I awake to see a tired-looking Ella looking down at me, her long blonde hair framing her face.
“Jacob, you up?” She asks quietly.
Confusion floods my mind as I stare up at her. ‘Why is she in my room watching me sleep?’ I blink a few times as memories from the day before trickle into my mind. ‘Oh right, wheels and shit.’
“You know I always thought the first person I would hook up with in the group would be Noah but I definitely don't mind waking up to your face,” I say while shaking my head and sitting up in a poor attempt to wake myself up. I get out of the double bed causing the wooden frame to groan slightly as I look around the pale blue walls of my room that until recently I was planning to leave.
Ella snorts. “Speak for yourself, that bedhead doesn't do you any favours.”
“Gasp, a one-night stand then” I grasp my heart for dramatic effect. “Turn around? I need to get changed.” I say while bringing out the clothes I plan to wear during the day from my inventory but grab some underwear and socks from my clothes drawer.
“I’m sorry but you know I've got to find a rich husband so that I can live that good life.” She says while turning around.
“Guess I’m going to have to win the lottery then, shouldn't be too hard. How are you holding up?” I ask, putting on my clothing and protective gear.
“I’ve, I’ve been better. It hasn't really set in yet you know? Like people just disappeared and, and I won't be able to see my fa…family again but at the moment I'm with all of you. Makes it feels like a holiday at the caravan, but with more breaking and entering.” I hear her take a shaky breath.
‘Shit, I don't know how to deal with sad people. Ummm…Hugs? People like hugs, right?’
“But at the moment I think I just need some sleep, night watch sucks.” She adds after taking a deep breath. I finish putting on my clothes and give Ella a light hug. Her arms reach out and hold my body, seemingly ignoring my deep unease at the situation.
‘Good work brain, now we need words. I’m sorry for your loss? We are your family now? Ummm… there are no more exams?’
“Yeah it's going to be rough, and we are all going to be down for a bit but I think we can pull through and lean on each other.” I pat her back and let go to look into her blue eyes. “And at least we won't have exams and we don't have to pay taxes. Now you need to go to bed missy while I play with myself trying to figure out how to make things hard and soft.”
I give her a grin as she smiles slightly and rolls her eyes. ‘Hmmm insinuating masturbation when talking about grief…The fuck brain?’
“Go on, go play with yourself in the dark.” Ella gives a small chuckle.
“Oh I will and it will be glorious. Sleep well, Ella.” I gave another smile and head out of the door.
“Thank you, Jacob.” She says in a quiet voice.
“Anytime boo, now sleeeeep.” I gesture for her to climb into my recently evacuated bed.
“Ok, ok.” She starts to undress causing me to quickly close the door.
‘Now to spend the next hour and a bit alone with my thoughts, how hard can that be?’ I lasted a grand total of two minutes. After escaping the dark recesses of my mind I started obsessively training and planning.
I decided to try and reduce the negative effects of my powers first so that I could use them without incapacitating myself. But to do this I needed materials to rapid fire my abilities which led me to sit on the cold wooden floor in a pile of recycling, dry heaving and eating glass. So you know, the usual.
‘This is a weird-ass training montage, on to the next power! Now how does one step between dimensions?’
As my stomach recovers, I look around at the piles of twisted metal, plastic, glass and card thinking about how to enter the afterlife without dying ‘or was it the spirit realm? Either way’. Turns out it was super easy. Ish. Getting into the spirit realm/afterlife or whatever you want to call it was as easy as thinking of it and flipping a mental switch. What wasn't easy was the nerve-tearing pain that shoots through my system-like lighting causing my muscles to twitch and spasm.
Clenching my jaw and taking deep breaths I gradually stand up on my shaking legs and try to centre myself.
“Well, this is different,” I say aloud as I look around at my surroundings. It looked just like my living room, with the tv and small archway that leads into the dining room but the shadows were elongated and everything was tinted a deep red. Before I could experiment more the pain flared to new heights and I was thrown out of the spirit realm, luckily I was able to stop myself from falling over and waking everyone up.
Panting from the pain I stand in a daze for a few seconds as I acclimatise to my regular reality. ‘Right, on to the next one. What was it called, Super lungs? Just hold my breath or channel my inner vacuum cleaner like there is no tomorrow.’
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
I spent the next 40 minutes using my powers as fast as possible to try and reduce the aftereffects on my body. By the end, I was curled up in the recovery position groaning in pain, resting my head against the cool floor.
Deciding that I needed a break as I was currently in no position to fight off an angry kitten let alone whatever else that is lucking out there. I take a deep breath to stabilise myself and slowly uncurl my aching body to stand on my trembling legs. My arms are spread out by my side to help balance myself so I don't end up damaging my batted body anymore.
I spend the next few minutes standing like an unsteady toddler contemplating my life choices when I spot the unfinished mosaic of a stag sitting on the table in my mother's place. Its white tiles stand out against the blue and green world map tablecloth.
I stare blankly as my mind is bombarded by memories of a loving woman that never gave up on my dysfunctional ass. I stumble slightly as I squeeze my eyes closed and rub my face. “I should say goodbye,” I say softly, steadying myself.
Despite having clear intent when I muttered those words I don't remember moving or how I got to my parent's resting place. Yet here I stand, with a cold empty feeling consuming my insides as I look at my dead family, once full of life now lying on a cold, hard concrete floor with pale skin and empty eyes. I would have preferred a better resting place than the neighbour's double garage surrounded by disregarded timber and tools. But it was the best place with easy access in the winding almost maze-like cul-de-sac.
My cold eyes grow empty as I stare at them, hoping they would move and come back to me, but I knew it wouldn't happen even as I wished for it. I feel the cool morning breeze caress my back as the morning sun begins to creep over the monotone new build houses that make up my surroundings. Even as I take it all in and try to calm myself down I can't shake the irritable sensation deep within my mind that I am missing something but I ignore it in favour of paying tribute to my newly deceased family.
“Hey mum, hey dad. I hope you are enjoying whatever counts as an afterlife and that you get to be together…wherever you are. I thought I should say a few words, I’ve never really been good with emotions especially when there are other people around so I thought I would come alone.” I take a slow breath to try and ease the pit forming in my stomach, the new emotion making me uncomfortable.
I sigh. ‘Right, time for a speech.’
“Mum. I could talk for hours and provide numerous examples of your loving, happy, and independent nature. Your desire to make the world a better place, even if it was only one step at a time.” I lean my aching body against the garage wall for support.
Your generosity with your time, energy, and advice have helped me in so many ways that I can't even begin to describe my gratitude. I’m…I'm going to miss you, mum. I’m really going to miss you.” I stare at her cold dead eyes and unmoving corpse before changing my gaze to my father.
“Dad…”
[First set event: Corpses sin has begun. All those who are deceased will rise from their graves to try and drag the living into their eternal torment to share their fate. Warning the undead will mutate and evolve as time goes on.]
‘Well that's pretty poor timing…’ I look at the message, then look at my parents, then look back at the message. ‘Fuck.’
Then all hell broke loose. My parents’ backs arched to unnatural angles, their dead lips now alive in the form of a snarl before a roar ripped through their vocal cords and exploded into the cold morning air joining the cacophony that promised death from the undead that now roamed the land.
‘Shiiiiiiiit, this is not how I envisioned the funeral going.’ I look on in horror as my parent's bodies are forced to contort and spasm before they stand up and look into my eyes.
A bloodthirsty visage enclosed by long greasy locks of dark brown curly hair stares at me from my mother's once-loving face. I turn to face my dad but his eyes are filled with hatred and hunger as he lunges toward me.
I dart out of the way and out of the garage so that I have more space. “Mum, Dad, do you remember me?” I ask, a small, stupid, part of me held out hope that they would turn back to normal. Their response was to snarl like a feral beast and shuffle towards me with claw-like hands reaching out trying to tear me apart.
I let out a long sigh and look at the clear blue sky above me as I gather myself. “I’m going to take that as a no. But if you change your mind please let me know.” I back away, summoning my rounders bat and trying to look at the situation with my usual cold thought process, ignoring that the threat was my parents trying to kill me.
‘They move at an average walking pace...’ I walk backwards and circle them, watching them struggle to turn. ‘But have a low turning speed.’ A memory of my dad teaching me to drive flashes through my mind causing me to grit my teeth. ‘Focus brain! I can't just leave them like this so shut the fuck up or I swear to the crazy ass God with a wheel fetish that I will kill all our brain cells with all the straight tequila I can find!.’
I walk backwards as I gather information while keeping an eye on the surroundings.
‘I can't use much if any powers after that training session, but I never wanted to be reliant on them anyway.’ A small part of me noted that I never wanted to mutilate my parent's bodies either but I ignored it.
I continue to circle them while trying to come up with a plan but really I was just stalling. ‘Bring them to the floor and stomp on their heads. Take out Da… The male first and use his body to trip... the Female.’
“Stop stalling you little bitch.” I say through gritted teeth and let out a shout of defiance before rushing to my dad's side and making use of his slow turning to slam my steel-capped foot into the back of his knee while giving a backhanded strike with the bat to the back of his head. Even though the steel-capped boot and bat his body felt stronger and more resilient but it didn’t stop his moving corpse from crumpling like a folded chair when I smashed his joints and skull at full force.
‘Stronger but slower bodies? Should make traps easier but I will need to keep a distance.’
Looking at my mother I call out to her, luring her in the direction of my father's downed corpse, that even now was trying to get up, in hopes that she will trip. She lets out a bloodthirsty snarl, the desire to rip into my flesh with her slowly blackening teeth and nails evident on her face.
Letting out a snarl of my own I pivot on my foot and grab one of her outstretched hands and pull her forwards, causing her to trip on my father's frenzied corpse. I take a few steps back and watch the writhing mass of entangled limbs for a moment as memories play in my mind.
Mother taking me to play park when I was younger, us laughing on the seesaw as the sun glistened in the background. Going scuba diving with my dad in the great barrier reef, playing board games on a Friday night…
I let out a long, drawn-out sigh “I don't know if you are still in there or if you are watching somehow but I want you to know I love you both...”
Voices and movement can be heard from the house behind me as I watch my parents struggle to get to their feet. “And I’m glad for the time we got to spend together…”
I summon the javelin from my inventory and glance around at the surrounding houses, taking note of the sound of breaking glass and snarls coming from their depths. “But I can't leave you like this, it's not you and I won't let it taint how the world remembers you.” My eyes start to moisten as I lunge forward and drive the tip of the javelin through my mother's skull.
Sickening squelching noises fill the air quickly followed by the sound of a shattering window as more reanimated corpses shuffle onto the street. “Well, that's unfortunate,” I mutter as my body shakes from exhaustion. ‘Maybe training before killing my parents was a bad Idea.’
Leaning back again I try to take the javelin out of my mother's skull but it's stuck, bent within the brain upon impact. “Well shit.”
I look at the incoming corpses before looking at my dad now slowly pushing my mother's corpse away. “Sorry dad but I can't just leave you like this.”
With those final words, I slam my boot into his face causing his head to smash back down onto the floor with a resounding crack. Stomping a few times in quick succession I then grip my rounders bat and swing it down onto his head, making it splatter onto the tarmac like a rotten egg.
Now on my hands and knees, shaking from the after-effects of adrenaline with physical and emotional exhaustion I look up at the 11 shambling corpses heading my way. ‘Damn, Mr Wheelman really went for the cliches.’
I grit my teeth in anger but swallow my internal pain. ‘Time to move it or lose it.’ I wipe my moist eyes on the back of my hand and awkwardly shuffle my way back to my house.
Making my way through the front door I quickly lock it and collapse as my body finally gives out. Using the last of my strength I get into a sitting position with my back against the door as my Friends arrive with worried looks on their faces.