Status: This story does not follow along with The Walking Dead story. It is my own, but some of the characters are from The Walking Dead
Among the Dead
And So It Begins...
Alex
"Shut up!" I heard someone scream from among the crowd sitting around the fire. Everyone was yelling and laughing in a drunken stupor. We were all at Mara's house for a big bonfire graduation party, and most everyone was drunk. Well...everyone except my two twin friends Violet and Alice, and I. Mara's parents were out of town for some big convention for their job. They worked with my parents, so mine were out of town, as well. And as it always is, the beer that was brought was not by Mara's parents consent. I was a responsible driver, and people would always ask me to take them home, knowing that I don't drink. Honestly, I hate driving drunk people home, but I always seemed to do it.
You're probably wondering why I always go to these parties if I always have to drive drunks home. Well...I don't hate the parties. The parties are great. But the driving part is the part I hate. And, to tell you the truth, I hate watching people get hurt if I could have done something about it. I hate hurting people in general. It makes me feel like I'm losing a part of myself every time I do it.
I pushed the thought away, trying to enjoy myself and the warmth of the fire on the skin of my face. High school was behind me, and my well awaited future career as a forensic anthropologist was ahead of me. I had been accepted into the University of Tennessee, and no one was gonna stop me now.
I leaned my head in my hands, and listened to my fellow classmates voices, knowing that, after this, I may never see them again. I really did love them. They were all family to me. Of course, that's what you get from going to Catholic school all your life.
I heard some people talking about some new song that came out, another group was talking about Barack Obama, and someone else was talking about a meteorite that hit a few days ago. Alice walked back towards her seat with a mouth full of s'mores, while her sister, Violet, was sitting next to me, twirling her brown hair so it wouldn't get in her face.
"Hey! Who wants to take a tour of the woods with me?" Mara slurred, standing up on a lawn chair, pointing to what I guessed were the "woods". They were more like 20 feet of trees, seeing as to you could see the cul-de-sac on the other side. Everyone got up to explore the "woods" while Alice, Violet, and I stayed back, being the only sober enough ones to tell that it wasn't going to as great as all the drunks thought it would be. We walked over to Mara's swing set, one that hadn't looked like it'd been used in years, and sat down upon the groaning swings.
"Hey, Alex! Do ya.....do ya mind driving me home, man? I'm canned. I can't even walk straight," my classmate, Neville asked me.
I rolled my eyes, and laughed at him. And so it begins...
"Sure thing, bud," I said, as he pumped his fists in the air. "No throwing up in the back of my car like last time, though. You do, you're cleaning that shit up."
"Yes, ma'am," he belched, stumbling his way into the "woods".
Violet scoffed while she picked at her fingernails. "First one of the night, Alex. Think we can beat the record of 13 drunks asking you to take them home?"
I groaned in frustration. "Dear Lord, I hope not. I had to get my dad's pick up that last time, and he was not happy when he found out."
"I don't know why you don't just tell people to screw themselves and take their own drunk asses home. If they die by getting T-boned, that's their own damn fault!" Alice remarked, adding her two cents.
"I wish I could just do that, but I-"
"Can't hurt people because it makes you feel like you're loosing yourself. I know." Alice mimicked, cutting me off.
"Hey, Alex!"
"Yes, I'll take you and Melissa home, Grahm," I said in a bored tone of voice.
"Who's da man? You da man, Alex! You're my girl, Alex! You're my girl!" he said, holding a stumbling and bumbling Melissa by her waist.
"Yeah, yeah, I gotcha," I said, as he walked away. "Prick," I continued, under my breath.
"Well that's three. Let's shoot for six." Violet said sarcastically.
»•« »•«
Ten minutes, and four drunks asking for a ride later, everything was quiet. No one else walked up to me, asking for a ride, because they were all in the "woods".
"Hey, where do you think they went? The damn thing is only six yards of bushes, they shouldn't still be out there," I said.
Alice and Violet shrugged nonchalantly, clearly shaken up about this.
I just kind of scoffed and brushed it off.
And then we heard a scream which forced out heads in their direction, but it was followed by guttural laughter. I rolled my eyes at the childish pranks, and continued talking with the twins.
A minute later we were cut off by another scream.
"Shut the fuck up! There are sleeping kids in this neighborhood!" Alice screamed just as loud at them.
There was a silence for a second before it was ended by more screaming by more people.
"What the hell is going on?" I said, standing from the swing I was settled in, and looking towards the trees.
As the screams continued, I saw silhouettes sprint from the brush, and straight towards Mara's driveway.
Completely baffled by what was going on, we started making our way towards the screams.
Then Mara's silhouette came from the trees, and she was crying and screaming for our help.
"Please! Please somebody help me!" she said, limping towards us.
Frozen in our places, we watched as she kept limping. All of a sudden, she was tackled by a figure from the woods.
She screamed a blood curdling scream as the entity ripped into her flesh and started to consume it.
"Holy shit, RUN!!!" I screamed at Alice and Violet.
Without any thought, we bolted for my car. I jumped into the drivers side and tore down the street.
I drove and I drove, and I didn't stop. Not even for red lights.
"What the hell are you doing?! Where the fuck are we going?!" Alice screamed at me from the passengers seat.
"I don't know! I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!!" I said through my tears.
What the hell just happened? Did I even see it correctly. I had too. I hadn't been drinking at all tonight. I had to have been imagining something. But it was so real. Everything about it was so real. Mara had been eaten...alive.
"Alex, pull the car over!" Violet yelled at me.
"Where?!" I asked.
"Just pull the damn thing over!!" she shouted louder this time.
Without thinking, I turned left into some plaza. I stopped the car in some parking spot, and stared at the steering wheel in my hand. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak.
Alice stared at me while heaving for breath, her back against the door like she had been thrown there.
I looked back at Violet and saw her leaning between the two front seats, and looking at me.
"What just happened, Violet? What happened to Mara? Why did that thing eat her? What was it? What happened, Violet? What happened?"
"I don't know! Obviously...this is some sort of...m-mistake or-or something! Some prank gone bad! I don't know! I don't know, Alex. I don't know!" Violet said, flustered. "Mistake? How is this a mistake, Violet? Knocking into someone at the store is a mistake! Asking when the baby is due when the person is just fat is a mistake! Violet, a mistake is something that happened that wasn't supposed to! This...this....thing that ate our friend, just bit right into her like she was a fucking rib eye steak! There was no mistake about it!" Alice yelled.
"Okay, okay, okay...we need to calm down, here." Violet said, attempting to calm Alice's yelling. "I think...we should...just go home. Sleep it off. If it seems like it never happened in the morning, we'll forget about it. But if it's still bothering us...we'll...we'll do something. I don't know." she finished, sitting back in the seat.
Alice nodded her head. "Good idea. Alex?"
I continued to stare out the window. The image never left my head. The nightmare playing over and over.
"Alex?" Alice asked when I never responded. "Alex...what's wrong?"
"It.......it looked.......human."
"Shut up!" I heard someone scream from among the crowd sitting around the fire. Everyone was yelling and laughing in a drunken stupor. We were all at Mara's house for a big bonfire graduation party, and most everyone was drunk. Well...everyone except my two twin friends Violet and Alice, and I. Mara's parents were out of town for some big convention for their job. They worked with my parents, so mine were out of town, as well. And as it always is, the beer that was brought was not by Mara's parents consent. I was a responsible driver, and people would always ask me to take them home, knowing that I don't drink. Honestly, I hate driving drunk people home, but I always seemed to do it.
You're probably wondering why I always go to these parties if I always have to drive drunks home. Well...I don't hate the parties. The parties are great. But the driving part is the part I hate. And, to tell you the truth, I hate watching people get hurt if I could have done something about it. I hate hurting people in general. It makes me feel like I'm losing a part of myself every time I do it.
I pushed the thought away, trying to enjoy myself and the warmth of the fire on the skin of my face. High school was behind me, and my well awaited future career as a forensic anthropologist was ahead of me. I had been accepted into the University of Tennessee, and no one was gonna stop me now.
I leaned my head in my hands, and listened to my fellow classmates voices, knowing that, after this, I may never see them again. I really did love them. They were all family to me. Of course, that's what you get from going to Catholic school all your life.
I heard some people talking about some new song that came out, another group was talking about Barack Obama, and someone else was talking about a meteorite that hit a few days ago. Alice walked back towards her seat with a mouth full of s'mores, while her sister, Violet, was sitting next to me, twirling her brown hair so it wouldn't get in her face.
"Hey! Who wants to take a tour of the woods with me?" Mara slurred, standing up on a lawn chair, pointing to what I guessed were the "woods". They were more like 20 feet of trees, seeing as to you could see the cul-de-sac on the other side. Everyone got up to explore the "woods" while Alice, Violet, and I stayed back, being the only sober enough ones to tell that it wasn't going to as great as all the drunks thought it would be. We walked over to Mara's swing set, one that hadn't looked like it'd been used in years, and sat down upon the groaning swings.
"Hey, Alex! Do ya.....do ya mind driving me home, man? I'm canned. I can't even walk straight," my classmate, Neville asked me.
I rolled my eyes, and laughed at him. And so it begins...
"Sure thing, bud," I said, as he pumped his fists in the air. "No throwing up in the back of my car like last time, though. You do, you're cleaning that shit up."
"Yes, ma'am," he belched, stumbling his way into the "woods".
Violet scoffed while she picked at her fingernails. "First one of the night, Alex. Think we can beat the record of 13 drunks asking you to take them home?"
I groaned in frustration. "Dear Lord, I hope not. I had to get my dad's pick up that last time, and he was not happy when he found out."
"I don't know why you don't just tell people to screw themselves and take their own drunk asses home. If they die by getting T-boned, that's their own damn fault!" Alice remarked, adding her two cents.
"I wish I could just do that, but I-"
"Can't hurt people because it makes you feel like you're loosing yourself. I know." Alice mimicked, cutting me off.
"Hey, Alex!"
"Yes, I'll take you and Melissa home, Grahm," I said in a bored tone of voice.
"Who's da man? You da man, Alex! You're my girl, Alex! You're my girl!" he said, holding a stumbling and bumbling Melissa by her waist.
"Yeah, yeah, I gotcha," I said, as he walked away. "Prick," I continued, under my breath.
"Well that's three. Let's shoot for six." Violet said sarcastically.
»•« »•«
Ten minutes, and four drunks asking for a ride later, everything was quiet. No one else walked up to me, asking for a ride, because they were all in the "woods".
"Hey, where do you think they went? The damn thing is only six yards of bushes, they shouldn't still be out there," I said.
Alice and Violet shrugged nonchalantly, clearly shaken up about this.
I just kind of scoffed and brushed it off.
And then we heard a scream which forced out heads in their direction, but it was followed by guttural laughter. I rolled my eyes at the childish pranks, and continued talking with the twins.
A minute later we were cut off by another scream.
"Shut the fuck up! There are sleeping kids in this neighborhood!" Alice screamed just as loud at them.
There was a silence for a second before it was ended by more screaming by more people.
"What the hell is going on?" I said, standing from the swing I was settled in, and looking towards the trees.
As the screams continued, I saw silhouettes sprint from the brush, and straight towards Mara's driveway.
Completely baffled by what was going on, we started making our way towards the screams.
Then Mara's silhouette came from the trees, and she was crying and screaming for our help.
"Please! Please somebody help me!" she said, limping towards us.
Frozen in our places, we watched as she kept limping. All of a sudden, she was tackled by a figure from the woods.
She screamed a blood curdling scream as the entity ripped into her flesh and started to consume it.
"Holy shit, RUN!!!" I screamed at Alice and Violet.
Without any thought, we bolted for my car. I jumped into the drivers side and tore down the street.
I drove and I drove, and I didn't stop. Not even for red lights.
"What the hell are you doing?! Where the fuck are we going?!" Alice screamed at me from the passengers seat.
"I don't know! I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!!" I said through my tears.
What the hell just happened? Did I even see it correctly. I had too. I hadn't been drinking at all tonight. I had to have been imagining something. But it was so real. Everything about it was so real. Mara had been eaten...alive.
"Alex, pull the car over!" Violet yelled at me.
"Where?!" I asked.
"Just pull the damn thing over!!" she shouted louder this time.
Without thinking, I turned left into some plaza. I stopped the car in some parking spot, and stared at the steering wheel in my hand. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak.
Alice stared at me while heaving for breath, her back against the door like she had been thrown there.
I looked back at Violet and saw her leaning between the two front seats, and looking at me.
"What just happened, Violet? What happened to Mara? Why did that thing eat her? What was it? What happened, Violet? What happened?"
"I don't know! Obviously...this is some sort of...m-mistake or-or something! Some prank gone bad! I don't know! I don't know, Alex. I don't know!" Violet said, flustered. "Mistake? How is this a mistake, Violet? Knocking into someone at the store is a mistake! Asking when the baby is due when the person is just fat is a mistake! Violet, a mistake is something that happened that wasn't supposed to! This...this....thing that ate our friend, just bit right into her like she was a fucking rib eye steak! There was no mistake about it!" Alice yelled.
"Okay, okay, okay...we need to calm down, here." Violet said, attempting to calm Alice's yelling. "I think...we should...just go home. Sleep it off. If it seems like it never happened in the morning, we'll forget about it. But if it's still bothering us...we'll...we'll do something. I don't know." she finished, sitting back in the seat.
Alice nodded her head. "Good idea. Alex?"
I continued to stare out the window. The image never left my head. The nightmare playing over and over.
"Alex?" Alice asked when I never responded. "Alex...what's wrong?"
"It.......it looked.......human."
♠ ♠ ♠
The first few chapters are all just the beginning of the apocalypse so it's a little dry, but I promise it gets much better!Questions or comments, just ask!
Review, my lovelies!
Enjoy!