Chapter 1
It's All Fun and Games…
"God dammit Justin! I said cover me!"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know I was supposed to let my ass get shot to hell and save you. You got a fuckin respawn!"
"Mikey, where's the damn sniper?"
"Uh… Huh? What? Emma was distracting me…"
Victory!
"What the fuck? We won?" Justin shouted.
"You can thank us later, boys." Kiley replied, with a smirk.
We all turned around to see her and Amy high-five.
"You go girl!" Amy shouted.
Giving an aggravated sigh, I took my headset off and lowered my head.
"They carried us again…" Eric sighed. I merely nodded my head.
"Well if someone wasn't sexting his girl…" Justin said, looking to Mikey. "We may have done better!"
Mikey was too busy typing on his phone to notice what was going on. I got up and smacked his headset off his head.
"What the fuck, James?" he said, angrily.
"Leave the sexy time with Emma for when we are NOT getting our asses handed to us." I replied.
"But we won, didn't we?" Mikey asked. I put my face in my hand and walked back to my chair and slumped back in it.
"Just face it. You guys would've lost if it wasn't for us." Kiley teased us. I raised a middle finger to her. She laughed at me, so did Amy.
"I need to play for real now. No more half-assing the fight." I said, spinning my chair around to face my TV.
"You do realize what time it is, right?" Amy asked me. I looked down at my watch.
"Damn... I do now. We gotta finish today and get ready for tonight. EJ, Ashley and Victor are coming in to town." I replied.
"PAR-TA- OWW!" Mikey shouted. He threw his hands up in the air. Problem was, he still had his controller in his hand, which still had its cord attached, which wacked him in the face. We all responded with laughter. He rubbed his head and grumbled.
"Aww, poor wittle Mikey hurt?" Eric teased. More laughter followed.
"Emma will make it feel better." Mikey replied.
"By feel better, you mean she'll suck your dick till you can't think." Justin commented.
Kitty and Amy turned to look at each other and said, "SLUUUUT!"
Mikey shrugged, packed his system and gear and got ready to leave. We all did the same. We made it up the stairs from the basement of Eric's house. We always have a game night on weekends at one of our houses. Eric's is good, but Justin has the best place for our equipment. He turned his small separate garage into a man-cave style room. It was full of TVs and outlets for us all.
"I'll see youse guys tonight. Gonna bring some drinks and food." Justin shouted, getting into his car.
"We all are gonna bring something, right?" I asked. Eric nodded.
"At least I know I am." He said.
"We will too." Amy responded. Kiley nodded as well.
"Thanks again Eric. We'll see ya tonight." I shouted. He waved at us. Kitty got in Amy's car and they drove off.
"I guess you're riding with me. Huh, Mikey?" I asked. He was too busy texting Emma, go figure. I walked over and snapped my fingers in his face.
"Huh?" He said with a stupid look on his face. I sighed and shook my head.
"Am I dropping you off at your place or Emma's? I asked again.
"Emma's house. Me and her are gonna get..."
"WHOA buddy! I don't wanna know." I stopped him. "Let's go." I motioned.
We got in my car and headed to his girl's house. We jammed out to some metal while driving the way there. After a short drive, I dropped him off at Emma's. I've never seen this girl or know much about her. But I do know that, from what Justin has said, she's pretty easy… if ya know what I mean…
000
"3…2…1…TIME!" I said, looking at my watch. I took off my gloves and walked into the boss' office.
"I'm out'a here, boss." I said, grabbing my check.
"Party tonight?" He asked.
"Yes sir. I got some friends coming into town for the weekend. Going to have just a small party with them." I replied, wiping the grease off my face.
"Have fun, James. Don't get into trouble." Boss said.
"Don't worry sir. I won't. Take care!" I said, walking out the door. I walked to my car and headed home. I needed to do a few things before I got Victor at the airport.
000
After a quick shower and a change of clothes, I was on my way to pick up Mikey. He told me was still at Emma's house, no surprise there…
I rolled up and honked my horn. After a moment, Mikey and two women walked out. My eyes widened. Both were gorgeous and… very… let's just say, they were built in all the right places… I figured Emma must be the one holding Mikey's hand. Mikey opened the door for both of them and started to get in the back seat with them.
"No sir, Mikey. Up here." I said pointing to the passenger seat. "No bangy-bang in the back." Both women giggled. Mikey grumbled and sat up front with me. Before he buckled, he pointed to the girls.
"This is Emma…" She looked at me and waved with a smile. I nodded to her.
"…and her best friend, Arlene." Mikey said.
"Nice to meet you." She said with a grin. I nodded and smiled back.
"This is my buddy, James." Mikey said to the girls. I turned back around and gripped the steering wheel.
"Any word from Justin?" I asked Mikey, putting the car into drive.
"Yeah. He got Vic and they're on their way back to his house." Mikey replied.
"Sweet." I said.
000
-ring ring ring-
-ring ring ring-
I reached into my pocket and looked at my phone. Lisandra was calling. I hesitated to answer… fuck it…
"Hello?"
"Heeeey Jamessss!" Lisandra shouted into my phone. I sighed.
"Sup girl?"
"What'cha doin?"
"I'm just heading over to a buddy's house for a party."
"Awesome! Did Justin tell you to pick me up?"
I pulled my phone away and looked at it, confused.
"I can't say he did… I didn't know you were supposed to come…" I said hesitantly.
"YESSS! PICK ME UP!" She shouted. I sighed and shook my head.
"Okay, be there in a few." I replied.
"K! BYEEE!" She said before hanging up. I laid my phone down in the center console of my car.
"Detour?" Mikey asked. I nodded. "Oh boy…" he said.
000
We pulled up to Lisandra's house, the only two-story house in the neighborhood. Her family was rather well off with money. She came running outside to my car as soon as we arrived. She reached for the front passenger door, but saw Mikey. She looked to the back and saw Emma and Arlene in the back, then looked at me.
"Get in the back, Mikey…" I sighed. Mikey jumped up and got in the back next to Emma, a little too fast. Lisandra sat next to me in the front.
"Hey hey!" she said.
"Hey Sandra." I replied. "That's Emma, Mikey's girl, and Arlene, her bestie." I said, pointing to the back. Lisandra waved at the two, who waved back.
"Can you change the music? I hate metal." Sandra said.
"Nope. My car, my rules. I want metal, so metal it is." I said. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sandra's hand reach for the radio. I swiftly grabbed her wrist and shook my head.
"You would change it if Kiley told you to." She teased. I slowly turned my head to her and glared at her. She had a smirk across her face.
"OH SHIT! Shots fired at James!" Mikey laughed. I glared back at him and let go of Lisandra's wrist.
"Come on, let's go!" Sandra shouted. I shook my head, put the car in drive and headed to Justin's house.
000
It was about 7 o'clock by the time we made it to Justin's house. Everyone was already there, since we had to make the extra stop for Lisandra. I popped the truck of my car and we got our equipment out and headed up to the garage. The door opened and Justin was there to greet us.
"Heyyy, bout time you fuckers showed up. Get your asses in here." Justin said, smiling. We all walked inside the garage-turned-game-room. It was air conditioned, nice carpeting and plenty of room. TVs lined the walls. All of them were at least 48 inch flat-screens.
"Hey James!" I turned to see EJ and Ashley walking my way.
"Hey guys! Long time no see." I said. I gave them both a hug.
"Hey dude!" Vic shouted.
"Sup Vic. How ya doin, bud?" I said, fist-bumping him.
"Doing alright. Can't complain. Good to be back." He replied.
"You bring the booze?" Justin asked. We walked out to my car and I pulled out a cooler. We both had to cart it into the garage. We sat it near the fridge. Justin opened it up and his eyes brightened.
"Vodka, whiskey, rum and everything! Holy shit, where did you get this?" Justin exclaimed.
"I know the guy at the liquor store." I said with a smirk.
"nnnnnnnNICE!" Justin exclaimed.
I turned to everyone and shouted, "Who's ready to party!?"
The room erupted with cheers and laughter. Everyone ran and grabbed some drinks and food. We all went to our stations and loaded our games up. A night of drunken multiplayer madness… HERE WE COME!
000
A few hours later, everyone was wasted. Kiley and Amy were laughing at everything and nothing. They would kill another player and laugh uncontrollably. EJ and Ashley were having a sibling rivalry, seeing who could kill the most before passing out. Mikey was just about to lose what was left of his mind as he watched Emma and Arlene passionately making out. Lisandra was passed out on a couch. Justin, Vic and I were just talking about life in general and watching the ongoing chaos. We weren't as drunk as everyone else.
"See J-hic-James. Emma is a slut." Justin muttered. I was too busy watching the two to care what he was saying.
"Five bucks says they do it, right here." Vic said, leaning over to me.
"I doubt it would get that far, Vic. But I ain't complainin." I replied.
"Didn't you bring heavier stuff?" Justin asked. I got up and slightly stumbled over to the cooler and dug down near the bottom of the ice. I grabbed a bottle of some strong liquor. About twice the strength of whiskey.
"Gentlemen. I present… Knock-Out." I said, showing them the bottle.
"Knock-Out?" Vic asked.
"Yeah. Couple shots of this and you'll be knocked the fuck out." I replied.
"Hell yeah! Let's go!" Justin shouted.
I grabbed three shot glasses and handed one to each of us. I opened the bottle and poured it into the glass. We raised our glasses and drank. Vic doubled over, coughing.
"Too strong, big guy?" Justin teased, patting Vic on the back.
"More." Vic replied, setting his glass down on the counter. I poured another round and we repeated. Vic put his glass down and laid his head on the counter.
"Ah, fuck me… I don't feel so…"
-THUD-
Vic was out like a light. Justin and I looked down at Vic, then back at each other, shrugged, poured another round and drank. As soon as Justin's glass hit the counter, he hit the floor.
"Well… I guess I win then…" I said to myself in a drunken haze. I looked around to see everyone else was out too.
"I guess I better join them." I said to myself, pouring another drink. I raised my glass to the quiet room and took the shot. I sat the glass down and laid down on the ground. After a moment, I blacked out.
000
I was sound asleep, dreaming of playing games and playing with everyone. I kept hearing a persistent noise through my dream. It sounded a lot like some kind of alarm. But I kept on dreaming. The only thing that broke me from my slumber was a pounding headache.
I raised myself up, still laying where I was the previous night. I looked at my watch, which read 12:00 pm. I picked myself off the floor and walked to get some water, but I still heard the noise, a distant alarm.
Annoyed, I walked over to the smaller door of the garage and put my hand on the knob. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and turned the handle, opening the door. I slowly opened my eyes to the sight of what was making the noise. A car... that had smashed into a tree… There was another, on fire... just down the road. I franticly slammed the door. Was I still dreaming? I couldn't be… I ran to the big, sliding door and pushed it open. There were houses on fire; cars filled the streets with no one in them. There wasn't a single person in sight. I looked to see our cars still intact.
"Hey! Shut that fuckin door, eh? Can't you see where tryin to… sleep?" Justin shouted. He walked up next to me, shielding his eyes from the sun.
"Guys. Can you please close the…" I heard Kiley walking up behind me. She stood next to me, her eyes widening at the horror that lay before us all.
Pretty soon, everyone woke up and stood, staring out into the empty streets in front of us. Our jaws practically on the ground.
"Did someone spike the drinks with LSD?" Mikey asked.
"I'm pretty sure this is all real…" EJ replied. His sister, Ashley, held onto his arm.
I walked out to my car. I fumbled for my keys and opened the trunk. Underneath the mat was my 9mm pistol. I grabbed it and walked back to the group. Emma and Arlene gave me a startled look. I don't blame them. I noticed Emma look up and point out to the open area.
"Hey look! There's someone." She said. I turned and looked to see a lone figure, slowly walking down the street.
"Wait here." I said to everyone. I made sure my gun was loaded and walked down the road to the person.
"Sir? Can you tell me what happened?" I asked, from a distance. I began to approach more since he would not answer. "Sir?"
I walked up behind him and put my hand on his shoulder. He spun around to face me. I was horrified. The whole front of his body was badly burned, so far that his skin was near black and rotted. His face almost had no skin on it at all. He reached out to me with rotting hands and growled at me. I fell back on the concrete road, pushing myself back as he stumbled towards me. I regained my footing and pointed the gun at his head.
"Stay back! Stay the fuck back or I WILL shoot!" I shouted. The man kept walking closer. I kept trying to walk back as he approached, but despite the fact he had a gun pointed at his head, he didn't listen.
"I'm warning you!" I shouted one last time. He growled at me again coming closer.
-BANG-
I shot him. There was a single bullet hole in his forehead. He fell to the ground and didn't move. I lowered my gun, breathing heavily. I turned to face the group, all looked as shocked as I did. I made my way back over to them and stood silently, looking back to where the 'thing' was.
"What happened?" Justin asked.
I turned and looked at him, "We've gone to hell…"
[Hey guys. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my zombie survival/horror story. Sorry for the long wait. Been busy with life in general. I hope to be able to post more often in the coming days. Look forward to the next chapter. Shit just got real, yall!]