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

Elizabeth nodded. It was almost noon, the time where the largest number of people came in. It was a suffocating time to be working at the register, but Elizabeth persevered through it. All with a smile. A fake cracking destructive smile. Everything was done with a smile.

Hello All!

This is the first episode of Nightstalker and, man, has it been an interesting project to work on. This series will quickly get dark in future episodes, so be prepared for that. Aside from the tone, this series will focus on Maverick as they try to save the Magic Realm from the mysterious man unleashed from the Infinity Cage. Can he stop the man and save the realm will depend on himself. Is he prepared to work together with the others or duke it out alone? 

The second episode will arrive sometime next year (2022) and will follow up on Maverick’s story with fragments of the other characters’ story [Dimitri, Azaan, and Elizabeth] showing up here and then until they become true main characters. 

The next episode will be Maverick heavy but expect the other characters to get the limelight very soon.

Thank you for reading this story and I hope you enjoyed it. If you did then you can read the other series in Two Page Shorts [The Halloween Riser, Experiment Saga, Portal Knights, The Zombie Infection, and more] or another project under the Nick Venom, LI Production, or Jayhawk Studio name on Bookrix.com or Forgefiction.com

The briefing of the mission stated that it would be a clean sweep of downtown Chicago. A virus had found its way into the U.S., infecting most, if not all of the country. Rumors spread that it was a bio-weapon created by China or even the U.S. The virus infected the sanity of a person’s mind and slowly decomposed their body. Their body turned black and their brain fried, turning them into mindless monsters. They had a taste for flesh and strived to eat more. Eat until they are full. Eat until they… evolve.

I joined the army nearly a decade ago. I moved from bases stationed in Japan, Russia, Iran, and now to an island outside of America. The island of Kalindo is a secret island used for military drills. Kalindo is the smallest island of the Caribbean islands, hidden in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. A convoy of trucks was mobilized from the small island and taken to Alabama. There we stormed through the states until we made it to Chicago while some men stationed in Michigan brought boats to Lake Michigan, acting as support. 

The reason for the trip to Chicago was because the virus started there and had the largest zombie population, beating out Los Angeles and New York City. The convoy consisted of twenty humvees, three M939’s, and a T30 tank. A total of seventy men were being used in the operation; Operation Reclaim.

I received the rank of Captain three days before the operation making me the ablest body tasked with leading a squad. I got into my humvee, marked with a star on both sides. Inside were my comrades, all soldiers with a lower rank. The driver, Echo, followed the planned path through Chicago, following closely but not enough to be smashed by the T30 if it reversed.

The convoy had half of the humvees, an M939, and the T30 in the front of the pack, and the rest of the vehicles behind my humvee. My crew was driver Echo, gunner Frost, and backseaters Hammerhead, Ghost, and Scarecrow. 

Hammerhead glanced behind us. “Rear side of the convoy is under attack!” He shouted. My eyes snapped to the rear. Behind us, zombies decimated the rear side of the convoy.

    “Scatter,” an order screeched in from Ghost’s radio. Echo overheard the order and swerved out of the main road. Behind us the T30 laid motionless, blood staining the side and hatch of the tank. Zombies had flooded the tank, almost strategically, and wiped it out before anybody could react. I glanced out of the window and watched as a large horde emerged from around us, smashing with full force. They tore apart the humvees that idled while the ones that fled were being hunted by the undead.

 “Convoy under attack. T30, M939s, and most of the humvees are down. All remaining vehicles report to LZ…” The voice on the radio got cut off by static. The voice chimed in again before going back to static, his words being lost.

   We drove as far away from the convoy that we could get in a few minutes. As we drove in silence, looking at the dead littering behind us, Echo asked, “where do we go?” All heads snapped to me for instructions. They wanted me to lead them… as their captain.

   “... We return to the boats,” I instructed them.

    “Roger,” Echo said, turning the humvee around. He drove the humvee back onto the main road. He slowed down the humvee, giving us a clear view of the situation. The main road was crowded with bodies and stained with blood. Stationary vehicles and bloodied bodies littered the road, making large flesh roadblocks. It was disgusting.

To ensure my team kept their motivation, I ordered Echo to continue towards the boats. Ghost turned dials as he tried to contact HQ. “... boats have departed…” shouted the voice over the radio. The voice was then lost by static. Echo stopped the humvee, turning towards me with a confused expression.

“What do we do?” He asked, his voice slightly shaken. 

    All heads were looking at me. I took in a deep breath and released it. “Can we contact an air pickup?” I asked Ghost, drawing at straws.

“If I can get a signal, we can try.” Ghost said. “We’ll need to get somewhere high, though.”

“The Willis Tower?” Scarecrow suggested.

    I nodded. It was the best and only plan we had. The convoy was torn apart and the boats were gone. We were stuck in Chicago. We didn’t have enough gas to return to Kalindo. “We’ll go there.” 

Echo nodded and turned the car around. He drove the car past the main road, where we got another view of the carnage. We passed it quickly and drove towards the Willis Tower. Once close enough, we ditched the humvee in a parking garage. It would become a burden soon.

We gathered all the supplies from the humvee and trekked up several flights of stairs to make it to the roof. The elevator was a dangerous choice and could break on us. It could even be dangling on a single string.

    Once on the roof, Ghost got to work and attempted to contact HQ. The rest of the crew relaxed. We were out of immediate danger… for the moment.

While everybody relaxed, Scarecrow leaned over the edge and noticed something. His eyes lit up as gunshots rang out. “People on the ground.” He informed us, holding his gun tightly.

“How many survivors and zombies?” I asked.

“I can’t tell from here, they’re specks from here. We need to go downstairs to see.” He looked up at me. “Shall we help them?” Scarecrow asked.

“Our mission is to evacuate any civilians we find, or if they’re fellow brothers in arms, then we can’t let them die. Hammerhead, stay with Ghost. Everybody else will follow me downstairs. I turned around and began running down the godforsaken flights of stairs. Scarecrow and Echo followed closely behind me.

    Once on the ground, we slowed our pace. I looked out of a big transparent glass panel and searched for the people Scarecrow mentioned. I noticed four civilians firing off bullets with bad aim, standing in front of the building. One of them turned around and tried to open the door to no avail. We barricaded the door before heading to the roof.

Scarecrow and Echo assisted in breaking down the barricades. They broke down the furniture and whatever we could find to get the door cleared. I opened the door and let the citizen in. The civilian at the door, a female, darted inside. She slid to the ground, recovering quickly and alerting her friends. Her friends noticed the open door and rushed into the building. I locked it behind them as the zombies pressed their faces against the glass and pounded at it. However, the glass was holding. It wasn’t cheap glass that broke easily.

One of the civilians, a male, turned to me, panting slightly. “You were part of the massacre on the highway? We grabbed some of the gear of a broken down humvee.” 

I nodded, already coming to that conclusion. “The information about our mission is classified. The only thing I can tell you is that we’re trying to get a helicopter to come to pick us up. It’s your choice to follow us.” I told them. The civilians---two males and two females---looked at each other. One of the females, wearing a military vest, took a step forward.

    She cleared her throat. “As of right now, we have nothing left. Our only chance of survival is going with you.” Her friends nodded. I nodded in acknowledgment, turning around and heading to the entrance of the stairs. I motioned for them to follow me. 

I ran up the flights of stairs followed by Echo, Scarecrow, and the civilians. We reached the top, immediately being bombarded with information. Ghost spewed information about him contacting a helicopter in the area. He made contact and was able to tell the helicopter pilots our location before static consumed their call.

Scarecrow leaned over the edge of the rooftop and noticed that the zombies were pouring into the building after throwing all of their combined weight at the doors. The black mass of bodies disappearing inside the building.

    “They broke into the building,” he informed the group.

That quickly, he thought. “How far is the helicopter from us?” I asked Ghost.

    “Ten minutes at best,”

    “Then we stand our ground for ten minutes,” I announced. I looked at the civilians, who were well armed with weapons they stole from a broken down humvee. “What are your names?”

    “I’m Harper.” The female from earlier said.

    “Jessica,” The female who was trying to open the door told us.

    “Luke,” said one of the males.

   “Jacob,” said the male who told us about where they got the weapons from.

    “I’m Everest. On the radio is Ghost. Scarecrow is the one leaning over the edge and Hammerhead is standing next to him. Echo is standing behind you.” I informed them. The civilians nodded while glancing at everybody in turn

“Echo! Lock the door.” I ordered. Echo turned around and locked the door, which locked from inside of the building. I grabbed my gun, which was strapped on my back, and aimed down the sights towards a nearby building. “Get ready because once the zombies make their way here, we’ll have no time to chicken out.” My squad nodded their heads and prepared their spirits for a fight. The civilians followed our behavior, however, with one difference. Luke accidentally discharged a bullet into a building next to us. Everybody looked over at him.

   He looked at his hands, shocked and embarrassed. “Sorry,” he muttered softly, still inspecting his hands.

   Eight minutes later, the zombies