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

body, mangled and broken by the head-on hit. Fortunately, for her, she didn’t have to look. A van slammed into her and her last child. They were both killed on impact.

What if that’s our fate? It can’t be, right? Ellena thought to herself. No, we’ll make it. She took the first step towards the road, her action being mimicked by Levi and Ashley. She took another step, which was also copied. Then, suddenly, her feet took more than one step. She was sprinting towards the road, the others behind her surprised. They picked up their pace to follow Ellena towards the road. Ellena reached it before them, not stopping at the beginning of the road. She sprinted through, narrowly avoiding being hit by a car. The driver was dead, his weight going to his feet. 

Levi and Ashley followed her, both of them sprinting at full speed to cross safely. One of the cars barreling down the road, holding a father trying to hold back his zombified daughter, nicked Levi before turning over. The car’s momentum glided the car further down the road before slamming into a stationary car. The screams of the father being eaten echoed in the air.

Although nicked, Levi was okay. He pressed forward, jumping unnecessarily towards the sidewalk. He landed awkwardly before straightening himself. He followed after Ashley and Ellena, who was racing towards the nearest house.

Levi glanced over his shoulder. The elderly lady that was in the room with them now stared at him. She smiled as their eyes connected. A horde of zombies emerging out of the tunnel they had used to escape headed towards her. She was engulfed in seconds.

Levi turned his focus back towards Ellena and Ashley. He followed their lead. Ellena tried a door to an apartment complex, knocking on it. “Please help us!” She shouted. No response. “Please we need help! There are zombies out there!” She shouted tearfully. A few seconds later, the front door opened and a man dressed in army camouflage motioned them in. They listened, darting inside. The man closed the door after they entered, turning around to face them. 

“What the hell is happening?” he asked them.

“Zombies. Zombies are killing us!” Levi blurted out. The attention was drawn to him. “Undead humans eating living humans.”

“Zombies?” The man was clearly skeptical, but not headstrong against Levi’s words. “Do you know the cause of them?” Levi shook his head. “What about you two?”

Ellena shook her head. “I was waiting in the terminal for my flight when they rushed in. I have no idea where they came from.”

Ashley nodded her head in agreement. “I was working in the terminal when they barged in. I wasn’t warned or even hinted at their presence before then. I’m not sure what happened to the security guards. They should have acted, but I didn’t hear any gunfire.”

Ellena squinted her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows. “You’re right, I didn’t hear any gunfire. There should’ve been at least one gun in the area, so why didn’t we hear anything? And you were told about the zombies? How could they enter so easily and sneakily? Zombies aren’t known as quiet monsters.”

Ashley shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know.”

While the girls talked, Levi’s stare had gone towards the pistol in the man’s holster. The man kept his hands close to the pistol, but not touching it. 

“That’s all you know?” The man asked. They nodded. “Okay, then what now?” The man asked. 

Ellena and Ashley glanced at each other. “My family’s in Florida. I was staying here on vacation with a couple of friends, but I don’t know how they are. And-” Ellena pointed behind the man at the door. A zombie’s face was crammed against the glass, peering in. The man reacted by moving away from the door. He motioned for the others to do the same.

The man sat down on a recliner and motioned for them to sit on the couch. They took the invitation, sitting down. The man intertwined his fingers, resting them on his lap. “Was there anybody else with you?”

Ellena shook her head. “I saw at least four people killed while trying to cross. It was a mother, her two children, and a man. They were slammed into by cars trying to flee from downtown.”  

“And an elderly woman who was killed by the zombies.” Levi chimed in. 

“The only person that we saw didn’t die is a redheaded woman.” Ellena looked at Ashley and Levi to see if they knew anything else. They shook their heads, confirming the redheaded woman as the only other survivor they knew about.

The man nodded, leaning forward. “None of you guys have places to be?”

Levi shook his head. “My parents are out of town and I’m an only child.”

Ashley shook her head. “My parents passed away and my siblings no longer live here.”

Ellena shook her head. “I came here by myself.”

The man nodded. “Then… I’ll let you all stay as long as you help pitch in.” He stood up, extending his hand to Ellena. “My name is Grian, nice to meet you all.” Ellena shook his hand. Grian extended his hand to Levi and Ashley, who both shook his hand. “Welcome to my home.”

***

Two weeks had passed quicker than they had expected. After being welcomed into Grian’s house, Ellena and the others met Grian’s younger sister Beth. Beth was hiding out of sight in case Ellena, Levi, and Ashley had turned out to be bad people. However, that suspicion was quickly dashed.

With introductions over, Grian began training them. Having gotten out of the military a few weeks ago and his large gun collection, he was the best person to serve as their firearm teacher. He taught them over the two-week duration how to properly use the rifles in the basement of his home---which served a purpose more aligned to a bunker than a basement. 

Although firing off the rifles wasn’t allowed as they would attract more zombies, they still practiced the basics of handling with unloaded weapons.

Their food supply was secured through several tens of crates of MREs and canned food in the bunker. The bunker held everything somebody in the zombie apocalypse would need from melee weapons to food to grenades. Even so, nobody aside from Grian could touch the gear and food. He carefully monitored their food supply and rationed them efficiently. The rifles were left alone except for when it was time for training under his careful supervision. However, training without getting real experience would make the training useless. He wanted to correct this, deciding to let them get real training.

“Two of you will join me today. We’ll be moving several blocks away and start your real training. Your job will be to kill at least five zombies before night sets. Is that clear?” He pointed at Ellena and Levi. They nodded their heads.

“What about me?” Ashley asked.

Grian shook his head. “I can’t allow there to be only one person in this house. What happens if we leave Beth by herself and somebody barges in and kills her?” He asked her calmly.

Ashely nodded. “I’m sorry.”

Grian waved her apology off. “No reason to apologize. It was a good question.” He turned to face Ellena and Levi. “Grab your weapons and gear. We’re going to leave soon.” He ordered. They nodded, racing from the dining room table to the bunker. There, they equipped their weapons and gear - their normal clothes with pieces of metal sewn in. The normal gear Grian had was too large for them.

They met up at the front door. Grian peeked out of the door’s window, seeing no one. He carefully and silently opened the door, peering outside. He walked outside, his head snapping to every angle he could see. He waved Ellena and Levi to follow him. Levi came out last, locking the door behind them.

Grian motioned for them to follow him, silently moving away from the house. Ellena and Levi followed after him, trekking through the remains of the cars and corpses from two weeks ago. A fire had claimed many of the corpses, charring them. None of the flames caused an explosion to occur, but many were close. Fortunately, however, they had been quelled by the heavy rains on the second day of the apocalypse.

They moved farther away, keeping their distance from the zombies and moving through alleyways when needed. They went a few blocks away from Grian’s home, nearing a familiar set of neighborhoods. 

Grian stopped, turning to face a clump of zombies behind them. They had been chasing after them since they left the house, growing as time passed. It wasn’t possible to move without being sighted by, at least, one zombie. 

“Ellena, kill the closest one to us. Just like how I taught you.” Grian ordered, pointing at Ellena’s opponent. Ellena nodded, raising the iron sights to her eye and peering through it. She lined up her shot, pressing the trigger. She nicked the zombie’s head. She lined up another shot, pressing the trigger. The bullet went through the zombie’s head, killing it. It fell to the ground, being trampled on by the other zombies.

“Good, now Levi, your turn. Kill the closest one.” He ordered. Levi nodded, raising the iron sights to his eye. He peered down the sights, his aim shaking. His hands were trembling. He tried to move his finger to his trigger, but it was shaking too much to be controlled.

“Kill the zombie now!” Grian ordered. Levi nodded, pressing the trigger. The bullet flew towards the zombie but missed it entirely. Levi quickly loaded another bullet, being faster than Ellena to reload. However, he was stuck at the firing portion. His finger lingered over the trigger. Grian yelled at him to motivate his finger. It pressed the trigger and shot the zombie in the chest. The zombie fell to the ground, being trampled to death by its comrades.

Grian nodded his head slightly. “Not as bad as I expected. Levi, do it again. This time relax and don’t miss it. Inhale then exhale. On the exhale, release the bullet. You can’t hesitate anymore or-” He heard a gunshot go off. He glanced at Ellena who shook her head. He glanced at his firearm then Levi’s. It wasn’t either of their weapons discharging. It came from somewhere else. The gunshot was followed by a little girl screaming. 

Grian motioned for them to follow him. He raced towards the general direction he heard the gunshot come from. Levi and Ellena were following tightly behind him, both of them confused at the sudden gunshot.

They sprinted down a few blocks and found the culprit of the gunshot. A redheaded woman pointed her gun at a teen. The teen was on the ground, bleeding from a gunshot wound to his shoulder. Somehow, it missed hitting his heart.

“Oh, he jumped. I’m surprised.” The woman remarked. The teen had tried to move away before the rifle fired and the woman shifted her aim to track him, changing the destination from his head to his shoulder. He was still alive, bleeding out on the floor. A little girl was by his side, her eyes widened. She was petrified.

“Kill them both!” The woman remarked, turning away from the scene. Her comrades jumped in to kill their prey.

Grian shook his head angrily, charging towards them. He quickly pointed his rifle at them, squeezing the trigger. The bullets went faster than him, headed for their targets. 

Several more triggers were pressed.

Phaser