Thursday, October 16, 2014

Another Writing Sample: Save Me From Myself

(Author's Note: This was also written in 2004. I guess I wanted to do a piece about zombies. This was from a Play-By-Post game I did on Yahoo forever ago.)


Being on that base in Okinawa armed with a baseball bat, some bastardized Molotov Cocktails and a Beretta Elite pistol. The swarms were getting closer, the stench of death hung heavy in the air. Dressed in her Omega jumpsuit and utility vest, Cameron was currently hiding behind a stack of boxes, trying to make no sound...she'd managed to control her breathing, and as much as she willed her heart to stop pumping so damned fast, it didn't
listen. Her pulse raced through her ears, drowning out the constant moan of....things...hungering for fresh meat. She'd seen many of her friends fall, torn apart by the damned zombies. Jon, Simone, Mike, Mark, Dan, Savannah, Alex, Jason, Hackboy, Papa Bear.....even Tyrone, Gavin, Nick, Jack and Iris.

Night had fallen, and Cameron felt like she was the only survivor left on the base, a crumbling shell of a military stronghold. She prayed for help to come soon, but had a feeling that come dawn, she'd either be a meal, or have joined the ranks of the bloodied zombies scouring the base for anything to eat. She kept one bullet in her pocket, knowing that if it came down to it, she'd turn the gun on herself...

The moaning got a little maddening after a while, and she poked her head up to see where they were. Hiding under a stack of boxes was probably not the smartest thing to do, but sadly, it was what was closest and somewhat secure
at the moment. She knew there was a bunker about a hundred yards away. Had it not been for the piles of bodies, gutted cars and occasional fires, it would have been a clear shot. She also noticed about five zombies milling
about, moaning and checking for bodies. Parts of them were rotted out, intestines dragging behind them as they loped around. Cameron would have vomited, if she hadn't done it an hour before upon seeing Mark being torn apart by about ten of them. Her stomach ached due to the vomiting and the fact she hadn't eaten in two days, and even then, it was a few power bars she found in a glove compartment. Instead, she peered over her fortress of crates and boxes, wondering if she chose to run now, would she have enough bullets to dispatch the five, plus however many more would follow in their wake? Only one way to find out...

She crept out of her fort silently, and as soon as it was clear, hauled her blood-streaked ass about ten yards before she saw fifteen more of them heading over. Fuck...this is it. She barreled into three of them, feeling like a quarterback crossing the fifty yard line before lighting one of the cocktails and lobbing it in the direction of a group of five, setting them all on fire. She let out a victory cheer, then dodged three more, shooting them in the head. Her had started to laugh maniacally. She'd essentially been alone for the last two days, remaining silent, so as not to attract the hunger of the undead. But now, it was the last stand. She would take as many of the damned things out before reaching the bunker or die trying.

Here and now.

She saw three of the fiery ones drop as they limbs burned off, but they crawled...rotting, burning masses of flesh and bone, the aroma of charred flesh adding to the sickeningly sweet scent of rot in the air. With a whoop, she charged forward, now breaking the halfway point. She ducked behind a car, seeing the body of Simone Kelly next to her. Cam clenched her eyes shut for a total of five seconds before reaching out to close the eyes of her best friend. But as soon as the hand passed Simone's mouth, the eyes flew open and Major Kelly grabbed Cam's hand, bringing it to her slack jaw. Cam jerked her hand away, sending her boot to Simone's skull until a wet crunch was heard. Then, she ran, firing off another cocktail at one of the cars, as the fuel line had been cut. The car exploded into flames, sending Cameron about
thirty feet....in the wrong direction.

Her fall was broken by a pile of bodies, half-consumed and left to decay. She got up, then started to run again. But the remaining zombies were closing in.....and as she fired her gun, the chamber went 'click'. She had run out of ammo. Even with one bullet left on her, it wouldn't be enough. It's only purpose would be to take herself out. Her cocktails were gone, and the baseball bat was in a makeshift holster on her back. She holstered the gun and grabbed the bat, swinging at anything that came close. She finally reached the door of the bunker, and turning the knob, could only scream at
what she had seen within...

Jon Byers, her commanding officer, skin a sickly mottled gray. One of his eyes was missing, as was an arm. Blood and various other fluids covered his jumpsuit. He reached out for her, groaning as the other zombies in the direct vicinity began to close in. His remaining hand grabbed her shoulder, and his teeth followed, biting in. Cameron felt the bite, the tiny organisms that caused everyone to change into this...shell...of a human being. She felt the Akuma enter her blood stream, and knew that it would only be a matter of hours before she joined them.

With a shaky hand, and as the others began to join in the feeding frenzy, she pulled her gun and loaded the single bullet. Between the shouts of pain she managed to unleash, she brought the gun to her mouth, reciting the only
appropriate quote she could think of.

"When you have a gun barrel between your teeth, you only speak in vowels."

And with all of her former friends, now husks, biting down on her, tearing...she pulled the trigger....

And as she felt the bullet enter her mouth, she could hear a faint ringing...which sounded like The Crystal Method's 'Busy Child'. The ringtone kept getting louder....and louder....when finally, Cameron's eyes snapped open and she gasped for breath. She looked down at the desk, her phone sitting dangerously close to a pool of saliva. She slowly picked up the phone and wiping sweat from her brow, answered in a shaky voice, "Hello....."

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