Friday, February 12, 2010

Zombie: A (short) Love Story? Chapter 1

Friday Night. 9pm. Megan’s House.

“BOOOOM!” The walls shook, dishes fell off the counter, and a picture frame fell off Megan’s wall.

“Oh My Gosh!!” Megan screamed, startled. “Mom? Dad?” She carefully crept downstairs. Her parents were looking out the window, staring at the thick black smoke visible just past the graveyard. “What was that?”

“I don’t know, but it doesn’t look good. Let’s check the news.” He flipped over to the local news channel.

Announcer – “Breaking News. Local Hospital seems to have exploded. Our Eye in the Sky Chopper is on the scene. Mass destruction. More information as it is available.”

“That’s just down the road.” Her dad said.

“That’s so sad.” Her mom said quietly.

“And Scary.” Megan added. She decided to go back up to her bedroom, with her trusty puppy, and call her boyfriend. He always made her feel better.

Saturday Morning. 8 am. Megan’s house.

The mist was beginning to clear at the Graveyard across the street. Megan stared out the window, thinking how pretty it usually was. This morning was different, as there was still smoke in the air from the explosion the night before. Just as she was about to turn away to watch tv, she saw something move at the graveyard. She looked harder, and swore she saw a gravestone move a little. She rubbed her eyes, blinked a few times, and looked again. The gravestone fell over… And a figure rose up from the ground. Megan screamed…

Saturday Morning. 8:15am. George’s House.

Bleary-eyed, George groped for his cell phone as it rang on his nightstand. He knew it would be his Meggie, calling to say Good Morning! He hit the answer button, and all he heard was screaming.

Now suddenly very awake, George jumped up out of bed and began getting dressed while he tried to get Megan to say something.

“Meg, Meg, Meg, what is it? What’s going on? Are you ok? I’m driving to your house right now. Should I call the police. Is everything ok? Megan!!??”

Finally, as he was racing down the steps, and snagging the car keys off the key rack, she said the word that stopped him in his tracks.

“Zombie. Dead guy, gravestone. Oh My God, there’s another one!” And the screaming resumed.

George didn’t know what to make of it. There was no such thing as Zombies. Like Vampires, big foot, and Frankenstein’s monster, they were all just myth and legend. But something had scared Megan… He decided to grab his soft air rifle and a baseball bat that was in his garage, and jump in the car.

Saturday Morning. 8:45am. Joy and Chazz’s house.

“Get the phone.” Chazz said, smacking his wife gently on the back.

“Wha?” Joy said, blinking. Oh the phone, she thought. Right. She grabbed her cell off the night stand. George’s picture stared back at her. “It’s George. That’s weird.” She sat up, hugging the blankets around her. “Morning George, what can I do for you?”

“Zombies. They are everywhere here. I think they got into Megan’s house. I’m going in to find her. “ Joy blinked again.

“What? What the hell are you talking about.” Chazz sat up at that one. “George? Did you say Zombies? Are you drunk or something?” In the background she could hear a low grumbly, gurgly noise. “George?!”

“No, I’m serious. Zombies. I’ve got to find Megan. Then we are heading to your house. You might want to call the police, or something.”

Joy turned to Chazz. “ Who do you call for Zombies? Police, or an Ambulance?”

“What the hell are you talking about.” Chazz asked.

“George is at Megan’s and says there are Zombies everywhere. He is going to find Megan and come here, and thinks we should call the police.”

“George,” Joy said into her phone. “What are the Zombies doing?” Chazz laughed, and turned on the tv, to catch the morning news. The Eye in the Sky Chopper is flying over the graveyard next to the hospital that exploded, and there are empty graves… lots of over turned gravestones…. And George on his cell phone. “George, you are on TV!”

“Really?” George looked up to see the helicopter, and then waved.

“Oh look, Meggie just came out of the house!” Joy said, looking at the TV screen.

George turned around. Joy and Chazz realize that something isn’t right.

“George… George… no George, don’t hug her! Oh My God! GEORGE!!!” They watched as George ran over to hug Megan, and then George dropped to the ground.

Joy dropped the phone as she watched George twitch, and stop moving. The helicopter feed stopped as Megan looked up, and everyone saw that she had a good part of George's scalp in her one hand, and blood on her face. Megan smiled. Joy threw up.

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