A vignette


It felt as if a storm was brewing. The twilight sky was a mottled combination of black, blue and purple. Ominous, gray clouds hung low in the sky, laden with rain, as if tired from their heavy loads. The quickly failing sunlight coupled with the approaching tempest gave the air a thick, otherworldly quality.

Gina dropped the curtain over the window. The view outside gave her a creepy feeling. She turned to her younger brother, Nate, who had just returned from his friend's house.

"When are mom and dad coming home?" he asked.

"Not till late." She replied, heading towards the kitchen. "What do you want for dinner?"

"I ate at Jimmy's. Can I play my game?"

"Sure. Try to keep it quite though, ok? I've got a paper to write."

Gina took a soda from the fridge and made some popcorn. Taking it to the computer in the living room, she started on her paper. She wasn't the type to start on any school assignment early, preferring the pressure of a deadline to fuel her creative side. This time, she needed at least a B. If she did well on this paper, she would definitely make the honor roll this grading period. The reward was a new computer for her room. No more trying to IM her friends from the living room with her nosy family around.

1 hour later…

Gina had just finished saving the beginning of her paper when the light flickered. The computer screen blinked and came back on. A second later, everything went off and stayed off.

She heard her brother groan, telling her he hadn't saved his game in a while. She couldn't help it when a small smile touched her lips. Feeling her way to the kitchen, she found a flashlight in a drawer. The light was low, it needed batteries. She prayed it would hold out until the lights came back on.

Going to the front window, she could see the whole street was dark. Actually, she couldn't see anything at all as it was pitch black outside. The blackout must have affected the whole town.

A flash of lighting damped by clouds illuminated enough to see everything was fine, just dark. Lightening flashed again, adding to the ominous evening. There was no rain or thunder, just flashes of light within the clouds.

Gina tried to call her mom's office but no one answered. Finding it strange she tried again with the same result. The receptionist at least should answer the phone if her mom was unavailable.

Returning to the living room to wait for the lights, she sat on the sofa. She couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. The night felt sinister, as if the darkness was hiding something frightening.

Gina shook her head. Stop it! You're 15, too old to be afraid of the dark. She went into the kitchen to look for some candles to drive away the shadows.

Outside, lightening flared again revealing something unthinkably terrifying, a group of four people shuffling up the front lawn towards the porch. Gina was blissfully unaware until she heard breaking glass.

"Nate, what was that?"

"Gina, something's here!"

Rushing to join her brother, she turned on the flashlight. Shambling across the living room were three people. They looked as if they had been in a fight. Their eyes were dull and bloodshot, their clothes were filthy and they smelled really bad. Odd moans came from them.

Grabbing her brother's arm she ran for the stairs. Pushing him in front of her, they rounded the corner into the front hall. Nate hit the stairs running with Gina on his heels. Leaping for the bottom step, Gina felt a sudden weight on her ankle. Unable to stop herself, she fell hard onto the stairs. Something inside her chest snapped sending blinding pain through her body. Gasping for air, she started to claw at the next step.

Don't blackout, don't blackout! Tears began to form in her eyes from the pain in her body and frustration. The fall had sapped her strength. Unable to catch her breath, she was too weak to pull her tortured frame up the stairway. The edges of her vision started to darken.

Have to get up. Have to help Nate, protect him. As if answering her, Nate appeared at the top of the stairs.

Nate called to her, his voice sounding so young and frightened, "Gina, are you ok?"

Summoning the last shreds of her strength she yelled, "Run Nate, hide! Don't worry about me, just run!"

A cry escaped her lips as a sharp pain pierced her calf. Looking down she saw one of the men from the living room tear a piece of flesh from her leg with his filthy teeth and start chewing. I-I-I'm be-being eaten….alive! All pain fled from her as her brain tried to process the unthinkable. His companions were almost upon her and there was no escape.

She heard from upstairs a bedroom door slam and knew Nate was safe. She knew there was no hope for herself. She realized in a split second she would never finish school, fall in love, get married or have children. She hadn't even had a boyfriend yet.

Her final thought before death mercifully claimed her was I knew moving to Raccoon City was a bad idea.

The undead finished their gruesome work and left the house. Within moments the lights came back on, illuminating the remnants of their most recent meal.

An hour passed then two. The horribly mutilated young woman lay sprawled on the steps. Almost imperceptibly a finger twitched; it happened again, only stronger. Her eyes snapped open, dull and bloodshot. She gained her feet, unaffected by her injuries and slowly began climbing the stairs. She was hungry and she knew just were to find something to eat.


Finis