AN UNDEAD HERO
"FUCKKKKKKKKK!"
The bite. It hurt like fucking HELL.
Shaun Riley screamed, clutching the crowbar he had picked up earlier. He raised it high into the air, before swooping the crowbar down low into the zombie's head.
A sickening crunch was heard as the head of the undead woman dented inwards. Blood spurted out, splattering Shaun across his face and work-shirt. He released a cry as he thrust the crowbar forwards, the weapon lodging in her eye which popped, the entrails dripping down her ruined face.
Shaun dislodged the crowbar and swung it side-ways, similar to a baseball bat, knocking the zombie's head clean off. In his body posture, Shaun slumped, dragging his heels over to a tree stump. He plonked down onto it, very glad that all of the zombies had now been cleared out of the area they were in. He flung the crowbar down by his feet.
Shaun panted, his hand scrabbling at the material of his shirt that had bunched up around his shoulder. With fumbling fingers, he managed to tear the shirt, exposing the fresh wound to the open air.
Shaun's face contorted into pure horror at the sight of so much blood. There was no way he would be able to hide this. Glancing over to where the rest of the rag-tag group were huddled together, Shaun tugged his shirt over the wound, then watched as they trudged over.
Liz surveyed her ex with concern, the alarm seeping into her eyes when her gaze landed on Shaun's right shoulder. Her mouth fell open, but promptly shut when she understood the meaning in his eyes.
'DON'T TELL.'
Liz bit her lip, reaching out to squeeze his hand. David groaned:
"Are we near that godforsaken place?"
Ed kissed his teeth and piped up: "Fuck off, you twat."
David pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and sputtered out:
"There, you see?! I ask a simple question and that is the response I get!"
As Ed blew a raspberry, which caused David to vie for retaliation, Diane jumped onto a battered chair and flapped her arms up and down.
"Whoa, whoa! Calm down everyone! Take some deep breaths! Shaun…. You seem to be doing that well."
On his tree stump, Shaun panted for oxygen. His standard work-shirt was chaffing against the wound. With a croaked cry, Shaun ripped his shirt from the chest outwards and tossed it away.
"Just like Superman…" Ed breathed in wonderment.
David raised an eyebrow, arms folded across his chest. Diane jumped off of the chair and gasped. Liz raked her fingers through her hair, still in disbelief at Shaun's condition. Ed's eyes widened and he rushed forwards, pulling his best mate into a hug whilst Diane turned to smile tearfully at a frightened and pale Barbara.
Gripping her hand, Diane murmured in Barbara's ear:
"It will be alright. Shaun will be alright."
Though she knew it was a shit lie, she couldn't bear to see Shaun's mother break down. Barbara had already lost her husband and Diane knew that Shaun was the only light in her tunnel now.
When Ed untangled himself from Shaun, he delved into the pocket of his shorts and withdrew his packet of cigarettes and a lighter. Taking one out, he lit it up and pushed the fag between Shaun's lips, then replicated the actions for himself. Exhaling, Ed whispered:
"I can do Clyde if you want."
Shaun brought a trembling hand up to his mouth and pinched the cigarette with his fingers, drawing it away from his lips. He gazed at Ed in an incredulous manner, managing to will away the pain to sputter out:
"Are you fucking serious?! I'm dying, Ed! Fucking turning into a zombie! Clyde isn't going to help me!"
Shaun released a choked sob, fingers tenderly massaging the wound.
"Ed, I'm s-sorry…. I'm just so fucking scared! I don't want to turn! I want to be able to play video games with you! Go to the Winchester and have several pints! Change for the better! Not eat brains!"
Ed inhaled, tears forming in his eyes. He exhaled, blowing the smoke in David's direction, then muttered:
"No, don't be sorry Shaun. You got nothing to be sorry about. I'm the idiot who always fucked things up. You are my best mate, never given up on me, always defended me against that cocksucker known as our housemate. I love you man."
Shaun sniffed and took another long drag. When he exhaled, he mumbled: "God, that's good."
Shaun stubbed the cigarette out, then pulled Ed forwards, clenching his hair tightly.
David snorted and murmured: "Who's the 'faggot' now?"
Shaun and Ed kept their foreheads pressed together, their only reply being their middle fingers. Diane's jaw dropped, a shout tearing itself from her throat.
"DAVID!"
David adjusted his glasses and muttered: "But they always call me a 'faggot' and a 'cunt', but look at them two. At least I have a girlfriend."
"NOT ANYMORE!"
Everyone's heads swivelled around to face Diane, who had clambered back on top of the chair. David paled and sputtered:
"W-What?"
Diane sneered down at him, crowing: "Go fuck yourself, David! I'm tired of you whingeing and moaning! And have been for a long time! You're single now!"
As David valiantly tried to muster a reply, Liz piped up: "And don't you dare think of asking me out! I'm not going to agree!"
"L-Lizzie! I…"
Raising an eyebrow as he trailed off, she chuckled mirthlessly, cooing:
"What's wrong David? Can't think of anything intelligent to say?"
David glowered fiercely at Liz for a few moments, then stamped off to sulk.
This garnered a smirk from all of the company except Barbara, who had remained silent, staring at her only child, a mixture of emotions gnawing away at her. Ed extinguished his cigarette and moved off to stand with Diane, now seated on the chair.
Liz stepped forwards and crouched down in front of Shaun. Taking his hands in hers, she smiled and brushed his hair back.
"Hey."
Shaun raised his head, the tears gathered in the corner of his eyes plain to see and whispered back:
"Hey Liz."
Using her thumb, she stroked his hand, murmuring:
"I could do with a smoke right now… and a pint."
Shaun giggled weakly. "But I thought you gave up smoking? And you told me that likewise with drinking."
"Yeah, but I need it at the moment… I l-love you Shaun."
The man in question choked, the cigarette he had been lighting up, falling from between his fingers and onto the grass. He gaped for a good minute before swallowing, his jumbled up brain pushing past the pain and seeing the truth laid out before him.
"I-I love you too Liz…. Would say do you want to get back together? But obviously…"
He trailed off, not wanting to voice what would shortly happen. Slipping his hand out of hers, he used his fingers to rake through her short blonde hair. Liz smiled sadly and snaked her hands around his waist. Eyes locked, within them the horrors of what they had witnessed earlier in the day. The pair tilted their heads and moved forwards, connecting their lips together.
Barbara blinked, Diane clasped her hands as one and Ed curled his fingers into a fist which he pumped in the air. After a few seconds, the pair broke apart, Liz fondly stroking Shaun's cheek.
The silence was blissful, the atmosphere making up for the lack of conversation. In the air, the only sounds were of the birds singing and the rustling of the trees. No zombie moans or screams at all.
"Can we get going now? Face it, Shaun's going to die, let's just move on and get to the bloody pub."
Ed snarled and pounded towards David. Spit flew from Ed's mouth, spattering onto David's brown leather jacket.
"You cocksucker! Why don't you SHUT THE FUCK UP?! NO ONE'S STOPPING YOU FROM GOING! SO JUST GO! YOU FUCKING CUNT!"
David went to retaliate when Diane sighed, muttering in a small voice.
"Ed's right. Just go, Daffs."
"B-But Di-"
"GO! BEFORE I LOSE MY FUCKING TEMPER!"
Whimpering, David scuttled off. Liz beamed, chuckling in surprise.
"Wow Diane, you showed him. Though I think you already lost your temper."
Diane adjusted her beanie, forcing down the guilt at sending away her now ex-boyfriend. She glanced over to Shaun when he muttered an inaudible sentence. Diane frowned and shuffled over, coming to a stop in front of him.
"Sorry Shaun, I didn't quite get that."
Shaun cleared his throat and cracked open his lips, wincing as the pain in his shoulder flared back up. He repeated the sentence a bit louder this time.
"I'm sorry for calling you a failed actress."
Diane sniffed, tears springing to her eyes. "That's alright. David is still a twat though?"
Shaun managed a laugh, which hurt his chest. Ed, Liz and Diane winced as they heard their friend's bones creak. The three of them stepped back when Barbara finally spoke up:
"Pickle…. I don't want to lose you."
Shaun's face crumpled as he held out his arms, not caring about the pain. "Oh Mum."
Barbara shot forwards, enveloping herself into the embrace. She began to cry, fingers clawing at the skin surrounding her son's spine. She didn't want him to die!
After a few minutes, Shaun withdrew his arms from around his mother and pulled her back so that he could grip her shoulders. Trying not to tear up at the sight of his mother's ashen tear stained face, he choked out:
"I l-love you Mum. Stay strong. The others will protect you."
He released a cry of pure pain, body jolting, causing him to curl in on himself. During this, Barbara was tugged away and held by the other two women. Even though she knew that Shaun was turning into one of those creatures, a part of her screamed that it was untrue, that he could get medical help.
She sobbed as Shaun contorted, absently scratching at the relatively fresh wound on her wrist. Hopefully when she went through the transformation, hers wouldn't be as painful…
Even though he was in unbelievable agony, Shaun raised his head and mustered a pained smile.
"I l-love you all. Go to the Winchester, save yourselves. Fuck…. Ed? Can you finish me off before I become a…. zombie?"
Ed hesitated before answering mournfully: "I'm sorry Shaun, I c-can't! You're my best mate, I-"
"It's alright honest. But if I do catch up to you, please put me out of my misery."
At Ed's nod, Shaun's smile widened, the pain increasing. He inclined his head towards the fences where on the other side, the Winchester stood.
"Go. I'm done for. I-"
Shaun ceased speaking as he screeched. Flapping a hand, he groaned, cursing in his head. With one last look, Ed, Liz, Diane and Barbara fled towards the beloved pub.
Shaun managed to cut off his screaming enough to hear the familiar guttural moans. He rolled his eyes and staggered to his feet.
"Ah, a nice end to a shitty day." He drawled sarcastically, bending down to pick up the bloody crow bar. Shaun prepared himself when the first zombie stumbled into view.
He gritted his teeth, gripping the weapon firmly. Though he may very soon be a zombie, that didn't mean he couldn't spend his last moments as a human fighting them. Shaun raised the crow bar into the air and darted forwards, aiming for the zombie's head, snarling:
"YOU MOTHERFUCKING PIECES OF SHIT!"
However, seconds after speaking, Shaun collapsed to the floor, the crow bar docking him on the head as he took his last breath.