex hung back with his crowbar, attempting to observe the others in action. He wanted to make sure that he had a good grasp of the Fools in combat for future encounters, if it came to that. He also made sure that nobody needed help or got flanked in a moment of concentration. He earned his first kill when a straggler came from around the side of the neighbor's house. He bobbed well away from the creature's outstretched arm, sidestepped, and brought the curved end of his crowbar down with all of his might onto the zombie's skull. It gave way with a crunch of bone and Ryan couldn't help but grin at the massive offense the group had displayed, including the dead zombie at his feet.
He turned and began to work his way closer to the center of the group, killing enemies that stood between himself and Valerie. Benji, in the meanwhile, had jumped into the fray and was carving a brutal swath of destruction with his chainsaw. He carved through undead flesh like a hot knife through butter, messily decapitating and amputating with medical precision.
"If they knew how to retreat," Ryan shouted over the roar of the saw, "do you think they would have given up by now?"
Benji brought the rotating blades onto a zombie skull, the spray coating Valerie's passenger door with more zombie slurry. "If they knew what was good for them, perhaps!" Benji shouted back. "So what happened to your arm? If it was a bite, Beard would've taken care of you by now, I'm assuming." Benji conversed with ease as he continued to slice and dice creatures in ever-widening arcs around his car.
Ryan grunted as he struck another skull with his crowbar, noting that after nearly a dozen skulls his attacks seemed more fluid and natural. "Oh, just some glass. Nothing to worry about." The wall of zombies separating the Fools from Benji was rapidly dwindling, even if the creatures could not make a sound tactical decision to save their lives.
T.Rex quickly scanned the area and saw the Fools in pairs and individually mopping up patches of zombies in the parking lot. "Hey guys," he shouted to them, "let's start closing in and get the hell out of here!"
On his command the Fools took a careful retreat, and T.Rex was happy to note most of them didn't just break and run, but instead surveyed the situation and then decided. As they returned, Ryan took the shotgun from Benji's back and removed the spent shells. "Left pocket," Benji said as he planted his feet and dispatched another zombie.
T.Rex reached into Benji's bulging front pocket and extracted two fresh shotgun shells and loaded the weapon before replacing it in the holster. The rest of the Fools reached Valerie safely and formed a loose protective semicircle around the passenger side. Beard subtly looked over each Fool for injuries, including accidental bites or scratches.
Benji instructed all the Fools to stow their gear in Val's trunk as he provided cover. He glared menacingly at the few zombies that had come to investigate the noise and his posture dared them to shuffle over to meet their doom. The chainsaw suddenly sputtered violently and then died, and Benji tossed it aside with a shrug.
"You're just going to leave that?" Cowboy said.
Benji replied calmly, "Dead weight, no fuel."
"Wait, are we all supposed to fit in here?" Angel Hair asked.
"Pretend it's a Yaris," Kamikaze said as she climbed into the back seat. She was referencing an earlier outing the year before, where they all attempted to fit into SoG's car
The rest of the Fools stuffed into Valerie any way they could, piling uncomfortably next to and on top of each other. Instead of complaining, they made it into a bizarre game of twister involving all three rear seat belts. Benji and Ryan waited for the other six to pile in before taking the driver and passenger's seat, respectively. Valerie roared to life with the turn of the key and Benji sat there, patiently for a few moments.
There was awkward silence before Beard, muffled under at least three limbs and an armpit said, "I don't mean to be rude, but can we get going already?"
Benji held up five fingers and silently ticked them away to an unknown timer. When the last of his fingers joined his fist, the Fools heard a massive amount of noise behind them. Only three Fools could actually turn behind to see a massive display of fireworks erupt from a dumpster behind Krannert Hall.
"What the...?" Peace trailed off.
"It's a distraction," Benji explained. "The sound and lights will draw zombies that way," he pointed backwards. "While we drive that way," and pointed foward. "On that note, make rockets go now!" he said as he floored the accelerator, and Valerie peeled out of the apartment parking lot, spraying three determined zombies with gravel.
As they drove, they saw Purdue as a disaster zone. Buildings were looted, broken glass and trash lay strewn about and the once vibrant campus was reduced to a shell of its former self. Students were horrible gruesome creatures, and the red brick buildings were dark. The power plant, in the distance, was on fire.
Benji did his best to navigate his way out of Lafayette, avoiding all but the smallest of backroads. Twice they had to find an alternate route around a road clogged with hundreds of wrecked cars, but the ad-hoc armor plating welded onto the car gave them protection from most of the stray zombies they met on the roadways.
Once they had cleared the city limits, they pulled over into an abandoned field of short grass and unpacked the Fools from the rear for a stretch and better ventilation. Benji put on some Beach Boys music to calm their shaking nerves, and Ryan nearly wept at the sweet sounds of technology. It was only once they were away from Purdue that Ryan noticed he was visibly shaking. His bandaged arm felt sore, and he started to get light headed.
Benji, a certified nurse, took notice right away and gently guided Ryan to the car and had him sit in the passenger seat slightly reclined. T.Rex sipped from his water bottle and rested as the other Fools stretched. A few minutes later a low moan was heard on the wind, and Benji motioned the others to cram back into his Pontiac. As they drove along the back roads into the setting sun, Ryan felt very weak. The air conditioner seemed to be only capable of delivering humid air, but he trusted Benji to deliver them to safety as he rested his eyes and slumped against the seatbelt.
---
"Ryan!" Kamikaze said as she shook his shoulder.
"We have to go get Jenny!" T.Rex shouted into the darkness.
"Shhh! Be quiet, or you'll wake the others. It's midnight, and your turn for watch, okay?"
Ryan woke up on a sleeping bag, confused. He looked around and saw the dark apartment as Angel Hair waited for him in the hallway. To his right was Peace, sleeping soundly, and to his left lay his own pack of equipment, untouched.
Current Word Count: 21,949
2:36pm
Apartment Parking Lot
Every zombie in the immediate area was trying desperately to get to Benji. The Fools took full advantage of the distraction and immediately began attacking the closest zombies which had their backs to the group.
The first kill by a Fool went to Beard. He ran forward and buried his hatchet in the skull of the first zombie before wrestling it free and attacking again and again. Directly to his right was Peace who wasted no time with own hatchet, covering Beard's flank. They worked in tandem and very quickly had created a salient into the horde of living dead.
Angel Hair and Rubble formed a similar duo, each wielding a pool cue. Rubble swung his with enough momentum that the thicker end would crack into the enemy skull and drop the foe to the ground. Angel Hair preferred to use the sharpened end of his as a spear, deftly stabbing into select eye sockets between Rubble's attacks to kill those that stumbled too close.
Cowboy went crazy with his bat like a kid in a candy store, wildly smashing any skull within arm's reach. Kamikaze was a bit more select with her machete attacks, carefully lopping off heads and only occasionally grinning like she enjoyed it.
T.Rex hung back with his crowbar, attempting to observe the others in action. He wanted to make sure that he had a good grasp of the Fools in combat for future encounters, if it came to that. He also made sure that nobody needed help or got flanked in a moment of concentration. He earned his first kill when a straggler came from around the side of the neighbor's house. He bobbed well away from the creature's outstretched arm, sidestepped, and brought the curved end of his crowbar down with all of his might onto the zombie's skull. It gave way with a crunch of bone and Ryan couldn't help but grin at the massive offense the group had displayed, including the dead zombie at his feet.
He turned and began to work his way closer to the center of the group, killing enemies that stood between himself and Valerie. Benji, in the meanwhile, had jumped into the fray and was carving a brutal swath of destruction with his chainsaw. He carved through undead flesh like a hot knife through butter, messily decapitating and amputating with medical precision.
"If they knew how to retreat," Ryan shouted over the roar of the saw, "do you think they would have given up by now?"
Benji brought the rotating blades onto a zombie skull, the spray coating Valerie's passenger door with more zombie slurry. "If they knew what was good for them, perhaps!" Benji shouted back. "So what happened to your arm? If it was a bite, Beard would've taken care of you by now, I'm assuming." Benji conversed with ease as he continued to slice and dice creatures in ever-widening arcs around his car.
Ryan grunted as he struck another skull with his crowbar, noting that after nearly a dozen skulls his attacks seemed more fluid and natural. "Oh, just some glass. Nothing to worry about." The wall of zombies separating the Fools from Benji was rapidly dwindling, even if the creatures could not make a sound tactical decision to save their lives.
T.Rex quickly scanned the area and saw the Fools in pairs and individually mopping up patches of zombies in the parking lot. "Hey guys," he shouted to them, "let's start closing in and get the hell out of here!"
On his command the Fools took a careful retreat, and T.Rex was happy to note most of them didn't just break and run, but instead surveyed the situation and then decided. As they returned, Ryan took the shotgun from Benji's back and removed the spent shells. "Left pocket," Benji said as he planted his feet and dispatched another zombie.
T.Rex reached into Benji's bulging front pocket and extracted two fresh shotgun shells and loaded the weapon before replacing it in the holster. The rest of the Fools reached Valerie safely and formed a loose protective semicircle around the passenger side. Beard subtly looked over each Fool for injuries, including accidental bites or scratches.
Benji instructed all the Fools to stow their gear in Val's trunk as he provided cover. He glared menacingly at the few zombies that had come to investigate the noise and his posture dared them to shuffle over to meet their doom. The chainsaw suddenly sputtered violently and then died, and Benji tossed it aside with a shrug.
"You're just going to leave that?" Cowboy said.
Benji replied calmly, "Dead weight, no fuel."
"Wait, are we all supposed to fit in here?" Angel Hair asked.
"Pretend it's a Yaris," Kamikaze said as she climbed into the back seat. She was referencing an earlier outing the year before, where they all attempted to fit into SoG's car
The rest of the Fools stuffed into Valerie any way they could, piling uncomfortably next to and on top of each other. Instead of complaining, they made it into a bizarre game of twister involving all three rear seat belts. Benji and Ryan waited for the other six to pile in before taking the driver and passenger's seat, respectively. Valerie roared to life with the turn of the key and Benji sat there, patiently for a few moments.
There was awkward silence before Beard, muffled under at least three limbs and an armpit said, "I don't mean to be rude, but can we get going already?"
Benji held up five fingers and silently ticked them away to an unknown timer. When the last of his fingers joined his fist, the Fools heard a massive amount of noise behind them. Only three Fools could actually turn behind to see a massive display of fireworks erupt from a dumpster behind Krannert Hall.
"What the...?" Peace trailed off.
"It's a distraction," Benji explained. "The sound and lights will draw zombies that way," he pointed backwards. "While we drive that way," and pointed foward. "On that note, make rockets go now!" he said as he floored the accelerator, and Valerie peeled out of the apartment parking lot, spraying three determined zombies with gravel.
As they drove, they saw Purdue as a disaster zone. Buildings were looted, broken glass and trash lay strewn about and the once vibrant campus was reduced to a shell of its former self. Students were horrible gruesome creatures, and the red brick buildings were dark. The power plant, in the distance, was on fire.
Benji did his best to navigate his way out of Lafayette, avoiding all but the smallest of backroads. Twice they had to find an alternate route around a road clogged with hundreds of wrecked cars, but the ad-hoc armor plating welded onto the car gave them protection from most of the stray zombies they met on the roadways.
Once they had cleared the city limits, they pulled over into an abandoned field of short grass and unpacked the Fools from the rear for a stretch and better ventilation. Benji put on some Beach Boys music to calm their shaking nerves, and Ryan nearly wept at the sweet sounds of technology. It was only once they were away from Purdue that Ryan noticed he was visibly shaking. His bandaged arm felt sore, and he started to get light headed.
Benji, a certified nurse, took notice right away and gently guided Ryan to the car and had him sit in the passenger seat slightly reclined. T.Rex sipped from his water bottle and rested as the other Fools stretched. A few minutes later a low moan was heard on the wind, and Benji motioned the others to cram back into his Pontiac. As they drove along the back roads into the setting sun, Ryan felt very weak. The air conditioner seemed to be only capable of delivering humid air, but he trusted Benji to deliver them to safety as he rested his eyes and slumped against the seatbelt.
---
"Ryan!" Kamikaze said as she shook his shoulder.
"We have to go get Jenny!" T.Rex shouted into the darkness.
"Shhh! Be quiet, or you'll wake the others. It's midnight, and your turn for watch, okay?"
Ryan woke up on a sleeping bag, confused. He looked around and saw the dark apartment as Angel Hair waited for him in the hallway. To his right was Peace, sleeping soundly, and to his left lay his own pack of equipment, untouched.
Current Word Count: 21,949
Chapter 16 - Impossible Odds
June 10th, 2008
2:17pm
Upstairs Headquarters
Time passed slowly for the besieged Fools. All of the male Fools (save Beard) had grown noticeable stubble on their chins, and knowledge of the growing threat outside left all of them tense. The constant moans grew louder each day, causing sleepless nights and restless days. There was little to do but sit and wait, hoping for some sort of help from the outside. They watched helplessly as time stole their rations away, moving from three full garbage bags to two.
Everything became a source of conflict. Plumbing had shut down the night before, and the inconvenience only exacerbated the irritability of the group. Five people sleeping in the crowded living room seemed like four too many, and the heat and humidity turned misunderstanding into bickering. The walls seemed to close in, and what little entertainment they had at hand was quickly exhausted.
T.Rex tried desperately to stick to a schedule. He encouraged everybody to sleep later to avoid the monotony of being awake. With rationing, breakfast, lunch, and dinner became little more than snack times at regular intervals. Even improv, for all its variability, began to wear thin. The group seemed to go through the motions of each game, but creativity was fading fast.
The number of zombies outside continued to increase each passing day.
---
It was Wednesday afternoon when the Fools first heard sounds outside other than the horrible moans of the living dead.
It started as a faint hum in the distance. "Did you hear something?" asked Angel Hair.
"It's just your imagination, kid," said T.Rex, wearily.
"No no, I think I heard it too. It's getting louder, I think," said Kamikaze. She went to the window and began peering through the blinds. Moments later a loud thud was heard, and Peace came running into the living room from the hallway, screaming.
"Guys! Guys! I was on the roof and I saw something! Look out the window right now!" he said as he yanked the cord for the blinds downward, flooding the room with bright sunlight. The Fools gathered around and watched in amazement as zombies at the end of the road began to violently flop aside as a hunter green object slowly but surely plowed through the crowd of living dead.
The sound grew into a beastly engine roar as the object continued to push towards the apartment parking lot. As the zombies were shoved aside, it became clear that it was a vehicle making its way forward. A Pontiac Bonneville.
"Anybody else think that might be Val?" Beard asked, hesitantly.
"I sure fucking hope so!" said Ryan.
"Who's Val?" Rubble asked.
Kamikaze said "I wonder how he got through all of this."
"Wait, Val is a he?" Rubble said.
"Guys! Everybody grab your packs and get ready to move, now." T.Rex commanded.
"Will somebody tell me who this 'Val' person is?" Rubble begged, pulling his backpack on. The rest of the Fools wasted no time quickly gathering their packs.
"Not who, but what," Ryan said as he double checked the ammunition in his rifle. "Valerie Rose is Benji's car."
Loaded with their equipment, the Fools gathered once more at the window and watched in eager anticipation. Valerie, still revving her engine as she pushed through the thickening crowd, was covered in scrap metal that had been welded on at lethal angles. Several dents and scratches covered the vehicle from numerous creatures that had been struck, and blood marred the dark paint.
The Fools exploded in cheers as Valerie slowed to a stop outside of the apartment. Forcing the door open with a mighty kick, Benji emerged from the driver's seat carrying a chainsaw, with a gun strapped across his back. He fought his way onto the roof of Valerie, caving in a zombie skull with his boot in the process. Standing tall atop the vehicle, he looked around at the masses of living dead now drawn to his position and grinned.
A single zombie managed to climb atop the hood of the car and it shuffled for him. Benji reached behind him and in one fluid motion pulled a shotgun from his back holster, held it straight out, and blew the zombie's head clean off.
Nobody, zombie or otherwise, had heard such a thunderous sound in over a week. The Fools waited in nervous anticipation. As the zombies converged on Valerie, Benji calmly blew the smoke from the barrel of the shotgun and shouted:
"Alright, you primitive screw-heads, listen up! See this?" he held the gun aloft over his head. "This... is my boom boom stick! It's a twelve-gauge, double-barreled Remington, Kieslers' top of the line. You can find this in the sporting department. That's right, this sweet baby was made in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It retails for about $109.95. It's got a walnut stock, cobalt blue steel, and a hair trigger. You got that? Now, I swear, the next one of you primates even touches me-"
Just then, a zombie managed to grasp hold of Benji's ankle and struggled to pull him into the mass of waiting hands and mouths below. Benji lowered the barrel of the shotgun and fired a round into the crowd below, obliterating the closest four zombie skulls outright, and knocking a few others back. He re-holstered the shotgun to his back and reached over with his free hand to grab the starter for the chainsaw. With a mighty draw the chainsaw roared to life.
The Fools burst from the upstairs apartment door. Renee lowered her rope ladder and went first and the rest of the Fools followed her. As they reached the ground they all removed their weapons and prepared to fight their way to Valerie.
"Now," Benji yelled over the moaning and machinery. "Let's talk about how we get you Fools back home!"
Current Word Count: 20,542
2:17pm
Upstairs Headquarters
Time passed slowly for the besieged Fools. All of the male Fools (save Beard) had grown noticeable stubble on their chins, and knowledge of the growing threat outside left all of them tense. The constant moans grew louder each day, causing sleepless nights and restless days. There was little to do but sit and wait, hoping for some sort of help from the outside. They watched helplessly as time stole their rations away, moving from three full garbage bags to two.
Everything became a source of conflict. Plumbing had shut down the night before, and the inconvenience only exacerbated the irritability of the group. Five people sleeping in the crowded living room seemed like four too many, and the heat and humidity turned misunderstanding into bickering. The walls seemed to close in, and what little entertainment they had at hand was quickly exhausted.
T.Rex tried desperately to stick to a schedule. He encouraged everybody to sleep later to avoid the monotony of being awake. With rationing, breakfast, lunch, and dinner became little more than snack times at regular intervals. Even improv, for all its variability, began to wear thin. The group seemed to go through the motions of each game, but creativity was fading fast.
The number of zombies outside continued to increase each passing day.
---
It was Wednesday afternoon when the Fools first heard sounds outside other than the horrible moans of the living dead.
It started as a faint hum in the distance. "Did you hear something?" asked Angel Hair.
"It's just your imagination, kid," said T.Rex, wearily.
"No no, I think I heard it too. It's getting louder, I think," said Kamikaze. She went to the window and began peering through the blinds. Moments later a loud thud was heard, and Peace came running into the living room from the hallway, screaming.
"Guys! Guys! I was on the roof and I saw something! Look out the window right now!" he said as he yanked the cord for the blinds downward, flooding the room with bright sunlight. The Fools gathered around and watched in amazement as zombies at the end of the road began to violently flop aside as a hunter green object slowly but surely plowed through the crowd of living dead.
The sound grew into a beastly engine roar as the object continued to push towards the apartment parking lot. As the zombies were shoved aside, it became clear that it was a vehicle making its way forward. A Pontiac Bonneville.
"Anybody else think that might be Val?" Beard asked, hesitantly.
"I sure fucking hope so!" said Ryan.
"Who's Val?" Rubble asked.
Kamikaze said "I wonder how he got through all of this."
"Wait, Val is a he?" Rubble said.
"Guys! Everybody grab your packs and get ready to move, now." T.Rex commanded.
"Will somebody tell me who this 'Val' person is?" Rubble begged, pulling his backpack on. The rest of the Fools wasted no time quickly gathering their packs.
"Not who, but what," Ryan said as he double checked the ammunition in his rifle. "Valerie Rose is Benji's car."
Loaded with their equipment, the Fools gathered once more at the window and watched in eager anticipation. Valerie, still revving her engine as she pushed through the thickening crowd, was covered in scrap metal that had been welded on at lethal angles. Several dents and scratches covered the vehicle from numerous creatures that had been struck, and blood marred the dark paint.
The Fools exploded in cheers as Valerie slowed to a stop outside of the apartment. Forcing the door open with a mighty kick, Benji emerged from the driver's seat carrying a chainsaw, with a gun strapped across his back. He fought his way onto the roof of Valerie, caving in a zombie skull with his boot in the process. Standing tall atop the vehicle, he looked around at the masses of living dead now drawn to his position and grinned.
A single zombie managed to climb atop the hood of the car and it shuffled for him. Benji reached behind him and in one fluid motion pulled a shotgun from his back holster, held it straight out, and blew the zombie's head clean off.
Nobody, zombie or otherwise, had heard such a thunderous sound in over a week. The Fools waited in nervous anticipation. As the zombies converged on Valerie, Benji calmly blew the smoke from the barrel of the shotgun and shouted:
"Alright, you primitive screw-heads, listen up! See this?" he held the gun aloft over his head. "This... is my boom boom stick! It's a twelve-gauge, double-barreled Remington, Kieslers' top of the line. You can find this in the sporting department. That's right, this sweet baby was made in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It retails for about $109.95. It's got a walnut stock, cobalt blue steel, and a hair trigger. You got that? Now, I swear, the next one of you primates even touches me-"
Just then, a zombie managed to grasp hold of Benji's ankle and struggled to pull him into the mass of waiting hands and mouths below. Benji lowered the barrel of the shotgun and fired a round into the crowd below, obliterating the closest four zombie skulls outright, and knocking a few others back. He re-holstered the shotgun to his back and reached over with his free hand to grab the starter for the chainsaw. With a mighty draw the chainsaw roared to life.
The Fools burst from the upstairs apartment door. Renee lowered her rope ladder and went first and the rest of the Fools followed her. As they reached the ground they all removed their weapons and prepared to fight their way to Valerie.
"Now," Benji yelled over the moaning and machinery. "Let's talk about how we get you Fools back home!"
Current Word Count: 20,542
Monday, November 19, 2007
Chapter 15 - Intruder
June 8th, 2008
8:57am
Upstairs Headquarters
T.Rex grabbed Angel Hair's arm and sprinted into the living room. He saw Beard and Kamikaze sitting up and looking around sans earplugs. The others were sound asleep.
"Everybody stay quiet," he hissed.
There was silence as everybody awake strained to hear. There was one moan slightly louder than the rest that seemed to emanate from below, followed by a few irregular thumps.
"I think one got in downstairs," Beard whispered, and Kamikaze nodded in agreement. Brant snored loudly and everybody instinctively froze. Once they realized there was no threat, they relaxed. After a few minutes the noises went away, and together with Kamikaze and Beard, the last night watch pair woke the rest of the Fools and told them of the noises.
"I think the apartment below us may no longer be secure," T.Rex warned them. "Anyway, everybody get some breakfast and then pick up where you left off yesterday."
The group did just that. The backpacks were loaded with supplies and tagged for each Fool and carefully set by their respective sleeping areas. Ryan had Angel Hair, Rubble, and Kamikaze fix up some lunch while he went to check on the attic hatch.
T.Rex walked down the hallway to the back left bedroom. He heard some muffled laughter, and as he turned the corner he saw a bright beam of light illuminating the closet.
"Hey guys, progress report?" T.Rex shouted up. There were two distinctive thumps as Peace and Cowboy entered the attic via the roof.
Beard poked his head into the closet from the attic hatch. "Hey T.Rex. We were just about to come tell you the good news. We managed to get through the last of the studs a few minutes ago, and had spent a few minutes sweeping away the sawdust and insulation. C'mon up here and have a look around!"
T.Rex took the invitation to join them and scampered up the side of the dresser, grabbed the lip of the attic hatch and hoisted himself up slowly. Beard grabbed his shirt and pulled until he was through. Dusting himself off, he saw the pile of debris in the back of the attic. Nearby was the blinding beam of light from a roughly square hole cut in the slanted roof, starting a few inches from the floor and extending about three feet upwards.
"The way I figured it, we can sit in the actual attic and look outside," Beard pointed out. "This gives us decent visibility out of the backside of the house, but more importantly keeps us almost entirely hidden. And we don't have to worry about falling off, since it's level inside. The view is partially obscured by trees and another building, but you can see through it to Marsteller St.
"If we need to bolt, this side of the house and the trees will hide us for a bit before we break out into the open. It's possible to climb out of the hole and get up onto the roof, but even if you lay flat, you really risk being seen. Still, you get visibility over the whole complex this way, and it'd be better for signaling. I think it's possible to jump the awning over there to your neighbor's house, by the way."
T.Rex beamed. "Great job, guys. This will work quite well. How do you plan on keeping the rain out?"
"I honestly think we could just put some buckets down and collect rainwater, if it came to that. I mean, we aren't really worried about some soggy attic boards when we just destroyed part of the roof, right?" Peace asked.
"Well, keep a tarp up here just in case," T.Rex conceded. "Oh, and some nails and a hammer. For now, let's all grab some lunch."
The group raided the garbage bags of nonperishable food for sustenance, each Fool choosing a pair of items that appealed to them. As the meal wound down, T.Rex addressed the group once more.
"Alright Fools, the good news is that the bulk of the tasks to be done around here are finished. The bad news is that that means we've got not much else to do but sit around and wait patiently. We'll still have three meals, but starting tomorrow we're gonna start rationing a bit tighter with the food. This evening we're also gonna talk about some basic combat stuff, but in the meanwhile, I want everybody to oval up."
"Improv?" Cowboy asked. "Now?"
"Bingo. I want everybody to ovulate for warmups. It'll be good to have a break and have some fun for a bit," T.Rex explained.
With no time restrictions, the group made their way through the typical exercises. They started with a mashup of Bippity Bippity Bop, Do You Like Your Neighbors, and What Are You Doing.
The Fools ran through some of the basic games of their repertoire, starting with Chain Murder Mystery. Next came The Clap, Blind Date, 60 Second Alphabet, Deaf Interpreter, Space Jump, Swinging Pendulum, and then Word Rations. They took a short break and discussed some of the better scenes and jokes, and how to improve them. Continuing on, they played Moving People, Three Things, Do Run Run, Good Bad Worst Advice, and finally closed with 185.
After the final "and scene" was called, the group gathered in the living room to hear Ryan speak, as was quickly becoming the routine.
Ryan cleared his throat and began: "Fools, today I want you all to gather your personal survival packs that have been prepared and open them. I want you to pull everything out inspect it, study it, and become familiar with it. And then I want you to think about how each one can be used to its fullest potential. And then I want you to re-pack it all, and know where everything is, how it fits in there, and how to do it all over again. Go to it."
The Fools were eager to oblige, and they each found their packs near their sleeping areas and began to disassemble. Some of the Fools began to swap food items out of taste preference before Ryan noticed.
"Hey!" Ryan shouted. "I want everybody to swap back to how their food was. Beard and I have divided those up specifically for the best balance of weight and nutrition as possible, so unless it's a cherry Pop-Tart for a strawberry one, keep the stuff how it was."
The mood was slightly subdued as the group continued to explore their packs, but the excitement quickly resumed as they discovered the variety and complexity of equipment presented to them to manage.
As they finished re-packing, Ryan signaled Beard. He stood up and addressed the Fools. "Hey everybody, listen up. T.Rex has asked me to go over some general zombie combat with you all. So here we go.
"First, if you can avoid combat with a zombie, do so. It's dangerous, and it's incredibly risky. They've got nothing to lose, and no sense of danger, mercy, or hesitation. All they want is your brains, and they will do anything they can to get it, and that means they shrug off wounds that would stop you all. In addition, the longer you stop and fight one zombie, the more the moans and sounds of battle draw others to your location. So: moral of the story - run and live to fight another day.
"That said, if you have to fight, obviously, use whatever you can to put distance between you. Avoid fighting with your hands or in close corners - find a stick or chair or anything to keep away. Always look around to keep from running into a dead end or more zombies. Ryan already mentioned that if somebody gets bitten, there's no hope, so take them the hell out.
"Now, the only way to stop a zombie is to destroy its brain. You can cut off both legs and the vicious bastard is still gone try to crawl for ya. Cut off both arms and it won't flinch, just stumble single-mindedly for ya. Cutting off its head is okay, but it can still bite and infect you, so stay away from body parts. If you shoot, aim for the temple, between the eyes, or some kind of head shot. You can riddle the body with holes and it won't do any good unless the brain is stopped."
Brant raised a hand. "Uh, with all due respect, don't we know all this already?"
"Just making sure," said T.Rex. "Continue."
"Right," Beard said. "Like I said, shoot for the head, or smash its skull with something. That's the way to stop them. If you don't have a weapon and can't run, I would suggest kicking it away. Don't try and grapple with it."
Ryan stood. "Okay, I'm going to quickly review all the weapons, so that everybody else is on the same page. Everybody has two weapons, in case of emergency or breakage. I've got the hunting rifle and one of the crowbars, to start.
"Beard has one hatchet and the only other gun, and that's his pistol. Peace has the other hatchet and ski poles. Rubble has his bow and one pair of pool cues, Angel Hair has the other pool cues and the other crowbar. Cowboy, you've got the baseball bat and the biggest kitchen knife. Lastly, Kamikaze gets the machete and that nifty two by four.
"Alrighty, looks like it's about bedtime, so everybody pack up. We've got maybe an hour before sunset, I'm guessing, so you've all got free time until then. Oh, and by the way, I want each pair of night teams to spend a few minutes up in the attic surveying outside. Don't go on the roof unless you absolutely have to, and even then make sure anything reflective is covered and anything dangly is silenced. Basically, if you hear or see anything strange, come get me or Beard."
As the Fools milled around a bit before turning in, Ryan pulled Beard to the side.
"How are the phones?" T.Rex whispered.
"Not good," Beard replied. "All of the Verizon phones are no longer getting any signal, and I haven't heard anything on any of the other ones. I think we should make sure the group stays busy to avoid the bad news."
Current Word Count: 19,566
8:57am
Upstairs Headquarters
T.Rex grabbed Angel Hair's arm and sprinted into the living room. He saw Beard and Kamikaze sitting up and looking around sans earplugs. The others were sound asleep.
"Everybody stay quiet," he hissed.
There was silence as everybody awake strained to hear. There was one moan slightly louder than the rest that seemed to emanate from below, followed by a few irregular thumps.
"I think one got in downstairs," Beard whispered, and Kamikaze nodded in agreement. Brant snored loudly and everybody instinctively froze. Once they realized there was no threat, they relaxed. After a few minutes the noises went away, and together with Kamikaze and Beard, the last night watch pair woke the rest of the Fools and told them of the noises.
"I think the apartment below us may no longer be secure," T.Rex warned them. "Anyway, everybody get some breakfast and then pick up where you left off yesterday."
The group did just that. The backpacks were loaded with supplies and tagged for each Fool and carefully set by their respective sleeping areas. Ryan had Angel Hair, Rubble, and Kamikaze fix up some lunch while he went to check on the attic hatch.
T.Rex walked down the hallway to the back left bedroom. He heard some muffled laughter, and as he turned the corner he saw a bright beam of light illuminating the closet.
"Hey guys, progress report?" T.Rex shouted up. There were two distinctive thumps as Peace and Cowboy entered the attic via the roof.
Beard poked his head into the closet from the attic hatch. "Hey T.Rex. We were just about to come tell you the good news. We managed to get through the last of the studs a few minutes ago, and had spent a few minutes sweeping away the sawdust and insulation. C'mon up here and have a look around!"
T.Rex took the invitation to join them and scampered up the side of the dresser, grabbed the lip of the attic hatch and hoisted himself up slowly. Beard grabbed his shirt and pulled until he was through. Dusting himself off, he saw the pile of debris in the back of the attic. Nearby was the blinding beam of light from a roughly square hole cut in the slanted roof, starting a few inches from the floor and extending about three feet upwards.
"The way I figured it, we can sit in the actual attic and look outside," Beard pointed out. "This gives us decent visibility out of the backside of the house, but more importantly keeps us almost entirely hidden. And we don't have to worry about falling off, since it's level inside. The view is partially obscured by trees and another building, but you can see through it to Marsteller St.
"If we need to bolt, this side of the house and the trees will hide us for a bit before we break out into the open. It's possible to climb out of the hole and get up onto the roof, but even if you lay flat, you really risk being seen. Still, you get visibility over the whole complex this way, and it'd be better for signaling. I think it's possible to jump the awning over there to your neighbor's house, by the way."
T.Rex beamed. "Great job, guys. This will work quite well. How do you plan on keeping the rain out?"
"I honestly think we could just put some buckets down and collect rainwater, if it came to that. I mean, we aren't really worried about some soggy attic boards when we just destroyed part of the roof, right?" Peace asked.
"Well, keep a tarp up here just in case," T.Rex conceded. "Oh, and some nails and a hammer. For now, let's all grab some lunch."
The group raided the garbage bags of nonperishable food for sustenance, each Fool choosing a pair of items that appealed to them. As the meal wound down, T.Rex addressed the group once more.
"Alright Fools, the good news is that the bulk of the tasks to be done around here are finished. The bad news is that that means we've got not much else to do but sit around and wait patiently. We'll still have three meals, but starting tomorrow we're gonna start rationing a bit tighter with the food. This evening we're also gonna talk about some basic combat stuff, but in the meanwhile, I want everybody to oval up."
"Improv?" Cowboy asked. "Now?"
"Bingo. I want everybody to ovulate for warmups. It'll be good to have a break and have some fun for a bit," T.Rex explained.
With no time restrictions, the group made their way through the typical exercises. They started with a mashup of Bippity Bippity Bop, Do You Like Your Neighbors, and What Are You Doing.
The Fools ran through some of the basic games of their repertoire, starting with Chain Murder Mystery. Next came The Clap, Blind Date, 60 Second Alphabet, Deaf Interpreter, Space Jump, Swinging Pendulum, and then Word Rations. They took a short break and discussed some of the better scenes and jokes, and how to improve them. Continuing on, they played Moving People, Three Things, Do Run Run, Good Bad Worst Advice, and finally closed with 185.
After the final "and scene" was called, the group gathered in the living room to hear Ryan speak, as was quickly becoming the routine.
Ryan cleared his throat and began: "Fools, today I want you all to gather your personal survival packs that have been prepared and open them. I want you to pull everything out inspect it, study it, and become familiar with it. And then I want you to think about how each one can be used to its fullest potential. And then I want you to re-pack it all, and know where everything is, how it fits in there, and how to do it all over again. Go to it."
The Fools were eager to oblige, and they each found their packs near their sleeping areas and began to disassemble. Some of the Fools began to swap food items out of taste preference before Ryan noticed.
"Hey!" Ryan shouted. "I want everybody to swap back to how their food was. Beard and I have divided those up specifically for the best balance of weight and nutrition as possible, so unless it's a cherry Pop-Tart for a strawberry one, keep the stuff how it was."
The mood was slightly subdued as the group continued to explore their packs, but the excitement quickly resumed as they discovered the variety and complexity of equipment presented to them to manage.
As they finished re-packing, Ryan signaled Beard. He stood up and addressed the Fools. "Hey everybody, listen up. T.Rex has asked me to go over some general zombie combat with you all. So here we go.
"First, if you can avoid combat with a zombie, do so. It's dangerous, and it's incredibly risky. They've got nothing to lose, and no sense of danger, mercy, or hesitation. All they want is your brains, and they will do anything they can to get it, and that means they shrug off wounds that would stop you all. In addition, the longer you stop and fight one zombie, the more the moans and sounds of battle draw others to your location. So: moral of the story - run and live to fight another day.
"That said, if you have to fight, obviously, use whatever you can to put distance between you. Avoid fighting with your hands or in close corners - find a stick or chair or anything to keep away. Always look around to keep from running into a dead end or more zombies. Ryan already mentioned that if somebody gets bitten, there's no hope, so take them the hell out.
"Now, the only way to stop a zombie is to destroy its brain. You can cut off both legs and the vicious bastard is still gone try to crawl for ya. Cut off both arms and it won't flinch, just stumble single-mindedly for ya. Cutting off its head is okay, but it can still bite and infect you, so stay away from body parts. If you shoot, aim for the temple, between the eyes, or some kind of head shot. You can riddle the body with holes and it won't do any good unless the brain is stopped."
Brant raised a hand. "Uh, with all due respect, don't we know all this already?"
"Just making sure," said T.Rex. "Continue."
"Right," Beard said. "Like I said, shoot for the head, or smash its skull with something. That's the way to stop them. If you don't have a weapon and can't run, I would suggest kicking it away. Don't try and grapple with it."
Ryan stood. "Okay, I'm going to quickly review all the weapons, so that everybody else is on the same page. Everybody has two weapons, in case of emergency or breakage. I've got the hunting rifle and one of the crowbars, to start.
"Beard has one hatchet and the only other gun, and that's his pistol. Peace has the other hatchet and ski poles. Rubble has his bow and one pair of pool cues, Angel Hair has the other pool cues and the other crowbar. Cowboy, you've got the baseball bat and the biggest kitchen knife. Lastly, Kamikaze gets the machete and that nifty two by four.
"Alrighty, looks like it's about bedtime, so everybody pack up. We've got maybe an hour before sunset, I'm guessing, so you've all got free time until then. Oh, and by the way, I want each pair of night teams to spend a few minutes up in the attic surveying outside. Don't go on the roof unless you absolutely have to, and even then make sure anything reflective is covered and anything dangly is silenced. Basically, if you hear or see anything strange, come get me or Beard."
As the Fools milled around a bit before turning in, Ryan pulled Beard to the side.
"How are the phones?" T.Rex whispered.
"Not good," Beard replied. "All of the Verizon phones are no longer getting any signal, and I haven't heard anything on any of the other ones. I think we should make sure the group stays busy to avoid the bad news."
Current Word Count: 19,566
Friday, November 16, 2007
Chapter 14 - Reflections
June 7th, 2008
7:33pm
Upstairs Headquarters
Light quickly faded in the warm summer evening, and it was nowhere more evident than in the attic, as Cowboy, Peace, and Beard struggled with a way through the roof using flashlights and the tools at hand. They worked until they were nearly exhausted, and, upon seeing their progress and the toll it took on them, T.Rex authorized showers for everyone as long as the water held. Those waiting fixed themselves a hearty dinner of peanut butter sandwiches and granola bars.
Leaving the piles of individual equipment half sorted, they cleaned up and settled in for another hot and nervous night of rest. Ryan insisted that they all stay busy not only to complete important jobs and keep them from getting stir-crazy, but perhaps more importantly to distract them from constantly looking out the windows.
Unfortunately, as they turned in for the evening, the silence of the still apartment quickly gave way to the moans of the living dead outside. Earlier, Brant had found a box of earplugs nestled in the case of the rifle, and that gave everybody not on night watch a bit of respite from the horrible sounds. The windows, kept shut to muffle noise both coming in and going out, kept the heat trapped in as well, unfortunately. They had to cope as best as they could, and eventually they all drifted into uncomfortable sleep.
Ryan had always been a voracious dreamer, and the possible destruction of the world did nothing to quell that. Between the heat, the uncomfortable earplugs, the moans that still got through, and his aching muscles, he tossed and turned throughout the evening. Nightmares were creeping in as Cowboy and Kamikaze woke him and Angel Hair for the 3am-6am night watch shift.
T.Rex rose slowly. He started shaking his right arm vigorously and drew a quizzical look from Angel Hair. He silently mimed falling asleep on top of his tingling arm, and Angel Hair gave a silent "Ahhh", tapping his temple in recognition. They crept to the back bedroom and stood vigil over the apartment.
Ryan and Angel Hair peered through the blinds and gasped in unison. Outside, the number of zombies had increased dramatically, their eyes glowing ever-so-faintly in the darkness. Their shadowy figures stumbled around clumsily in the darkness, occasionally bumping into each other or an object without care. In the distance, a shrill scream could be heard, as a woman took what was most likely her last human breath.
Angel Hair sat quietly, contemplating. With no real light and the need to keep alert for strange sights and sounds, they more or less stared at the gaps in the blinds for a while. Ryan retreated inward, tuning out his self-doubt over leadership and instead took his girlfriend's frequent advice to think positive and be more optimistic. He thought about what a diverse and skilled group of loyal friends he was fortunate to collect.
Kamikaze. Renee was an incredibly sweet and thoughtful person, and the only girl in the current group of survivors. Come to think of it, she was now the "token female" now that Sweet Speak had graduated. Renee was a hard worker, and was always thinking of ways to improve their situation. She never complained about assignments, and didn't hesitate to ask for help. She'd grown up on a farm and wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. She was studying psychology after switching from engineering, so she thought with both halves of brain quite handily. One of her favorite pastimes was questioning people in different ways, just to see how they reacted or what they were comfortable admitting. It made conversation interesting, to say the least. She had recently shaved off most of her long, distinctive ponytail, but kept her weathered blue NASA hat. Renee was one of the tallest Fools, and nearly always wore a long denim skirt.
Peace. Andrew was a spastic and excitable fellow, but intensely inquisitive and dedicated on top of that. He has large eyes and always spoke with his hands. Often, he wore his glasses and hat with a stylish flair. He was an Eagle Scout, a chemist, and spoke multiple languages - but considered himself a writer first and foremost. He had questionable taste in music, but they shared a love of webcomics, Star Wars, and many other things to compensate. Just thinking of Peace incited a game loss. Ryan considered Peace his closest friend in the improv group currently, and was doing his best to groom him as a future leader of the troupe.
Beard. Eric was a manly and fierce looking character, but anybody who spent time with him knew he was a fair and incredibly reasonable person. The thing with Beard was, he'd give you a ton of chances to atone, but once you crossed the line, you were a goner. Ryan chalked that up to his Quaker beliefs and his Eagle Scout code. He also was trained in martial arts and a biologist. Peace and Beard were best friends since high school, and though they bickered like a married couple, they had a strong friendship that was not easily strained. Other than Beard's distinctive facial hair, both Andrew and Eric were similar in size, average height and weight with brown hair.
Cowboy. John was probably the most "normal" of the Fools, and not in a bad way. He was high octane, loud, and brash, but more sensitive than most people knew. Like Ryan, he loved to play Guitar Hero and watch football (as well as other sports). He usually wore his treasured blue Indianapolis Colts hat to practice. John had a large toothy grin and often amused himself with the antics of the other Fools, usually with Beard in the back of the room. He was fit and active, and was a management major. That kept him plenty busy, but he still found time to be in a business fraternity and to volunteer to be a Big Brother. He had a temper that flared up from time to time, but he worked hard to direct that into productive energy.
Angel Hair. Steve was a wiry chap with long, flowing locks and a comically large nose. He took it in stride, however, like everything else in life. He was the other newest Fool, and Ryan constantly strove to know them both better. He was a vegetarian, which currently did not conflict with the current menu of pre-packaged foods. His treasured leather jacket seemed to fly in the face of this belief, but he insisted it was "grandfathered in." He was a dual major, chemical engineering and theatre major, which gave him a dual personality similar to Renee. Rumor had it that he was something of a pickpocket as well, though that wouldn't do much against the living dead.
Rubble. Brant was a large jolly friend with a penchant for vests and fedoras. He was one of the two newest Fools, so Ryan didn't know him as well as he'd like to - yet. His major was medieval studies, which meant Brant had all sorts of useful skills like archery, fencing, and other weapons training. He had plenty of nerdy hobbies like reenactment societies and D&D, but that only endeared him to the group more. The first year of improv was a large test for Brant, but he emerged on the other side a stronger performer with more confidence and skill. Steve and Brant were as much a pair as Andrew and Eric, though they'd become friends with the entire troupe right away.
And himself? Ryan was easily the shortest of the Fools, with hobbit like features (though he'd just lost his curly hair). He was an aerospace engineer taking the scenic route through college, and the upcoming fall would be his fifth year...if society hadn't collapsed by then. He had been in the improv troupe nearly that entire time, and had even been Captain for a time, but that seemed like such a long time ago.
Ryan was by far the most senior member of the group, something that weighed heavily on his mind. He was only 22, but the other Fools around him seemed to look up to him at times as a respected elder, when in reality he still felt like a newcomer at times, especially when he thought back to all the past members. The older retired members seemed like giants, legends in their own right. Past exploits were handed down to the new Fools through a rich oral tradition. If something went wrong here, that could all be lost.
For all their differences, there were some similarities that connected them all, mostly having to do with improv. All of them were quick witted, clever, and committed to entertainment in some fashion. For the most part they shared the stage more or less equally, and valued teamwork. They all were trained to attack problems from multiple angles, to not deny, and of course improvise on and off the stage. Each one of them had individual specialties in academia, but most of them also had overlapping knowledge in more esoteric knowledge, from famous historical assassins to Golden Age movie stars.
Ryan slowly blinked the world back into focus as his trance-like concentration was broken by a sneeze. Angel Hair was sitting across the room quietly, eyes closed.
"Hey buddy," T.Rex said, softly.
"I was just resting my eyes!" Angel Hair insisted, snapping his head forward violently.
"It's fine. Let's go wake the others and get started for today."
They were walking towards the living room when they heard a pane of glass shatter nearby.
Current Word Count: 17,839
7:33pm
Upstairs Headquarters
Light quickly faded in the warm summer evening, and it was nowhere more evident than in the attic, as Cowboy, Peace, and Beard struggled with a way through the roof using flashlights and the tools at hand. They worked until they were nearly exhausted, and, upon seeing their progress and the toll it took on them, T.Rex authorized showers for everyone as long as the water held. Those waiting fixed themselves a hearty dinner of peanut butter sandwiches and granola bars.
Leaving the piles of individual equipment half sorted, they cleaned up and settled in for another hot and nervous night of rest. Ryan insisted that they all stay busy not only to complete important jobs and keep them from getting stir-crazy, but perhaps more importantly to distract them from constantly looking out the windows.
Unfortunately, as they turned in for the evening, the silence of the still apartment quickly gave way to the moans of the living dead outside. Earlier, Brant had found a box of earplugs nestled in the case of the rifle, and that gave everybody not on night watch a bit of respite from the horrible sounds. The windows, kept shut to muffle noise both coming in and going out, kept the heat trapped in as well, unfortunately. They had to cope as best as they could, and eventually they all drifted into uncomfortable sleep.
Ryan had always been a voracious dreamer, and the possible destruction of the world did nothing to quell that. Between the heat, the uncomfortable earplugs, the moans that still got through, and his aching muscles, he tossed and turned throughout the evening. Nightmares were creeping in as Cowboy and Kamikaze woke him and Angel Hair for the 3am-6am night watch shift.
T.Rex rose slowly. He started shaking his right arm vigorously and drew a quizzical look from Angel Hair. He silently mimed falling asleep on top of his tingling arm, and Angel Hair gave a silent "Ahhh", tapping his temple in recognition. They crept to the back bedroom and stood vigil over the apartment.
Ryan and Angel Hair peered through the blinds and gasped in unison. Outside, the number of zombies had increased dramatically, their eyes glowing ever-so-faintly in the darkness. Their shadowy figures stumbled around clumsily in the darkness, occasionally bumping into each other or an object without care. In the distance, a shrill scream could be heard, as a woman took what was most likely her last human breath.
Angel Hair sat quietly, contemplating. With no real light and the need to keep alert for strange sights and sounds, they more or less stared at the gaps in the blinds for a while. Ryan retreated inward, tuning out his self-doubt over leadership and instead took his girlfriend's frequent advice to think positive and be more optimistic. He thought about what a diverse and skilled group of loyal friends he was fortunate to collect.
Kamikaze. Renee was an incredibly sweet and thoughtful person, and the only girl in the current group of survivors. Come to think of it, she was now the "token female" now that Sweet Speak had graduated. Renee was a hard worker, and was always thinking of ways to improve their situation. She never complained about assignments, and didn't hesitate to ask for help. She'd grown up on a farm and wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. She was studying psychology after switching from engineering, so she thought with both halves of brain quite handily. One of her favorite pastimes was questioning people in different ways, just to see how they reacted or what they were comfortable admitting. It made conversation interesting, to say the least. She had recently shaved off most of her long, distinctive ponytail, but kept her weathered blue NASA hat. Renee was one of the tallest Fools, and nearly always wore a long denim skirt.
Peace. Andrew was a spastic and excitable fellow, but intensely inquisitive and dedicated on top of that. He has large eyes and always spoke with his hands. Often, he wore his glasses and hat with a stylish flair. He was an Eagle Scout, a chemist, and spoke multiple languages - but considered himself a writer first and foremost. He had questionable taste in music, but they shared a love of webcomics, Star Wars, and many other things to compensate. Just thinking of Peace incited a game loss. Ryan considered Peace his closest friend in the improv group currently, and was doing his best to groom him as a future leader of the troupe.
Beard. Eric was a manly and fierce looking character, but anybody who spent time with him knew he was a fair and incredibly reasonable person. The thing with Beard was, he'd give you a ton of chances to atone, but once you crossed the line, you were a goner. Ryan chalked that up to his Quaker beliefs and his Eagle Scout code. He also was trained in martial arts and a biologist. Peace and Beard were best friends since high school, and though they bickered like a married couple, they had a strong friendship that was not easily strained. Other than Beard's distinctive facial hair, both Andrew and Eric were similar in size, average height and weight with brown hair.
Cowboy. John was probably the most "normal" of the Fools, and not in a bad way. He was high octane, loud, and brash, but more sensitive than most people knew. Like Ryan, he loved to play Guitar Hero and watch football (as well as other sports). He usually wore his treasured blue Indianapolis Colts hat to practice. John had a large toothy grin and often amused himself with the antics of the other Fools, usually with Beard in the back of the room. He was fit and active, and was a management major. That kept him plenty busy, but he still found time to be in a business fraternity and to volunteer to be a Big Brother. He had a temper that flared up from time to time, but he worked hard to direct that into productive energy.
Angel Hair. Steve was a wiry chap with long, flowing locks and a comically large nose. He took it in stride, however, like everything else in life. He was the other newest Fool, and Ryan constantly strove to know them both better. He was a vegetarian, which currently did not conflict with the current menu of pre-packaged foods. His treasured leather jacket seemed to fly in the face of this belief, but he insisted it was "grandfathered in." He was a dual major, chemical engineering and theatre major, which gave him a dual personality similar to Renee. Rumor had it that he was something of a pickpocket as well, though that wouldn't do much against the living dead.
Rubble. Brant was a large jolly friend with a penchant for vests and fedoras. He was one of the two newest Fools, so Ryan didn't know him as well as he'd like to - yet. His major was medieval studies, which meant Brant had all sorts of useful skills like archery, fencing, and other weapons training. He had plenty of nerdy hobbies like reenactment societies and D&D, but that only endeared him to the group more. The first year of improv was a large test for Brant, but he emerged on the other side a stronger performer with more confidence and skill. Steve and Brant were as much a pair as Andrew and Eric, though they'd become friends with the entire troupe right away.
And himself? Ryan was easily the shortest of the Fools, with hobbit like features (though he'd just lost his curly hair). He was an aerospace engineer taking the scenic route through college, and the upcoming fall would be his fifth year...if society hadn't collapsed by then. He had been in the improv troupe nearly that entire time, and had even been Captain for a time, but that seemed like such a long time ago.
Ryan was by far the most senior member of the group, something that weighed heavily on his mind. He was only 22, but the other Fools around him seemed to look up to him at times as a respected elder, when in reality he still felt like a newcomer at times, especially when he thought back to all the past members. The older retired members seemed like giants, legends in their own right. Past exploits were handed down to the new Fools through a rich oral tradition. If something went wrong here, that could all be lost.
For all their differences, there were some similarities that connected them all, mostly having to do with improv. All of them were quick witted, clever, and committed to entertainment in some fashion. For the most part they shared the stage more or less equally, and valued teamwork. They all were trained to attack problems from multiple angles, to not deny, and of course improvise on and off the stage. Each one of them had individual specialties in academia, but most of them also had overlapping knowledge in more esoteric knowledge, from famous historical assassins to Golden Age movie stars.
Ryan slowly blinked the world back into focus as his trance-like concentration was broken by a sneeze. Angel Hair was sitting across the room quietly, eyes closed.
"Hey buddy," T.Rex said, softly.
"I was just resting my eyes!" Angel Hair insisted, snapping his head forward violently.
"It's fine. Let's go wake the others and get started for today."
They were walking towards the living room when they heard a pane of glass shatter nearby.
Current Word Count: 17,839
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