Chapter 1: Three weeks previous.

(ZOEY)

Zoey was running late. She knew it and was ashamed of herself.

She had stayed up watching zombie movies with her best friend, Linda, last night. They joked with each other over who got scared more. The last, maybe most horrifying despite how old it was, movie they watched was Night of the Undead, a Jorge Romeo flick. Zoey had checked the clock after the movie and saw it was nearing 2 a.m. Knowing she was going to be dead tired tomorrow, she convinced Linda to go to sleep and then oblivion soon found her as well. Zoey woke up the next morning and checked the time.

She had woken up twenty minutes late.

Hurriedly, she shook Linda awake and imperatively stated they needed to get ready quick. They both finished getting ready for the day with 4 minutes to get to class.

Too bad their first hour was across the building.

Arriving almost ten minutes late for first hour history, Zoey and Linda knocked on the door. "Come in." called an older man's voice. They opened the door and walked inside. At his podium, in front of the class, was Mr. Boyd. Mr. Boyd was the college's oldest teacher, and by Zoey's standards, the best teacher in the world. He was a man in his early 60's with spectacles donned on his less-than-prominent nose. Boyd had a kind face, with eerily electric blue eyes, that always had a twinkle of kindness and wisdom. He was a rather slender man, with taut arms and legs, meaning he was strong, but not rippled with muscle. He had grown out a beard that passed his chin in length, and was pure silver. His balding head had a crown of hair the same color as his impressive beard, and a spotless, shiny, bald scalp. When he addressed the two tardy friends, his eyes sparkled with his gentlemanly manner. "Don't let it happen again, ladies." he admonished, not unkindly. Zoey and Linda grinned sheepishly and took their seats near the back of the class.

Mr. Boyd launched back into his lecture that had been interrupted; though only half-heartedly as he knew no one was listening to him talk, as they were all preoccupied with the events taking place today. Today was a special day as the college was holding the annual "Alumni Appreciation Day", the college students had dubbed this appropriately "old people day". Several elderly people who had previously attended the college would visit the college and gather in the Auditorium, on the south side of campus. Once there, the volunteers would each get an hour to discuss enriching experiences in their lives, and share them with the college students. Zoey and Linda had always liked old people and their stories, so they were very excited for "old people day".

After Mr. Boyd had finally given up on lecturing his inattentive class, he had an idea to capture their attention. He started telling the students what he knew would be happening at "old people day" and who would be there. He started off. "First, there will be an elderly woman who went here for medical education…"

(BILL)

Bill had always had a soft spot for kids. He knew how they viewed the world through rose-tinted glasses. He had also personally watched some of those "glasses" get shattered right in front of him back in Nam. He still remembered the look on Lt. Coen's face back when he had taken the blame for killing 23 innocent villagers, and was to go on trial when he got back to the Americas. Bill didn't buy a word of it, and was surprised how many people did. When he saw the smug look on the Captain's face as they locked up Lt. Coen in a cell, he had wanted to shoot the goddamned bastard right then and there, and had taken an enormous amount of self-control to stop himself, even with his soldier training.

And now Bill's wife, Miranda, had convinced him to go to the local college's annual "Alumni Appreciation Day" to talk about his "enriching" experiences back in 'Nam. The only "enrichment" Bill got from that is how many ways a man can die in the jungle, and how the war scars never really go away. The only thing Bill could appreciate about "old people day" (he suspected this is what the college go-ers called "Alumni Appreciation Day") was that his old drinking buddy from back before 'Nam was going to be there, Donald Boyd. Bill hadn't seen the man in 20 years or more, and was looking forward to getting reacquainted.

(ZOEY)

"… and finally I'll be one of the last presentations of the program." Finished Mr. Boyd, as the bell rang.

"Really?!" Zoey asked excitedly.

"That's great! I'd love to hear some of your stories, Mr. Boyd!" Linda stated with as much vigor as Zoey.

Mr. Boyd grinned. "Thank you, girls, I look forward to sharing. Now please, I still have a second hour to teach before the event." Zoey and Linda took their leave, recognizing their dismissal.

As they walked to their dorm, the two friends grinned stupidly at each other. "Man, I can't wait for 'old people day' to start!" Zoey agreed with her. From some of the names she heard, this seminar was going to be very interesting. Since the event started in third hour, Zoey and Linda had an hour of free time. Linda headed back to the dorm, while Zoey remembered they had a broken light bulb she intended to change. She had free time right now, so she capitalized on it. Zoey walked out to the second floor of the student garage, not too far away from the auditorium, and basked with pride upon seeing her life's joy, a 2007 Toyota Corolla. Zoey had instantly loved the car the second she saw it. It was a four-door, close to the ground car, with a gray exterior with leather seats on the inside. Zoey had always wanted a car ever since she was ten. She had finally gotten one at the ripe old age of 20. She had had her license for 3 years, but it was worth the wait. This car, albeit mildly frustrating and clunky at times, was hers. Zoey took extreme pride in that fact. After bathing in the glory a moment longer, she started the car up, hearing the usual growl of the engine, Zoey loved the sound, and drove out of the garage.

She decided to find a hardware store, as that was the most likely place around here to find a light bulb. She turned a corner, and to her surprise, there was a hardware store by the name of "Check's Hardware" straight down the road she had turned onto. She went straight down the road, and into the parking lot, parking her Corolla, getting out, and going inside. For such a big store, it surely was undermanned. She could only see one employee in the whole place. He was a moderately tall black man, with a bald head, wide eyes, and a noticeable nose. He wore a white, manager's shirt complete with a red tie done perfectly right on the front, and a name tag that said "HELLO. MY NAME IS: Louis". He had some expensive looking black pants and shoes to complement his outfit. Maybe he was from a well-to-do family.

Zoey walked up to Louis. "Hi, I'm Zoey from the college around the corner. Could you show me where the light bulbs are, if you have any?" she said cheerfully.

(LOUIS)

Louis was startled by the sudden noise, as he had spaced out from boredom, and hadn't heard the door open, or notice the mildly attractive girl asking for his help. A look of guilt crossed the girl's face as she had forgotten to make sure he knew she was there. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" asked a slightly uncomfortable Louis.

(ZOEY)

"I said, My name is Zoey, I'm from the college around the corner, and I need a light bulb, do you have any?" she repeated. She saw the visible relief on his face when she didn't show any anger at him ignoring her the first time.

"Yes, in fact we have lots of light bulbs, Zoey. Sorry I spaced out, just being here all by myself gets boring, ya know?" Zoey empathized with him. Some of her classes were just like that, boring to the point of exhaustion, except he had to do this every day. Zoey shuddered at the thought.

"It's fine…" she looked at his name tag again, as she had forgotten his name. She was really bad with names. "Louis. Sorry, I'm really bad with names." She grinned.

He smiled back. "Here, let me show you where the light bulbs are." He guided her to the back of the store. Zoey couldn't believe her eyes when they reached the Light Bulb section. There were so many, "Check's" had an entire section for them. Zoey gaped. Louis laughed at her expression. "I was like that the first time too." Zoey chuckled as she imagined Louis with a big O for a mouth when he started working here.

Then, a subsection of the light bulbs caught her attention. They looked like they were fused together. They had two light bulbs for every power fixture on them, and the subsection took up a whole shelf. Double light bulbs, thought Zoey, all the way across the shelf. Zoey liked the novelty of them and took one. Louis cautioned her that the "fused" light bulbs cost double, but for Zoey price was no object compared to keenness. She purchased them, thanked Louis for his help, and left.

(LOUIS)

Louis watched her go. Zoey, he thought. Man, I need a girl like that. She was attractive, but probably wasn't interested in him in the slightest. Still, Louis felt like they were going to meet up again, though, he didn't like the feeling he was getting, telling him it wouldn't be under pleasant circumstances. That's just great. I finally meet an interesting girl, and the world is gonna end. I have the worst luck.

The worst part was, he wasn't too far off.

(BILL)

Miranda was coming to what Bill now referred to as Senior Day too. Miranda had taken up the responsibility of driving after Bill had come back from 'Nam. He had never liked driving in the first place, but after 'Nam, he always had flashbacks of being in the jeeps: being attacked by the Cong, explosives' going off in the road, the list was endless. Miranda had been in the car with Bill during one particularly bad episode, and hadn't let him drive since. Bill didn't care; he loved his wife, and was eternally grateful to whatever god had led him to her. He knew he was one lucky man.

They arrived at the college about ten minutes before the event started, and due to Bill's apparent age, he was led to the prep rooms behind the stage in the Auditorium. There, Miranda, ever being the best wife, prepped him for his "speech" and comforted him by telling he would do great, and would always be the best in her eyes. She quickly kissed him and left as he was guided to the stage.

Bill quickly spotted Miranda in the front row, sitting next to a young college girl in a pink sweater with white stripes down the side, and blue jeans with some hi-tops on for her shoes. Next to pinky was an attractive young woman, who was eagerly chatting with pinky, with a dark purple sweatshirt on with some black cargo pants, and some (what looked to Bill at least) honest-to-god military-grade boots. She had dark blonde hair, and very light brown eyes. Bill guessed they must be friends. By now, Bill was getting nervous in front of so many people, so he did what they taught him in the military to relieve stress: steady your breathing, repeat an easily remembered phrase or in Bill's choice, a cadence, and stand rigidly at attention. Bill had calmed down extremely by the time the Dean of the college had called for quiet and started talking. "Welcome, all, to Alumni Appreciation Day, here at the local college. Firstly, I want to thank all of our Alumni for coming and sharing their wisdom with all of us at the college. Let's get things started! Our first alumni is…" introductions were made, all received applause, some less than others, but nothing noticeable. Bill didn't really listen to any of the names except for his and Boyd's. As the day went on, Bill took mental notes of what his fellow alumni did during their hour of wisdom sharing. He noted absently, that about half of the student body was watching with rapt attention, while the others didn't really care at all. This didn't bother Bill. He remembered what it was like to be a teenager.

Then, it was Bill's turn. He surprised himself by starting right off the bat. "Hello, college students. My name is William Overbeck, but my friends call me Bill. I am a veteran from Vietnam, and those were some of the worst years of my life, unless you count the ones of my marriage". That elicited a few laughs, even Miranda joined in. "I don't have much to say today, so I'm going to ask for questions after a while, but here's my story…" Bill went on to explain what went on during his tour in Vietnam, how he came to be there, purposely censoring parts for himself and others, and why he didn't think war was right. He laid it out bluntly for the kids. War wasn't fun. War wasn't what it was like in modern "video games". It was death and destruction and brought out the very worst of mankind. Bill hoped he would never have to see anymore of that, he said, he'd had enough for a lifetime.

In a week's time, Bill was going to find out what you want, and what you get can be two very different things.

As he finished, he walked back to his seat and actually sat down this time, feeling almost physically tired from his recount of Vietnam. Donald Boyd sat next to him. There were tears in his eyes. "That was a great job you did up there, you old son of a gun." Boyd congratulated. Bill looked over. "Hell, Boyd. You haven't changed a bit, you old soft-center." This was of course, a bold-faced lie, as the last time Bill had seen Donald was back before 'Nam, back in their 20's when they had just graduated from the college. "You haven't changed much either, ya old bastard." Boyd and Bill shared a laugh. "You wanna go hang out at a bar, for old time's sake?" Boyd asked. "Sure, why the hell not, ain't got nothing left to do." Bill replied. "Alright then, I'm free next week, as I can take a sick day from teaching any day. That sound good?" Boyd offered. Bill agreed. Next week, Bill would finally hang out with his old buddy again. Life was good.

Again, the world was about to prove Bill horribly wrong.

A/N: Ahh, yes. The cryptic ending. Still feels like I finished off the chapter quite nicely. A nice, quick, dark statement, a staple of the horror genre in general. But I digress, read, review, and PM me if you feel like it.

Thanks,
Chiir0n