Entry of the Damned

You ran faster, hoping the undead were far behind you. Suddenly, you spot a house in the distance. It is pitch black from where you stood. You smiled and ran harder, hoping that zombies weren't occupying it.

Your shotgun was slung across your back, and two pistols rest in holsters on either side of your body. The weight of the weapons were wearing you down and your body was feeling dehydrated. The house was so close you could almost touch it. You stopped once you reached the front porch and started to scale the perimeter of the house to check for anything unusual.

The outside of the house had rotten flesh decorating it like a new paint job. Blood spatters were seen on the grass every few feet. This place was brutal.

Nothing else looked out of the ordinary...of course, what is really considered ordinary after all that's happened?

As I made it around to the front of the house, I took in the exterior for the first time. The front door had boards on it but only in the outline of the door itself. It made no sense to even have boards on it if the sole purpose was to promote ornamentation.

You could hear the gurgling of a few wanderers that weren't far behind so you ran up to the door and pulled it open easily. The door was unlocked...

That seemed pretty suspicious. You lightly closed the door behind you, not wanting to draw any attention to yourself by making a loud noise.

As soon as the door latched into place, you heard a small beep and that's when you noticed the wire. It ran from around the door knob to somewhere in another part of the room. You followed it to behind what looked like an old TV stand. You pushed the stand out of the way and gasped at the sight that was unfolding before your tired and weary eyes.

It was a trap.

A little girl sat crossed legged. In her lap was a leather bound book that seemed to have faded from black to a dull, but still dark, grey.

She was dead.

Well, you didn't know that for sure but you hoped for yours and her sake, that she was.

Next to her was a small box.

"Oh shit."

You whispered as you realized what this box was and what it meant for you. It was on its side and you slowly turned it over. Bright red numbers counted down on the small object.

"Shit, shit, shit..."

You noticed the wire protruding from the top of it. You put two and two together to realize it was the wire around the door knob of the front door.

The time read: 04:56:23.

You have roughly 5 hours before it detonates.

"This is bad." You whisper.

Looking around the room, you begin to realize you never checked for wanderers. The house was completely silent and all the doors were closed. You decided that you'd rather the wanderers come to you instead of checking the house. Right now, your main focus was to get out of here without blowing yourself up.

Somehow, the journal that the girl held peaked your interest. You carefully and stealthily took out your knife and held it close to the girl with one hand, the other reaching to snatch the journal from the poor girl's arms.

Once it was safe to say that she was dead and not waking up any time soon, you took her journal without making a sound. A small picture fell out, floating to the ground in front of you.

You picked it up and stared at it for a few seconds. It was a picture of the little girl and her mom and dad. Scratch that, her moms.

I opened her journal and noticed all the other entries were missing except for two. The first one was dated a year ago. I couldn't help myself and decided to read it. Only for a bit...

Mommy and Mom were fighting again. They were yelling at each other about Daddy coming and seeing me. Mommy was saying how it would be good for me and Daddy both. Mom thought it was a terrible idea. She said I was only 10 and didn't need to be confused.

I left the room after that and didn't hear the rest of what they were saying. It was probably not something I wasn't supposed to hear anyway.

Daddy showed up later that day and him and Mom got into a huge argument. He turned to me and asked if I wanted to go and stay with him for a few days. I wasn't sure what to say and I turned to look at Mommy. She nodded and smiled so I said yes.

Daddy didn't bring me back.

You sat back from reading the journal and took a deep breath. So this little girl was with her dad. You looked at the next entry and thought a minute before getting up and setting the journal down next to you.

It was stupid of you to think that this was the end. You had an idea suddenly and picked up the journal again. In the very back there was a map of the house. Blueprints. It had parts of the house marked and in crayon were items that were in that part. You couldn't really read the scribbled writing that well and decided to take it with while you explore.

The first room you put your ear up against the door to listen for anything at all. There was silence, so as gently as you could, you opened the door. It creaked loudly and you heard a groan. You froze in your tracks and peeked in. There was a woman lying on the floor, a cloud shaped puddle of blood around her. The sight made you want to puke. She was still alive.

"P-..........Please hel-" She sputtered. Small splashes of blood gushed out of her mouth. This was a fresh shot. A fresh wound. Someone dangerous was here.

You turned around and a gun was pointed at your forehead.

"Hello, lovely." The man spoke with a raspy voice that chilled you to your core. Fuck. Where did you leave your gun? You reach for it, realizing that it was still on your back, in a quick motion that sets the man off. He pulls the trigger.

There is a liquid flowing down your face. Your senses are out of control. You realized that you hadn't had the chance to read the journal entry.

You weren't dead.

Yet.

You had stepped to the side once he fired and the bullet grazed your cheek.

"Sonuva-" He started to reload and you took the opportunity to whip out your gun and--

The little girl came running up suddenly. You were a little relieved she was alright.

Wait.

You took a closer look. Taking a few steps back, you pointed your gun at her head instead of the man's. She came running at you but not before she unleashed an almost piercing screech. The man was startled and he backed up too.

You held your gun with one hand like a badass and then realize the kick it would have and how the force of it could break your one arm, so you held it with two.

She leapt up when she got close enough and it gave you a perfect shot. You pulled the trigger and she fell to the floor in a heap. Something moved out of the corner of your eye behind the man. You swung around your gun and pulled when you had your aim. There wasn't time to waste.

If you would have waited any longer, the zombie would have attacked. The man saw that a second later and looked at you with what seemed to be, appreciation. He put down his gun and held out his hand.

"Thanks." He simply said. You had a choice to take it or walk on. You decided on walking past his scrawny ass and ignoring him. The woman that lay on the floor had long since stopped breathing, so there was no saving her. This bastard behind you clearly had issues and probably couldn't tell a bomb from a cable box, so there was no help there either.

You turned to look back to where the idiot had gone, knowing you'd have to keep your eye on him if-

Your whole entire being stopped at the sight that you saw when you found him.

His hand was on the knob of the front door.

If he opened it, the whole house would-

"STOP! Don't move." You said, and he froze too. "Step away from the door or a bomb will set off and the whole house will explode." You talked calmly, so it wouldn't startle him and he nodded. You breathed a sigh of relief when he backed away from the door.

---

They said it was too late. The whole world was in pieces. Mommy found me and she has been staying here for a few months. Daddy comes home late and I can here him and Mommy talking.

I know what else they do but I guess I'm not supposed to know, so I won't talk about it.

My teacher said, "Zombies aren't real and they never will be," last year in English when someone mentioned her book called, "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies". It's funny how things turned out. She became one and ate her husband and son. Her son was in my class. It's really too bad.

"What if someone comes in the front door?" He says, interrupting you from reading more of the journal. You sighed and rubbing your forehead.

"Just shut up and keep thinking." You tell him. Suddenly, a crack resonates throughout the whole house and you see the woman shamble out towards the two of you. The man silently picks up his gun without fear, and shoots her in the eye. You grimace at the sight and decide to just continue reading.

He was my first crush. When I heard he had died, I was sad. But only for a little while. Mommy says sadness makes you weak, and I want to be strong.

Today was supposed to be normal but we all know it's just the beginning. We also don't know what moment will be our last. Whether it's 20 years from now, 10 days, 3 hours, or even 60 seconds. We will never know.

You put down the journal.

60

You looked over at the man.

58

"What's your name?" He seemed to think about it for a second before answering.

51

"Garrett." You nodded, deciding not to respond. If he wanted to know your name, he would ask.

44

"Do you got one, or...?" He said and you laughed.

39

"Yeah, it's-" You were cut off by the sound of a gunshot outside. It was close. People were coming. You needed to get out. Fast.

32

"Come on." You said and ran as fast as you could toward the back door of the house. It was also rigged. "Shit."

26

You see a small opening behind a large box and it leads to outside. You begin to kick it and Garrett pushes you over out of the way and kicks it with all his might.

19

He squeezes out and you begin to also climb out. A piece of broken glass that you didn't notice before launches itself into your side, preventing you from going any farther.

10

"Are you alright?" Garrett says.

9

He sees the glass after you moan in pain. "Oh shit." He says.

8

"Go." You say, knowing that this moment is obviously time for him to escape.

7

"No, I'm not leaving."

6

"If you don't fucking run, I will shoot you." You say through gritted teeth.

5

He runs a hand through his hair and starts to back away. You toss your gun to him and he catches it, mid-air.

4

"Good luck....Charlie." He says and you remember him. He flashes you a grin, but it's sympathetic.

3

"Garrett..." You say aloud and tears spring to your eyes. How could you not recognize him?

2

"GARRETT!!" You scream and he turns around, only for a moment before disappearing forever.

1

The house explodes.