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

These are evolved versions of deadeyes. It’s a theory now, but I’ll soon go and confirm it with my own eyes. However, the fact that they have many of the same features and didn’t appear on the first day of the apocalypse supports my theory. Still unconfirmed.

Weaknesses: they get confused easily by overlapping sounds, lack strength, and don’t like water. They don’t die because of water, but it slows them down.

Strengths: quick on their feet, slightly intelligent, and it takes a shot to the heart and brain to be killed.”

Bryce finished reading the page, skimming through the rest of the journal. Most of it detailed the writer’s life during the first days of the apocalypse. As it went on, he noticed that the writer’s handwriting grew frantic as time passed on. The last page confirmed his thoughts. In bold and circled numerous times were the words, “INFECTED, LOCKING MYSELF IN THE BASEMENT. I’M SORRY VINNY, CARL, ED, AND SNAKE. I DIDN’T MEAN FOR THIS TO HAPPEN. IT’S ALL MY FAULT. IT’S ALL MY FAULT. -CODY” Bryce dropped the journal on the desk where he found it, turning away. He was shaken up by what he read.

He approached the girl in the dining room. “Can you tell me your name?” He asked. “Anything, even a letter?”

The girl looked up at him, staring at him for a minute. She looked perplexed as if she didn’t feel comfortable giving her name out, even to her savior. “Lucero.” She responded. “My name is Lucero.”

Bryce nodded. “My name is Bryce.” He extended his hand out to Lucero. She shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

She nodded. “H-H-Have you seen my mommy?” She asked.

“What does she look like? And her name?” 

“Mommy is taller than you and has black… No, brown hair! She’s beautiful and skinny. Her name is Mommy.”

Bryce nodded. Well, how do I find someone named Mommy? It won’t be like that Baby movie, right? Where the main protagonist is named Baby, sort of. And how can I be sure she’s still alive? She could’ve been one of the goblins out there chasing after us. She could be… I need to calm down. I don’t want to spook her. With a smile, Bryce nodded again. “I’ll help you find her.”

Lucero’s eyes widened and had a sparkle. “You will?”

Bryce nodded. “As soon as I can. Firstly, though, we need to escape this house and return home. Where the others are waiting for us.”

“The others?” She asked.

Bryan nodded his head. “They’re there to help us out. The oldest of them, named Maisey, will help you out. She won’t be your second Mommy, but your first Elder Sister.”

Lucero nodded, looking away from him. “When can we leave?”

Bryan let out a sigh. “Whenever we can… Whenever we can.”

***

Two hours flew by faster than Bryce expected. He had looked around the house and found a deck of playing cards. He tried to get Lucero to play, but she couldn’t understand it. It wasn’t as simple as Uno was. 

He fiddled with the cards while checking on the situation outside. Two hours in and the goblins were losing interest. Half of them left while the other half stayed behind. They surrounded the building, trying to tear at the doors and windows. Their fingernails were blunt, unable to make a scratch on the windows. They couldn’t chip at the door, only able to throw their weight at the door. 

Bryce waited another couple of minutes before looking out of the front window. There was one less goblin waiting outside. It glanced at the window at him, snarling. 

He took a few steps away from the window, draping the blanket over it. The large living room window had no curtains to shield the inhabitants from the outside.

What should I do? I can’t outrun these freaks… Maybe I can loop through the alleyways. He shook his head, dismissing his thoughts. It sounds like a bad plan. Man, why couldn’t I have traded spots with Grant? He would know what to do in this situation.

He turned around, heading into the dining room. He glanced at Lucero, who was playing with her teddy bear. She looked up at him, staring at him, before looking down. She focused her attention on the teddy bear.

Bryce approached the backdoor window. He peered outside and noticed no goblins waiting for him. They have lost all interest in him, leaving the backyard empty. The door to the alleyway was unlocked for some reason. From the alleyway, he could sprint back to Amelia’s house in a few minutes. It would be an easy and almost foolproof plan.

However, he turned away from the door. That plan is dumb. I'll be killed once I step outside. He thought to himself as he went from the backdoor to the front door. As he approached the front, he heard the door wheezing loudly. The goblins, over two hours, had put enough stress to break the door down. Due to their weak strength, it had taken them longer to smash the door in. They were now able to enter the building without problems.

Bryce brandished the pistol, firing into the crowd of goblins in front of him. Unbeknownst to him, the goblins that left were on the roof, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. The journal did inform him that they had intelligence.

The first goblin entered the house, looking around. Several others followed tightly behind him, intruding into the living room. Their eyes snapped to Bryce, who stood in the open with his pistol brandished. He fired into the goblins, but none of them made lethal connections. The ones that pierced the goblins’ brains didn’t stop them. They continued to stare at him, tilting their heads. The pistol made loud noises that echoed around the home, confusing them.

“Get to the backdoor, Lucero!” He shouted. Lucero jumped out of her chair, still holding onto her teddy bear, and dashed to the backdoor. She fiddled with the door’s lock, but couldn’t get it open. 

Meanwhile, Bryce continued to fire into the crowd. He fired off the entire magazine, freezing once he heard the click of an empty magazine. Damn, why did I panic? He shouted at himself internally. He turned around and sprinted to the backdoor, unlocking it. He grabbed Lucero’s wrist and dragged her with him. They reached the alleyway entrance, glancing behind them as goblins poured out of the backdoor. Some were stained with a greenish substance - possibly blood based on where the substance was coming out of. 

Bryce picked up his pace, reaching the end of the alleyway. He looked in both directions, taking the path to his left. On his right was a clump of deadeyes, roaming aimlessly until Bryce and Lucero appeared. They now shuffled towards them.

“T-Two blocks,” He muttered to himself. “Two blocks and we’re safe.” He tried to pick up the pace but found resistance. Lucero tugged away from him, pointing at her shoes. Because Bryce moved quickly to put distance between the goblins and them, he pulled on Lucero too tight, even digging his nails into her skin. She was red around her wrist and her shoes were damaged. They were being dragged across the floor instead of walking on their own.

Bryce glanced at the deadeyes behind him. The goblins weren’t chasing after him anymore, for some strange reason. “I’m sorry, I’ll fix that later.” He said. “As soon as we get to safety.”

Lucero nodded, looking down at her teddy. She mumbled something to her teddy that Bryce couldn’t hear. He didn’t mind it, putting his attention on escaping to Amelia’s house. He released his grip on Lucero, letting her run on her own. He didn’t want to bruise her more.

They neared the house but stopped suddenly. A woman shambled on the shoulder of the road, looking up at Bryce. “H-Help?” She croaked. She was crouched over, blankets masking most of her body. Her blue eyes peered up at Bryce. She looked like she was hugging a large rectangular box close to her chest. She moved slowly, one step after another like a child learning how to walk.

She needs help, he thought. He glanced behind at the deadeyes who were some distance away from him. They had some time to help the woman. 

Bryce walked over towards the woman, motioning for Lucero to stay put. He approached her, asking out loud, “Are you okay? How can I help you?” The woman stared at him, not speaking. She nodded her head slowly, shambling towards him. “I can help you, just tell me what you need. Is your leg broken, do you need food or water, or…?”

“No,” He heard Lucero mutter from behind him. However, he ignored her remark.

The woman got close to him, smiling. “Y-You can help me,” She croaked. “By handing over your weapons.” The woman stood up, revealing that she was carrying a loaded assault rifle in her grip. She shed the blankets masking her, revealing to Bryce that the woman was a young twenty-something-year-old with bright red hair, pale skin, and sunken features. 

The woman pointed the assault rifle in Bryce’s face. “I need your weapons or else we’ll be taking your lives.” She remarked. Several people appeared from behind her, a few of them shooting at the deadeyes following behind Bryce. The others pointed their assault rifles at Lucero and Bryce.

“Why are you doing this?” Bryce calmly asked. “Shouldn’t we be helping each other?”

“If helping each other survive in this God-forsaken land was a proven strategy of survival, I would’ve taken it. However, when you play nice, they take advantage of you. When you play mean, you survive this mess. Now, guess which one I choose?”

Bryce glared at the girl, shaking his head. “We could survive if-”

The woman slapped him, lowering the assault rifle. “You must’ve been held in a house up to this point if you’re this naive. You know what?” She turned to her comrades. “Ravagers, what do you think I should do?”

“Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!” They chanted. 

The woman smiled, turning back to face Bryce. She raised her gun, backing away from Bryce and Lucero. “Let’s light them up! You ready, men?”

“Yeah!” They shouted simultaneously. 

The woman smiled. “Take this to our creator. You can ask him why he sent the dead to kill us. Tell him Charlie sent you!” She pressed the trigger.

***

The Impatient Man was hit by a swerving car. The driver was dead at the wheel, resting their forehead on the wheel. The car slammed into the Impatient Man and carried him away from the scene. Based on the blood and cracking sounds Ellena heard, she assumed he was dead.

“Where do we go now?” Ashley asked. 

Levi looked around, watching as the survivors fleeing out of the airport were hit by the flurry of cars and undead roaming the streets. “It’s a zombie apocalypse.” He muttered.

Ellena overheard him. “Zombies? Damn,” She looked around for an escape route. The growls and lack of supplies from the room they were in told her that they couldn’t retreat. Their only option was to move forward through the speeding cars and pray one of the buildings across the street was open and not zombie-infested.

She turned to face Levi and Ashley. “We have to cross the street. It’s the only way. I pray that we all make it.” Levi and Ashley both nodded, slightly hesitant. Ellena nodded to acknowledge their decision, turning around. The mother and her children tried to cross the street, but the child she held hands with, collapsed to the ground. The mother took a few steps away, turning around and realizing what happened to her child. Screaming, she desperately dashed towards her child to recollect him but was too late. A car barreled down the road, slamming into the child and dragging the body some distance away. 

Where the child had been laying was a bloody stain on the asphalt. The mother collapsed to her knees, staring at the bloody stain. She didn’t want to look at her child’s