Well i have to go to work now, heres what i have so far, read it if you want, i tried applying the tips suggested here, though i may have gotten lost writing the story and forgot some of them. But maybe you can tell me how the story is coming or some suggestions of what happens next, heh.
Mitch wrote:
“What time is it?”, I wondered. I look up at the clock; “Ten… shit, time to get up.” It’s quiet, as I lay there I wonder why I hadn’t been woken up sooner by the sound of yelling kids and honking horns. After all, the paper thin walls of my house gave no protection from the obnoxious screams of excited kids, whom didn’t care that other people like to sleep in
I felt around on my nightstand; “found ‘em… Ugh, why do I smoke these things?”, I sighed. As soon as the smoke hit my lungs I remembered. As I sat at the edge of my bed and put my socks on, I noticed the TV was showing white fuzz, as if it wasn’t getting a signal. “Strange”, I thought. I wobble over to turn it off, and make my way downstairs. Walking into my living room I notice my roommate Billy glued to the TV, this of course is nothing new. I walk into the kitchen and crack open a Vanilla Coke, it tasted amazing as the cold bubbles hit my parched throat, if only I could have enjoyed it longer.
“Mitch come here”, he yelled from the other room. “What’s up dude?”, I casually replied. “You’re not going to believe this, this is insane! It’s spreading so quickly…!” That’s all I heard as he continued mumbling. “The whole state man! Come here, just look!”. I walk out into the living room wondering what the hell he’s on about. The TV’s tuned to local news channel 9, it was a man speaking “Lock all your doors, cover all your windows”, he said. I’ve never seen this guy before, he looked like he was on his fifth cup of coffee – this hour. His tie was not straight, his sleeves rolled up and the button around the neck of his undershirt was open as if he didn’t care. As I sat there studying the imperfections in his suit and wondering why he’s on live TV looking this way, Billy reaches over and hits my shoulder; “Dude we have to get ready!” he says. As I snap out of my daze I come to realize what’s going on; The news reporter is still repeating his most basic instructions; “Lock all your doors, cover all your windows, do not try to reason with these things they are no longer your family members or friends!” My heart nearly stops as I look down at the scrolling text bar near the bottom of the screen, I catch only a glipse of it’s bold red text as it flies by; “Officials believe it’s linked to a chemical spill that happened early this morning in the North Syracuse area, people are calling this a “zombie outbreak” because of the striking similarity to recent movies in which these “infected” people are commiting mass senseless murders as if…” the tv goes dead silent and the picture switches to an emergency broadcast loop that looks like it was made in the 1950’s.
“What”, It’s not that I didn’t understand, I have been a zombie movie enthusiast for my entire life. “Zombies man, it finally happened. It’s a freaking zombie outbreak dude” Billy yelled. As I walk over to the window and peered through the blinds I see the streets are empty, no cars, no people and no annoying kids next door bouncing a tennis ball off their metal garage door. “Is this some kind of joke man, am I on some prank TV show” I asked as I continued looking for any signs of life. “I wish man but we need to start getting ready!”. It’s laughably ironic that just last night we had watched “Zombieland”, a funny but good movie about surviving a zombie outbreak. I reach into the pocket of my jeans and pull out my cell phone, “Well, we still have service.” I mutter, as I dial my parents cell phone number. A sigh of relief passes over me as I remember they ‘re on a trip with Billy’s parents to Italy. They had left for they’re month long trip just a few days ago, we’ve been good family friends for a long time and since both are retired they decided to go together.
“Hello, no one is available to take your call, please leave a message after the tone.” The generic answering machine puts an end to my short burst of excitement- I forgot, they’re sleeping in that time zone. I look over at Billy, he’s staring back, “How many guns do you have?” he asks. I have also been a gun enthusiast slash survivalist for most of my life, a firm believer in the second amendment I was never afraid to keep my home safe. I knew exactly what weapons I had, but suggested we go upstairs and take an inventory anyways. As we begin shuffling towards the stairs the dead silence of the day was broken with the violent scream of a woman. We both run back to the window just in time to see something rabid running towards our neighbor Roxanne, she pulls something from her pocket – a string of gunshots follows, ringing through the air. Two shots, the body dropped to the ground as she ran back inside her house and slammed the door.
Things just got serious as we both darted upstairs to my room. “They thought I went overboard” I said, commenting about my closet full of emergency items, as well as some canned food, and of course; guns. “Mossberg 500, Hi-point 9mm” I said as Billy followed behind me through the doorway. I reach into my closet and hand him the 20 gauge Mossberg shotgun. It was a common shotgun, and had a pistol-grip modification so you didn’t have to hold it against your shoulder. “We only have five rounds for that.” I said, handing him the box of shells. “What else?” he replied. “Well, I have my Hi-point rifle, but I’ll be taking that. I’ve also got a machete, a few hunting knives, and… that’s it.” I knew in my head I only had about fifty rounds for my rifle, and we both agreed that if what the news reporter said was true, we’re dealing with a lot more of those things.
“Hey, doesn’t your dad collect guns too.” Billy was right, my dad has a collection of rifle’s and pistols big enough to build his own “rifle room” as he did a few years ago. “Well he sure couldn’t have taken them with him!” I excitedly said. “Let’s get our shit together and head over that way!” We finished loading both rifles and prepared the rest of my supplies to be taken over.
“Vroom”, my 2000 Dodge Stratus starts up, the engine roaring to life and echoing loudly inside my closed garage. We finished packing the trunk and contemplated how we should go about doing this. “Lets peak under the garage door and make sure there’s nothing out there” Billy suggested, as he laid down – shotgun in hand, and lifted the garage door just an inch.“I see two” he said, scared. “One is about 20 feet down your driveway, one is probly a hundred feet…” he paused, “It just looked this way”. By this time I was laying down too, only to catch a glimpse of what Billy was talking about. A horrific looking woman stood there, with torn clothes and blood coming from her mouth– In a dead stare looking directly into my eyes. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, it sent fear shooting through me. Suddenly, like a lion ready for it’s prey, she started darting towards us – arms flailing, noises you would expect from an wild hog. We both pushed the door down just in time as she collided with the metal panels, and letting out a scream.
“We have to kill it!” screamed Billy. As we retreat into the house slamming the door behind us, locking the deadbolt behind me. Before I could catch my breath Billy fired two shots from the living room window. “Got her!”, he proclaimed. Somehow he managed to grab my rifle, I hadn’t been paying attention while I was scrambling to lock the door. “Boom” he fired another round this time aimed down the block. “And another, haha!”, He must have meant the second zombie he spotted before.
Billy is still sitting there holding my rifle, “I just killed two people” he said quietly, still clutching the gun. “No man, it’s okay! It’s self defense, they aren’t human!” I tried to reassure him. “Lets go, we need to go now!” I said, as I grabbed my shotgun and walked back to my car – it had been running this whole time, gas was almost on empty. “Fuck!” I yelled, upset, remembering how I was supposed to get gas last night, but instead hurried home for movie night. As I leaned back in my seat I glared around the garage to find a buildup of exhaust which was probably going to kill me shortly unless I came up with a plan. Through the thickening smoke I see our two gallon gas can. “Well we won’t be mowing the lawn anytime soon!” I smiled. Billy was now sitting in the passenger seat with the window down and the barrel of the Mossberg conveniently laying between the side mirror and the car door. The gas container was full, and as I figured put about enough gas in for my four cylinder engine to make it to my parents house. “Are you ready?” I asked, with my hand on the garage door. “Let’s do it”. I pull up the garage door and run back to my car, locking the doors.
“It’s about fifteen miles” I said aloud, as I pulled the shifter into drive. I casually drive around the dead carcass of the woman who tried to eat us earlier, and began down the streets of my neighborhood. The first glimpse of how deserted it really is, people must have evacuated. There was no traffic on the roads, you could drive right down the middle as fast as you want. “Never thought I would welcome a cop” I said to Billy, he laughed and shook his head. The Valero gas station is trashed, and looks as if people robbed the place by the masses. You can see shelves turned over and the cooler doors open, everything is gone inside. “It’s not worth stopping”, we agreed, doing about 70 past a 35 mile per hour speed limit sign. Approaching the turn into my dad’s neighborhood I notice a car crash down the street. A red minivan and what looks like an Oldsmobile Alero have combined into one heap of metal. I punch the gas before either of us really comprehend the fact that there are multiple bodies laying around the crash site.
“Everyone’s gone here, too” Billy sighed, as we drove down the neighborhood roads. “It’s probably a good thing” I replied, “We don’t need to get robbed or killed”. I still have a garage door opener for my parents house tucked in my glove compartment, as we approach I press the small plastic remote between my thumb and pointer finger, and the door begins to open. Aside from an overall deserted feel, the exterior of the house seemed untouched. “Well, we’re here!” I proclaim. The engine comes to a stop as a pull out the key, I reach for the remote to shut the garage door behind us, and head inside. Billy already made himself comfortable on the couch eating something out of a dish on the end table. “I’m starving” he yells. As he says that it hits me that I still haven’t had more than a Coke for breakfast, my stomach begins moaning like… well, a zombie.
Ignoring it I make my was into my dad’s rifle room to feast my eyes on the most amazing site. My dad, being an ex navy seal, was a gun enthusiast, and first class firearms license holder, which means he can legally own fully automatic weapons as well as other unique collectors items.
