Journal:Cub McBub
|
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. |
Origins
Cub sat on the couch inside the Malton Angel’s headquarters. Headquarters sounded so official… but it really a run down building… like almost every building in Malton. Signs of the epidemic where everywhere…broken furniture… boards on the windows and doors… lazily placed weapons about the room… and … blood-splatters on the walls…
He watched his new partners… a couple going over maps of the city on a table… discussing plans of this or that… a couple of others just seemed to be chatting amicably…
Everything was relaxed… even though there were a couple of zombies wandering the streets a mere block away. That’s what this world has come too… at least the world of Malton… a couple of Zeds were just not anything to get excited about anyone…
This young boy of 10 remembered a time when that was not the case… when even one zombie shocked him…
Day One: Part One
Cub remembers the day of the outbreak…he was playing on his bedroom floor…
“Pishu … pishu…” the boy of 7 made the sound of laser blasts… his Star Wars figures shooting at each other… the good guys always won…
Grandma was over to baby-sit … as she always did after school. She seemed very intent on the TV today… seemed there was another disaster somewhere in the world…
“Charlie… come down for supper!” Charlie… that was his real name. Charlie McBub… but everyone called him Cub… even his parents and sister… everyone except for Grandma.
“Come-on down Love”
“Supper?” Charlie thought to himself. “Where's Mom and Dad… and Clair?” Cub’s Grandma usually only baby-sits until someone else gets home. Clair, Cub’s sister, was 15 and often at cheerleader practice… at a friend’s… or at the mall… so she was often late… but his parents were usually home right after work.
Cub looked out the window … “Getting dark…” the young boy ran down the stairs…
“Where’s Mom and Dad? When are they coming home?”
“Well…Charlie…” Cub could sense a tension in Grandma’s voice… worry started to creep in… “It seems there are some traffic problems in another part of the city… some roads are closed… so your parents are probably stuck at work…” Grandma gave a reassuring smile… “Your sister is stuck too... stuck at the mall. She would like that wouldn’t she? hehe” The old lady patted Cub on the head, but the laugh was nervous and forced...
Cub cocked his head and scrunched his lips in confusion… “Stuck?” he thought to himself… even to his inexperienced seven-year-old brain this didn’t seem to make sense.
“Did you call?” Cub asked… he knew Clair had a cell phone… it was a birthday present… bit really it was a way for Cub’s parents to keep track of this outgoing teen.
“Well…” his grandmother shuffled her feet… she couldn’t hide her worry… “It seems like the phones are out of service. So I can’t get through right now.”
Day One: Part Two
Just then a Cub heard a number of large trucks driving on the street outside the home at high speed. The young boy ran to the front window to see that they were military troop transports… all heading towards the centre of town.
Three passed by… the forth stopped just down the street. A number of army troops jumped out the back… fanning out…
Cub was transfixed on these events… never having seen anything like it before… then he felt his shoulders grabbed…
He turned his gaze toward his grandma… “Charlie… do have supper love…”
“But I want to see…” Cub replied…
His grandmother gripped his shoulder more tightly… and repeated in a firm voice…
“Go eat now… please!”
Begrudgingly… Cub shuffled to the dining room table where the meal waited on his plate… spaghetti! One of Cub’s favourites...
Cub started to eat while his grandmother looked out the window…
“What’s happening grandma?”
“Oh… nothing love…” he could hear that tension in her voice again… “You just keep on eating…”
Cub grits his teeth. Grownups always said “You just this or that” whenever they didn’t want you to know something. He was dying to see what was going on…
Then Grandma stood straight… and rushed… as much as the old lady could rush… more of a quick waddling shuffle… towards the door…
KNOCK!! KNOCK!!
Day One: Part Three
Cub stood as his grandmother opened the door… standing there was a soldier…
“Ma'am… this is an emergency!”
“Wait! Wait… let’s talk outside…” glancing back at Cub…then gently pushing the soldier back so that she could get out of the door…
Cub raced to the door and planted his ear…
“Ma'am… the riots in the central part of the city are spreading outwards… fast… I suggest you and the boy get to a designated safe house.”
“Bu…But… my Son… the boy’s parents and sister… They are there! They might come home. We have to wait for them…”
There’s a long pause…
“Ma'am … we are not directed to force you… it’s your choice… but… from the reports… it’s bad…VERY bad…”
Another pause…
“You didn’t hear it from me… but… it’s more than riots… people are dying… take this map… get to a designated safe house… it’s defended. Go while it’s safe…”
Cub heard the footsteps of the soldier walk away… he ran back to the dining room table. The boy watched as the old lady slowly came back into the house… all the color was gone from her face…
“You OK Grandma?”
The smiled… to reassure him or herself the seven year old couldn’t tell… “Yes Charlie… I’m fine…”
“Are we leaving?” The grandmother’s face scrunched at Cub's question.
“Charlie…” she shakes her head… “You shouldn’t have been listening!” she paused… “No… I don’t think so… Look at all those soldiers! This should all be done by tomorrow. Anyway… we want to be here in case… ah… when… your parents or sister get home”
“Are they alright?”
“Yes Charlie…I’m sure they are fine. They wouldn’t be involved in any of that stuff. They’re just stuck until the roads are cleared.”
She smiled again… Cub thought that it looked too forced… but he wanted to be reassured… to take Grandma’s explanations at face value… and at seven… he still could…
So he ate the rest of his supper… then went upstairs to play some more…
About two hours later the lights went out…
“Grandma… Grandma!!” Cub was still a little afraid of the dark… there was still some light from outside as it was July… so there was no panic.
The boy heard his Grandmother’s heavy stomping steps coming up the stairs…
“It’s alright Charlie… just a power outage. It looks like the whole block is out.” She entered the boy’s room as she finished the last sentence. “Let’s… have an early night…”
Cub lay in bed that night… but had a hard time sleeping… police sirens… more large trucks driving by… and in the distance gunfire and the occasional explosion could be heard.
“Are we at war or something?” Cub asked... but finally the boy went to sleep…
Day Two: Part One
Cub awoke and stretched… the sun shone in through the window… another warm July day.
Ratt-tat-tat-tat
Cub shot up straight… gunfire… and closer than anything he heard last night…
He remembered now… jumping out of bed… still in his flannel Spiderman pyjamas… he ran downstairs.
He saw his grandmother walking quickly towards the bottom of the stairs to meet him.
“Morning love.” She said… forcing a reassuring smile… “Come have some breakfast.” She looked exhausted… like she didn’t sleep a wink…
“Grandma… what about Mom and Dad… Clair… they didn’t come home did they? Did you talk to them?” Cub’s words were coming out like the machine-gun fire in the distance…
There was a pause from his grandmother. Cub stood wide-eyed in anticipation of an answer.
“No love… I haven’t been able to reach anyone.”
“Well… what should we do? We should find them…” Cub ran to the front door…
“Charlie! Stop!!” His grandmother pleaded… stretching her arm after him…
Ignoring her Cub threw open the door and ran out on the front step… where he stopped…
Up the street… about 100 ft… was a man walking… well lurching was more like it… slowly up the road…
Blood covered the left side of his pale shirt… also on that side his shoulder slumped low… the arm dangling as though he had little control of it. The source of the blood… a large flap of skin in the left side of the man’s neck was flopped down… partially covering his slumping shoulder. The exposed wound from the neck pulsated… but not much blood flowed. The man’s eyes were distant… the pupils black…
Of course, Cub did not recognize this as his first Zombie encounter…
Day Two: Part Two
"Grandma!! Grandma!! There's an injured man!" The old lady got to the door just as Cub ran down the front steps of the house...
"It's OK Mister..." Cub started to shout at what used to be a man... then stopped... frozen in fear... for the creature heard Cub... and turned to face the boy...
Looking directly into the eyes of this creature Cub recognized that something was not right... not quite human…
The dead man’s eyes looked filled... with hatred...
The Zombie bared his teeth and growled... his teeth looked filled... with hunger...
The former account executive... who yesterday morning was worried about his promotion... now moved with greater purpose and speed towards Cub... not running per say... but stumbling... throwing his decaying body towards the boy... his dislocated arm flailing wildly...
"CUB!! RUN!! COME INSIDE!!"
Cub was snapped out of his shock… for his grandmother had never called him Cub before. The Zombie had halved the distance between it and Cub while the boy had stood there frozen. Now Cub stumbled backwards... and fell on his ass...
"CUB!!" His grandmother screeched. The boy could hear panic in her voice... The Zombie grinned in evil anticipation... then tripped on the curb when it tried to cross a lawn to get at Cub...
Cub scrambled to his feet as the Zombie thrashed on the ground...
Then, out of the left corner of his eye Cub caught the image of a man approaching... a man with a shotgun...
He walked within five feet of that shambling dead creature... whose attention was now on the man in front of him... and had managed to get to one knee...
The man looked over at Cub... who was at this point only 20 feet away... then turned back to the undead man...
The Zombie roared as it rose back to his feet...
BOOOOMMM!!
The man had raised his weapon and fired... the creature’s head was obliterated... blood sprayed … it’s body flew back on the ground...
Cub saw it all...
Interlude: Present - Two Days Later
Cub shook his head... bringing himself back to the present. He gritted his teeth... he wondered why he was thinking of the past so much lately… the boy shrugged…
It was time...
"Time to go hunting..." he announced to the room. Moving to the barricades and peeking between two of nailed boards Cub could see nothing... but he knew there were Zeds close… he had heard the moaning…
Cub didn’t really expect the survivors to win this war... maybe just draw them to a never-ending stalemate... unless a real "cure" could be found. So that... when you die... you stay dead…
"Wonder who would test that" Cub thought to himself and chuckled...
Cub crawled out of a gap in the barricades... one to large if an adult… being small was a real advantage sometimes…
Out on the street Cub immediately drew a pistol… in case there was a Zed within direct striking distance… nope…clear here…
The boy stood… threw a shotgun over his shoulder and pulled the strap snug against his chest to prevent it from knocking him on the back of the head as he ran. The shotgun was his last resort weapon… when his pistols ran out of ammo…
He then drew is second pistol… now holding one in each hand. The boy started to scan the area…
He saw six Zeds tearing at the barricades of St. Telesphorous's Hospital… and thought of moving there… but then saw another… lone Zombie, just one block away from the Angell Building.
“Oh, no you don’t” Cub thought to himself and trotted towards the Zombie. Cub stopped within 100 feet… and noticed that the undead thing was already labouring… he smiled…
“Easy target…” Cub whispered to himself as he brought both guns up…
BLAM!! BLAM!! BLAM!!
The creature fell before it was even aware of Cub’s presence.
But the gunfire was noticed by some of the Zeds at St. Telesphorous's Hospital. Cub ran towards that hospital… having enough ammunition to continue the hunt… but two of the Zombies had turned their attention away from the barricades… and started walking towards the sound of Cub’s gunfire…
Cub stood in the street as they shuffled their way toward him… lifting his guns and taking aim…
BLAM…BLAM…BLAM…BLAM… Another Zed drops… slowly flailing on the ground for a moment before becoming still…
Cub smiled… his aim was true tonight… which wasn’t always the case… but tonight he seemed in the zone…
Cub continued firing at the other Zombie that was walking toward him… the bullets finding their target on nearly every shot… but this Zed was stronger…
Click… click…
“Poop!” Cub cursed… the bullets ran out… and this Zed was closing the distance… the four others outside St. Telesphorous's Hospital had taken notice too and were slowly making their way towards Cub… but further back from the front one…
Cub stuffed the pistols into his shoulder holsters and pulled a snap on the strap holding the shotgun… immediately the strap loosened and the boy caught the weapon… swinging it to face the approaching creature… now just 20 feet away…
Cub braced one foot behind the other… knowing there will be massive recoil…
BOOOOMMM!!
Cub gets nearly knocked over and is disoriented for a moment… gaining his senses his looks as the Zombie still approaches… still moving despite taking the full blast of the shotgun in the chest… which is now red… the shirt tattered…
“Die damn-it!!”
The undead creature is nearly on top of him… it grins... anticipating victory…
BOOOOMMM!!
Cub is thrown off balance by the recoil… not having time to brace himself properly... he rolled on the ground…
Shaking his head he looks up… seeing a shotgun about five feet away… and the prone body of that Zed… a couple of feet further on…
“Got cha! Hehe” There were more of them coming though. Cub hurries to pick up the shotgun… running away… to find a safe… barricaded... place to rest… “A good night…” the boy thinks to himself...
Day Two: Part Three
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!! THERE'S A BOY HERE"
The older lady trotted down the front steps... a kitchen knife in one hand... nearly tripping. She ran towards Cub...
"Ma'me... Mrs. McBub... watch that knife..." He was right. Cub's grandmother was clutching the knife... apparently she ran to the kitchen between her second scream and the Zombie being shot. As she ran at Cub she nearly stabbed him as she dropped to her knees to hug him. Cub was still standing in shock.
"Did you have to do that in front of the boy!!?" The older lady said.
"Would you rather that he be eaten? I'm afraid this is the new reality Mrs. McBub"
The old plump lady hugged Cub while the man looked on... she whispered ... "It's OK love... it's OK." She made sure to face the boy away from the dead body…
After a couple of minutes of hugging… patting and consoling the grandmother said… “Let’s go inside…”
The man with the shotgun spoke up. “Mrs. McBub, I’m Blaine Hennessey. I live just up the street. Some of the neighbours are setting up defences...”
“I have to take care of this boy right now.” She got up… and holding Cub by the shoulders so that he wouldn’t turn to see the body on the ground… started directing Cub towards the door…
Cub craned his neck back to look at the man… who held his shotgun over his shoulder and smiled at the boy… Cub asked... “Mister, was he a bad-guy? Are we at war?”
“Yes son… on both counts?” the man replied.
“Hush! Stop speaking to him!” Cub’s grandmother chastised the man… then… “Come along Charlie…”
The man spoke anyway… “Mrs. McBub… some of those… things… are getting here… not many… but a few. We think that we can defend the neighbourhood ourselves until the army finishes this mess. We’ll have patrols… set up a parimeter…but… ah… you may want to go to the school. That’s were we’re setting up a safe area for people to stay… until this is over.”
The grandmother looked back at the man… her face red now with anger… “WE’LL BE STAYING HERE!!”
Blaine held his hands up in defence… “OK…ok… but…um… if you change your mind… or need anything… go to the school or my house… its number 42.”
He then looked at the body… “I’ll… um… clean up this mess…”
Day Two: Part Four
Cub went inside the house and sat on the couch… looking down at the floor for a moment. His grandmother sat beside him, wrapping her arm around his shoulder.
Gradually, the boy’s body started to shake… then the tears came… and he lowered his head into his hands.
“It will be OK love… it will be OK…” Cub’s grandmother tried to comfort him… Cub wanted that comfort… and leaned into the plump older lady.
It took several minutes for the crying to slow… the shaking to stop… then he looked up at his Father’s mother.
“It won’t be…OK!!! Are Mom and Dad even alive!!?” the seven year broke down again... and broke away from his grandmother’s grasp this time… rejecting her comfort...
His grandmother wasn’t sure what to do… but continued to pat and rub the boy’s back…
When Cub had control of his sobbing and shaking again his grandmother spoke up…
“Charlie… Cub… look at me…” Cub turned his head to this lady past her 65th year… his head turned… sight blurred with tears… he looked to her…
“Cub… there is a war…” her head bowed for a moment… trying to find the words to convey this horror to a seven year old… “the enemy are… monsters… creatures that have lost all reason… and attack others… like that man did.”
Cub was taking all this in…
“I am sure your parents and sister are safe… I am sure this will be resolved… soon… maybe not as soon as I first thought… but we have a strong army… I am certain they will take care of us. Until your parents come home… I will take care of you! We will stay here… in this house… and I will take care of you.”
Cub smiled… and believed… as only a seven year old can…
The First Six Months
Cub’s eyes shot open… he lay there… not blinking… staring at the ceiling… even in looking at the ceiling there was no escape from the reality of the horror. The 10 year old boy could see dried blood stains… remains of previous battles in this building. Like almost all buildings in the enclosed city of Malton this building has seen its share of Zombie horde breaches… where vast numbers of Zeds group together… and like the army ants that Cub read about in a book they march a path of destruction… devouring any living flesh not lucky or fast enough to get out of their way…
It wasn’t like this at first… three years ago…
For a while the promise Cub’s grandmother made held true. After a week or so… when it became obvious that his parents or sister weren’t coming home… though his grandmother kept insisting that some day they would... the old lady got in contact with the neighbourhood guard… which seemed to be lead by Mr. Hennessey.
The guard seemed to have a good handle on things. The school was set up for anyone that wanted to stay there. It was used as a one stop shop for the neighbourhood’s needs. The guard would go un runs to get supplies of food… fuel… weapons and ammo… stock it at the school where area residents that decided not to leave their homes… like Cub and his grandmother… could get escorted there to pick up rationed supplies.
This was set up pretty much within a week of the outbreak. One week turned to two. Zombies would show up… but only a couple a day. So the guard was able to handle these low numbers…
Two weeks stretch into a month…
The first month goes by with relative peace in this neighbourhood… people get their supplies… are fed… the children are even allowed to play at the park… with armed supervision.
During this month there seems to be a pitched battle in the centre of the city… ground zero for the outbreak… seems the government sent in thousands for troops. Near the end of the first month the sounds of gunfire and rockets from the city centre lessen… the battle over… but nothing changes for Cub and the residents of this neighbourhood… the hope of ever being rescued becoming faint.
Then the rumours start… rumours that groups of Zeds are forming… groups of 20, 50, 100 or more… working as a single unit… marching … destroying … and eating together… wiping out whole suburbs in their path.
To coincide with these rumours… Zombie activity on the perimeter of the neighbourhood seems to increase… greater numbers… and in larger groups… nothing like that rumoured in other parts of the city… but the guard does see groups of 8 to 10… resulting in quite fierce battles…
A month stretches to six months…
For the next five months… nothing much changes in the neighbourhood… the rumours continue, but no Zed group greater than 10 is seen by the guard. Occasional air drops occur of generators… ammo... and food, but mostly in other parts of the city.
As for Cub and his grandmother... life goes on. The boy helps his Grandmother get supplies from the school. In the fall there are even lessons organized so that the children can continue to get education… much to Cub’s chagrin. The seasons turn…
Then… just before Christmas 2005… THEY COME…
An Outbreak Christmas
Cub sat at the kitchen table... cutting out paper snowflakes. He was getting ready for Christmas… only another week away…
His Grandmother was there as well… stringing cranberries and popcorn. They worked by the light of a lantern... having no electricity…
Cub stopped for a moment… thoughts of his family came to him. He missed them so much. “Someday…” he thought… “maybe I’ll go out and find them! Be a hero!”
Then a thought came to him… and this thought almost made him panic… he looked to his grandmother …
“Grandma? Will Santa come here?”
The old lady raised an eyebrow … then smiled and patted the boy on the hand… “Of course Saint Nicolas will come!”
Cub wasn't convinced... “Are you sure? Things seem to be getting worse… and what if the zombies get Santa!”
“Son… son… Santa is magic. He will come and he will be safe.” His grandmother replied.
Cub scrunched his face… he wanted to just believe… six months ago he would have… but six months ago he was told it would be all over by now… that is mother, father and sister would be home… so some of his innocence was gone now…
“But… this is Santa…” he thought to himself and an image popped into his head…
Santa… landing on the roof with his reindeer of your average sub-urban two-story home. The Zombies on the street below attracted to the fresh meat… they start to groan and move in the direction of the home… arms outstretched…
Santa stands in his sleigh… shaking his head as if all those zombies are naughty children… “You are on my BAD list…. Ho Ho Ho…” Then Santa pulls out a huge handgun out from under his bright red coat…
BLAM…BLAM…BLAM…
The zombies instantly drop as each bullet from Santa’s gun hits it’s target square on the head.
“HeeHeeHee” Cub chuckles to himself…
“What is so funny Charlie?” his grandmother asks…
“Oh… nothing…” Cub replies… thinking now that Santa will come after all…
An Outbreak Christmas: Part 2
Cub was right about one thing… the situation was getting worse. Zeds were showing up at the neighbourhood’s defensive perimeter more frequently… and in larger groups…
The neighbourhood watch was holding them off … but with greater difficulty… even suffering a couple of casualties… the bodies cremated when recovered… seemingly the only way to be sure.
Even after a headshot... sometimes... they rose again...
If the guard didn’t recover the body… which occasionally happened if they were dragged off by the zombies… those bodies often returned the following day… torn… bitten… and walking… as the living dead...
In this instance these survivors were forced to fire upon their own friends and relatives… to witness their death… again…
Cub was not a witness to any of this of course… but he was a smart boy… an observant boy… he heard the moans of the zombies… he heard the increased gunfire… and that there where deaths…
But it was also Christmas time… so children can be easily distracted from thoughts of fear and doubt…
An Outbreak Christmas: Part 3
On the morning of Christmas Eve 2005 Cub was excited…
The boy had just finishing wrapping the present for his grandmother… a necklace he made from craft beads… and he placed it under the small Christmas tree they had. It was decorated… but without lights… as there had been no electricity since the early days of the outbreak…
Cub looked at the other wrapped gifts under the tree… there were three there from his grandmother… but there were three others… three he had placed there yesterday… one for his Father… one for his Mother… and one for his Sister…
I pang of sadness… enough to hurt… struck him as he looked to those presents… he so wanted his family to be here to open them… that’s what he really wanted Santa to bring… a tear ran down the young boy’s cheek…
GROOOAAAANNNN!!!!!
Cub shot up straight… he had never heard the call of the Zombies so loud before… they sounded so close…
Then… within a few seconds of that loud groan… gunfire… constant gunfire…
“The perimeter!” Cub thought to himself… “They’re attacking the perimeter! And a lot of them!!” the boy paused… shaking his head… the tears continuing to stream down… “Today!! Why Today!! Can’t we…” he buried his head in his arms … “just have Christmas…”
Cub’s grandmother came rushing in from the kitchen at that moment…
“Come Charlie… let us go to the basement.” As he looked up she stood over him… bending the old lady grabbed Cub’s wrist firmly… and with a strength he had never felt before. She pulled on the arm… lifting the child for a moment… but he flopped back down… having no strength in his legs…
“Come now Charlie…” his grandmother pleaded…
“The basement?” Cub asked. The basement had been designated as the final safe area of the house… but they had never had to resort to going there before…
“Yes Charlie… it’ll be fun… like camping…”
Cub let himself be pulled to his feet this time… and dragged to the basement door…
Rat-tat-tat-tat………GROOOAAAANNNN!!!!!
“Ah…” the old lady yelped as she shoved Cub through the door… he had never seen his grandmother so frightened… “You go on down the stairs love…”
Seeing the fear in his grandmother’s face snapped Cub out of his self-pity. The boy started down the stairs… looking back occasionally to see his grandmother busily snapping the three padlocks that were attached by latches to the basement door…
Ratt-tat-tat-tat… Ratt-tat-tat-tat…
GROOOAAAANNNN!!!!!
Ratt-tat-tat-tat… Ratt-tat-tat-tat…
“That’s so close!!! GRANDMA!!” Cub screamed…
Cub’s First Horde: Part 1
Cub’s grandmother trotted down the basement steps… running towards Cub and wrapping the boy in her arms… trying to bury him with comfort...
GRRROOOOAAAANNNNN!!!!
Even closer… in fact, it sounded like they were just outside…
The boy started to shake… his grandmother covering his ear in an attempt to try to shield him from the terrifying noise…
Some gunfire followed the Zombie call… but not much… obviously to both Cub and his grandmother the Zeds had breached the perimeter… and any survivors that lived through that attack were in full retreat…
THUD! THUD!
Cub jumped out of his skin at the sound of something… some creature… knocking against the side of his home… his grandmother gasped…
Pushing his guardian’s arm away from his head he looked up to his grandmother…
“Are we gonna die?”
She looked down at the boy… eyes watering with fear… then sucked a deep breath in…
“No love… we just have to stay quiet…” she whispered
Cub’s tears had stopped… and at his grandmother’s words his chin set… he nodded…
“I’ll stay quiet… I will!!” he thought to himself…
thump… thump… thump… thump… thump… thump…
“They’re coming up the front steps!!” Cub thought… the panic returning full force… looking at his grandmother… his eyes wide and fearful…
She smiled… raised a finger to her lips… and patted him on the head. This reassured the boy… “I will stay quiet!” Cub thought with determination…
Cub’s First Horde: Part 2
For what seemed like an eternity all Cub and his grandmother could hear was the constant groans… moans… and occasional growls… of Zombies shuffling through the street outside of their home…
Also heard was the thumping and shuffling of Zeds on the front porch of this home… how many there were hard to tell… but it was at least two…
CRACK!!!
Something was torn away on the porch… “GRRRAHH!!” One of THEM called… then THUD!!
One of them hit something… the wall or front door… followed by…
SMAAASSSH!!!
The picture window of the living room just got shattered!
What followed that was a high pitched but guttural squeal… it sent a chill through Cub's spine.
Then… there was no noise for several minutes on the porch… the groans from outside were getting fainter as well… THEY had moved on down the street… next…
CRASH! More glass broke… not as loud as before…
“Maybe it was a loose piece from the window that broke…please!” Cub thought… and prayed…
thump.thump…. thump.thump… thump.thump
Footsteps… just above them…
“Oh God… one of them is inside!”
Cub’s First Horde: Part 3
The Zombie above could be heard stumbling around… knocking things over… hitting walls…
Thump! Thump!
“It’s hitting the basement door Grandma” Cub whispered…
“Shhh!” was his grandmother’s response…
WHACK!!
The Zed punched the basement door… cracking the wood were it’s fist hit… looking up Cub could see the some small splinters in the door…
RRRAAAHHH!! The creature above howled in frustration… then it could be heard stumbling away from the door…
For the next few hours the Zed could be heard above… at first in a rage… it sounded like it was smashing everything in sight… then… slowly… it became more quiet… and finally for a couple of hours almost sounded like it was just walking in a circle… moaning… then not even that could be heard… silence…
Cub and his grandmother waited… in silence as well. During these hours the moaning of the horde outside grew more distant… until it was joined with gunfire… consistent… concentrated gunfire… another battle had begun…
“The school… is that at the school? All those people…“ Cub shook his head…
By the time silence fell upstairs it was getting dark…
Cub’s grandmother placed a hand over the boy’s ear and whispered…
“We will stay down here tonight love.” The boy nodded in agreement. IT could still be up there.
That night Cub fell asleep to the noise of groaning and gunfire in the distance…
Cub’s First Horde: Part 4
Cub’s eyes fluttered open… it was still somewhat dark… but that was due to being located in the basement. There were beams of sunlight shining in from the basement windows though… telling Cub that morning had arrived…
His head shifted on his grandmother’s shoulder… they had basically slept together on a mattress placed here for just such an emergency…
The boy lifted his head slightly and listened… no groans could be heard… in fact… there was only one dominant sound. That was not of his grandmother’s deep breathing… or the slight whistle of the wind that could be heard… the dominant sound… the noise… was that of crows… not immediately outside… but not that far away… the crows were cawing loudly and constantly…
Although Cub… at the age of seven… nearly eight as the boy always reminded everyone… did not know what the calls of the crows meant… nonetheless their calls chilled him nearly as much as the Zombie groans from yesterday.
Cub pulled himself to a sitting position… his grandmother stirred… then her eyes opened sleepily. Then she sat up straight looking from side to side. Seeing that all was safe where they were she placed her mouth next to Cub’s ear.
“Have you heard anything… upstairs?”
Cub shook his head from side to side.
They both looked up at the basement door…
The older lady looked around the basement… walking to an area that was used by Cub’s father as a workbench… she picked up a heavy hammer…
The grandmother walked back to Cub and knelt in front of him… placing a hand on his shoulder as she whispered…
“You stay down here while I look around”
“No!” was Cub’s reply.
“No love… you stay down…”
“NO!” Cub snapped… eyes wide with fear… “I don’t wanna be alone… you can’t make me…” His voice rising as he spoke… turning into a whine… but a determined whine…
“Shhh…shhh… OK…ok…” She patted the boy on the head… she was defeated and she knew it…
“If there is one of… them… up there… run as fast as you can back down here… close the door and lock it… do not worry about me.”
“But Grandma!” Cub pleaded...
“That’s the deal! If you want to come...” The boy's grandmother answered...
Cub nodded… the next minute they both quietly crept up the stairs…
Cub’s First Horde: Part 5
The grandmother unlocked the padlocks… one by one… trying to do so as quietly as possible…
Turning the doorknob slowly she pushed on the door… it stuck… a look of frustration crossed her face… the door never opened smoothly…
The door made a slight noise as it was forced open… not much… but more than enough to alert anyone… or anything… within that immediate area…
The elder lady peered out to door into the room… she saw no creature… so slowly she opened the door wider… broadening the area at which she could see… clutching the door knob tightly with one hand as she did so… the hammer clutched tightly in the other…
With the door wide open both the grandmother and Cub could see the living room in its entirety…
The immediate shock of the condition of this room struck them both like a fist… everything was trashed… the furniture was turned over… the Christmas tree was knocked down… the walls had several fist sized holes through the gip-rock… blood was smeared along those walls as well…
Cub sighed… his grandmother turned towards him and placed a finger against her lips… the boy nodded in acknowledgement… then a cold winter gust of wind hit them both and caused the pair to look towards the picture window…
Hanging immobile… impaled and nearly cut in two by a large triangle of glass sticking up from the bottom window frame… was what used to be a man... but had become one of the living dead. He also had a large shard of glass sticking out of its back… that apparently had fallen from the top of the window frame when IT smashed through.
The pair inched inside the room… the older lady clutching the hammer with both hands near her face… the boy shuffling just behind her… his hands tightly clasping onto the back of his grandmother’s sweater…
As they got to the centre of the room it is apparent that this room was clear of Zeds… they could also see almost all of the dining room… and what they could see appeared clear as well…
Slowly they make they’re way over to the entrance to the kitchen. As they approached Cub looked at the fallen Christmas tree… “Santa didn’t come after all…” the boy thought… was wave of depression washing over him. He then looks out the back deck window… to be sure these isn’t one of THEM in the back yard… and sees none…
Just before getting to the kitchen opening Cub’s grandmother paused… bracing herself in case… then she took those final two steps that allowed a view into the kitchen…
All Clear…
Cub breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed his grip on his grandmother’s shirt… he shifted his stance…
CRUNCH!!
Cub stepped on… and broke a plastic tree ornament… which made a rather loud sound…
RRAUUHHH!!!
Cub’s ears were pierced and he jumped at this half growl – half scream…
thump.thump… thump.thump… thump.thump…
Cub turned around just as the Zombie galloped into the living room... coming through the hall from the other end of the home… effectively blocking the path to the basement door…
IT stopped when it saw the human meat… a female… its clothes were tattered… almost totally open in the front… any exposed skin appeared smeared with dirt and blood… cut in various places. It stretched its arms… showing its long nails on one hand… the other a bloody stump… a glimpse of an arm bone may be seen sticking out at the end. Opening its mouth like some form of animal... exposing the creature’s bloodstained teeth… announcing that it was about to charge…
Cub and his grandmother dashed into the kitchen… they heard the roar from the creature… followed by its galloping footsteps. Cub never saw his grandmother actually run before… but she was now… holding Cub’s hand tightly with one hand… still clutching the hammer with the other…
They ran straight through the kitchen… past the oven… the old fridge… and the wooden stove that was put here soon after the electricity gave out… to the other opening on the other end of the kitchen… leading to the dining room. Inside the dining room they paused to make sure the creature was indeed following them and not cutting them off at the dining room’s entrance back into the living room…
But in pausing they heard something strange… or… to be more accurate… they didn’t hear something. No thumping of the creature following them… no growling… that was the strange part…
Cub and his grandmother exchange a confused look…
What happened to the Zombie that was pursuing them… intent on a meal?
Cub’s First Horde: Part 6
The pair just stand there… each holding a hand… trying their best to be quiet… and to listen… listen for the creature… and although they thought all was silent… it wasn’t! Being silent… they could hear breathing… laboured breathing from the kitchen…
IT was in there!
Cub looked to his grandmother again. Why did IT stop? Why wasn’t that THING still chasing them?
Curiosity gets the better of fear in the young boy. Cub creeps towards the opening to the living room… intending to circle back to the kitchen to peer inside. His grandmother follows… hammer still clutched… knuckles white with the effort… her other hand on Cub’s shoulder.
Cub walks into the living room carefully… watching were he steps. He did not want to repeat his earlier mistake. The rasping of the Zed could still be heard faintly from the kitchen. As the boy turns towards to kitchen entrance the grip on his shoulder suddenly turns vice like... and he nearly yelps in pain. He looks back at his grandmother... consternation visible on his face… to see her shaking her head… then she thumbs towards the basement door.
He pauses… thinking… he had always done what adults had told him… sure he had his moments as all children do… but he was basically a good boy.
Cub looked at the fallen Christmas tree. He felt sad… not for the presents he didn’t get… or that Santa didn’t come to the McCub home… no… he was sad at the loss of faith in adults and their promises. With this realization came some loss of innocence… that even the most trusted of adults… cannot be wholeheartedly taken at face value. He realized that his time as a carefree boy had ended…
That is what saddened him as shook his head and pulled his shoulder from her grip… resuming his approach towards the kitchen entrance… quietly… stealthily. His grandmother… dumbfounded by Cub’s defiance but not sure what to do about it… in this situation… followed Cub on tiptoe… clutching that hammer with both hands now…
Cub peeked around the corner of the entry into the kitchen…
The female Zombie was standing there... about five feet from the kitchen’s entrance to the dining room…its back facing Cub… immobile… head slightly bowed… her matted hair draped… covering the side of her face… back slumping slightly as well… its arms hang… breathing… a rasping pant…
Cub stands and watches for a minute... in that time the creature just continues to stand there… puffing away… He scans the kitchen… at the far end… the end where the Zed is standing… is a wood stove. This was used for cooking. Beside it is a small pile of wood… and an axe…
Looking back the grandson sees the older lady standing behind him… staring wide eyed… craning his neck he gazes past the rotund lady to the basement door… judging the distance…
Then… the boy sets his jaw… looking a little older than a boy of seven… almost eight… should…
clap
Cub lightly slaps his hands together… it wasn’t loud… but a bit of real noise…
“Charlie!” is grandmother grabs his shoulders… about to dart to the basement door and drag her… what she thought for a moment was her insane… grandson…
Cub dismisses her with his hands… and looks back at the Zed… no reaction! It was still standing there… drooping like a wilted weed… just breathing…
Cub decided to get a closer look…
Face to Face: Part 1
Cub turns… walking past his grandmother… going back into the dining room… he approaches the opening to the kitchen…
As the boy get’s close he slows… the creature will be facing this entrance… and could see him…
“Charlie!” The boy’s grandmother whispers sternly… her brows furrowed half in anger and half in worry…
Cub looks back… jaw set… frowning in frustration at his grandmother…
“IT can’t stay here…” he whispers back… his face softens… “I… think it will be OK Grandma…” pausing… “but be ready to run to the basement.”
Cub creeps the last couple of feet to the entrance… he stretches his neck around the corner…
IT was still there… still panting… rasping… still semi-slumped in a standing position. The female was standing directly facing the dining room entrance… IT should see Cub’s head craning to look… but it didn’t.
Being cautious the boy looked at her face… her head slightly bowed making her hair hang forward… somewhat obscuring her eyes… but Cub saw through that ... and saw only whites… her eyes were completely rolled back into her head…
Stepping out into the opening… Cub looked long and hard at the Zed before him… tattered clothing… the slumped stance opened her shirt to a greater extent… exposing her breasts… her clothes and skin where torn… arms drooping low… long nailed fingers on one limb… the other ending at the wrist… red and bloody… with an inch of ivory white bone exposed…
He took one step forward… looking for any reaction… any sign of some awareness… nothing… just more rasping…
Another step… nothing! The Zed seemed to be in some sort of unconscious state…
His grandmother was shuffling her feet slowly towards Cub. The boy turned back and beckoned the older lady to hurry… pulling his hand towards himself.
When she was standing behind him… Cub spoke… “I think… its run out of energy… its sleeping… a sort of sleeping anyway…”
“What?” replied his grandmother in shock…
“It’s weak… the severed hand… and its skinny. It probably hasn’t…” the boy pauses… looking at the blood stained fingernails of the female… “eaten… in a while…”
Cub approaches the creature… shuffling sideways… attempting to move past the Zed on the right side…
“Cub!” the grandmother chastises in a horse whisper…
“Shhh!” Cub does some chastising of his own… “As long as we’re not too loud… it should be fine… just keep an eye on her…”
The boy made himself as flat as possible… shifting himself past the standing body this feral creature. He watched intently… looking for any sign of consciousness…
When Cub stood within a foot of this THING… he froze… his imagination conjuring up a gruesome scene…
whooouuussshhhlict… the clawed hand whips around with lightning speed and digs its claws into Cub’s throat… the boy’s wide eyes see blood… his blood… flying into the air…
The creature’s head turns towards the boy… and evil grin and bright blood red eyes gaze upon him. Cub’s in shock… and can’t move as the Zed lifts him off his feet… grip secured by fingers imbedded into the throat by nails… grin widening as it draws its victim’s neck towards it’s bloody maw… towards certain death… “charlie… Cha…”
“…Cub… Cub love… are you alright?”
His grandmother’s voice snapped him out of the spell… refocusing his eyes he looked again at the Zed… still in that… trance… sleep… whatever it is…
Looking down… he saw his hand shaking… actually his whole body was shaking… more than shaking… vibrating…
“Cub love… come back… quickly... We can leave… we can run away?”
He looked over to his grandmother… her hand reaching out… her eyes tearful and pleading…
He breathed deeply… the shaking settled… then set his jaw in determination again. The grandson turned his head away from his grandmother… he didn’t want to see her pleading face… that look may melt his resolve… he may let the child in him believe what she says… to be reassured… that they can just “run” away…
Cub shuffled the rest of the distance to the fireplace and picked up the axe… then sidestepped back to his grandmother… keeping a careful watch on that Zed the whole time.
When he reached his grandmother the boy held the axe up towards the older lady.
“Wha…what is this?” was her reaction.
“I already told you grandma… IT can’t stay here. And there’s nowhere to run. The school’s…” his head bows for a moment… then looks back up to his grandmother… ”Well… we can’t go there.” Then glancing at the Zed…
”I’m to small to hit it properly…You have to hit it square in the head.”
“Wha… uh… I…” the grandmother was flabbergasted.
“Do it Grandma!” Cub commanded.
Face to Face: Part 2
“Uh…“ she stammered a moment more then… taking a breath… realized that the boy was right…
She took the axe in her hands… “Charlie… go to the basement…”
He shook his head again… “No… if something happens… if something goes wrong… I have to know.”
The older lady’s eyes turn sad… and sympathetic… looking at the boy before her… “He’s grown so old… even in the last ten minutes…” thinking to herself…
She pats him on the head… “Go in the dining room at least…”
He hesitates… then nods in agreement… ”alright…”
Walking into the dining room Cub stands and waits… two long agonizing minutes pass…
“You OK Grandma?”
“Yes…I’m doing it now” can be heard from the kitchen…
CRRAACK! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
The sickening sound of the axe blade braking bone made Cub jolt… immediately … the THING howled in shock and agony…
The Zed sprinted in a straight line… running past Cub’s grandmother and into the dining room. The boy saw the creature… a crazed dash… arms waving in the air… with an axe… imbedded in the centre of its forehead…
The undead woman raced without awareness of its surroundings… hitting the overturned dining room table at the waist… flipping head over heals over the table... disappearing on the other side of it with a loud THUD… then silence…
Cub’s grandmother slowly stepped into the room… eyes wide with shock. The boy and older lady looked at each other... with the woman retaining composure…
“You OK love?”
“Yes Grandma”
They both looked in unison to the upturned dining room table… knowing that the death of the Zed had to be verified.
They both started to edge towards the table when the elder McBub spoke…
“Charlie… stay back love…”
Cub stopped… and watched as his grandmother approached the table. She cautiously looked over the edge… her face cringing at the sight… then looking over to Cub…
“It’s dead love…” looking back down at the Zombie of a moment before returning her gaze back to Cub… “I… um… just have to retrieve the axe… it is still… imbedded…”
Cub… thinking the immediate danger has passed… relaxes slightly… starts breathing… the shaking returns… slightly... he watches the older lady… his grandmother… walk around the table… bend… apparently taking hold of the axe handle.
She turns her head sideways… away from the image of the Zed below her… and Cub…
Cub sees her shift… apparently pulling on the axe handle…
A sucking sound was audible for a moment…
AHHHH!!! Came a screech from that creature…
Ahumph... The grandmother winced in pain … pulling back… Cub could see that she had managed to dislodge the axe… then the grandson saw something he had never seen before…
A grimace… a grimace of anger… approaching hatred… that the boy had never seem on his Grandmother’s face…
AHHHH!! The older woman screamed as she brought the axe down… her eyes wide… lip curled. Cub heard that nauseating sound of the axe penetrating flesh and bone…
“Die!” The grandmother screamed as she brought the axe down again… then again… and again… the older lady pounding the axe down… blood and bone flew when the blade was pulled over her head…
This woman that Cub had associated with love… and love alone… he saw a new and somewhat frightening side to her…
She stopped… bent over… panting in exhaustion… both physical and mental…
She stood straight and smiled at Cub… blood splattered on her top… a couple of splatters on her face… a small piece of skull stuck in her hair…
“You go down to the basement love. It is over. I’ll…um… clean myself up… make some breakfast and bring it down… then I guess I’ll start cleaning this place up…” she looked around at the total destruction in this home…
Cub noticed that blood was dripping down his grandmother's right forearm...
"Your bleeding Grandma..."
She lazily looked to her arm... which had been scratched when the Zombie struck out in its death throw...
"It is fine love... just a scratch. You head downstairs and I will bring you some breakfast soon."
“Ok Grandma…” The boy started to turn the paused… looking back…
“Merry Christmas!”
Cub’s First Horde: Epilogue
Cub’s grandmother worked all day… and managed to get the most gruesome parts of the chaos cleaned up. The bodies were at least moved out of the home and off the damaged front porch. Much of the blood and … bits… where also cleaned… although it seemed impossible to completely remove some stains…
After this portion of the work was complete Cub came up from the basement and started to help… mainly just picking up overturned furniture… and removing broken… unsalvageable debris… chiefly by throwing the pieces through the wide open picture window…
Cub approached the fallen Christmas tree… and lazily kicked it with his foot. He sighed… the sadness rapidly overtaking him again… his eyes water… a single tear runs down his cheek… the boy sucks in a breath… trying to compose himself… be a man…
"Whaaa!!!" Cub drops to his knees… crying… head in his hands…
His grandmother comes out of the kitchen… runs to him… and kneeling beside him… wraps her arms around the shaking boy… she cradles him as he leans into her… reassuring with her soft warmth. The grandmother gives the boy a kiss on top of the head…
A day passes…
The main part of the destruction is cleaned up… now they get to work in barricading the home, especially that large opening in the living room that used to be a picture window…
Cub and his grandmother take the legs off of the dining room table… then drag it into the living room… intending to nail the table top onto the window frame…
Just moving the heavy table to the living room drains them and it soon becomes apparent that it will be near impossible for a boy of seven (nearly eight) and a woman of over sixty to lift this and nail this heavy piece of furniture where the window used to be…
The pair manages to stand the tabletop where the window is located… but lifting it the two and a half feet to the window ledge proves daunting and tiring…
“OK Charlie… let us try one more time…”
The older lady grabs one edge of the table and Cub the other…
“One… two… lift!”
Together they lift but almost immediately Cub struggles… barely able to manage more than a few inches
“Hey!”
A man’s voice… from outside! The two immediately drop the table. Cub runs to retrieve the axe… as he runs back his grandmother waves her hand downward… looking out over the table though the picture window…
“It’s OK Charlie… it is Mr. Hennessey… and he is… human.”
Blaine walks up to the front door… glancing at the two discarded bodies on the front lawn…
The older lady opens the door for the man…
“Come in… come in. It is good to see you Mr. Hennessy.”
“Likewise…” he looks over to Cub and smiles “It’s nice to see anyone… anyone… well you know…”
“Yes… yes… Come in and have a coffee…”
Blain stays there for the next hour. He tells how the Horde overran the perimeter… how they neighbourhood forces retreated to the school… tried to barricade the building before the Zeds arrived… and the utter futility of that effort as the Zombies quickly breached those defences…
“Once inside…” Blaine continued… glancing at Cub… “many died…” He sighs… a resigned defeat on his face. “Some of us saw that we were losing… and managed to escape… barely. So… we’re just seeing who’s left. Things won’t be the same as before… we don’t have the numbers or strength to establish any sort of perimeter. So… the plan is… hide.”
“Hide?” The older lady replied.
“Ya… hide right here… in our homes… from what I hear… THEY… they seem attracted to buildings of high concentration of …um… US. Malls… Police Stations… Hospitals… so we stay in our homes… barricade them of course… but stay. What’s left of us… will have to make runs for supplies…”
Both Cub and his grandmother nodded…
So that’s how it was… for the next nine months…
Cub’s home was barricaded… and once every two weeks or so a group would pick up Cub’s grandmother to get supplies. She would be gone for usually three hours or so… depending on how many detours they would have to make due to Zed activity. Cub usually locked himself in the basement when she was out… There would be Zombies in the streets… but generally not in groups larger than 10. The suburb seemed to be just part of a route between two destinations… not a stop. There wasn’t enough food available here to keep their interest…
There was one other horde that passed through in that time… but the neighbours knew better than to take them on so the survivors just hunkered down in their homes and tried their best to remain quiet. There was only one home breached during that attack…
Cub became eight years old… summer came … and waned…
Given the circumstances life was fairly peaceful and routine… maybe this routine lulled Cub into a false sense of security…
This would be scattered one early September day… then Cub would never feel remotely secure again…
