Not one of the two of them could sleep a wink for the rest of that night.The mouse had been horrible enough for them, and they remained quiet for the rest of the night, both dreading leaving the safety of the van, even if it was having a large slit in the roof while lying on its side. The former sleeping arrangements which a game of rock, paper, scissors, had settled now mattered less, because they were in odd, barely comfortable positions in an overturned van.They remained quiet for so long that even when the mouse had been gone for hours, they were still held under its spell, both too afraid to talk, and still yet amused that they had survived once again.Only Max mustered enough courage to speak when he saw the sky lighten up. “Kev?”“What?”“It's morning.”“I see it.”Max chuckled to himself, adjusting his body to recline better in the position of the car to free the blood trapped in his leg. “I might need a cigarette. I have to clear the image of that rat from my head.”“It wa
When Kevin brought the van to a stop after thirty minutes of driving, it was still early in the morning, the sun only hot enough to warm up Middlestown's emptiness.Max looked around in amazement, wondering where the bunker was. All along he had come expecting to see some tall, secure building, and not an old well with a wide area of damp sand around it sitting pretty while trees and shrubs stood around the edge, seemingly threatening.“Where is it?” He asked Kevin, who took out a pack of cigarettes for a smoke while sitting behind the steering wheel. “All I can see here is a well.”“There is no well.”“That thing there is Middlestown’s bunker?”“Yes. It is the bunker, and it is under the ground. I did tell you that it was an underground bunker, and you don't think that the people fighting the second world war would build anything that would stand high and welcoming if they wanted to escape fighter jets, don't you, Soldier?”“I get it now, Kev. I understand what you meant.”Kevin smil
In front of Kevin and his chainsaw stood not one, but two of these zombies, the second even bigger than the first they had seen.“Hold them, Kevin.” Max yelled, before rushing out of the bunker to get to the van. His hands shook in anticipation and a malicious part of his mind suggested that he run away with the van and leave Kevin, but he shook his head, refusing to listen to that voice.He pulled the back of the van open, and there lay his intended RPG, which was thankfully multiple use. Taking a pair of earmuffs and two rounds, he loaded one in the canister, and ran forward with the other down the bunker stairs. There, he could see Kevin swinging at them with his chainsaw the way only a mad man would have, the first one reaching to grab Kevin with a rotting, slimy hand without success thanks to the Allfather's Technology, and the other one's tongue swinging about like a reptile, also trying to get a hold on Kevin. They could not touch him, but rather, were getting cuts on them fro
It was at this point that Max remembered the boy they sent in. He managed to get to his feet and go there despite the way his body shook from the harrowing experience they had just been through, and surely enough, the lad was there, with his palms pressed against his ears and tears running down his cheeks as he lay curled up on the floor.Max was touched by the sight in that instant. He plopped to the ground near the boy and took him in his arms, holding him close. At first, their contact startled him, and he shuddered in response to this unexpected touch, but then the lad relaxed when he saw it was him.“You're fine now. They're both dead.” Max whispered. “Are you okay?”The lad nodded, but Max held on for a while.“Can you stand up, or are you okay?”Sure enough, the boy could, and then Max led him forward, only to run into Kevin, who seemed to have been coming to check on them. Kneeling before him, Kevin grabbed his arms and looked him straight in the eye, asking if he was okay.A
Who is she?” Kevin had asked on sight of the girl, perplexed.She looked away, clearly shy, and it touched the men's hearts. Again, they exchanged glances, and this time, they were both uncertain. At first, they were just two men surviving a zombie apocalypse. Now, they were laden with two children whom they did not know what to do with, yet were hard pressed to take care of. Despite their confusion, the little girl was soon handed a coarse meal they knew she was not used to, yet she said her thank you with a smile of appreciation that warmed Kevin's heart.Max took his own meal and another beer, while Kevin got a cigar he stood smoking.“So we came to the bunker to find safety and instead, got two children.” Max noted.“They don't seem bad to me. I like the girl —”“I'm not a big fan of kids.” “Why?” “They are cute, adorable and all, but are hard to care for. They can fall sick. They often have issues, and could even be a burden if we need a quick escape with them around. Sometime
Laila William and Stefan Kingsley had found each other in the thicket earlier that morning.One was an untouchable, protected young girl from the zombies, while the other was a broken, wounded young man, and while Laila grappled with the mystery of the Allfather, Stefan was coming into contact with the zombies.His scream alerted her, and she had rushed forward to find him in the midst of the zombies. Without a second thought, she leapt over and fell right on top of him, her body lying prone over him so that her head was above his shoulder, allowing for her lips to be close to his ear, and for his to be the same for her own ear.It was why the vibration rang into her ear when he let out another pained scream.“Are you crazy?” She shot at him on impulse, and still yet, kept her voice low.“Why did you do that?” He asked, returning her question with another in a voice just as low, despite the pain that wanted to rip him in pieces. “My leg is broken.” As soon as he said the words, she f
Kevin huddled the children into the car, swearing to them that he was going to come back, even though he had to raise his voice for the girl to hear him. Her eyes started to water when she did at last, and it was only the boy pulling her close to hold her that allowed them some respite.“Let's go, Kev. Leave the kids and let's go and check who it is.” Max yelled, hauling his RPG onto his back and slipping a pistol into his pocket. Kevin kissed the children, slammed the door, and ran with Max into the thickets, when the shouts reached them again.They crushed all in their path, running forward when they came upon the scene. A young man was held up by one of the large zombies, only hanging because the thing's tongue held onto him like a dear trophy. At its feet, a girl was trying to distract it and stop the boy with her from being eaten by distracting it, throwing stones at it.“Distract him and get the boy off. I'll shoot the gun.” Max ordered, going off to hide while Kevin pulled out
Outside Middlestown, the rest of the world stood watching with bated breath, and that small, largely unknown town became a world sensation in a week for reasons it would not have desired.Awareness of Middlestown's plight started with a 34-second phone recorded video uploaded to Facebook, in which someone was running through some hallway in a house before turning the camera's focus to show three creatures with grey, peeling skin as they attacked a man who had fallen to the floor, his blood curdling screams making the video one of the most frightening things anyone had laid eyes upon.The video's caption was just as chilling as the video itself. It read:“SAVE US IN MIDDLESTOWN. WE ARE BEING ATTACKED BY STRANGE CREATURES. #SAVE MIDDLESTOWN. #PRAY FOR MIDDLESTOWN.”It instantly went viral, but failed to get the reaction that the poster hoped for, with most of the comments lauding how everything could be done with artificial intelligence in recent times, and others making jokes about it