Author: Ma'ayan
Title: The Night of the Living Dead
Rating: PG (for language)
Summary: Zoe and Dan are investigating a graveyard that was mutilated. But some strong emotions and Zoe's ex-boyfriend put them into a great danger.
Chapter 1: Graveyard investigation
The elevator door was opened and the half-asleep Zoe Busiek came out.
"Good morning, Zoe." She heard Dan's voice.
"Hi." She answered in a sleepy voice.
"You're not a morning person, Eh?" Dan asked and handed her a cup of coffee. "I thought you'd come to work this way..." he tried to hide his smile.
"How did you know that?" Zoe asked and took a sip from her coffee.
"Simply because you arrive to work this way every morning. I just didn't think that you'll come with you're pajama today..." he said. Zoe looked at him with disbelief.
"Hey, Zoe... why are you wearing a pajama?" She heard Sophia's voice. Zoe looked down and saw that she was wearing blue pajama pants with cute white sheep on it.
"Well, at least I came with an oxford shirt." She said.
"Yeah..." Dan said.
"Can you two come to my office before everyone sees our sleeping beauty and stop working?" Sophia asked and they nodded and followed her into her office and closed the door behind them.
"Sit." Sophia said. Zoe and Dan sat down and looked at her. "I have a new assignment for you two."
"Under cover?" Zoe asked immediately.
"No. Do you two know Hillside Cemetery?" Sophia asked.
"Yes..." Dan and Sophia looked at Zoe with questioning looks. "My sister and parents are buried there." Zoe's voice was sad. "What does it have to do with our assignment?" She asked.
"That's where you're going to investigate." Sophia said.
"Were going to investigate a graveyard?" Dan asked.
"Yes. About a week ago, 142 gravestones in there were mutilated." Zoe raised her head immediately.
"Is my sister's gravestone... mutilated too?" She asked.
"I have no idea. I know about it because few of the families that had gravestone insurance here..."
"You have 'gravestone insurance' here?" Zoe asked.
"Yes. Some of the families want their money..."
"Why would someone mutilate a graveyard?" Dan asked.
"I don't know, but if someone mutilated my sister's or parents' gravestones..." Zoe closed her eyes. Dan and Sophia saw the tears streaming on her face.
"Zoe, don't cry..." She felt Dan's hands around her.
"If you don't want to do it, I can give this assignment to someone else... You don't have to..." Sophia felt helpless at that moment and she had the feeling that she just said the wrong thing and if it wasn't enough, it made Zoe cry louder. "Zoe, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry. If I would know your sister and parents are buried there... I wouldn't give this assignment to you and Dan. Please don't cry." Sophia handed her a tissue box. Zoe grabbed a tissue.
"I'm ok. I'll do this assignment. I'm sorry about this... breakdown." Zoe wiped her tears.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sophia asked.
"Yes. I'll be ok..." Zoe said. "So, are there any suspects?" She changed the subject.
"Well, at the beginning, the police thought it was a group of teenagers, but it's not reasonable because someone took the bodies out of these graves and it seems that whoever did it used tools that are not available to the wide crowd. Actually, it seems that whoever did it was a gravedigger." Sophia said.
"Why would a gravedigger try to mutilate a graveyard?" Dan asked.
"Maybe he was trying to find something," Zoe said.
"Like what?"
"I don't know. Maybe a group of people did it. Maybe they hide something inside a coffin along with a body and they're trying to find it. Did the people who died and their gravestones were mutilated have something in common except of the fact they're all dead?" Zoe asked.
"Well, they were all very rich and were all died in the past two years." Sophia said.
"Did they find the bodies?" Dan asked.
"Only 78 bodies were found. Most of the bodies were mutilated too."
"What about the burial services and the coffin makers? Maybe the hide something in the coffins or the ground?" Zoe said.
"But what could they hide?" Dan asked.
"I don't know. Maybe stolen jewelry or drugs... or maybe the people who tried to do that are smugglers." Zoe suggested.
"That's reasonable." Sophia said.
"What about the families? Maybe they know something? How many of these families are insured at our company?" Dan asked.
"Ten families. I'm gonna give you the list of families and I also want you to go to the cemetery and see if you can find something there." Sophia said.
Zoe and Dan were doing their way to the 'Hillside Cemetery' when Zoe stopped the car in the middle of the way. "Why did you stop the car?" Dan asked.
"Look! There's a flower shop over there." Zoe answered and pointed on a huge sign of a flower shop.
"So what?"
"So I'm going to buy flowers to put on my sister's and parents' graves." Zoe replied.
"Oh..." Dan said. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, it's ok. I'll be out in a minute. I promise." Zoe said and got out of the car.
Five minutes later, she came back to the car with three garlands of colorful flowers. She drove silently without talking and Dan looked at her. She had so much sadness in her eyes. He wondered how much time passed since the last time she went to visit her sister and parents' graves. She pulled into the parking lot and they got out of the car. They silently walked through the bright green grass and tombstones until Zoe stopped next to a double tombstone. Dan looked at it. It said: "Jim Busiek 1937 – 1982" and underneath there was a picture and a caption that said: "A father, A husband, A son, A brother, Rest In Peace". Zoe put one garland on that side of the tombstone and then the other on the other side. Dan looked on the other side of the tombstone that was almost identical. The caption said: "Margaret Busiek. 1940-1982, A mother, a wife, a daughter". Dan quickly calculated the years of Zoe's parents' deaths and figured out that Zoe was only 13 when her parents died. He looked at her now and tried to imagine the woman that was cleaning the dust from the glass that held her parents' picture with her sleeve as a thirteen years old girl. She got up of the ground.
"Let's go." She said and continued doing her way to her sister's grave that was located only 20 meters away from her parents' grave. She kneeled and put the colorful garland on the ground. Dan looked at the tombstone. The caption on it said: "Susan Busiek. 1962 – 2003 A mother, A sister, A daughter. Rest In Peace" and there was a picture here too. He looked at her and then at Zoe. If he didn't know that Sue was 7 years older than Zoe was, he would think that they were twins. He glanced at his watch and was about to tell Zoe that they have a lot of things to do and they'd better get going when he heard her voice.
"Sue... I miss you. I'm sorry I didn't come..." She stopped for a minute. "The kids are ok. They miss you very much. I'll bring them with me next time. Hannah got a 100 on her math test. Cliff is one of the top players on his team and Taylor has a boyfriend again. His name his Julian... He lives next door. And I..." She stopped just for a moment in order to take a deep breath. "I had a boyfriend too. He wanted me to marry him... but I couldn't. I couldn't bring a man into the kids' lives. I love them so much, Sue. You did a great job with them, the same way you did with me..." She looked at her sister's picture. "I wish I could be like you and have all the answers... " Zoe burst out crying. She wrapped her hands around the tombstone. Dan didn't know what to do. He didn't know if Zoe would appreciate an interruption, but he really wanted to comfort her. It took her almost 15 minutes until she stopped crying and got up of the ground. He looked at her. Her pajama had brown and green stains around the knee area.
"I'm sorry it took me so much time." She said and wiped her tears.
"It's ok." Dan said.
"I must look like hell," She said.
"No. You look ok." Dan said.
"Let's go... I want to finish this whole thing." She said.
"Yeah, me too." They went to the other side of the cemetery, where there were few mausoleums. As they got closer, they saw that few of the gravestones were broken and in some of there were clear signs that the bodies were taken out of the ground. They walked around to one of the biggest mausoleums and saw that its door was open.
"Let's go inside." Zoe said.
"What? I'm not going into that thing." Dan said.
"Ok. I'm going inside. You can come with me or not." Zoe entered the mausoleum. Dan followed her. It took them a minute to adjust to the smell and the dark.
"Do you think we're gonna find something here?" Dan asked.
"I don't know. Can you see a coffin around?" She asked.
"Yeah. I think I see something over there." Dan pointed at the darkest corner of the mausoleum. They both went there. That thing looked like a coffin and it was lying on its side.
"Let's turn it around." Zoe said and they turned the coffin and tried no to make a noise that will make someone to call the police. Suddenly, Zoe saw that part of the coffin was missing and a gray, skeletal hand came out of it. Zoe screamed loudly, she took Dan's hand and ran outside of the mausoleum.
"Zoe, what happened?" Dan asked when they were outside.
"Didn't you see that?" Zoe asked. Dan shook his head. Whatever Zoe saw, he didn't see it because of the dark.
"It was a hand... The coffin was broken..." Zoe gasped.
"A hand? That's what made you run for your life?" Dan smiled.
"It's a dead guy there, Dan. It's not a regular hand." She said.
"That's the thing, Zoe. A dead guy's hand cannot hurt you, but a living man's hand can." Dan laughed.
"Well, I don't think we'll find anything here anyway. Unless we're looking
for dead bodies. Let's go to see what the families can tell us."
Please review. I won't continue writing it until I have at least 5 reviews.
Title: The Night of the Living Dead
Rating: PG (for language)
Summary: Zoe and Dan are investigating a graveyard that was mutilated. But some strong emotions and Zoe's ex-boyfriend put them into a great danger.
Chapter 1: Graveyard investigation
The elevator door was opened and the half-asleep Zoe Busiek came out.
"Good morning, Zoe." She heard Dan's voice.
"Hi." She answered in a sleepy voice.
"You're not a morning person, Eh?" Dan asked and handed her a cup of coffee. "I thought you'd come to work this way..." he tried to hide his smile.
"How did you know that?" Zoe asked and took a sip from her coffee.
"Simply because you arrive to work this way every morning. I just didn't think that you'll come with you're pajama today..." he said. Zoe looked at him with disbelief.
"Hey, Zoe... why are you wearing a pajama?" She heard Sophia's voice. Zoe looked down and saw that she was wearing blue pajama pants with cute white sheep on it.
"Well, at least I came with an oxford shirt." She said.
"Yeah..." Dan said.
"Can you two come to my office before everyone sees our sleeping beauty and stop working?" Sophia asked and they nodded and followed her into her office and closed the door behind them.
"Sit." Sophia said. Zoe and Dan sat down and looked at her. "I have a new assignment for you two."
"Under cover?" Zoe asked immediately.
"No. Do you two know Hillside Cemetery?" Sophia asked.
"Yes..." Dan and Sophia looked at Zoe with questioning looks. "My sister and parents are buried there." Zoe's voice was sad. "What does it have to do with our assignment?" She asked.
"That's where you're going to investigate." Sophia said.
"Were going to investigate a graveyard?" Dan asked.
"Yes. About a week ago, 142 gravestones in there were mutilated." Zoe raised her head immediately.
"Is my sister's gravestone... mutilated too?" She asked.
"I have no idea. I know about it because few of the families that had gravestone insurance here..."
"You have 'gravestone insurance' here?" Zoe asked.
"Yes. Some of the families want their money..."
"Why would someone mutilate a graveyard?" Dan asked.
"I don't know, but if someone mutilated my sister's or parents' gravestones..." Zoe closed her eyes. Dan and Sophia saw the tears streaming on her face.
"Zoe, don't cry..." She felt Dan's hands around her.
"If you don't want to do it, I can give this assignment to someone else... You don't have to..." Sophia felt helpless at that moment and she had the feeling that she just said the wrong thing and if it wasn't enough, it made Zoe cry louder. "Zoe, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry. If I would know your sister and parents are buried there... I wouldn't give this assignment to you and Dan. Please don't cry." Sophia handed her a tissue box. Zoe grabbed a tissue.
"I'm ok. I'll do this assignment. I'm sorry about this... breakdown." Zoe wiped her tears.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sophia asked.
"Yes. I'll be ok..." Zoe said. "So, are there any suspects?" She changed the subject.
"Well, at the beginning, the police thought it was a group of teenagers, but it's not reasonable because someone took the bodies out of these graves and it seems that whoever did it used tools that are not available to the wide crowd. Actually, it seems that whoever did it was a gravedigger." Sophia said.
"Why would a gravedigger try to mutilate a graveyard?" Dan asked.
"Maybe he was trying to find something," Zoe said.
"Like what?"
"I don't know. Maybe a group of people did it. Maybe they hide something inside a coffin along with a body and they're trying to find it. Did the people who died and their gravestones were mutilated have something in common except of the fact they're all dead?" Zoe asked.
"Well, they were all very rich and were all died in the past two years." Sophia said.
"Did they find the bodies?" Dan asked.
"Only 78 bodies were found. Most of the bodies were mutilated too."
"What about the burial services and the coffin makers? Maybe the hide something in the coffins or the ground?" Zoe said.
"But what could they hide?" Dan asked.
"I don't know. Maybe stolen jewelry or drugs... or maybe the people who tried to do that are smugglers." Zoe suggested.
"That's reasonable." Sophia said.
"What about the families? Maybe they know something? How many of these families are insured at our company?" Dan asked.
"Ten families. I'm gonna give you the list of families and I also want you to go to the cemetery and see if you can find something there." Sophia said.
Zoe and Dan were doing their way to the 'Hillside Cemetery' when Zoe stopped the car in the middle of the way. "Why did you stop the car?" Dan asked.
"Look! There's a flower shop over there." Zoe answered and pointed on a huge sign of a flower shop.
"So what?"
"So I'm going to buy flowers to put on my sister's and parents' graves." Zoe replied.
"Oh..." Dan said. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, it's ok. I'll be out in a minute. I promise." Zoe said and got out of the car.
Five minutes later, she came back to the car with three garlands of colorful flowers. She drove silently without talking and Dan looked at her. She had so much sadness in her eyes. He wondered how much time passed since the last time she went to visit her sister and parents' graves. She pulled into the parking lot and they got out of the car. They silently walked through the bright green grass and tombstones until Zoe stopped next to a double tombstone. Dan looked at it. It said: "Jim Busiek 1937 – 1982" and underneath there was a picture and a caption that said: "A father, A husband, A son, A brother, Rest In Peace". Zoe put one garland on that side of the tombstone and then the other on the other side. Dan looked on the other side of the tombstone that was almost identical. The caption said: "Margaret Busiek. 1940-1982, A mother, a wife, a daughter". Dan quickly calculated the years of Zoe's parents' deaths and figured out that Zoe was only 13 when her parents died. He looked at her now and tried to imagine the woman that was cleaning the dust from the glass that held her parents' picture with her sleeve as a thirteen years old girl. She got up of the ground.
"Let's go." She said and continued doing her way to her sister's grave that was located only 20 meters away from her parents' grave. She kneeled and put the colorful garland on the ground. Dan looked at the tombstone. The caption on it said: "Susan Busiek. 1962 – 2003 A mother, A sister, A daughter. Rest In Peace" and there was a picture here too. He looked at her and then at Zoe. If he didn't know that Sue was 7 years older than Zoe was, he would think that they were twins. He glanced at his watch and was about to tell Zoe that they have a lot of things to do and they'd better get going when he heard her voice.
"Sue... I miss you. I'm sorry I didn't come..." She stopped for a minute. "The kids are ok. They miss you very much. I'll bring them with me next time. Hannah got a 100 on her math test. Cliff is one of the top players on his team and Taylor has a boyfriend again. His name his Julian... He lives next door. And I..." She stopped just for a moment in order to take a deep breath. "I had a boyfriend too. He wanted me to marry him... but I couldn't. I couldn't bring a man into the kids' lives. I love them so much, Sue. You did a great job with them, the same way you did with me..." She looked at her sister's picture. "I wish I could be like you and have all the answers... " Zoe burst out crying. She wrapped her hands around the tombstone. Dan didn't know what to do. He didn't know if Zoe would appreciate an interruption, but he really wanted to comfort her. It took her almost 15 minutes until she stopped crying and got up of the ground. He looked at her. Her pajama had brown and green stains around the knee area.
"I'm sorry it took me so much time." She said and wiped her tears.
"It's ok." Dan said.
"I must look like hell," She said.
"No. You look ok." Dan said.
"Let's go... I want to finish this whole thing." She said.
"Yeah, me too." They went to the other side of the cemetery, where there were few mausoleums. As they got closer, they saw that few of the gravestones were broken and in some of there were clear signs that the bodies were taken out of the ground. They walked around to one of the biggest mausoleums and saw that its door was open.
"Let's go inside." Zoe said.
"What? I'm not going into that thing." Dan said.
"Ok. I'm going inside. You can come with me or not." Zoe entered the mausoleum. Dan followed her. It took them a minute to adjust to the smell and the dark.
"Do you think we're gonna find something here?" Dan asked.
"I don't know. Can you see a coffin around?" She asked.
"Yeah. I think I see something over there." Dan pointed at the darkest corner of the mausoleum. They both went there. That thing looked like a coffin and it was lying on its side.
"Let's turn it around." Zoe said and they turned the coffin and tried no to make a noise that will make someone to call the police. Suddenly, Zoe saw that part of the coffin was missing and a gray, skeletal hand came out of it. Zoe screamed loudly, she took Dan's hand and ran outside of the mausoleum.
"Zoe, what happened?" Dan asked when they were outside.
"Didn't you see that?" Zoe asked. Dan shook his head. Whatever Zoe saw, he didn't see it because of the dark.
"It was a hand... The coffin was broken..." Zoe gasped.
"A hand? That's what made you run for your life?" Dan smiled.
"It's a dead guy there, Dan. It's not a regular hand." She said.
"That's the thing, Zoe. A dead guy's hand cannot hurt you, but a living man's hand can." Dan laughed.
"Well, I don't think we'll find anything here anyway. Unless we're looking
for dead bodies. Let's go to see what the families can tell us."
Please review. I won't continue writing it until I have at least 5 reviews.