User:Cub McBub/Outbreak: Cub's Chronicle Volume II

This story is part of the Malton Chronicles. This story is fan-made, and is not officially part of any background history for Urban Dead.

Present Day: A Raid

Present Day…

Cub walked down the lonely dark street… arm extended back… being yanked by the weight of the red wagon he was pulling… a toolbox… radio… and three unloaded shotguns… all contributing to the load the boy was towing…

His other arm dangled in front of him… a pistol held in that hand…

The boy was just coming back from a typical raid. He had traveled a few blocks from the police station that he was using as a safe house to the old military fort. Those large complexes seemed to be a magnet for the Zeds.

Cub had walked down to the fort… and ran at the gatehouse. Finding three zombies there he started shooting… downing two before running low on ammo and energy…

This survivor was smarter now… “Don’t get carried away…” he would tell himself…

“Get out of the “hot” zone and into a safe house.” This typically meant that once Cub entered a “hot” area that the first thing he would do is plan his escape route… which meant finding a building close to the target that he could enter… not as easy as one would think… many buildings being barricaded to such an extent that is was impossible to enter…

Zombies are slow though… not only to move but also to react as well… so often Cub picked a building that the undead had already weakened or breached. Usually it was easy to run past them and enter the building… even Zeds inside the building where not difficult to avoid...

Once inside… this child found it easy to hop from building to building… without detection… and extract himself from the “hot” zone…

Of course… tonight was not typical… Cub got stuck outside on the way back from the fort… and now was walking in the middle of the street.

He wasn’t that worried though… at least not yet… Zeds seemed pretty scarce here… with most in this area concentrated in the fort and surrounding blocks… so he was fairly confident that he’d find a building he could enter.

Cub approached a damaged cinema… looking it over… he smiled…

“I wonder if there’s a generator… maybe I can watch a movie…” the boy’s lips scrunched for a moment… “Um… too many boards here… I’ll try around the back…”

This boy wheels his wagon up the alley between the cinema and the next building… Cub raises the pistol… ready... feeling ensnared in the walls on either side...

“Two shots… that’s all I have…”

He exhales in relief as he arrives at the back of the building… no one … or no THING … in sight…

Cub scans the rear of the building... and smiles as he notices a small opening where planks were nailed to a window frame… but appear loose…

He approaches the window… then stops in his tracks…

“shuoop ssshhuoop”

Cub lets go of the wagon… and raises his gun as he spins in the direction of the sound…

“ssshhhoouup”

“That dumpster… behind the booger dumpster!” he thought…

Cub just stood for a minute… thinking… indecisiveness gripping him… “What do I do? If I pull at the barricade to try to get in… it’ll hear… and probably attack… not good... especially if I’m halfway in. I’m getting too tired to look around much more for another building…”

Cub sighs… then straightens his back… approaching the dumpster… gun raised…

“Only two shots…”

Present Day: A Raid: Part 2

Taking a wide arch, Cub walked around the dumpster… rounding the corner from where the noise was coming from…

“shuoop ssshhuoop”

The boy saw what appeared to be a somewhat chubby woman… on her knees… hunched with her back facing Cub… so that it was impossible for Cub to see the face…

IT… for Cub knows that this wasn’t really a woman… well... not a human woman... but one of THEM…

IT seemed very intent on what it was doing…

“shhheerpp”

Looking closer the boy could see that the Zed was bent over a body… legs laid out… an arm flopped to the side… a small pool of blood and… other pieces…

Cub curled his lip involuntarily… anger… something that was becoming a more common emotion in the boy as time went by…

He took a step forward and raised the pistol… the Zed still unaware… “shhrouuppp… crack… kkkurrk… um…” so captivated in its meal.

“Hey!” Cub said nonchalantly…

The THING instantly spun around… entrails of its victim’s stomach still clenched in its teeth… the bottom half if its face covered in blood…

It growls… “hhhrrr”… opening its mouth… the intestines falling away from the mouth…

The Zed… who from appearances used to be a older woman… crouches… eyes filled with rage and hunger… bloody fingers curled like claws… teeth bared…

BLAM!!

The woman’s eyes widen in shock… looking down then up at Cub again in seeming disbelief… a slight trail of smoke seeps out of her mouth… from where the bullet had entered… leaving a rather large hole out the back of the mouth…

The zombie slumps over… body twitching in spasms… eyes still wide in disbelief…

Cub walks over… then notices the t-shirt the older lady is wearing… a smiling teddy bear cub stands… wearing a baseball cap… and ice-cream in one hand… with the words…

GRANDMA SPOILS ME!!

Cub hesitated… and took a deep breath… looking at this former grandmother… now eater of flesh… its eyes alert… meets the boys… they seem to plead…

Cub’s eyes start to water… “I hope you stay dead…”

BLAM!!

---

Not long after… inside the cinema… Cub sits alone in a dark room… crying quietly… the thoughts of a movie forgotten…

Seeing one grandmother… reminded the boy of another…

Nagging Worry

Early Sept. 2006:

Cub sat in the basement of his home… alone. This is where the eight-year-old boy waited when his grandmother was on supply runs.

She would go on these runs with a small group of neighbours… all survivors.

The boy thought back to the morning… when Blaine Hennessy... who... like it or not... seemed to have been given the mantle of leadership among the neighbours... had arrived with a small band of others. Blaine… and a couple of the others… holding hunting rifles…

“OK Love… You stay in the basement now… like always… make sure and put the locks on” the old lady gently placed her hands on his head... leaned down... and kissed him on the top of the head… “Read a book.. I’ll be back soon… I love you!”

She turned and left with the group… turning and waving back every few feet…

Now it was afternoon… and Cub stood and started to pace… growing anxious. Normally these supply runs only took two to three hours.

It’s already been five hours… not that this was the first time a supply run ran long. The group never engaged any Zombies… even lone ones… for fear of attracting others… but always avoided contact. Sometimes this meant some creative… and long detours…

This boy was eight though… and knowing that sometimes there were delays didn’t stop the growing feeling of worry… and panic…

“I can’t take it anymore”

Cub trudged up the basement steps… at the top he sighs… and takes out the key ring. He wants to be a good boy… do as he’s told… but… this child couldn’t resist any longer. He had to get upstairs… and see if there was anything going on… plus… he was getting hungry.

Even though he hadn’t heard any movement since coming down here Cub was cautious. He placed his ear on the door… listening... nothing… just the wind…

Slowly and carefully he placed each key on the ring in their respective padlocks… five in total…

Opening the door a crack he peeked out… nothing…

Pushing the door wide Cub walked into the living room… empty… quiet…

He then quietly walked to the boarded up picture window… and looked between a gap in the boards… purposely put there in order to get some view outside… the streets were empty… with not one sign of life… or un-life…

“Where are you Grandma!?”

Panic

The next few hours were torture…

At first Cub kept himself busy by getting something to eat… there wasn’t much in the kitchen… hence the need for the supply run… but the boy pealed a couple of potatoes… sprinkled some cinnamon on them and crunched down…

After eating he tried to read… but the growing feeling of panic was eating at him… so concentrating on a book… even if it was Pokémon… was difficult.

In the next few hours the boy found himself pacing mostly… walking around the house… looking out the gaps in the barricades… the front picture window… the curtain covering the back deck’s patio door… up to the second floor… peering out of those windows… over and over again… around and around he paced…

As the hours passed… and the afternoon's sun faded towards dusk… the boy was panting as he walked from room to room… panting not from tiredness… but from the growing panic…

Darkness was settling in… it had now been all day… almost 12 hours... since his grandmother left.

Cub’s hands clenched his hair now as he walked… around and around… threatening to pull the strands out… then tears started streaming… so that although he continued to look out to the street where he could… he wasn't able to really see...

Under clenched teeth a low chant was repeated… over and over…

“grandma… grandma… grandma… grandma…”

"AHHHHhhhh!!"

The panic finally engulfing him the boy ran to the front door and threw it open… caution forgotten…

“Grandma!” he yelled… “GRANDMA!!!” he screeched… panic and fear in the voice…

scratch… scratch…

“Wha?” hope and relief flooded in at that sound… “Where’s that coming from? Grandma’s back…” this thought came without hesitation or doubt. The child’s faith overcame reason... as far as Cub was concerned… that noise meant Grandma was home…

scratch… scratch…

“The back door!” Cub slammed the front door and sprinted to the curtain covering the back patio door…

Throwing the curtain aside the grandson immediately recognized the flower print of his grandmother’s dress…

“Grandma!!”

Grabbing the handle of the sliding door Cub pulled… it didn’t budge…

“Poop!”

Pulling the little door latch to the unlock position the boy yanked with his whole body…

As the door slid open the woman turned back towards the door… Cub not realizing in his haste that his grandmother had her back to him…

Cub looked up… eyes wide… beaming with relief…

“Grandma!! I was so worr…” the last word trailed off as his grandmother turned… the side of her neck was a deep crimson… blood from the wound had run down… staining the front right side of her dress…

“GRANDMA!!”

Cub took a step forward… then stopped… the boy saw his grandmother’s face as she turned towards him… her lips were curled… teeth clenched…

Her eyes… he could see her eyes… they were devoid of humanity… replaced with that animal hatred… that hatred that THEY all shared...

Those eyes looked at the boy… wide… furious... hungry...

“grandma…” the boy whispered … “it’s me… Charlie…”

“GRRRRAAHHH” his grandmother lunged!

A Dance With Death

Cub’s grandmother… or what used to be his grandmother… grabbed the boy’s head by her hands… her fingers applying pressure… digging in… literally trying to drill inside his skull…

But Cub hardly reacted. He was in a state of shock… staggering with the zombie around the living room. It almost appearing to be some form of clumsy dance…

He was in this dazed state as his former grandmother lower her head… teeth bared… onto his skull…

The boy of eight felt a dull distant pressure… then slight pain… of his grandmother trying to gnaw her way in…

But all that really registered to Cub was that his grandmother was bent over him… a hand on each side of his head… her mouth on the top of his head… just like this morning… when she gently kissed him goodbye…

“Grrrrrr”

She growled in frustration… her teeth having no luck boring into the boy’s skull. The old Zed pushed Cub’s head away… causing him the stagger a few feet from her…

IT stood there panting… lip curled in frustration… eyes full of hatred… her top dentures slightly displaced in the attempt to bite the top of the boy’s skull… a trace of blood on her upper lip that wasn’t there before…

Slowly… as if in a trance… Cub raised his hand to the top of his head…

“I didn’t know you had fake teeth Grandma… hehe… hehe”

The boy started to laugh… a small trance-like laugh… as he lowered his hand from his skull and looked at his fingers… there was a bit of blood on them… the laughing faded… and he looked up at this zombie…

“Did you try to hurt me Grandma?”

“Grrrrraaahhhhh!!” The THING that stood before Cub swung its hand wildly at the boy’s head… fingers shaped like talons…

“Ahhh!” Cub cried out in reaction to the Zed’s finger nails cutting across his left cheek… snapping his head to the right… and leaving four deep gashes… and another smaller cut on his lower lip from her thumb nail…

The pain cleared his mind as he turned his head back to this THING before him…

“Thank-you Grandma…”

“Grrrahh!!” The undead woman lunged once again… but Cub was finally alert and this Zed… being that of an older lady… was not quick. Her clumsy attack was side-stepped and the child walked in a semi circle around the Zed…

IT turned to follow the boy… waiting for another opportunity to lunge…

“What do I do now…” Cub thought… then… glancing to the open basement door a decision was made…

He ran for the door… and in so doing ran past the Zed. IT struck out with its arms but the boy was too fast… though he could sense it just behind him…

His former grandmother was after the boy…

Reaching the basement entrance… Cub started trotting down the steps… not bothering with the door… hoping his plan would work…

Goodbye

Almost half way down the steps Cub heard a… thump… “Grrah?”…

The child looked back to see a look of surprise on the Zed as it began to fall… tripping on the first step… her foot twisted awkwardly…

Cub ducked under the railing… which were just simple boards hammered into the rough pine stairs… and jumped… hoping to avoid the tumbling body…

“Umph!” Cub landed on the concrete floor and rolled… and briefly saw stars as he banged his head on the hard floor…

Lifting himself up to a sitting position he rubbed his sore head and looked over to the stairs…

A heap lay at the bottom… twitching… arms flailing slightly… a guttural gurgle coming from its mouth…

Cub got up and slowly walked closer… as he approached he edged around the Zed… to get a look at its face…

The Zombie’s head laid facing Cub… its neck seemed twisted unnaturally… its mouth was open… dentures completely gone… exposing her upper gums… drool slowly seeping from the bottom corner… that gurgling sound emitting from it… its eyes were wide and searching… as if trying to find an answer to its current condition…

Shock… Fear… Uncertainty… What emotion the Zed was feeling Cub couldn’t know for sure...

But IT still looked like his grandmother lying there… in pain. Then the creature’s eyes met Cub’s… and they changed… narrowing… its lips curled back… remnants of other emotions being pushed away by the feral hatred that seems triggered at the mere sight of a living human…

“Grrah!!” it growled at Cub… its arms weakly reaching with clawed fingers…

The boy’s eyes welled up… “Don’t worry Grandma… I’ll make sure you don’t suffer any more…”

Cub walked past the THING and climbed onto the stairs… out of the creature’s reach…

He trudged up the steps. Unable to turn its head to follow Cub’s path… the Zombie’s growls turning into mournful… gurgling… sickening whines…

When Cub reached the top of the stairs… the boy closed the basement door in an attempt to muffle its painful cries. It worked… but deadening the noise make the cries seem all the more sorrowful…

He went to the second floor... returning a few minutes later with a flannel blanket slung over his shoulder. Now his eyes were red and his cheeks wet from tears… but no noise of crying could be heard… just an infrequent quick sucking in of breath…

He went into the kitchen and laid the blanket out… a pair of pants… some socks… underwear… and a yellow smiley-faced T-Shirt lay on top of it. On that Cub threw some cans of pasta. Wrapping this package up he carried it to the back patio door…

He paused… looking for any movement or sighs of UN-life outside. Seeing and hearing none Cub opened the patio door and dropped the wrapped blanket on the grass.

Re-entering the home Cub could still hear the low moans from the basement…

He rubbed an arm across his eyes and sighed as he walked into the kitchen. The youngster approached the gas can… which had the fuel for the kerosene heater…

“I won’t let you suffer Grandma…”

This boy suddenly looked a little older as he gritted his teeth… setting his jaw. He picked up the can full of fuel and opened the cap… tipping it… the kerosene started to flow out. Cub walked through the rooms of the first floor of his family home… spilling the liquid as he went… soaking the floor... and the bottom of his pants...

The can was finally empty. Cub went back to the kitchen and got the matches…

“Um… how do I do this?”

He walked to the patio door and stood there… then looked at the bottom of his jeans… which had been soaked with the flammable liquid… “Um…”

Bending over the boy pulled his pants down and off… then held then up… their legs dangling down…

Taking a step out of the patio door in his underwear he shivered in the fall night air. Taking a match he struck it… and it lit… but blew out in the evening breeze before he could get it down on his pants.

This time he stayed bent… kneeling close to his pants… and lit the match… tossing the flame onto the kerosene soaked pant leg … it flared immediately and violently… burning Cub’s leg hair and sending the boy jumping back… lending on his ass…

"Ouch! Poop!"

The flame settled… becoming a steady burn. Cub crawled around the flame and reached for a part of the pants that were not on fire yet… his strong face broke then... the tears returned…

“Goodbye Grandma… Rest In Peace!”

With that he flung the flaming cloth inside the house…

WHOOSH!!

Immediately flame engulfed the floor. Cub jumped... the moved back into the yard… picking up the supplies he had wrapped with that flannel blanket.

The child watched his family home quickly become an inferno… as the heat got more intense he took a couple more steps back…

Then… slinging the blanked over his shoulder he turned and started to walk away…

“Love you Grandma…” he whispered to the night… hoping she would hear… somehow...