One Hell of a Trip
"We were sailing along on moonlight bay
We could here the voices singing
They seem to say…"
We were singing 'Moonlight Bay' when the bus suddenly stopped in the middle of nowhere. We just had our school trip in the chocolate factory and now we're heading back home.
"What happened?" Mr. Simmons asked the driver.
"I don't know. The engine just died out."
"What?" I asked, quite upset. "Criminy, I have tickets to Wrestle Mania. I can't afford to miss that!" All my classmates were panicking and chaos started to arise.
"Helga, everybody, don't panic. I'm sure we will all get home safe and sound." He told us. But it seemed that even he was panicking. The driver got out of the bus to check the engine, so as Mr. Simmons. After few minutes, we realized that both of them were gone!
"We're all alone! We'll starve to death!" Harold said hysterically.
"Get real, porky! You just ate half your weight in chocolate." I said, so irritated. Everything just kept getting more and more annoying. What about Wrestle Mania!
"Okay you guys don't panic. For sure Mr. Simmons and the bus driver went to find some help. I guess we should settle down here and wait for them." Arnold said. Somehow, the tension inside the bus subsided, thanks to the optimism of my beloved football head.
We all stayed in the bus, waiting for our teacher and the driver to come. We waited there for like million years but still no trace of them. When darkness falls, tension started to rise again. Now, it was even more agonizing for all of us.
"Now what Arnoldo?" I snapped.
"Okay. I guess we better start looking for them now."
"All of us?" Eugene asked.
"No. It would be really dangerous if all of us will leave the bus. Only few must go. So, who's with me?" Arnold asked as he looked around.
"I'm in." of course his best friend Gerald would go.
"Me too." Stinky participated as well.
"Count me in." so as Sid.
"I'm going too." I said. I really have no plans of dying in boredom inside the bus so I decided to tag along with the guys. Besides, I wouldn't be able to watch Wrestle Mania even if I stay here.
"You can't come with us, Helga. You're a girl." Stinky suddenly protested.
"So what if I'm a girl?" I asked.
"That's okay Stinky. Helga just wanna help." Good thing my Arnold came to my rescue. Another reason why I wanna come was because I don't want my football head to leave my sight. I wanna be sure he would be fine.
"Are you sure about this Helga?" my best friend Phoebe then approached me. She was a bit worried, I could tell.
"Don't worry Phoebes. We will all back here safe."
"What about you Harold? You ain't coming?" Sid asked.
"No. I'm staying here."
"Why? Are you chicken?" Sid asked again, mockingly.
"I'm no chicken! I'm just…"
"Scared?" Stinky completed the sentence and everybody started to laugh.
"I'm not scared! So quit it or I'll pound ya!" Harold was really annoyed so he threatened Sid and Stinky. But they wouldn't stop.
"If you're not scared, how come you're not coming?" Stinky asked.
"Alright I'm coming just to show you two that I'm no chicken!" Harold finally decided to come with us. But I'm sure he regretted it.
So there were six of us: Arnold, Gerald, Stinky, Sid, Harold, and me. We only got one flashlight. Gerald found it on the dashboard of the bus. I must admit, it was kinda scary outside. We couldn't see houses around. It seemed that the place was remote. Where the heck does Mr. Simmons and the bus driver went? And where the hell could we find help with this kind of place? I could tell that not only Harold was scared but also these other four guys considering that none of them were goofing around or just talking. After about ten minutes of walking in this dark, silent, and solemn road. The silence broke when we came across a nameless cemetery.
"I didn't know there's a cemetery in this side of town." Gerald was the first to voice out.
"Do you think we're lost?" Sid asked.
"How are we supposed to know, dillhole?" I told him.
"I guess we have to pass that." Arnold finally spoke.
"No. I'm not going into that cemetery!" Harold refused. He was really scared and was practically shaking.
"Then stay here, pink boy."
"Don't be scared Harold. Nothing bad is gonna happen. Trust me." Arnold tried to pacify the fat guy. He was really disgusting. He was acting like a baby considering his huge size.
We finally entered the cemetery. When the full moon showed up from hiding behind the clouds, the atmosphere became visible to us. The place was surrounded by gothic and scary statues, not to mention the mausoleums and the tombstones. There were only few light posts but they were enough for us to see our tracks. There was a huge statue of the Grim Ripper on one side of the cemetery. When Harold saw it, he almost jumped out of his pants and was screaming all over while crying out, "Mommy!" He almost knocked Stinky out when he tried to hide behind him.
"Gee man. That was just a statue." Gerald cleared.
"Calm down, Harold. We'll be fine." Arnold assured him.
When suddenly, I heard something on my back. "Hey, you hear something?" I asked them.
"Don't scare me like that, Helga." Harold answered back.
"I'm not scaring you. I'm sure I heard something."
"She's right." Arnold agreed until everybody heard it too.
"What the hell is that?" Sid asked again.
"It's like footsteps coming towards us." Arnold replied.
"Yeah. Multiple footsteps. Not only that, it's like they were holding something too." Gerald nodded to his best friend.
They were getting closer and closer so we all looked hard on them. When everything was clear to us, we realized that there were too many of them and they weren't humans at all! At least they weren't human like because they looked like zombies holding an axe, hatchet, knife, fish hook, saw, spear, hammer, baseball bat, chain saw and other deadly weapons. And they were coming to get us!
"RUN!"
All six of us ran as fast as we could. We didn't know where we were heading, we just kept running and running until Arnold saw an open mausoleum.
"Look. Let's hide inside." He pointed out. We headed towards it when Harold stumbled and wounded his right knee. It was bleeding and Harold started to cry. He couldn't walk.
"Are you okay?" Arnold asked him while helping him to get up.
"I wanna go home, mommy!" he cried.
"Sshh…they're going to hear you!" I whispered.
Arnold and I helped him get inside the mausoleum. Sid and Stinky shut the door. We all stayed there, praying that they wouldn't find us. We're scared and exhausted. We didn't know what's gonna happen to us. Arnold ripped off one of his sleeves to cover Harold's wound.
"How are you feeling now?" he asked.
"Easy squeezy lemon piecey." Harold was still in deep shock, he didn't reply to Arnold's question.
"What the hell are those?" Stinky asked finally, really frightened.
"Zombies!" I answered in horror. I started to panic and was already having this thoughts about how they're gonna tear all our body parts into pieces and eat them once they capture us. It was really horrifying. Or maybe they will turn us into zombies as well. I really wanna go home now.
"There's no such thing as zombie, right Gerald?" Arnold tried to clarify. But his best friend was skeptical too.
"I don't know man. I mean, how would you explain those creatures? They doesn't seem so human to me."
"If they're zombies, why are they holding something on their hands? Zombies won't do that."
"Haven't you seen Land of the Dead? Zombies there hold arms!" Sid said.
"That's only a film. It won't happen in real life." Arnold still insisted.
"Whatever they are, for sure they're going to kill us once they get their hands on us!" I said, now more frantic. "We're all gonna die!"
"Helga stop it." Arnold put his hands on my shoulders and shook me to ease my tension. "We're not gonna die here, okay?" he was so optimistic but it wasn't enough to lessen my worries, especially when Gerald and I peeked through a small hole and saw the zombies roaming around outside. We were all in deep silence so they wouldn't find out that we were there. We're not even breathing. When the place was cleared, Arnold told us that it would be much dangerous to stay there for long so we better get going. And besides, we still have to find Mr. Simmons and the bus driver.
"What if they were already eaten by those zombies?" Sid asked all of a sudden.
"Don't be silly Sid, they weren't"
"I guess Arnold's right. We should leave now." Gerald agreed.
"Harold, can you walk?" Arnold asked to Harold. He just nodded and Arnold and Stinky helped him get up. I could say his wound was fine but he was still in deep trauma.
We got out, keeping ourselves alert with the environment by looking around, not making any noises, and trying to feel every possible presence of those zombies that might be near us. We really have no idea where this journey was gonna take us. We were walking with no direction. This cemetery was pretty huge and we all felt like it was never-ending. Good thing there was no trace of zombies coming our way but we couldn't stop knowing how dangerous it could be. Finally, we reached the end. At the end of the cemetery, there was a huge, old, and gothic looking building. Few of its lights inside were on and it seemed like there were people in there.
"We're saved!" I said gleefully while jumping up and down.
"I don't think so, Helga. What if those guys who were coming after us lives there?" Arnold said suspiciously. "We have to be sure first."
Just as he was saying it, Sid saw the monsters coming from behind us. "They're coming!" he screamed.
"Okay, on to that building!" Arnold finally said.
We ran as fast as we could. We already made halfway through it when Gerald noticed that the monsters stopped and weren't chasing us anymore. Instead, they returned to the cemetery.
"What happened to them?" he asked in confusion.
"It seems that they don't want to go inside." Stinky said.
"Why? Are they scared?" Harold suddenly spoke. I thought he already lost his mind because of deep shock and doesn't know now how to speak.
"What is that place anyway?" Sid asked.
"There's only one way to find out."
We continued with our journey to the building until we reached its entrance. We were hesitant at first but we entered anyway. Arnold pushed open the door and a blinding light pulled as in. When we were able to see again, we found ourselves inside a hospital lobby. A man in white, possibly a doctor, came to us. I could tell he was a little stunned to see the six of us.
"May I help you kids?" he asked with a smile.
"Yes. Can you tell us exactly where are we now?" Gerald asked.
"Well you're in a mental hospital."
"A mental hospital!" we said in unison.
"Yes. You know, a place where patients with mental disorders come to take some proper treatment. Why are you kids in here anyway?"
"There are zombies outside and they're coming to get us!" I said in full terror.
"Zombies? What zombies?" he asked, a little confuse.
"You know, flesh-eating, mindless-walking corpse."
"Land of the Dead?" Sid Added.
"Dawn of the Dead? Ring any bells, mister?" Gerald asked.
"Of course. But what I mean is, why are you saying that there are zombies coming to get you? What are you trying to tell me?" he asked again, even more bewildered.
"Look mister or doctor, here's what happened." Arnold told him exactly how we got there. After he heard the full story, in our amazement, he let out a hysterical laugh.
"Hey that's not funny!" Harold shouted which made everyone in the lobby looked at us.
"I'm…sorry." He couldn't talk well because he couldn't stop laughing. When he stopped, he explained to us that those were not flesh-eating zombies but psychos.
"Psychos!" we all said.
"Exactly." He nodded. "They are all patients here."
"Patients!"
"Yes. I already told you that this is a mental hospital, right?"
"But they look like zombies." Stinky said.
"Their clothes are all ripped off." (Sid)
"They are so filthy." (Gerald)
"And they stink." I said while covering my nose.
"Because most psychos hate to bathe and they don't change their clothes either." He explained.
"How would you explain to us them, holding different kinds of deadly weapons?" Arnold questioned the doctor.
"They probably found them in the cemetery. Those guys are all psychotic criminals charged with murder. Police bring them here in our custody because they're not supposed to be mixed up with sane convicts."
"And you let them roam around that cemetery? What if a bunch of strangers lose their way in there again, just like what happened to us? Do you have any idea what could be the dangerous possibilities?" he questioned again.
"Actually young man, we don't really let them roam around anywhere outside this institution because we are aware of its danger. It just so happen that sometimes, they can able to escape from their quarters by destroying the walls. These psychos are pretty strong physically and even us couldn't do anything about it. But nothing to fear, we already called the police and they should be here any minute now. They are the ones who always help us with this kind of situation." He assured us. Somehow, our worries faded.
"See, I told ya. There's no such thing as zombie." Arnold told us.
The police force came and dealt with those psychotic freaks. The snipers shot them with tranquilizers so that it would be easier and less dangerous for the police to bring them back in the hospital. Everything was in order again. All the patients were brought to another quarters and the doctor, which was the head of the mental institution, assured us that they would be now extra aware and watchful to their patients so that similar incident wouldn't occur. Meanwhile, the police chief offered us a ride back to our bus. When we got there, we saw the bus driver and Mr. Simmons.
"Thank God, you're all here. Where have you been?"
"We went to look for you, Mr. Simmons." Arnold said.
"I'm so sorry, Arnold. We lost our way when our flashlight ran out of battery. I didn't mean to make you worry. Anyway, are you all okay?" he asked worriedly.
"Aside from Harold's wound, I guess we're all fine."
Mr. Simmons smiled to us. He then faced the police chief who gave us a lift. He thanked him for bringing us back safely and asked him if they could help us fix the bus.
"No problem." He said. He ordered his men to fix it and soon after, we're riding back home.
Maybe Arnold, Gerald, Stinky, Sid, Harold, and I were too exhausted for a story telling. So, we've decided to keep the story of our chilling adventure to ourselves, the little secret that would bind all six of us even closer.
For me, this story wasn't something to boast my friends with but something that I would remember for the rest of my life.
THE END
Well, what do you think? Did it scare you?