**This was more a story idea than a short story but the paper it was on was almost destroyed. Before it was lost forever I decided to put it on computer and turn it into more of a short story. Just a taste for now, hopefully I can eventually flesh it out one way or another**
**I specifically left out descriptions of the characters and scenery bc for this short introduction teaser, I really wanted the reader to paint the picture themselves like it’s happening to them in their city. Leaves a chance for disappointment if I’m ever able to explore this story in depth and have to settle on specific characteristics/scenery, but still thought it was best for the initial intro to the story to leave it open**
Short Story #2 – REVENGE OF DEATH –
PROLOGUE
14 days “no contact” vacation – cell phones were left locked in their truck and would only turn them on once a day to check for emergencies. Jericho Wilson and Samantha Morris were high school sweethearts that had continued their romance into their adult lives. But both led busy work schedules that caused them to travel quite a bit. Jericho was what is best described as a freelance doctor, traveling all over the country to help those that needed it most. Samantha was rising in the ranks at a leading Tech company due to her advanced skill-set. Work life was satisfying but often left little time for each other, which is why they treated these vacations seriously and only true emergencies would cause them to break the rules. The emergency line in the cabin was to be left connected but Jericho accidentally kicked it out of the plug when he was carrying in supplies and didn’t bother to plug it back in. I previously used the word ‘was’ to describe their occupations because that world is no longer standing. Unbeknownst to Jericho and Samantha, on day 2 of their vacation the world they knew and had existed previously fell to the Zombie Apocalypse.
The cabin is very secluded with no close neighbours, I guess being a doctor gave Jericho the confidence to seek that level of privacy. Because of the seclusion, it would be more rare to see another person while out there than not. As mentioned previously, these vacations were extremely important to the health of Jericho and Samantha’s relationship so they did not seek out contact with the outside world in any way and everyone they knew were mindful not to contact them during this time. They always carried more than enough supplies so they could maximize their time together. All these factors contributed to Jericho and Samantha being complete unaware that anything had happened when they packed up and headed home after an amazing 2 weeks together. This would be the last slice of heaven they would get as the world they knew was gone, they were heading into hell.
As they start to get further away from the cabin they notice some things that would classify as outside the norm like gates being left open or full mailboxes but nothing significant enough to cause alarm. That changes when they get to the gas station they normally use when in town for a cabin trip, nobody is there but door is open and lights are on. There is blood on the ground next to the spot the owners car would have been parked. Concerned, Jericho tries to use his cell phone to call the owner, then he tries authorities but has no service. The land line in the gas station is also dead. Jericho and Samantha know something is not right so they fill up with gas, leave the cash on the counter and head into the city.
Things progressively get worse as they leave the gas station, seeing things like fires and crashed out cars. As they finally reach the outskirts of the city, they see their first Zombie. Jericho slows down to help but can see something is not right with this person, he remembered reading a comic about zombies but could not actually believe it until he almost got bit. Barely able to fend it off, Jericho circles back with the truck and kills the zombie. Now they are in a panic to get back to their families but are met with a massive wall across ¾ of the North end of the city. The wall which looked to be built of metal, concrete, whatever they could find, seems like it was built to hold the dead as there is big writing on it saying “HELLS GATES,” “DEAD ZONE,” and finally “RUN.” As they move closer to the wall, Jericho and Samantha see that it also has messages to missing people from their friends and family. They check but none are for them.
As they move to figure out a way around the Wall, the come across a ‘bit’ survivor named Nelson. He fills them in on what went down. Nelson says he had some friends that were plugged into the world so to speak, and they told him the rumour was that scientists trying to play God on a space station orbiting the Earth caused an explosion. The results caused this disease, whatever this is to take form and be released directly into our atmosphere. Nobody can hide from it and everyone has it. Nelson warns them that when people die they come back as those things, everyone he has seen die so far has come back. Tells them that only head shots will kill the zombies. Jericho asks about the wall. Nelson says that numbers of the zombies seemed to grow by the second and the plan was to evacuate a section of the city to herd the zombies there to wait for a cure. But then things got worse and they didn’t bother evacuating the north end of the city, they just herded all the zombies there. The plan after they realized a cure was not coming was to bomb the section of the city to kill all the zombies. This happened when communications were still barely hanging on between cities. But when news spread of what was happening in the cities with the mass casualties, large groups of people in every other city revolted against the military causing them to abandon the plans to bomb turning the sections of these cities into a literal hell. Communications went down for good across the world after this while the militaries turned to self preservation and left everyone else to fend for themselves.
Nelson offered them a deal, a mercy kill for his weapons and supplies that he had stashed away. Nelson did not want to become a zombie, one of them, so he was hoping someone would come along to give him a warrior’s death as he didn’t have it in him to do it himself. Jericho agrees, collects the supplies and beheads Nelson with his sword. Jericho and Samantha continue on to try and find a way around the wall when they come up on a hill and see into the valley that it is covered with zombies eating a cattle herd. As quiet as they were being, even that started to attract the attention of the zombies in the valley so they drove back to where they started to regroup from there. But as they approached they saw it was already covered with zombies as well and Jericho realized they were in a very dangerous place and needed to get out of there asap. Thanks to some expert driving, Jericho is able to get through the zombies in the field and back onto another road that will take them to another area of the city. Jericho realizes they need to move quickly but also cautiously as things could change in an instant in this environment. He is not only on guard for zombies but also marauders, Jericho knows the worst of people are coming out as well right now. As they drive into the city, they see people hiding in houses peeking out and hiding on rooftops, things are very bad for people right now.
They have to park and hide the truck to head towards Samantha’s house on foot. They are slowly able to make their way to Samantha’s house, killing multiple zombies each along the way. Samantha’s house looks deserted and they fear the worst but they were only hiding, by some miracle all of her family survived! Samantha’s father told Jericho about a larger group trying to take charge and help people when thing’s first went bad. But that group was recently devastated by a fight vs marauders and then a zombie attack immediately after. Samantha’s family barely escaped in time but were able to get everyone out plus a few others and make their way to the house. They had given up hope on Jericho and Samantha when they couldn’t contact them and knowing they would be coming into the north end of the city.
Jericho immediately leaves to go find his house as that is where he believes his family will be and every able bodied person willingly follows. Many zombies are killed along the way, after seeing all of Sam’s family survive Jericho is allowing himself to be optimistic. But as they arrive Jericho’s worst fears seem to be realized, zombie bodies are piled all over the yard, concentrated and piled up near the front door of the house but the door is open. They remove the bodies and are able to get inside when Jericho’s fears are confirmed, his family is dead. Bodies of his 2 brothers are on the ground in the living room covered in blankets. Jericho’s mother, laid back in a rocking chair with a shotgun wound to the head. Jericho’s father, laid back in his chair with a shotgun wound under the chin, the last shell. Only his sister is missing but her body is nowhere to be found.
Upon inspection of the house, they found 2 messages written on the walls in zombie blood, 1 in the dining area and 1 in the master bedroom. Wall 1 in the dining area:
LET IT BE KNOWN THE WILSON FAMILY
KILLED COUNTLESS NUMBER OF ZOMBIE SCUM
AND FOUGHT THEM TO THE VERY END!! THROUGH
NO FAULT OF OUR OWN WE ARE DOWN TO THE LAST OF
OUR AMMO AND WILL USE IT TO MAKE SURE WE DIE
AS HUMANS AND STAY THAT WAY!! I LOVED THIS WORLD
AND KNOW GOOD PEOPLE WILL RISE UP AND TAKE IT BACK
MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON OUR SOULS
Wall 2 in the master bedroom:
JERICHO, JENNY – I KNOW YOU ARE ALIVE AND SAFE BC
YOU ARE WILSONS SO YOU ARE STRONG. BE ON YOUR HIGHEST
GUARD OF ZOMBIES AND UNFORTUNATELY HUMANS TOO
OUR STRONGHOLD WE STARTED TO BUILD WAS DESTROYED
BY SCUMBAGS POSING AS GOOD PEOPLE. TIM WAS KILLED
IN THAT FIGHT. BEN WAS BIT SAVING US FROM A
ZOMBIE ATTACK. WE HEARD OF OTHER ATTEMPTS TO SET UP
STRONGHOLDS SO TRY AND CONTACT THEM. YOU
WILL NEED TO FIND OTHER GOOD PEOPLE TO SURVIVE. STAY
ALIVE AND TAKE AS MANY OUT AS YOU CAN. GOODBYE
AND GODSPEED, WE LOVE YOU AND WE WILL SEE YOU AGAIN
ONE DAY!! LLAP
MOM & DAD
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END OF PROLOGUE
To be continued…