Like yeah, 39 days (including the day this was originally posted) until Halloween '08! I've been really bored lately, so I've taken up my pen to write a few tales to keep myself entertained. For the first time in a long time, ideas are literally swimming through my head. I've been trying to write them down as fast as I can, but I know I have lost a few. Out of those I got onto paper, this is one of the better ones. But not the best (in my opinion). That one will come later. Let's just say this is a warm up. Its been a long time since I've posted a story. 1. In Jacksonville Beach, Florida, two hours before the full moon would reach it's peak, only two people walked the beach, arm in arm. It was around the upper 50s, cold for Halloween night. The sky was crystal clear, allowing a full view of the starry heavens, their bright light flirting with the water, the two dancing as the waves moved in and out, the way a heart beats with life. The light breeze coming off the ocean ruffled Michael's hair as he breathed deeply, enjoying the night. He looked down at the girl leaning against him, and felt a smile force it's way onto his face. Gabby was wearing his black jacket and had the hood pulled tightly on, covering her red hair. She definitely was a Floridian: Gabby complained if it was less than 70 degrees. Michael on the other hand loved the cooler weather, and was alright in just his white T-shirt and blue jeans. Gabby sensed Michael looking at her, and raised her head to look at him. "You were right, the party sucked. Sorry I dragged you along." Gabby had been talking about her friend's party for weeks. She and her boyfriend were throwing it at her house, and had invited a lot of people, including Gabby. Michael really hadn't wanted to go, but Gabby had wanted to go, and that was enough for him. When they got there, they quickly found out the main form of entertainment was a couple dozen bongs, and a roofie-punch bowl. "Don't wory about it," he said, adding, "at least I got to do something this year. Last year I sat around in my boxers eating Cheetos." Gabby chuckled, and then said, "You were right about the party, and coming to the beach. I never realized how beautiful it was here at night..." "Well, I'm always righ- ouch!" Gabby smacked him in the stomach playfully. Rubbing the sore spot, "I come here a lot, and there's almost never anyone here. Its peaceful, helps me think a lot. Thought I'd share it with you." He nudged her as he said the last bit, causing her to lean away from him. She pushed him back, and the next thing Gabby knew, she was on the ground squealing with laughter as he tickled her. Michael knew her too well, and was able to reach all of her sensitive spots. By the time he had her flip flops off, tears were streaming down the sides of her face. "Alr- ahahaha! I g-give, I GIVE!" Michael stopped, and sat back in the sand, breathing hard, laughing in between each gulp for air. Gabby's usually straight red hair was a mess, falling down each side of her face. Her big green eyes, lit up with tears and laughter, her face flushed... "What are you staring at?" "You, of course. You managed to get my jacket all sandy. Do you know how much I paid for that!?" "You like, attacked me! You should be saying sorry to me!" "Hmm... I guess you're right for once." Michael stood up, went over to Gabby and held his hand out. She clasped his hand, and he pulled her up. After she was on her feet, Michael still wouldn't let go of her hand. She tried to lightly pull away from him so she could get all the sand off of his jacket, but he jerked her arm, causing her to fall against him again. He looked into her eyes, seemingly searching for something. His face started to come closer. Gabby closed her eyes, and turned her face up more, lips reaching out... "I deeply apologize for tickling you and enjoying every second of it," Michael whispered an inch from her face. Gabby opened an eye and was met with Michael's lopsided grin that she had come to like so much. Nevertheless, she shoved him to the ground. "You *******," she looked down at the boy clutching his sides at her feet, laughing again. "You should know not to mess with my emotions like that." He sobered up, and with a straight face said, "I guess if I called you bipolar..." Gabby sighed, "Are you ever serious?" She sat in the sand next to him, honestly wondering what she was going to do with this maniac. "Would you rather I be serious?" Suddenly, Michael was almost moping. He was tracing something in the sand with his index finger, and not meeting her eyes. "I dunno, I guess not. 'Cuz then you wouldn't be you, and I guess that would get rid of one of the reasons I said yes when you asked me out." This was a side of him she'd never seen. Michael seemed to be really thinking about something. In a rush, "I never really knew why you said yes. I asked you out as a dare. I had been expecting a quick 'No, loser.'" Her mouth fell open slightly, and Michael looked at the sky as he continued, "And to think the hottest girl in school said yes... I ended up letting my friend keep the money he was going to give me after I did it, thinking it was wrong. I always liked you, I was just afraid to risk getting rejected. If you had rejected me, at least I could've salvaged some of my pride, pretending I did it for the money, so I went with it. After these two weeks, though, I think... I love you." He finally faced her with a weak smile. "So. Just ask, and I'll do anything." Gabby was having a hard time processing everything. She realized she had been holding her breath for almost a minute, and quickly exhaled. A few seconds later, she also realized Michael was still waiting for a response. She took a leaf from his book, scooting closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, leaned against his shoulder and said, "Just sit here with me for a while. That'll make up for thinking I'm bipolar." 2. An hour later, Gabby and Michael had made it back to his black Grand Am. He went around to the passenger's side, and opened the door. With a flourish, he bowed, "Your chariot awaits, madame." "I'm your girlfriend, not some snobbish queen," she said with a laugh. "Doesn't mean I can't treat you like one," Michael teased yet again. "If I'm the queen, you must be the servant. I wanna' foot massage." She got into the car, and put on her seat belt. "As long as I get to suck your big toe." Laughing, "Now that was disgusting." Michael closed the door and moved to the other side of the car, sliding into his seat. He dug his keys out of his pocket, and shoved them into the ignition. After starting up the car, "Now, where do you live again?" "Like you honestly forgot?" "Sorry, I can be a little dim sometimes. Guess we could go to that 24 hours Starbucks until I can remember?" "You know I love that place, but I'd better get home. Its Friday tomorrow, we've still got school. You could always take me out tomorrow night. Gives me something to look forward to." "And is this a direct order from the queen?" "Yep." "'Kay then. That coffee woulda' been nice. I'm so sleepy. I'd hate to fall asleep at the wheel," he put the car in reverse, and looked at her again. "Oh, shut up and drive," she said, exasperated. x+o+x+o+x "Alright, almost home now." Michael sounded calmer than he looked. Sweat was streaming down his face. He ran over another one of those... those THINGS in the street, making a wet squishy sound as it was crunched by the tires and causing the car to rise up on its front, and then back tires for a moment. Gabby sat in her seat with her legs drawn up to her chest, head touching her knees, hood pulled tightly over her head. She was trying to block out all of the images she had seen, and knew that she would see again if she were to look up. It was the gore on the windshield that affected her the most. Congealed blood streaked the windshield where the wipers didn't reach. The mechanical arms were whirring back and forth at its highest level. It had a lot to clean each and every time Michael purposely mowed one down. "These guys are definitely dead, but they're walking around. How the **** did this **** happen?" "You're saying they're zombies?" Gabby moaned. She was easily squeamish. "I... it sure looks like it. I'm tempted to drive past the cemetery. Its only five blocks away from your house." "Bu-" "I dunno, maybe we won't have enough time," he said as he purposely drove onto the sidewalk to hit another one, glancing in his rearview mirror at the same time. The male zombie, halfway decomposed, rolled up the glass, and crunched against the top of the car. With a thud, it landed behind the speeding car, and rolled a few more feet before stopping. The pack of zombies following the car just walked over it. "Could you just... quit hitting them?" Michael glanced in his rearview mirror yet again, and then down at Gabby, who still hadn't realized their problem. "Uhm... No." "...They're after us, aren't they?" "Yes." "****!" Gabby suddenly stomped her feet on the bottom of the car, and slammed her fists on the dashboard. She looked over her shoulder, saw the horde, and then screamed, "Oh, ****!!!" She slumped in her seat, and began crying. Michael looked at her quickly, and then back at the road. He wanted to comfort her, but he couldn't do that with the handful of undead about fifty yards ahead of him, stumbling towards them. Suddenly, he slammed on the breaks. "What!? Michael, what the hell are you doing!?" "M-mom..." Gabby slowly turned her head from Michael, to the group in front of them. There she was, the leader of the pack, still in floral apron and her brown hair in a ponytail. Flour usually covered the apron, but the blood took away the normal charm and nostalgic thoughts of home an apron brings. Blood caked her mouth and her right eye was hanging out of it's socket. Michael continued to stare. "Michael, just drive around them. We've got to go. If they get to us, we'll end up like her!" He swallowed, and sat there a moment longer. A loud thump and a shifting of the car told them the first of the zombies behind them had climbed onto the back of the car. Michael hit the gas, screaming, "**** YOU!" The car picked up speed fast. A few seconds before impact, both Gabby and Michael closed their eyes and braced themselves. Guttural yells and several thumps told him he'd made contact. The ex-humans were thrown back, run over, and ripped apart. A loud crunch of glass made Gabby open her eyes, and scream. Michael looked to see what was wrong. His mother's one-eyed gaze met his. Her head had hit the windshield so hard, it had cracked the glass. Then, it was dislodged from the windshield by the wipers. "Oh shi-! Michael, stop!" He looked just in time to see a brick wall racing up at him. They'd reached the end of the street. He pulled hard on the wheel to the right. It turned a full 90 degrees before the wheels locked up. Tires screeching, the car took out a fire hydrant, a geyser instantly forming, and then Michael's side of the car crashed into the wall. A sickening splat - the zombie must've still been on top of the car - followed soon after. The bloody remains slid down the brick wall, and rested on top of the car again. Gabby took off her seatbelt, and immediately looked over to Michael. He was still sitting in his chair, but leaning against the car door. His face was turned away from her. He wasn't moving. "Michael," Gabby's voice broke, "Michael are you alright?" "Yeah, I'm fine. Just don't come over here. Actually, I think it might be a good idea for the queen to leave." Gabby laughed, tears falling down the sides of her face, "Well, in case you forgot, we've got a problem here." He still hadn't moved. "I no longer have a problem, just you. You need to leave." "With you coming along." "Can't. Sorry Gabby." Now she was almost sobbing. "No, you're coming with me dammit." She crawled across her seat and leaned over him, needing him to move. She finally got to look into his eyes. Well, eye. She fell back into her seat, choking. Coughing and spluttering, she kicked open her door, and immediately threw up into the water puddle already forming from the hydrant. Michael's entire left side was embedded in the twisted metal of the car door. "I did not want that to be your last memory of me," he laughed, then continued, "I look even worse than my mom did. Speaking of which, Gabby, you need to run. Go to your house, barricade yourself in. After checking your family, of course." He laughed again. "Just make sure you don't go to the mall. The zombies might wanna' go on a shopping spree, get some new threads. Go, I'll... I'll slow them down." Gabby leaned across the seat again, and kissed him on his remaining cheek. "I love you." "The Queen, falling for the servant? Blasphemy! Hurry up, go. You're not exactly the fastest runner in our P.E. class." A series of convulsions racked his body, and then suddenly he went still. She stepped out of the car, avoiding her dinner, and looked at the slow moving forms coming up the street. They were two blocks away. She looked back at Michael one final time, tried to wipe away the tears, failed, and then began to run. ---- Meh, its 3:13 a.m. I'm tired as hell. There should be two more chapters coming up real soon. I just need to take a small break. Read if you like, dun read if you dun like.
