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Elorah Winters Chronicles - World of Twilight (UD 07-01-04)
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<blockquote data-quote="Captain Claymore" data-source="post: 1618528" data-attributes="member: 12634"><p><strong>Chapter Three</strong></p><p></p><p><em> Night grows cold, twilight's near, </em></p><p> <em>On the edge of madness the wounds are sheared. </em></p><p> <em>Forms of hanging, flesh shredded carcass </em></p><p> <em>No spared breath. </em></p><p> <em>Imprisoned in a shell, ready to explode. </em></p><p> <em>Dead soul, </em></p><p> <em>Stone cold, </em></p><p> <em>Out into the night.</em> </p><p></p><p> Slayer - "Live Undead"</p><p></p><p></p><p>CHAPTER THREE</p><p></p><p> Damyu and I took the Kukri to the Professor's lab (a lab that would do many an ivy league college proud) and did the preliminaries for running carbon and other tests. Despite the sophistication of the equipment at the Professor's disposal, some of the tests would have to be run offsite, a chore that Damyu was more than happy to do tomorrow. Thankfully the knife could remain on the premises. Not knowing what role it might have played in the Professor's disappearance, or who might be after it, I was leery of leaving it outside the vault for long.</p><p></p><p> I called my psychic friend while we were examining the knife, and no it didn't cost me six dollars a minute. His name was Theodore Moss (not Ted or Teddy by his own request.) He worked at a little Pagan shop called the Attic and he and I had gone to a couple 'Morgue' Parties together in the past. Don't ask what a Morgue party is. Trust me, it's not as bad as you might think. Anyway, Theodore offered to come by the estate tomorrow and see what he could 'see.'</p><p></p><p> Just as I was about to return the knife to the vault for the night Mordakai came in. "Hey guys it's like eleven thirty and Ethan has offered to let us stay the night if we so choose." He smiled. "I already picked out my room, thought you might like a heads up before you're stuck in the closet."</p><p></p><p> "Dibs on a room by the pool!" I said quickly.</p><p></p><p> "Ahhhh too bad Elorah, I already took it. You're welcome to share if you want."</p><p></p><p> "I spun around from the work table with the kukri held up in front of me and made him take an involuntary step back and lose his joking smile. "I know for a fact that there's more than one room by the pool." I lowered the knife and grinned. "I'll take the one your NOT in. How's that?"</p><p></p><p> "Whatever the lady with the big scary pointy thing says," He joked holding up his hands in mock surrender. "Probably best not to mix one kind of partnership with another anyway."</p><p></p><p> "As if." </p><p></p><p> Damyu slipped through the door with his notebook in hand. "While you two are bantering, I'm gonna go find my room."</p><p></p><p> I got Ethan to open up the vault and put the knife of ickiness back in its case before checking out what room I was relegated to by Mordakai and the others. As it turned out, the fates were kind and it was my old room from the summer I spent here as a kid. The same four poster bed sat against the far wall and oak armoire was next to the door. Someone (I was guessing Ethan) had left my bag on the bed. I opened the armoire and looked at the inside of the door. Sure enough it was still there, the little pen knife carving I'd carved through the expensive finish and into the wood, "EW." Highly original I know but what do you want, I was thirteen.</p><p></p><p> Each room had it's own bathroom, complete with oversized bath. I debated taking a late dip in the pool before realizing I hadn't brought a suit. There were towels and robes in the bathroom closet so I opted for a warm bath instead. As I immersed myself in the tub I let the water wash away everything like it always did. I always imagined it like this... I was a big smooth rock and all my worries, responsibilities and cares were stuff clinging to that rock. When it hit the water the rock sank and the rest floated at the surface, unable to follow me down. While I was there under the water, I was free of it all. Pure. Sometimes, when life was tough, it made me wish I could hold my breath longer. Now it was just a happy respite.</p><p></p><p> After the bath I pulled back the covers on the bed and opened the window for a breeze. the sound of an eastern drum beat floated from the darkness. Kevin must have been practicing somewhere on the grounds. I thought about his look when I had the knife in my hands, and the way I'd teased him. It seemed less funny now than it had. I decided to get dressed and go apologize. Ok, maybe I was curious what he had felt from the knife too, but an apology was sure to be in the conversation.</p><p></p><p> I headed out the back door and past the pool. The drumming was coming from behind a row of cypress trees a little ways out on the grounds. By the time I got close I'd left the light from the house and it was pretty well darkness all around. I wasn't being particularly stealthy, only slow so I didn't trip. I saw Kevin on the open lawn when I was probably forty feet from him. He was oblivious to me and the world in general, totally caught up in his own groove thing. He sat cross legged with his drum in front of him, hands beating a intricate pattern on the head. He slid easily from one beat to another as I stood and watched. After a few minutes I realized my foot was tapping along with the rhythm. It dawned on me that this was more than practice for Kevin, this was his rock in the water thing. I listened for awhile and then started back for my room. It was obvious it might be some time before Kevin was up for conversation.</p><p></p><p> As I ducked under the lower branches of the trees by the pool I saw something in my peripheral vision. I turned to get a better look and saw what appeared to be a person stumbling in the grass. He or she was about fifty feet away, and by the way they were staggering seemed to be intoxicated. I almost called out to them, but something made me keep silent. Instead I approached the figure, this time purposefully quiet.</p><p></p><p> The smell hit me first, at about twenty feet, sickeningly sweet. It stopped me in my tracks as I reached a hand to my mouth. From here I could see the remnants of a suit hanging from the guy's frame. From this close he was obviously a guy and obviously needed a bath and a new suit. he smelled like he had rolled in a carcass, and for his sake I hoped it was after he got fall down drunk. With someone this messed up I wasn't taking any chances. I reached down and picked up a nice sized stone from a nearby flower bed, just in case he was as bad as he smelled. He seemed completely oblivious to me as he tripped his way towards the house.</p><p></p><p> There was a lamp post in the garden by the side door and by its light I could see one of the Professor's security guards smoking a cigarette. I'd always wondered why the Professor had security guards. Now that I knew about 'the vault' it all made more sense. Mr. Smelly Drunk Guy seemed to have seen the guard too and instead of veering away like I thought, he staggered towards him, tripping and falling over the stones at the garden's edge.</p><p></p><p> This was gonna be interesting I could tell. the guard had a nine millimeter and a billy club and this guy couldn't even walk straight. I was all set to jump in and save this poor drunk from getting shot when I saw the slime. When I say slime I mean noisome, rotting matter. It was just inside the garden border, where the guy had tripped. I almost stepped in it before the stink gave it away. I wrinkled my nose and bent to get a closer look. There amidst bits of rotted flesh was most definitely a human finger. Dude had worse problems than a torn suit. I swallowed the bile in my throat and picked up a bigger rock.</p><p></p><p> I looked up with a bit more adrenaline coursing through my system to see the 'figure' step out into the lamp light. From my view point all I could see was the guy's back and the guard who looked up from his cigarette and lighter. "Who the hell are y..." was all he got out before the rotting guy put on a short burst of speed and tackled him! I was running with the rock above my head before they hit the ground.</p><p></p><p> The guard seemed to have forgotten all about his weapons as he wrestled the thing, shreds of rotten suit coming away in his hands. I saw the smelly guy straining to bite the guards neck and instead latch onto his shoulder. He screamed like it hurt. I aimed as best I could and came down with the rock on the attacker's head. The rock sank in instead of bouncing and I screamed as brain matter leaked out in a stinky flood. The thing let go of the guard and I back pedaled as it turned towards me.</p><p></p><p> There was no mistaking 'it' for 'he' anymore. With half it's skull caved in, still it rose up from the panicked guard and stumbled towards me. I could hear Mordakai shouting something from the house and the tinny shouts of other guards over the downed guards radio. I screamed real loud for help and tried to keep some distance between me and it. Mordakai skidded around the corner with a gun as I dived to avoid the thing's lunge. 'Crack! Crack!' His shots rang out as I rolled! I came to my feet to see most of the thing's head missing and a meaty hole in it's chest. It wobbled for a second and staggered towards me before crumpling to the ground. </p><p></p><p> I turned to see Kevin coming in from the lawn, a pocket knife in his hand. Not ten feet behind him was another stumbling figure, this one in a dark dress, with long, light colored hair swinging around it's rotted face. I screamed, "Behind you!" and lunged for the security guard's handgun. He was too worried about the wound in his neck to prevent me from taking it and I heard two more shots as I turned back and aimed.</p><p></p><p> Kevin was doing his best to fend off the zombie (I couldn't deny what they were at the moment), slashing it over and over with his pocket knife while evading it's grasp. I centered on the thing's chest but couldn't shoot for fear of hitting Kevin. Jones was suddenly on the scene and yelled, "Get back!" as he charged the zombie on Kevin. He barreled into the thing and put his fist through it's wide mouthed face. It flew backwards a few paces and landed in a lifeless heap. He shook his fist and wet gobbets of flesh hit the ground with a splat.</p><p></p><p> Kevin ran towards Mordakai and I saw Mordakai toss a gun to him. Anthony was suddenly there with a shotgun and walking towards the guard, who was now up and cradling his shoulder. He barked, "Heads up!" and I turned to see a third zombie coming through the now well trampled flower bed towards us.</p><p></p><p> I asked in the most un-panicky voice I could manage, "Are these dead things?" To which Anthony answered simply, "Yes." Ask a dumb question I guess. Two more made an appearance from behind the trees as Anthony said, "Mass damage or fire are the only things that will take em' down. We need to get in the house."</p><p></p><p> I whispered, "Mass damage it is" as I leveled the guard's pistol and fired in one smooth motion, taking out the zombie's head with a perfect shot to the face. It dropped in it's tracks. Even in all the excitement I caught a surprised look on Mordakai's face. Yeah, school girl can shoot. No need to let on that I was as surprised as he was.</p><p></p><p> There was a moment where the only sound was the squawking of the security guard's radio and then a single shot from a handgun on the other side of the house. Anthony brought his shotgun to his shoulder and we all turned to see another one, this time in a shredded tuxedo, approaching at a lurching run. The moment passed and Mordakai aimed over my shoulder. I heard a roar from behind me and saw Jones hurtle past. Again two cracks from Mordakai that caused the zombie to do a little dance but not to go down. </p><p></p><p> I yelled, "Mordakai wait!" and though he didn't lower his gun, he didn't fire again either. I'm not sure what made me think it but I looked at Jones and said, "You think you can take one alive?" Everybody looked at me. "... Ok... maybe not alive... you know what I mean!" </p><p></p><p> Brother Jones stopped and looked at the rotten stuff on his shirt while. "Well... seein as how my shirt's already ruined." He dived on the zombie and wrestled it to the ground, being extra careful to stay out of reach of it's teeth.</p><p></p><p> Another one was approaching through the trees. Mordakai came up behind Jones and said, "here" while tossing him a couple plastic zip cuffs. Why did Mordakai have zip cuffs? A question for another time perhaps. Jones slipped a pair around the zombies wrists and then slid them up to it's elbows before cinching them tight. The next pair went around the feet and then we were scrambling towards the side door of the house ahead of the other approaching dead thing.</p><p></p><p> As we all got through the door and into the wide hallway I stopped Kevin from closing it. "We know we can stop these things now. Let's see where they're going." We fanned out along the walls to be sure the zombie had room. I was trying to breathe through my mouth to avoid the smell of Jones, who had a good deal of that last zombie smeared all over his clothes. The security guard had moved further back down the hall and was taking shallow breaths as he held his shoulder. Anthony, Kevin and Mordakai had their weapons trained on the approaching zombie. That seemed like a good idea so I followed suit.</p><p></p><p> This one was big, over six feet tall, bald headed, with a dusty grey suit. There was a large rend in the flesh under it's right eye. Except for that, the smell, and a grey film over it's eyes you might have believed the guy was still alive. It moaned as it came to the door, not at all unlike the movie zombies we're all familiar with. Jones was closest and it's face swiveled towards him, making everybody tense up just a little more. He cocked his fist back and I realized that there were a pair of brass knuckles under the slime. It shuffled in, never taking it's eyes off of Jones, then stopped.</p><p></p><p> We all waited while it just stood there, arms hanging limp at it's side. Ten seconds passed while we all just stared. Jones inched back from the thing and it's eyes followed him, but still no other movement. I began to think. Zombies certainly weren't my forte, but I had read a thing or two over the years, stuff that until tonight I had relegated to the 'myths and falsehoods' section of my brain. I started going through that knowledge now and came up with something that might explain the current situation.</p><p></p><p> "It's fulfilled it's last command." I lowered my gun. Everyone looked at me, while still keeping their guns trained on it.</p><p></p><p> "Whoever raised these things gave them a command..." I stepped a little closer to it and it's eyes flicked from Jones to me. "... probably something like, 'Enter that house' or 'Go to the Prescott Estate.' Once they do that, they've fulfilled the command and are awaiting another order."</p><p></p><p> Jones said, "Are you sure?"</p><p></p><p> I shrugged. "No. I'm not exactly a zombie expert or anything but I've read some things and that's my best theory." I waved my hand about four feet in front of the zombie's face. It kept staring at me and not my hand.</p><p></p><p> Damyu came hurriedly around the corner with a pair of headphones around his neck and a history book in his hands. "Guys! I heard shots and the guar..." he stopped in mid sentence as he saw Dead Bob at the door. He whispered a little obscenity in chinese (which I won't translate) as he took it all in. "Is everyone alright?" This as he wrinkled his nose and came a little closer.</p><p></p><p> Mordakai said, "All's good as long as Mr. Not-so-Clean here doesn't receive any new orders." He grinned, "At least according to the Zombie Queen here."</p><p></p><p> I let that one go, as it was obviously meant to get a rise out of me. "We've got the trussed one in the garden. We should put this one out of it's misery before it does get a new orders."</p><p></p><p> Anthony stepped up and grabbed the zombie by the shoulder. It started to react but there just wasn't time. One moment it was there in front of me, and the next it was flying backwards through the open door and landing with a thud in the flower bed. Anthony raised his shotgun and 'BOOOM' the zombies head exploded. My ears were ringing horribly from the blast and I cringed away. Did I just imagine that? I turned to look at the others and saw that they were staring at Anthony too. Nope, it wasn't just me. Anthony really had just thrown a two hundred and fifty pound zombie ten feet... with one hand!</p><p></p><p> He turned and seemed to just notice his audience. "What?"</p><p></p><p> I was trying to frame words when Ethan stepped around the corner with another security guard in tow. He looked relieved to see us all. "I'm so glad everyone's alright!" He took in Jones' messy state and looked worried. "Everyone IS alright aren't they?"</p><p></p><p> Ethan's fussing was enough of a distraction to save Anthony from an immediate accounting. We explained that the mess was all from the bad guys as the injured security guard was led away by his fellow guard. We all walked out towards the bound zombie, who was struggling to crawl towards the house in the dirt of the flower bed. The zip cuffs turned his crawl into a sort of drunken inchworm thing, it was a little bit pitiful.</p><p></p><p> Brother Jones said, "Well Elorah, you wanted it." He was holding his hands away from his body like he couldn't stand to touch himself. Having bits of brain on my own shirt I could sympathize.</p><p></p><p> I looked at Ethan. "Can we take this thing to the lab?"</p><p></p><p> He frowned. "I suppose so Elorah. For what purpose though, if I may ask?"</p><p></p><p> Good question that. I pondered how best to answer. "The whole 'undead' thing is new to me. Whatever, or whoever caused these things to rise might have left a clue on the zombies." Everyone was staring strangely at me again. "Alright Alright! Maybe I'm just a tad bit curious too. I mean... come ON! Hello, ZOMBIES?!"</p><p></p><p> Mordakai looked away and said, "Zombie Queen" in a stage whisper. This time Kevin and Jones looked like they agreed.</p><p></p><p> Damyu stepped up closer to me and said, "I think Elorah's right. I wouldn't mind getting a little undead flesh under the microscope." My scientific brother in arms to the rescue, Hoorah.</p><p></p><p>______________________________</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Captain Claymore, post: 1618528, member: 12634"] [b]Chapter Three[/b] [I] Night grows cold, twilight's near, On the edge of madness the wounds are sheared. Forms of hanging, flesh shredded carcass No spared breath. Imprisoned in a shell, ready to explode. Dead soul, Stone cold, Out into the night.[/I] Slayer - "Live Undead" CHAPTER THREE Damyu and I took the Kukri to the Professor's lab (a lab that would do many an ivy league college proud) and did the preliminaries for running carbon and other tests. Despite the sophistication of the equipment at the Professor's disposal, some of the tests would have to be run offsite, a chore that Damyu was more than happy to do tomorrow. Thankfully the knife could remain on the premises. Not knowing what role it might have played in the Professor's disappearance, or who might be after it, I was leery of leaving it outside the vault for long. I called my psychic friend while we were examining the knife, and no it didn't cost me six dollars a minute. His name was Theodore Moss (not Ted or Teddy by his own request.) He worked at a little Pagan shop called the Attic and he and I had gone to a couple 'Morgue' Parties together in the past. Don't ask what a Morgue party is. Trust me, it's not as bad as you might think. Anyway, Theodore offered to come by the estate tomorrow and see what he could 'see.' Just as I was about to return the knife to the vault for the night Mordakai came in. "Hey guys it's like eleven thirty and Ethan has offered to let us stay the night if we so choose." He smiled. "I already picked out my room, thought you might like a heads up before you're stuck in the closet." "Dibs on a room by the pool!" I said quickly. "Ahhhh too bad Elorah, I already took it. You're welcome to share if you want." "I spun around from the work table with the kukri held up in front of me and made him take an involuntary step back and lose his joking smile. "I know for a fact that there's more than one room by the pool." I lowered the knife and grinned. "I'll take the one your NOT in. How's that?" "Whatever the lady with the big scary pointy thing says," He joked holding up his hands in mock surrender. "Probably best not to mix one kind of partnership with another anyway." "As if." Damyu slipped through the door with his notebook in hand. "While you two are bantering, I'm gonna go find my room." I got Ethan to open up the vault and put the knife of ickiness back in its case before checking out what room I was relegated to by Mordakai and the others. As it turned out, the fates were kind and it was my old room from the summer I spent here as a kid. The same four poster bed sat against the far wall and oak armoire was next to the door. Someone (I was guessing Ethan) had left my bag on the bed. I opened the armoire and looked at the inside of the door. Sure enough it was still there, the little pen knife carving I'd carved through the expensive finish and into the wood, "EW." Highly original I know but what do you want, I was thirteen. Each room had it's own bathroom, complete with oversized bath. I debated taking a late dip in the pool before realizing I hadn't brought a suit. There were towels and robes in the bathroom closet so I opted for a warm bath instead. As I immersed myself in the tub I let the water wash away everything like it always did. I always imagined it like this... I was a big smooth rock and all my worries, responsibilities and cares were stuff clinging to that rock. When it hit the water the rock sank and the rest floated at the surface, unable to follow me down. While I was there under the water, I was free of it all. Pure. Sometimes, when life was tough, it made me wish I could hold my breath longer. Now it was just a happy respite. After the bath I pulled back the covers on the bed and opened the window for a breeze. the sound of an eastern drum beat floated from the darkness. Kevin must have been practicing somewhere on the grounds. I thought about his look when I had the knife in my hands, and the way I'd teased him. It seemed less funny now than it had. I decided to get dressed and go apologize. Ok, maybe I was curious what he had felt from the knife too, but an apology was sure to be in the conversation. I headed out the back door and past the pool. The drumming was coming from behind a row of cypress trees a little ways out on the grounds. By the time I got close I'd left the light from the house and it was pretty well darkness all around. I wasn't being particularly stealthy, only slow so I didn't trip. I saw Kevin on the open lawn when I was probably forty feet from him. He was oblivious to me and the world in general, totally caught up in his own groove thing. He sat cross legged with his drum in front of him, hands beating a intricate pattern on the head. He slid easily from one beat to another as I stood and watched. After a few minutes I realized my foot was tapping along with the rhythm. It dawned on me that this was more than practice for Kevin, this was his rock in the water thing. I listened for awhile and then started back for my room. It was obvious it might be some time before Kevin was up for conversation. As I ducked under the lower branches of the trees by the pool I saw something in my peripheral vision. I turned to get a better look and saw what appeared to be a person stumbling in the grass. He or she was about fifty feet away, and by the way they were staggering seemed to be intoxicated. I almost called out to them, but something made me keep silent. Instead I approached the figure, this time purposefully quiet. The smell hit me first, at about twenty feet, sickeningly sweet. It stopped me in my tracks as I reached a hand to my mouth. From here I could see the remnants of a suit hanging from the guy's frame. From this close he was obviously a guy and obviously needed a bath and a new suit. he smelled like he had rolled in a carcass, and for his sake I hoped it was after he got fall down drunk. With someone this messed up I wasn't taking any chances. I reached down and picked up a nice sized stone from a nearby flower bed, just in case he was as bad as he smelled. He seemed completely oblivious to me as he tripped his way towards the house. There was a lamp post in the garden by the side door and by its light I could see one of the Professor's security guards smoking a cigarette. I'd always wondered why the Professor had security guards. Now that I knew about 'the vault' it all made more sense. Mr. Smelly Drunk Guy seemed to have seen the guard too and instead of veering away like I thought, he staggered towards him, tripping and falling over the stones at the garden's edge. This was gonna be interesting I could tell. the guard had a nine millimeter and a billy club and this guy couldn't even walk straight. I was all set to jump in and save this poor drunk from getting shot when I saw the slime. When I say slime I mean noisome, rotting matter. It was just inside the garden border, where the guy had tripped. I almost stepped in it before the stink gave it away. I wrinkled my nose and bent to get a closer look. There amidst bits of rotted flesh was most definitely a human finger. Dude had worse problems than a torn suit. I swallowed the bile in my throat and picked up a bigger rock. I looked up with a bit more adrenaline coursing through my system to see the 'figure' step out into the lamp light. From my view point all I could see was the guy's back and the guard who looked up from his cigarette and lighter. "Who the hell are y..." was all he got out before the rotting guy put on a short burst of speed and tackled him! I was running with the rock above my head before they hit the ground. The guard seemed to have forgotten all about his weapons as he wrestled the thing, shreds of rotten suit coming away in his hands. I saw the smelly guy straining to bite the guards neck and instead latch onto his shoulder. He screamed like it hurt. I aimed as best I could and came down with the rock on the attacker's head. The rock sank in instead of bouncing and I screamed as brain matter leaked out in a stinky flood. The thing let go of the guard and I back pedaled as it turned towards me. There was no mistaking 'it' for 'he' anymore. With half it's skull caved in, still it rose up from the panicked guard and stumbled towards me. I could hear Mordakai shouting something from the house and the tinny shouts of other guards over the downed guards radio. I screamed real loud for help and tried to keep some distance between me and it. Mordakai skidded around the corner with a gun as I dived to avoid the thing's lunge. 'Crack! Crack!' His shots rang out as I rolled! I came to my feet to see most of the thing's head missing and a meaty hole in it's chest. It wobbled for a second and staggered towards me before crumpling to the ground. I turned to see Kevin coming in from the lawn, a pocket knife in his hand. Not ten feet behind him was another stumbling figure, this one in a dark dress, with long, light colored hair swinging around it's rotted face. I screamed, "Behind you!" and lunged for the security guard's handgun. He was too worried about the wound in his neck to prevent me from taking it and I heard two more shots as I turned back and aimed. Kevin was doing his best to fend off the zombie (I couldn't deny what they were at the moment), slashing it over and over with his pocket knife while evading it's grasp. I centered on the thing's chest but couldn't shoot for fear of hitting Kevin. Jones was suddenly on the scene and yelled, "Get back!" as he charged the zombie on Kevin. He barreled into the thing and put his fist through it's wide mouthed face. It flew backwards a few paces and landed in a lifeless heap. He shook his fist and wet gobbets of flesh hit the ground with a splat. Kevin ran towards Mordakai and I saw Mordakai toss a gun to him. Anthony was suddenly there with a shotgun and walking towards the guard, who was now up and cradling his shoulder. He barked, "Heads up!" and I turned to see a third zombie coming through the now well trampled flower bed towards us. I asked in the most un-panicky voice I could manage, "Are these dead things?" To which Anthony answered simply, "Yes." Ask a dumb question I guess. Two more made an appearance from behind the trees as Anthony said, "Mass damage or fire are the only things that will take em' down. We need to get in the house." I whispered, "Mass damage it is" as I leveled the guard's pistol and fired in one smooth motion, taking out the zombie's head with a perfect shot to the face. It dropped in it's tracks. Even in all the excitement I caught a surprised look on Mordakai's face. Yeah, school girl can shoot. No need to let on that I was as surprised as he was. There was a moment where the only sound was the squawking of the security guard's radio and then a single shot from a handgun on the other side of the house. Anthony brought his shotgun to his shoulder and we all turned to see another one, this time in a shredded tuxedo, approaching at a lurching run. The moment passed and Mordakai aimed over my shoulder. I heard a roar from behind me and saw Jones hurtle past. Again two cracks from Mordakai that caused the zombie to do a little dance but not to go down. I yelled, "Mordakai wait!" and though he didn't lower his gun, he didn't fire again either. I'm not sure what made me think it but I looked at Jones and said, "You think you can take one alive?" Everybody looked at me. "... Ok... maybe not alive... you know what I mean!" Brother Jones stopped and looked at the rotten stuff on his shirt while. "Well... seein as how my shirt's already ruined." He dived on the zombie and wrestled it to the ground, being extra careful to stay out of reach of it's teeth. Another one was approaching through the trees. Mordakai came up behind Jones and said, "here" while tossing him a couple plastic zip cuffs. Why did Mordakai have zip cuffs? A question for another time perhaps. Jones slipped a pair around the zombies wrists and then slid them up to it's elbows before cinching them tight. The next pair went around the feet and then we were scrambling towards the side door of the house ahead of the other approaching dead thing. As we all got through the door and into the wide hallway I stopped Kevin from closing it. "We know we can stop these things now. Let's see where they're going." We fanned out along the walls to be sure the zombie had room. I was trying to breathe through my mouth to avoid the smell of Jones, who had a good deal of that last zombie smeared all over his clothes. The security guard had moved further back down the hall and was taking shallow breaths as he held his shoulder. Anthony, Kevin and Mordakai had their weapons trained on the approaching zombie. That seemed like a good idea so I followed suit. This one was big, over six feet tall, bald headed, with a dusty grey suit. There was a large rend in the flesh under it's right eye. Except for that, the smell, and a grey film over it's eyes you might have believed the guy was still alive. It moaned as it came to the door, not at all unlike the movie zombies we're all familiar with. Jones was closest and it's face swiveled towards him, making everybody tense up just a little more. He cocked his fist back and I realized that there were a pair of brass knuckles under the slime. It shuffled in, never taking it's eyes off of Jones, then stopped. We all waited while it just stood there, arms hanging limp at it's side. Ten seconds passed while we all just stared. Jones inched back from the thing and it's eyes followed him, but still no other movement. I began to think. Zombies certainly weren't my forte, but I had read a thing or two over the years, stuff that until tonight I had relegated to the 'myths and falsehoods' section of my brain. I started going through that knowledge now and came up with something that might explain the current situation. "It's fulfilled it's last command." I lowered my gun. Everyone looked at me, while still keeping their guns trained on it. "Whoever raised these things gave them a command..." I stepped a little closer to it and it's eyes flicked from Jones to me. "... probably something like, 'Enter that house' or 'Go to the Prescott Estate.' Once they do that, they've fulfilled the command and are awaiting another order." Jones said, "Are you sure?" I shrugged. "No. I'm not exactly a zombie expert or anything but I've read some things and that's my best theory." I waved my hand about four feet in front of the zombie's face. It kept staring at me and not my hand. Damyu came hurriedly around the corner with a pair of headphones around his neck and a history book in his hands. "Guys! I heard shots and the guar..." he stopped in mid sentence as he saw Dead Bob at the door. He whispered a little obscenity in chinese (which I won't translate) as he took it all in. "Is everyone alright?" This as he wrinkled his nose and came a little closer. Mordakai said, "All's good as long as Mr. Not-so-Clean here doesn't receive any new orders." He grinned, "At least according to the Zombie Queen here." I let that one go, as it was obviously meant to get a rise out of me. "We've got the trussed one in the garden. We should put this one out of it's misery before it does get a new orders." Anthony stepped up and grabbed the zombie by the shoulder. It started to react but there just wasn't time. One moment it was there in front of me, and the next it was flying backwards through the open door and landing with a thud in the flower bed. Anthony raised his shotgun and 'BOOOM' the zombies head exploded. My ears were ringing horribly from the blast and I cringed away. Did I just imagine that? I turned to look at the others and saw that they were staring at Anthony too. Nope, it wasn't just me. Anthony really had just thrown a two hundred and fifty pound zombie ten feet... with one hand! He turned and seemed to just notice his audience. "What?" I was trying to frame words when Ethan stepped around the corner with another security guard in tow. He looked relieved to see us all. "I'm so glad everyone's alright!" He took in Jones' messy state and looked worried. "Everyone IS alright aren't they?" Ethan's fussing was enough of a distraction to save Anthony from an immediate accounting. We explained that the mess was all from the bad guys as the injured security guard was led away by his fellow guard. We all walked out towards the bound zombie, who was struggling to crawl towards the house in the dirt of the flower bed. The zip cuffs turned his crawl into a sort of drunken inchworm thing, it was a little bit pitiful. Brother Jones said, "Well Elorah, you wanted it." He was holding his hands away from his body like he couldn't stand to touch himself. Having bits of brain on my own shirt I could sympathize. I looked at Ethan. "Can we take this thing to the lab?" He frowned. "I suppose so Elorah. For what purpose though, if I may ask?" Good question that. I pondered how best to answer. "The whole 'undead' thing is new to me. Whatever, or whoever caused these things to rise might have left a clue on the zombies." Everyone was staring strangely at me again. "Alright Alright! Maybe I'm just a tad bit curious too. I mean... come ON! Hello, ZOMBIES?!" Mordakai looked away and said, "Zombie Queen" in a stage whisper. This time Kevin and Jones looked like they agreed. Damyu stepped up closer to me and said, "I think Elorah's right. I wouldn't mind getting a little undead flesh under the microscope." My scientific brother in arms to the rescue, Hoorah. ______________________________ [/QUOTE]
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Elorah Winters Chronicles - World of Twilight (UD 07-01-04)
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