Two Page Shorts by Nick Venom (top reads .txt) 📕

sneakers. She shuffled closer and closer to the goblins. She held a teddy bear tightly in her grasp, looking around. It was evident that she didn’t realize the threat standing some distance away from her. 

“There’s a little girl outside!” Bryce whisper-shouted.

Grant furrowed his brows, pushing Bryce to the side and peering outside. His eyes widened as he noticed the little girl. “We need to get her before she’s killed by the goblins.”

Bryce nodded. “Let’s go!” He led Grant and Edgar to the side of the alleyway where they watched the Ravagers retreat from. He peered out at where he saw the girl. She would reach the goblins soon. 

“I think we should leave her. We can’t help her.” Edgar said.

Grant and Bryce turned their heads to face Edgar, both showing expressions of disgust and anger. “We are not leaving this girl to die,” Bryce whispered. “I’m going to save her.” Grant nodded in acknowledgment.

Edgar shook his head. “Fine, go and risk your life for her. However,” he patted at his bag, “I’m making sure my family will eat today.” He turned around, heading in the direction of the house. 

Grant shook his head disapprovingly, turning around to face Bryce. “What’s your plan?”

Bryce stared at him as if he had two heads. “I… I don’t have a plan. I thought you would have one.”

Grant shook his head, sighing. “Fine, here’s my plan. You see the corpses the goblins are munching on?” Bryce nodded. “You see the pistol?” Grant pointed at a silver pistol laying on the ground near one of the corpses, disregarded by the goblins as it wasn’t as tasty as flesh was.

“Yeah, you want me to get it?” Grant nodded. “Then what? Kill all of the goblins?”

Grant shook his head. “I don’t think there are enough bullets in the pistol to kill all of the goblins. However, there should be at least one bullet in there. We take the gun and use it to kill the nearby goblins then flee. You get the gun, I’ll help distract.” He instructed Bryce. 

Bryce nodded, staring at the girl. She had reached the goblins, blankly staring at them. She didn’t make a sound, staring at the goblins with her head tilted. She held her teddy bear in one hand while her other hand grabbed out at the goblins. 

“We need to stop her, get ready to dis-” Bryce didn’t listen to Grant, charging forward. He raced towards the little girl, hoping to reach her before the goblins turned around.

Unfortunately, the goblins turned around faster than Bryce could run. The goblins faced the little girl with large creepy grins, all of them staring at the girl. She took a step back, afraid of the stares the goblins were giving her. She turned around, hugging her teddy bear tightly, before running away. However, the goblins were leagues faster than her - at the speed of a healthy adult male in their prime. She had the speed of a confused, terrified, and short-legged young girl without any physical training. She was at a disadvantage.

Bryce, meanwhile, changed his direction, sprinting to the pistol. He swiped it from the scene, turning towards the goblins chasing the girl. He let out a single gunshot, attracting their attention. They stopped chasing the girl for a moment, hesitating on which prey they wanted to go for. 

Grant stared at Bryce, shocked. He wasn’t expecting Bryce to act as quickly as he did. What an idiot. He thought with a smile creeping onto his face. 

Bryce glanced at Grant, noticing the smile, before turning to face the goblins. They had decided to tackle a bigger prey than a smaller one. They ran at full speed towards him. 

Bryce took his time, aiming down the sights. He pressed the trigger, a bullet being spewed out. It flew at a great velocity, charging towards the closest goblin. It nicked the goblin’s neck. 

Grant brandished his revolver, counting the bullets. He had five bullets in the revolver. He then pointed the revolver’s barrier towards a goblin and fired. The sound of the revolver was louder than the pistol Bryce used. The sound echoed off the wall, bouncing around blocks and alerting deadeyes and goblins to their general area.

“Grab her! I’ll take care of the goblins!” Grant shouted. Bryce nodded, sprinting around the goblins, who stood dazzled by the loud noises. They appeared affected by it.

Bryce ran past them and scooped the girl up, carrying her with his left arm while he held the pistol in his right. He sprinted down the block, almost reaching the end. From there, he would turn right and regroup at the house with the others.

However, a clump of deadeyes prevented him from turning. They passed by the alleyway, some lingering for longer than comfortable. Bryce stopped, looking around. He wasn’t sure where to go. 

He heard bullets echo from the alleyway, belonging to Grant. He fired off the moon clip before reloading - the process which took longer than Grant hoped for.

Bryce gripped the pistol tightly before raising it towards the deadeyes in front of him. He glanced at the girl, who looked shocked, confused, and terrified at the same time. “I’m sorry, put your hands over your ears now.” He told the girl. She complied quickly, strangely fast for her age. She looked up at him as he steadied his aim. Once he was sure of his shot, he fired off a bullet. It caught a deadeye in the shoulder but didn’t kill the monster.

“Damn,” He muttered. He glanced at the girl. “My bad.” He loaded another bullet in the chamber, hearing the screeches of the goblins near him. He lowered his gun and turned away from the deadeyes. He ran as quickly as he could, going a block away from the house. He heard bullets going off, but never the screams and shouts of Grant. He’ll be okay. I’m sure of it. I’m sure of it.

He sprinted two blocks away from the house, glancing behind him as the goblins closed the distance. Knowing that he would be soon overwhelmed, he turned to his right. He ran up to a house, trying the doorknob. It wouldn’t budge, forcing him to try the next house. The goblins chasing him were getting closer and closer to him.

Bryce tried the third house to no results. He went over to the fourth house, glancing at the goblins. They were at the first house he tried, their momentum carrying them towards him with ease. 

Please help me, God. Please unlock this door! He thought to himself before he tried the doorknob. As soon as he touched the doorknob, the door opened up. It hadn’t been closed completely, needing only some weight to open up. 

Bryce sprinted inside, awkwardly closing the door with his butt. He backed into the door, letting out a sigh of relief once he heard the door click.

“Lock?” The girl asked. He looked down at the girl, who pointed at the door locks. 

I’m stupid. He thought as his hands shot towards the lock. He struggled to lock the door because of the goblins thrashing themselves against it. After trying for a few moments, he turned both locks. The door was now locked. For the moment, at least, Bryce and the girl were safe.

For the moment.

***

“Where is Bryce?” Amelia asked. “Where is he?”

Grant bit his lip. He was bloodied, but not from his blood. After helping Bryce save the girl, he had sprinted down the alleyway but found resistance in a small clump of deadeyes. He had fired into the deadeyes, even hearing Bryce fired off bullets from his pistol. However, the deadeyes weren’t being killed fast enough to create a pathway. He retreated through one of the unlocked backyards in the same block as Amelia’s house. From there, he sprinted down to the house and entered, bringing in the blood of the deadeyes that splashed onto him.

“I don’t know.” He told her. 

“Where did he go? Did he tell you anything?” Maisey asked, approaching him. Edgar lingered behind her, looking down sheepishly. “You let him venture on his own?”

Grant nodded. “He reacted quicker than I could stop him. We had a plan, but… it went down the gutter. Fortunately, however, he saved the girl, but I have no idea where he went after that. I think he might’ve gone down a block or two in that direction.” He pointed in the direction, accurately guessing where Bryce went.

“You’re stupid, you shouldn’t have let him go on his own,” Maisey said, her nose flaring. She turned around, facing Edgar. “And you!”

“Mom, lower your voice. They’ll hear us.” Amelia chimed in. Maisey shot a glare at her, zipping her lips shut. 

“You left them alone? Two teenagers against cannibalistic monsters? Really? How stupid are you?” She scolded him.

Edgar nodded. “I am stupid, but… they decided to risk their life on some stranger. We need these supplies, not another mouth to feed. I figured that we’ll be able to survive in case the plan doesn’t work out. I could bring the food while they get the girl. It sounded like-” He was stopped by Maisey smacking him cleanly across the face. 

“You COWARD!” She shouted loudly. Loud enough for the deadeyes to be attracted. They began gathering outside of the house, banging on the walls and windows.

Grant shook his head, looking away from them. “I’ll go back for him. I should be able-” Maisey grabbed his arm, shaking her head.

“The house is surrounded and those short monsters you were talking about-”

“Goblins?”

“Those goblins are chasing after him. I’m afraid to say, but… I think he’s dead.” Maisey remarked, glancing behind her. Ivy stood in the hallway connecting the living room and the kitchen.

She dropped the pencil she was holding onto, tears bubbling in the corner of her eyes. “Brother’s dead?”

 

***

Bryce checked the other entrances---the backdoor and windows. They were all locked and secured. Some were covered with tarps and wood nailed to them. It looked like a person or more were staying in the house.

“Who lived here and… why did they leave? What happened here?” He stood in the basement of the house, peeking at every room. The basement had a bathroom and three rooms. One of the rooms was locked with a key lock.

Bryce tried to pull the lock off with strength, but couldn’t. He decided to look around for the key. He searched the other rooms on both floors, stopping in the kitchen to get the girl something to eat and drink. She hadn’t talked since they entered, twenty minutes ago. She sat on a chair at the circular glass table in the dining room, staring at her teddy bear. Bryce tried to raise a conversation, but she sank it faster than a paper boat attempting to float. 

After searching for thirty minutes, he found no key. The key was nowhere to be seen. However, he found a black journal. The journal’s first page caught his attention. In bold words were the words, “DO NOT OPEN THE LOCKED BASEMENT ROOM!” 

Why not? What’s down there, he thought. He flipped to the second page. It detailed what the writer knew about the deadeyes and goblins. He read the page out loud. “Deadeyes. A name was given by the Ravagers, a group that doubles as bandits/looters and good guys. I don’t know which side they’re on sometimes. 

These creatures resemble zombies, but they have one difference. They are red and not green. I’m not sure why they’re a different color, but they are. Aside from that difference, they are zombies in every other characteristic. These deadeyes move in clumps, like to eat flesh, are attracted by loud sounds, and are reanimated corpses. 

Weaknesses: slow, not invincible to fire or bullets. They can be killed with one shot to the brain. Strengths: as strong as a normal adult male.

Goblins. The name was given to us by the Ravagers, these short and stubby monsters are light on their feet. Their overall strength doesn’t seem to be much, but more analysis is needed. For now, I’ll mark their individual strength as less than an