6:30 PM, On a Tuesday, Philadelphia, PA
Mac reads a newspaper at the furthest end of the empty bar by the pool table absentmindedly as Dee cleans glasses with a rag behind the bar in front of him. Almost no sounds can be heard besides the running water form behind the bar and the clanging and banging from the basement as Charlie cleans out the storm cellar. Thunder shakes the bar, which startles Dee, dropping her glass.
"God dammit, Dee!" Mac shouts, slamming his newspaper on the bar top. "Do you think this bar is made of money?"
"Well, I'm so sorry, Mac!" Dee waves her cleaning rag around, "I'm so sorry that a massive storm is currently destroying Philly and our bar, where I'm not even supposed to be right now, is in it's path! I'm so sorry that terrifies me!"
"Well, it's not surprising you're scared of a little rain because you are still a woman after all. But the storm hitting Philly right now is just a bunch of thunderstorms, so relax, Deandra." Mac scoffs as he picks up his newspaper again. "And just so you know we're docking your paycheck for that glass. Charlie!"
"You're docking me for this glass? No one even drinks out of the glasses! We mostly serve bottles. And, if you're gonna dock anyone, it should be Dennis because he's suppose dot be working right now!" Dee slams her rag on the bar top.
"Dennis didn't drop the glass, you did. Also, he has important work to do in downtown Philly. Charlie get out here and clean Dee's mess!" Mac balls up his newspaper and tosses it in the trash bin behind the bar.
"Raping some poor Hispanic girl is not 'important' business. It's not even business, it's just rape! I should be at home perfectly safe in my bed, eating yogurt and watching TV, but no, I'm here with you assholes." Dee exclaims as she picks up another glass to clean.
Charlie emerges from the basement with a cardboard box, giddy like a boy on Christmas.
"Guys, you're not gonna believe the box I just found in the basement, it's full of all this cool stuff!" Charlie comes around the side of the bar to put the box next to Mac.
"Charlie, we need you to clean up the glass that Mac dropped on the ground." Dee continues to clean her glasses, ignoring the large box on the bar. Mac stands and berates Dee.
"My glass!? You dropped it o the ground! I literally just saw you do it! Im not even touching the glasses right now! You are!" Mac waves his finger in her face.
"Prove it, boner." She says as she sets her rag and glass on the bar and walks away. "I'm going home."
"Guys, guys, guys, lookit. I'll pick up your glass or whatever, but you have to check out what's in this box!" Charlie begins to pull things out of the box. "It says 'Skeleton Key' on the side so it's gotta be a part of some sort of treasure hunt. Right?"
Dee continues to walk from behind the bar towards the door as Mac walks around Charlie to meet her around the side. Charlie pulls a flashlight and a knife from the box.
"Where do you think you're going? You're on the clock." Mac confronts her as she gathers her purse from the corner of the bar.
"I'm going home. I don't want to be stuck here when this weather hits!" She says as she tries to dodge around him.
"There's like a flashlight, for like spooky cemeteries and a knife for like escaping from nets!" Charlie sets his items down and pulls out a radio and a first aid kit.
"You can't leave! Who's going to serve all the customers!?" Mac points in her face again.
"There's no one here except us, stupid!" Dee points at the very empty bar behind Mac, who turns around to notice.
"There's like a radio for, I guess, incoming missions for, like, finding the skeleton key. And look, medical supplies in case I have to perform surgery! I wonder where the map for all this is..."
"Charlie, it says 'Survival Kit,' not 'Skeleton Key.'" Mac exclaims suddenly. "I put it down there after the last storm in case there was ever a situation where my martial arts experience were to fail us against an act of God."
"Oh, well it's still a really cool find!" Charlie says as he places everything back in the box.
"Huh... you know, Mac, that sort implies that there's a situation where your martial arts knowledge were to protect us from an act of God. Is there one?" Dee crosses her arm as she asks smugly.
"I can punch through a block of wood, wood is a a miracle, an act of God, if you will." Mac calmly explains.
"Oh my God, I'm leaving." Dee says as she turns for the door.
"Excuse me, but you're not leaving! I'm not going to sit behind this bar and work on my day off!" Mac stands with his arms crossed as Dee walks by him.
"It was my day off before I came in! I'm not staying here because my terrible brother is off assaulting some poor woman!" Dee turns to scream at Mac as the front door to the bar opens and Dennis enters.
Dennis, wet from being in the weather, runs by everyone and bolts straight for the television. He has a few patches of blood on his otherwise nice button-up shirt.
"Well, there's Dennis! I hope you're happy, Dee! Ruining everyone's night!" Mac exclaims as he turns around to follow Dennis.
"I didn't ruin..." Dee notices his disheveled nature as Dennis feverishly tries to egt the television to work. "Hey, he doesn't look too good. Is that blood?"
"Hey, dude, are you okay?" Even Charlie begins to walk towards Dennis, who slams on the sides of television.
"C'mon, c'mon..." Dennis mumbles to himself as he strikes the tv again, "Huh? Yeah, what? No! Guys something is going on downtown that you're gonna wanna see. I just barely got out alive."
Dennis finally gets the television to work as it tunes into a breaking news story.
"-to stay indoors. I repeat, the city of Philadelphia is under a state of emergency, and local forces asking residents to stay indoors." The blonde female news anchor says calmly from behind her desk, "Philadelphia is afflicted with mass-scale rioting and violence. Sources are telling us it was started by from a mysterious, possibly terrorist, attack. The mayor Philadelphia has requested the aid of the National Guard in order to restore order to the city. Again, because of the severe weather coupled with the active violence, we are asking all resident to stay indoors."
Shots of the city on fire and assaults on citizens flash on-screen while the ticker reads "THOUSANDS INJURED, HUNDREDS DEAD" and "LOOTING, VIOLENCE AND POSSIBLY CANNIBALISM REPORTED."
"Oh, no, guys this isn't good." Dennis is pale as he turns to face the gang who stand behind him worriedly watching the television.
"What about the girl you were with?" Dee asks her brother. Charlie goes back to the bar.
"Oh, she was great, big titties, little brown nips, a big round ass. She called me "Papi" in bed, it was great. Didn't get to film it though..." Dennis turns back around to watch the coverage.
"I mean, did she survive?" Dee scoffs.
"Hmm? Oh yeah, yeah, I'm sure, I guess. I don't really know. I got out just fine though." Dennis crosses his arms and smiles. "That was a close one!"
"Whose blood is that? Is it yours?" Mac asks, worried.
"Hmm? Oh this?" Dennis chuckles before turning back to the tv. "Ha, yeah, that's a funny story."
"What's the funny story?" Dee continues to watch the tv from behind Dennis.
"What's that?" Dennis turns his head slightly
"What's the funny story behind the blood on your shirt?" Mac curiously asks.
"Oh that? Ah you don't need to worry about that! It's this whole... big thing..." Dennis says eerily before turning back to the news.
"...is that poor girl's blood all over your shirt, Dennis?" Dee asks suspiciously before Dennis and Mac begin denying it with many shouts of "No!" and "Shut up, Dee!" Suddenly Charlie interrupts them from behind the bar.
"Guys! Guys! Guys!" Charlie's voice is muffled but he gets the gang's attention, who turn around. Charlie is wearing a gas mask, a tarp, and is wielding the knife in one hand and the radio in another. "I might not know a lot about stuff, but I know something bad when I see it. And that there is something real bad, horror movie bad, like straight up Land of the Dead shit, okay?"
"'Land of the Dead'? Does he mean, like, zombies?" Dee laughs.
"Why 'Land of the Dead' is my question. I mean what with 'Dawn of the Dead' or 'Night of the Living Dead'..." Mac shrugs his shoulders.
"Right? Why the one that no one saw? It makes no sense to me." Dennis chuckles as he turns away, "I was out there and I don't think I quite saw any real zombies, okay?" Dee and Mac, skeptic as well, also turn back to watch the news reports when suddenly the news reports go off the air, leaving just static.
"That freaked me out a bit." Dee points at the tv.
"Yeah, that was a little weird. Mac, go try the telephone." Dennis orders. "There's no way we're dealing with a zombie crisis."
"The phone's are down." Mac says as he listens for the tone. The color bleeds from the gangs' faces.
"See! This is scary shit, man! There's gotta be thousands, millions of those things all throughout Philly. And I'm not going to be unprepared when these monsters decide to come eat our brains because they're the last ones in Philly!"
Suddenly, the door of the bar swings open, slamming against the wall violently. A small, husky figure walks through the door. A wet and bloodied Frank stands in the doorway, snarling and grunting, as lightning flashes behind him and thunder startles Dee once more.
"The Gang Gets Infected"