The boy wiped the sweat dripping down the side of his forehead, his steps long, trying to catch up without tripping on tree roots of the forest. Three others followed behind him, while a girl with long dark blonde hair lead up front, almost leaping across the forest ground as she avoided roots and mud and ants nests as if she had memorised the floor plan. She only glanced back a bit, pausing for a few seconds to let her friends catch up before starting again. The boy at the end of the line scrunched his eyebrows at the top of his nose in frustration.
"We'll be there soon enough, come on," the girl ahead replied.
"Will, you're not much slower than her," a girl with jet black hair and a nose ring called from behind. "It's really getting on my self esteem."
"Your constant refusal to join me at the gym calls for it," Will replied, smirking while wiping his blond hair back. "Hey Ella, break time," he called at the girl further up. She glanced back, rolled her eyes and stopped in her tracks, crossing her arms.
"I'm not into putting myself through voluntary pain," Lorenza told.
"Can we not talk about working out right now?" the girl just behind Will asked. She was two feet shorter than him with glasses slipping down her nose bridge, and just as much sweat as Will but refused to slow down - she'd rather not be left behind. "Ella, can we please know where you're bringing us? Maybe we'll be a bit more excited about this."
"We would have found out by now if you guys wouldn't be such babies about this," she replied from afar. "Literally, we're a minute away."
"I better not be disappointed," the other boy, standing at about Lorenza's height, said in a low voice as he passed the other three, wanting to get a head start. He had dark skin and curls at the top of his head, his temper holding up only until now.
"Chill out, Chad," Will patted the guy on the back before he followed along.
"Come on, Hedy," Lorenza said as she passed the girl with glasses. Hedy gave a deep sigh. At the back of the line, as expected, she thought to herself.
Not far from where they had stopped, Ella turned to look at the team. She gave a grin, holding her arms out at the clearing. The patch contrasted to the rest of the forest, in which the trees had turned into stumps and roots into bumpy soils, leaves gathered into patches randomly. On top of one of the stumps lay a shovel and gardening gloves. "You will never guess what lies beneath these soils."
"Dead bodies?" Will joked without smiling.
"Actually, you're spot on."
The rest of the group went silent. Lorenza spoke up first.
"Are you... serious?"
"Yes, I am," Ella grinned as she reached for the shovel and started digging at one of the what seemed like random bumps of soil, but now resembles graves to the group, with the patches or leaves cleverly disguised as headstones.
"You're really creeping me out, Ella," Hedy announced as she hugged her own torso in discomfort.
"It's like what we talked about, guys," she told in between breaths. "The world isn't going to make anymore sense if we keep letting idiots lead us. We have to do something about it, and where do we start? Right at home, of course." She stopped digging, wiping at her forehead. She then reached down to dust off some of the soil, then pulled out a detached head by the hair from the ground. Hedy gave a half-screech half-gasp, but stopped herself, closing her mouth with her hands.
"What the fuck?" Chad shouted. "Is that... Principal Gully?"
"Yea that idiot of a principal we have. Shouldn't have suspended me for writing a paper on how the government was spending too much on military. Sucks to be him."
"Ella you not only insulted the president but also the entire office for a class taught by a proud Republican. It was called for," Lorenza tried to reason. It seemed useless now though, since the principal didn't even have a drop of blood in his brain anymore. "Is there... more of these?"
"Well the principal and Ms. Shrewder, that proud Republican is a good start, but next, the president, then, the world, of course."
"Ella you're fucking insane," Chad said in a shaky voice. "We can't go around killing people for the small stupid decisions they make."
"Oh, yea, we're not gonna kill every single idiot out there, well not yet," Ella explained as she waved the head around with pride. "We start at the top then we work our way down. See how easy it is to get to the principal? With a few more practice killings we might as well book for a flight to DC now."
"I'm getting the fuck out of here," Chad announced, pacing towards the way they came from.
"Not so fast," Ella said calmly, pulling a pistol out of her jacket pocket, pointing at Hedy. "You go and this girl dies."
"Bullshit," Chad called. Ella pulled at the trigger, and Hedy screamed as a bullet shot through her thighs. Chad stopped in his tracks, and Lorenza went to catch the girl as she dropped to her knees, both trying to stop the blood from flowing out.
"Anything else you're gonna call out as bullshit?" Ella asked. She tossed the head at Will, letting him see it up close. "As you can see, I'm not about bullshitting."
Will had a good look at the principal's wrinkled face - his thin lips were curved downwards, slightly parted, his eyelids revealed the maggots underneath already starting to feast on his eyeballs. The boy dropped the head at the sight of the maggots, almost bursting into tears out of fear and disgust.
"Ella, it was all talk, okay?" Lorenza said, her voice a mixture of fear and calm. "We didn't really think of killing anyone. We can stop this right now. Killing is wrong, especially when they didn't do anything to deserve to die. We won't be able to get away with it anyway. We're just five high school kids."
"I didn't think of you as the cowardly type, Lorenza," Ella sighed. "I gotta say, I'm disappointed."
"It's not about being brave, it's about doing the right-"
Another bullet went through Lorenza's forehead, in between her eyes. Hedy screamed again as the body next to her turned limp. Tears started to form as she sobbed. The two boys shook in their places as they glared at Ella in fear. The girl looked away, her hands shaking. Despite being the new girl in town, Lorenza had been the one who let Ella into her circle. For once in her five years of switching schools every few months, Ella felt like she belonged somewhere. Why did Lorenza had to defy her like this? Why couldn't she just accept who Ella was for who she is?
"Bitch was the one who said Principal Gully deserved to die."
It was a thirty minute train ride during peak hours. She caught sight of him as she came down the escalator to the underground area. He wore a baseball shirt and a cap over his eyes. Spectacles, a slight goatee growing on the tip of his long face, standing over a foot above her head. She followed behind him as they got on the train and turned her back on him as soon as she found something to hold on to. It was still hard for her to balance on her two inch heels, so as the crowd went in and out of the train, she found herself holding onto the pole he was holding as well. As each station passed, she swore it would be his stop.
"Subang," she thought. "He seems like a Subang kid. No? Okay."
"Batu Tiga. He won't go any further than this." The boy stood in his place. "Well."
"There's no way he's stopping at Shah Alam too," she thought as the train approaches the next station. The sky was getting dark and it seemed unfit that a girl like her was out alone. "Fuck what other people thinks," she thought. "I'm better off alone anyway."
As the door opens, she starts for it, and notices that boy moving beside her. "No way... What a huge coincidence. Does he notice me? That we're stopping at the same place?"
"Does he feel the same way?"
They pass the ticket inspection and she walked towards the taxi waiting area when the boy approached her. "Hey! Hey you, with the purple shirt!"
She turned, surprised.
"You got a ride home?"
He touched her cheek as soon as he locked the apartment door. She breathed quietly as he bent down, sticking his tongue in her mouth before their lips touched. They made out by the door, his hands touching her from her neck to her shoulders to her breasts to her ass, and as one thumb pressed against her crotch, he unzipped his trousers with his other hand.
"Wait wait wait," she stopped him, letting go of his lips' grasp. "I don't do third base."
"What?"
"I'm keeping my virginity."
"What the fuck for?" he smirked, pulling her skirt's hem playfully. "I know you're wet down there already anyway."
"That's not the point," she said, looking away when he tried to get hold of her lips again.
"Oh come on," he whispered. "It won't hurt, I promise..." He pulled down his trousers to his ankles, busy working on both his boxers and her skirt.
She gave a slightly crooked smile as her hand swiftly reached into her handbag for the butterfly knife. He didn't see anything in the dark and foolishly drooled with joy when he manages to get her skirt down to the ground. In a blink of an eye, the girl pushed the blade into his stomach and pulled it back out. His eyes bulged out, looking at her exasperatedly. She then sliced his throat, blood spluttering on her smooth complexion and the purple blouse and the yellow walls. The body fell on the wooden floorboards underneath them as she sighed.
"Shit. Not again."
She pulled her skirt back on and took off her shoes, peeping around for the kitchen. "Tea, tea, tea, tea..."
After washing her blade and hands clean, she boiled some water and looked for any signs of tea in the cupboards. "Score! And it's the good kind too. Man, that was too bad. I didn't even get to talk to him... Seemed like a nice guy."
She sat next to a window, staring out at the moon. The scent of blood seeped through every room of the small apartment, but she kept her nose by the mug of tea. Quietly sipping her worries away, she thought of all the boys that couldn't keep their dicks in their pants, and then the one guy who wouldn't even look at her, and how she would do anything for him to love her the way he loved that other girl, and her tea turned cold and salty from her tears dripping down her cheeks into the mug, and her hands shook on her lap, and the scent of blood was then accompanied by the quiet sobs of a girl who was never loved.
The tour bus looked a line of blues and blacks as it passed by a
winding road downhill. The sudden change from a developing town to the
abandoned road edged by stunted trees and old houses, empty and mouldy felt
slightly eerie to the tourists.
"We are passing by an old area from
the colonial days, where the soldiers lived in the quarters with their
families. Here, they are not far from the hospital and the police station,
which is supposingly convenient. We won't be stopping here in our tour; for
safety purposes."
The tour guide's voice sounded sullen
compared to his usual chirpy voice, which usually cracked lame jokes that would
bring laughter to the bus - mostly accepted by the older ladies and parents
trying to be courteous. Fifteen year old Adam didn't find any of his jokes
funny nor was he concerned about how serious he was. He was distracted by the
abandoned buildings - how they reminded him of the scenery in the video games
he had played and how amusing it was. He had an urge to venture the buildings -
as old and empty as they seemed, he could appreciate the value of the history.
People lived in those buildings. Real humans with real lives and their own
stories created, decades ago.
When the old quarters disappeared, the
scenery changed to long, double storey buildings where guards roamed the
grounds. The tourist explained how this is the only building that is still in
use in the area - the prison. Just as they pass by the gate where a decaying
wooden sign was hung, the words 'Goldsprings County Prison' was carved in, the
tourist gave his last words on the explanation, "Executions are still held
here."
Clara, Adam's thirteen year old sister
shuddered at the words beside him. "Creepy."
"I think it's cool," Adam told
her. "A bit of Dreamfall mixed with Call of Duty, in my opinion."
"Video game reference?" Clara
asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He didn't respond, only kept his eyes on the
view. Soon, the bus left the area and was back in the town, where souvenir
shops were standing, filling the roads with trash and tables scattered against
the black tar. Adam felt bored again. So far in this tour, he had only felt
interested in the abandoned area while the rest of the bus held smiles of
relief as the bus came to a stop by the shops. They were free to roam the area
and shop for souvenirs for about two and a half hours. Adam had other plans.
"Hey, you planning to buy
anything?" Adam asked Clara as she was about to plug in earphones,
following behind her steps. He knew she was not big on shopping, and decided to
bring her on an adventure.
"Well, it depends if I find
anything," she sighed of boredom. Not another souvenir shopping session,
she had thought. It's not like there's anything for her here. Her eyes fell
curiously on her mischievous brother. "Why?"
"I wanna take a walk somewhere else.
Get some air. You wanna come with?" Adam grinned.
"Don't tell me you're planning to go
back there," Clara frowned.
"Ssh, not so loud!" Adam looked
around. "Look, do you wanna come with or do you wanna die here of
boredom?"
Clara felt responsible for her retarded
brother. She had always known he had a brain of a five year old. She finally
sighed and nodded. She followed behind the smiling Adam, her feet heavy but
willing. The stores weren't far from the houses, and the single road made it
easier for the two. They followed it cautiously; making sure no one noticed
where they were heading. Young and active, their steps were quick and soon,
they passed by the prison without getting anyone's attention. Clara looked
inside the gates of the prison as they pass through and caught eyes with an old
guard, whose skin sagged and eyes were a hard light blue. Clara avoided eye
contact as Adam had told her to and kept her eyes on the black road.
Adam on the other hand took in the scenery
with much awe. The green trees behind the abandoned houses were tall but kept
away from the buildings, as if the houses owned the green grass that was kept
low surrounding them. The white walls stained black and green of mould, veins
creeping up the lower walls and cracks came from the glassless windows. He has
a curve by his lips - both of admiration and excitement. He had never gone to
such thrilling places before; places he thought people only created for
entertainment purposes. Places he had always thought were fiction. Who knows
what else is out there for him to discover?
He intended to enter the buildings, but
before anything, he needed proof of this adventure. Maybe this will be the
start to new travels, new possibilities, and new discoveries.
"Hey Adam," Clara called. "Don't
go too far. I don't wanna get lost."
"Clara, come here!" Adam waved
his hand over to his sister who was about twenty metres behind. He took out his
phone and opened his camera. Clara quickened her steps with a wince.
"What?" she panted.
"Take a picture of me by the
houses," he told her, giving his phone over. "I wanna have proof of
this."
Clara sighed and took the phone. Adam went
closer to the house and stood still, putting up a stiff smile. Clara counted to
three from the other side of the road, her hand holding up the phone and clicking
the capture button. "Okay," she called. Adam loosened up.
"Is it okay?" he asked from his
side of the road. Clara tapped around to see the picture she caught. When she
found the file, she screamed.
"What's wrong?" Adam shouted.
Clara dropped the phone on the road and ran from the area, screaming her lungs
out. Adam went over to pick up the phone, cold sweat trickling down his neck.
His thumb shook as he tapped the phone screen to see the picture.
In the picture, the house behind him was
not a mouldy white building. It was a newly painted house, the windows
curtained and the inside furbished. There was a car on the green grass - an old
model, but it looks brand new. There was a table and chairs on the other side
of the yard.
And beside Adam was a couple with their
baby, the husband wearing a soldier's uniform, his hair combed neatly to the
side. His wife wore a bright red dress, knee length and tight by the waste and
the baby, not older than 6 months, wore a cream coloured romper. They were
smiling with rotten, bleeding teeth, their eye sockets empty.
The white light from the small crack of the only
window in the underground room woke Youngjae from his slumber, his eyelids
fluttering. His eyebrows scrunched on his forehead as he raised his body from
the floor. The dirty sheets that kept him warm that night fell against his lap,
dust floating in the air. The basement scented of iron and rotting food, but the
boy in a white t-shirt and shorts could only think of one person.
“Hana,” he whispered as his mind came back from his
dreams. He dreamt of him and Hana running and laughing on the beach, their feet
sinking in the soft sand below them as the sun sets. He pushed away the sheets
to see a girl beside him, her legs folded near her chest, her eyes shut. Her
chestnut hair fell over her face, only an oversized shirt clothing her.
“Wake up, Hana,” Youngjae shook the girl gently. Her
slanted eyes opened slowly, her pupils moving towards Youngjae.
“Go,” she told him before she pulled back the sheets
above her head.
“Do you want something for breakfast? Tea? I can’t
remember if we have anymore sugar though, but I’ll try to scrape whatever’s
left,” Youngjae asked, his eyes endearing.
“I’m not hungry.” Hana’s voice muffled through the
sheets.
“Yea, me neither,” Youngjae smiled. “Just being with
you keeps me alive.”
Hana did not answer. After awhile, she removed the
sheets and got up, her eyes looking straight into Youngjae’s. He took up
whatever energy he had left to caress Hana’s cheek with his thumb. He moved in
for a kiss, but the girl looked away.
“You can’t do this anymore.”
“I can’t leave you, Hana.”
“You need to stay alive.”
“I’m fine just being with you,” Youngjae reassured.
“No you’re not.”
Hana took Youngjae’s hand, raising it high so that he
can his wrist, where scars of when he placed a razor blade against it can be
seen, his bones protruding against a pale skin. Just then, the door on the
higher end of a staircase started thumping. Heavy fists knocked on the other
side, instructing Youngjae to open the door.
“Hana, you have to hide,” Youngjae whispered
frantically, fear in his eyes as he tried to pull the dirty sheets over Hana’s
head. The girl pushed him away, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“It’s over, Youngjae. This is only for your own good,”
she sobbed softly. Youngjae wrapped the sheets around her body. “You need to
stay alive.”
“Shh,” Youngjae told her, holding her tight in his
arms. “I’m here, don’t worry. Shh.”
The metal hinges flew apart as the door fell down the
stairs. Figures came over to Youngjae to take him away, unraveling his grasps
from the bloody corpse of his lover he had wrapped with the sheets.
“No, Hana!”
Youngjae screamed as the men pulled his arms. “Hana! Don’t take me away from
her!!!”
It was a
fine, gloomy day in Rotten Land when Rodie decided to go shopping. As an
average zombie, she could not afford a car so wth her red blood lipstick
splashed across her disfigured lips, she dragged her half-rotten legs out of
the house. It was a nice day to limp to the mall anyway, she thought.
After about two hours of limping, she finally arrived at Ribcage Mall.
The cold breeze slapped Rodie’s face, but she could not feel it as most of her
skin had gone bad anyway. The air-conditioning was kept at zero degree Celsius,
as it would slowdown the process of rotting and fellow zombies would feel much
more comfortable shopping in that state. Rodie found herself a trolley and
entered the market. She reached into her handbag – a bit haggard with a torn
ribbon and dirt on most of its fading red surface, but it was in style – for the
shopping list she wrote a few hours ago. Most of it were kitchen items –bird eyes,
cat liver and some oak tree roots. Rodie was a typical female zombie though,
and she could not resist the temptation to look through the latest body sets.
Limping, she pushed her trolley towards the body sets aisle. There was a
discount for leg sets, but she did not need a whole new leg, just her foot. She
browsed through the foots available, looking for one that did not have such
rotten nails. She finally found one about the same size as her other foot,
which she just bought a few weeks ago. Some zombies think it is a trend to wear
mismatched feet, but Rodie wanted to keep a reminder of how her human self was
like. Small things like foot size and her hair colour – it was a shiny blonde
when she was human, but she is satisfied with the dirty blonde that she has
now. It is still blonde, after all – are sentimental things for Rodie.
Rodie passed by a cart of eyeballs and admired the colourful irises that
were available. She thought of her yellow irises, but reminded herself that she
just bought those along with her other foot. The eyesight is still good, too. So
she moved on to the wet market. As expected, a lot of noise can be heard from
far. Callings of promotions, from half-priced full human legs to ten dollars
for a whole dog. The floor was hardly sanitized, murky red puddles surrounding
the counters of fresh meat. Rodie tried to be careful to not blot her feet too
much – blood tends to stick to rotten flesh. She bought whatever she needed. Cat liver, bird eyes, oak tree roots… Hmm,
what else? Rodie thought to herself.
Just then, the smell of fresh human brain lingered through her bony
nostrils. She glanced to one side and saw the sign ‘Human Brains – only $15 per
500g!!!’ Rodie walked towards the counter and browsed through the brains. Human
brains were expensive because they are hard to find and considered as luxury
food to the zombies. Rodie felt like licking her lips, but unfortunately half
her tongue had already been chewed half by maggots. She chose a subtly fresh
brain, thinking ‘Once in awhile having leisure food should not be a problem’.
The butcher chopped the brain into cube pieces and handed it over to Rodie. A whole
brain.
At the cashier, Rodie felt like she wanted to have a little snack. So her
eyes passed through the small treats by the counter while the cashier swiped
every price tag with her machine, making a beep sound with every item. Rodie’s
eyes caught on to a small packet with a colourful packaging. It printed ‘Human
Tongue Candy’.
“Is that all, miss?” the cashier asked Rodie.
Rodie’s thin fingers reached for the packet, a bit of her red lipstick stuck
under her long, dirty nails and placed it on the counter.
It was a windy day that day.Very windy,as in leaves blowing around and dark clouds and shop signs making strange creaking sounds.The main road was empty,as everyone had taken shelter in their houses.On normal days,the main road would be filled with carts selling cotton candy and ice cream vans would pass by,and kids would squeal and laugh with glee as they played.Lovers would be on the benches that were situated along the road.Nannies would be rushing about with babies in the prams.It was all very picturesque.Well,that was with normal days of course,when the sun would shine brightly and there would be a faint breeze every now and then.
But it was a windy day.
And on the Main Road was Steve Benson.Steve Benson was quite round,and plump at that.He was running as if he were in a huge hurry.But you could see from his face,he was not running away from the storm,but he was running away from something else.Something he feared.Something worse than a storm.He ran quite clumsily,knocking over a couple of rubbish bins along the way.He ranand took a sharp right turn at the corner,and ran into a shed.He slammed the door shut,and ran to the end of the shed.”Phew” he exclaimed.Just then,loud knockings came at the door.They weren’t exactly knocks,actually.More like someone demanding to get in.Each knock was louder than the other.”Oh no,oh no,oh no,oh no…”Steve Benson started to worry.Finally the door burst.THEY came in.
Who’s they?Well they were not humans,not aliens.They were,things.These things had started to haunt the town for about two months.Each time,there were more of them.Their bodies were like balloons on sticks.Hopping about like pogo sticks. And those mouths,oh my God,those mouths.Their mouths were always open and closed,as if they were laughing,but no sound came.They all moved simultaneously and opened their mouths simultaneously too,so that was quite scary.Now they were after Benson.Why were they after Benson?No reason.They went after everybody.The number of peoplein the town had begun o decrease,slowly.Why slowly?Due to their way of transportation,hopping,they can’t go on very fast,but my it seems like they can hop for hours,for months,for days even.And now they found Benson.
They started hopping towards him.Their mouths gaping wide.Benson tried to scream,but he couldn’t.Five minutes later,the things emerged from the shed.But at the end of their group was something new,another one of them,hopping.This one was quite plump.Benson.
But one thing,since those things came,everyday was a windy day.
