Nightmare on Sunwood Avenue Part II.
Michael's Perspective:
I hurried down the street, peeking left and right was I went. I hurried down to my house, hopped the wall and scurried up the path. A pair of sleep zombies rounded the corner and I ducked behind the wall. I peeked over the wall to check if they were gone, then I opened the door and slid inside.
Inside was a complete mess; everything that had potential as a weapon was gone and there was food and broken glass everywhere. I picked my way across the floor and hurried into the basement. I locked the door and hurried down the stairs.
I opened my dad's gun cache and sifted through them. I really didn't want kill them, so I grabbed a box of tranquilisers. I realised that as they were already asleep, tranquilisers wouldn't work. Reluctantly, I reached for the box of bullets, when I realised that I couldn't be guaranteed bullets would put these sleep zombies down. For all I knew, a nuke couldn't hurt them.
I thought of the cave and the crystalline liquid. I theorised that the crystal water was responsible for the sleep outbreak and close contact with someone would infect them. But how come it didn't affect me? The crystals couldn't be designed to not turn me into a sleep zombie.
I sighed. If what I thought was true, then the zombie outbreak was my fault. I had created the liquid, and left it in the bathroom for Hazel to find it. I slumped to the floor and wallowed in self pity for a couple of hours.
I took the owl mask out of my pocket and ran my fingers through it. I wondered how it could have got there and how the crystal water wasn't affecting me. I wasn't in the least bit religious and neither were Dad or Hazel, but I couldn't deny that it was completely impossible for a mask to just end up in a barn, for a cave full of magnificent crystals to remain undiscovered 'til I found it. Heck, it was impossible for a zombie epidemic take place. Plus the fact that my schizophrenic hallucinations revolved around owls, and an owl mask appeared in the barn.
I frowned; something didn't add up. Not only did a series of crazy events occur, I had a key role in it. Maybe there was some kind of higher force at work.
"Come on, Michael. You know God isn't real. Why you just sitting here moping? You gotta get out there, so this epidemic", murmured a voice in my head. " Yeah, I can't do anything stuck down here. I'm gonna stop this once and for all. First stop, the cave." " Yes", the voice exclaimed eagerly. " Go get 'em, Prady".
I marched confidently towards the door. I paused briefly at the door, pondering the events again, but after a few minutes I shook my head and strode out into the street.
I slid down the shaft into the cave. I got to my feet panting from the run. I looked around the cave at the crystals and the calcite formations and immediately felt happier. I collapsed into the crystalline chair and sighed deeply. I looked up and saw the many shades of crystal hanging down. As far as I could tell, you could only see them when you were standing on this platform
After a few minutes, I reluctantly got out of my chair. After all I had work to do. I reached up and pulled out a red crystal. I reached down to pull a green crystal out of the platform but when I touched it, it flared white - hot. I pulled my hand away, wincing.
I looked at the red crystal. What am I supposed to do with this? As the purple liquid was what caused the outbreak, I needed it to help stop this.
There was no way I could make it back to the house and then return here. I was lucky I remembered the way the first time. I fell into the chair and it started to spin. " Whoa, what's going on?".
The chair spun faster and faster, until suddenly it blazed with green light and I felt weightless. Then the light went out and I fell onto the floor of my bathroom. I got up and shook my head vigorously. Whoa, that was quite a ride.
I looked around the bathroom and, surprise, surprise, the crystal liquid was gone. I sighed. Why couldn't I just have luck when I most need it?
I searched everywhere for it: I searched through every cupboard, scoured every box, peered behind every object. I even crawled under beds, but to no avail.
I yanked myself out from the bed in the spare room and plonked myself down on the floor. I took the red crystal out of my pocket, hoping it would have answers. Once I took it out, it went ice cold and I dropped it. Thankfully, it didn't break or would have gone crazier than the sleep zombies.
I picked it up, being more careful with it this time. I walked towards the door and it got slightly warmer. Realising the crystal was playing hot & cold with me, I decided to follow the temperature changes, judging that rising temperatures were good.
I turned right and the crystal got warmer still. It kept getting warmer until I passed the master bedroom, when it dropped suddenly. I went into the master bedroom and it dropped further.
I walked back out to the left of the doorway where it got dramatically warmer. There was nothing there. I frowned and wondered how that could work when the crystal started glowing. It leaped out of my hand and landed on the floor, where it started to spin. A hole formed in the floor, getting deeper and deeper until the crystal stopped spinning.
I looked inside and there was the liquid with the red crystal lying on top. There was absolutely no way that could have gotten there, unless the sleep zombies hid it under the floorboards, though why would they want to do that.
Still frowning, I lifted the glass and the crystal out of the hole. I examined them. Chemistry wasn't my best subject, and the fact that I didn't know the composition of these crystals made it even harder.
If I knew any chemists, I could bring it to them but how would I explain all this? Maybe the cave would have some answers.
In the bathroom, I held the crystal over my head and shouted " To the cave". Nothing happened. " Back to the cave". Still nothing happened. " Please, send me back to the cave". I remained in the bathroom. I dropped my arm, sighing. I couldn't walk back there a second time.
I slumped down the stairs and collapsed on a kitchen chair. There was no way I fix this problem by myself. I brought my hands up to my face and accidentally knocked a couple of pages onto the floor. I sighed and bent to pick them up.
On the first page, there was a picture of a middle - aged man with brown hair. He was laughing at the camera. Curious, I examined it more closely. Underneath the picture was a caption stating " Chemist revolutionises mining". I read on. The chemist's name was Michael Pemberton, a renowned Canadian chemist. He discovered some corrosive which would eat through rock at incredible rates. This looked very good. If I could get to this guy he could help.
The article said that he lived in LA, near Sunwood Avenue. I stood up and prepared to go. When I reached the front door, I hesitated, I pulled the owl mask out of my pocket and put it on. I confidently walked out the door.
Near the end of Sunwood Avenue, I found a Harley Davidson lying on its side on the street. I looked around the street to make sure sleep zombies weren't waiting to ambush me, then I pulled on the helmet, hopped on the bike and rode off.
The bike tilted dangerously as I rounded a corner. I flinched but it steadied after the road straightened out. The last time I rode a motorbike was when I was thirteen, when my uncle Sam taught how to ride one. Due to numerous protests on my dad's part, I had to give it up. Still, you never forget how to ride a bike.
I pressed on the accelerator and I zoomed past the last house on Sunwood Avenue and out onto the highway. There was absolutely no traffic, unsurprisingly. I accelerated a little more then slowed down to turn off the highway.
I arrived in front of Dr. Pemberton's house. It looked quite plain, an ordinary suburban home which never saw the extraordinary. Until now.
I walked up to the front door to knock, then I reconsidered and I went around the back. I opened a window at the back of the house. Immediately, alarm bells started ringing and Dr. Pemberton came running into the room, turning on the light as he did so. I cursed my stupidity. Dr. Pemberton stared at me. " Who are you?". I climbed in the window, only to hit my head on the frame. I cursed myself again.
I properly climbed through the window and stood up. " I'm, I'm...", I stammered. Pemberton sighed and turned away. " You're one of those real - life superheroes, aren't you". I frowned.
" No. Why do you get a lot real - life superheroes coming in your window?" Pemberton hung his head. " Yes, all the time. They come asking me to give them superpowers. Of course, I wouldn't do anything of the sort. I just send them on their way." He turned back to me.
" So, what do you want? The powers of an owl". I huffed. " No, I want you to take at look at these". I handed him the crystal and the liquid. He pulled a pair of glasses out of his pocket and examined the crystal through them. " I have never seen anything like this before. Where did you get this?". I sifted through possibilities in my mind. " I... got it off a sleep zombie". Pemberton looked at me. " A sleep zombie, really?". " Yeah, it was carrying it. I ran it over with a Harley Davidson, grabbed what it was carrying and ran. Anyway, I was wondering whether you could analyse it. It may be the key to curing the sleep zombies."
He turned it around in his hands. " I've never seen anything like this before. Could you bring me to where you found this?". I shook my head vigorously. " I have no idea where I got this. I remember it was in Sunwood, that's all". Pemberton sighed. " Fine, I'll analyse it. What do you want to know?". " Just what it's composed of. Maybe reverse engineered the red as liquid to cure the sleep zombies". " It'll be tough, but I'll try". I smiled. " Thank you, Doctor Pemberton". He nodded and I climbed out the window and fled the garden. I hopped on the Harley and drove off.
I drove to Sunwood Park, pondering what to do next. I had delivered the crystal and the liquid to Pemberton, so what could I do now? I thought of Hazel and my dad.
I turned around the Harley so I could get to the hospital. I drove back through the park.
I was nearly at the entrance when a sleep zombie leaped from behind a tree and tackled me to the ground. The Harley swerved into a tree and crashed into the ground. The zombie groped at my face, pulling my mask off. I tried to lift it off me but it bore down on me with far greater strength. We rolled down a slope and crashed into a tree.
The sleep zombie pulled a ballpoint pen out of its pocket and tried to stab me in the neck with it. Straining with effort, I grabbed the pen out of its hands and stabbed it in the forehead. It froze and its grip loosened. It emitted a faint gurgling sound, blood leaked from its mouth and it collapsed. I staggered to my feet, gasping in shock.
The sleep zombie lay there, with a pen in its throat and an eerie rictus on its face. It didn't get up.
Trying to avoid looking at it, I picked up the Harley and drove to the hospital. I barely managed to keep the bike under control as I was trembling from shock. I know if I hadn't stabbed it in the neck, it would have killed me, but it still didn't change the fact that I killed it. It was probably just an ordinary man in his thirties, probably with a nice wife and kids before he was exposed to the crystal liquid.
I arrived at the hospital, still wallowing in guilt. I probably wouldn't have to face any consequences, but I still sunk deeper into guilt. I got off the bike, laid it down and trudged into the hospital. It was in a worst state than it was than when I left. The floor was completely covered in a carpet of glass shards, most of the walls had been torn down and up - ended gurneys criss - crossed the corridors. I picked my way through, grimacing when a shard managed to pierce my combats.
I climbed the stairs up to the roof hatch and climbed out onto the roof. There were no bodies on the roof except one on the edge. As I didn't want to get knocked off the roof by sleep zombies, I stayed away from it.
Over the next few hours, I searched the entire hospital from top to bottom, in every nook and cranny, and I still couldn't find Hazel. Having hit a dead end, I decided to check in on Dr. Pemberton. I was getting onto my Harley when I realised I didn't have my mask. I searched the Harley, then I remembered I lost it in the park.
I sighed. There really was no point in going to the park, as it had probably been snatched by the sleep zombies already. Plus, I didn't want to have to confront another sleep zombie. I drove past the park and saw my mask hanging on the arch over the entrance. Frowning, I pulled down from the arch and put it on. There was no way the owl mask could have got onto the arch, unless somebody put it there, but who would have put it there. With the sleep zombies prowling every shadow, nobody would dare come outside, except me, and I definitely didn't put it there.
" Michael, of course you put it up there. It was your schizophrenia acting up", the voice in my head whispered. " Of course it was", I said out loud. " I mean, who else could have put it up there". " See, I'm always right".
Still a little confused, I drove to Pemberton's house. I gasped when I arrived. The garden wall had been torn down and the garden itself was crawling with sleep zombies. Before I could hide, they all turned around and started advancing on me. I knew there was no point trying to hide. I smashed through the gate, tumbled onto the ground and was immediately set upon by sleep zombies.
One of them leaped onto my chest and started stabbing it with a toothpick. One grabbed my feet and started to pull me towards a mound of sleep zombies reaching out to me. I struggled with all my might, but, as usual, it was to no avail. The sleep zombie on my chest opened up my shoulder wound and blood poured out of my chest. A female sleep zombie joined the one that was already on my chest and started lapping up the blood like a cat with milk. I gagged at the sight.
While I was being used as a bed by the sleep zombies, a pair of teenage female sleep zombies were hacking at the front door with axes. One them managed to break the door down when Pemberton leaped out of the house yelling at the top of his voice. He sprayed the zombies in the face with some kind of reddish liquid and they staggered away, their smiles faltering. He charged through the garden, spraying the sleep zombies in the face until a middle - aged female zombie in cerise pink polyester grabbed his shin and pulled him to the ground.
Shockingly, he managed to shake it off by injecting some kind of yellow pus into its chest. Its skin turned bright yellow and it collapsed to the ground. Pemberton picked up his aerosol can of doom and then he saw me. " Hey. Could you give a guy a hand!", I yelled. Pemberton hesitated, then he ran over, sprayed the zombie who was dragging me with his aerosol can, injected the one drinking my blood with yellow pus and put a green cube in the one with the toothpick's mouth.
They went limp and he pushed them off me. Pemberton helped me to my feet, grinning maniacally. I looked at the various devices he had on his person. " What are those things?", I asked him. His crazy grin widened. " They're lab chemicals mixed with that purple liquid you gave me". He laughed shrilly. " It amazing. This is hydrochloric acid", he said, showing me the aerosol can. " This is bromine", showing me the syringes. " And this is copper dust", showing me the cubes.
" It's amazing. Not only do the deter the sleep zombies, they cure them all together". He fell to his knees, weak with pure mirth. I gave him a worried look. I reached down to pick up one of the weapons when I saw a young male sleep zombie in a Speedo aiming a flame - thrower at us.
" Dr. Pemberton, look out!". Unfortunately, he chose that moment to pass out. Cursing, I grabbed him by the waist and hurled myself behind the Harley just as the zombie pulled the trigger. Flames washed over the bike as I pressed myself and Pemberton against the ground. The ground was scorched black and I felt the flames lick the back of my neck. I winced in pain.
The flames stopped coming and the sleep zombie advanced on us. It stepped over the Harley and aimed the flame - thrower again. I searched through Pemberton's pockets, and I found something which looked like grenade filled with blue liquid. I pulled out the pin and lobbed it at the sleep zombie. It exploded and released a wall of energy, taking out multiple zombies including the flame - thrower one.
I dropped Pemberton and lifted the Harley off the ground. I grabbed Pemberton, tossed him on the back and climbed on myself, only to have another sleep zombie knock me off it. I growled and sprayed it in the face with the crystal - HCl. I pushed it off me and ran to help Pemberton, who was being dragged down the street by a trio of sleep zombies. A sleep zombie leaped onto my back and another grabbed my ankles. I gritted my teeth as I was dragged down by a sleep zombie for the umpteenth time.
One of Pemberton's grenades fell out of his pocket. One of the sleep zombies picked it up and pulled the pin. I was never so happy to see a wall of blue energy in my life.
I threw the sleep zombies off of me and ran to help Pemberton. He moaned and sat up. I helped him to his feet. " Are you alright?". Pemberton blinked several times, then nodded. " Whoa, that purple liquid is strong stuff. I thought I was gonna suffocate there for a second". He started to chuckle and I, not wanting him to have another laughing fit, attempted to steer the conversation out of dangerous waters.
" So, Doctor. You managed to find a cure for the sleep zombies. Great. You don't happened to have a bigger version of those energy grenades that we could use to eliminate all the sleep zombies do you?". Pemberton rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes then looked up. " I suppose I could create one...". He trailed off and stared over my shoulder. I turned around and saw a tsunami of sleep zombies spilling down the street towards us.
Others flowed in from in between the houses, and the ones in Pemberton's garden went to meet the big group. Pemberton gaped at it. Within the group the group I saw my dad and that nurse Delia, smiling while waving their brand new hatchets.
" Okay. It's official. We're going to die". Pemberton collapsed onto the ground with a resigned expression on his face. I dragged to my feet. " No, we're not going to let that happen. We're gonna get out of here and cure this sleep zombie epidemic before it gets out. Now come on".
Pulling Pemberton behind me, I grabbed the Harley and hoisted myself onto it. Tossing Pemberton on the back, I stepped on the accelerator and we zoomed from the sleep zombies.
We stopped in the driveway of Jay Clarions' house. Jay was a Vietnam - war veteran and friend of my dad's. He used to work with the USAF, and now for some reason he always keeps a helicopter in his back yard. I leaped off the Harley and ran for the front door, pulling Pemberton along behind me. " What is this place?". " Doesn't matter. What matters is that there is a helicopter out back". Pemberton frowned. " What do we need a helicopter for?". I glared at him.
" We need something that can fly so we can drop a sleep - zombie curing bomb on Sunwood Avenue". Pemberton gaped at me. " Where will we get a sleep - zombie curing bomb?". " You'll make one". " I can't do that. I'm a chemist not an engineer". I glared at him again.
" Chemistry is the study of substances and matter, yes?". " Yes", he replied. " Well mix some substances and make a bomb". Not waiting for an answer, I busted down the front door and stepped inside. " What are you waiting for?", I asked Pemberton, who was still cowering in the driveway. Pemberton hesitated before crossing the threshold, but then he gave in and came inside with a huff.
We walked into the kitchen and I told him to work on the bomb there. He looked at me like I was mentally retarded. " With what?". In response, I walked around the kitchen, taking random materials from the cupboards and putting them on the table. " Go wild". I walked out of the kitchen and into the back yard. Thankfully, the helicopter was still there. I checked that it had a full tank and whether it was working okay, then went back inside.
When I got there, the kitchen table was clear and Pemberton was still sitting there looking suspicious. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Where's all the stuff gone?". He glanced furtively at me, then beneath the table then hurriedly at the kitchen wall. " What's under the table?". He glanced at me again. " Nothing". Sighing, I marched forward, bent down and pulled out a bomb from under the table.
" You made it?", I asked, being genuinely surprised. Pemberton sighed. " Yes, I made it. Now can we please get it over with". I turned on him. " We? Who said anything about we?". He gaped at me. " Oh, come on. After all this you're going to leave me here while you go off to save the day". I paused. " Yes", I replied, then I left with the bomb.
I climbed into the helicopter and shut the door. I took a deep breath and grabbed the steering wheel. Like a lot of my unconventional skills, my flying skills were taught to me by my uncle Sam. I trained with him for the whole summer when I was fourteen in secret, until my dad found out and put a stop to it. Ah, Uncle Sam. I hadn't seen him in three years. I shook myself back to reality and focused on the controls.
I pulled back the throttle and the helicopter lurched forward. I abruptly let go before the entire vehicle pitched over. I steeled my nerves. " Come on, you can do this". I pulled on the throttle and pressed on the accelerator and slowly, but surely, the helicopter rose up into the air.
My confidence grew and I pulled harder on the throttle. The helicopter got higher still. I saw Pemberton standing in the yard below and I let go of the throttle long enough to wave at him. As I flew higher, the houses got smaller and smaller until I was high enough to see over all of Sunwood, from the park in the south to the car shop in the north. I saw the mass of sleep zombies converging on Jay Clarions' house and raining what looked like fireballs on it. As I was watching, the helicopter shuddered and alarms started blinking on the control board. The engine was failing, and I had approximately a minute before it went down, something I overlooked in my check - up. I looked at the bomb on the passenger seat. It was now or never. I grabbed the bomb and hurled it through the door. It fell towards Sunwood.
I waited a few seconds, then pressed the detonator. There was a whooshing sound and I saw a wave of blue energy flow over Sunwood. I smiled in satisfaction. At that moment, the helicopter dipped and started to plummet towards the ground. I cursed and desperately tried to regain control of it. Unfortunately, it continued to plummet to the ground. I unstrapped myself and hurled myself out the door. My ears popped as I fell through the night sky. Behind, the helicopter spun and flipped as it fell.
I was about to become a grease spot on a footpath when suddenly there was a bright green flash. I woke up on the cavern floor, with the Harley and the helicopter lying beside me. Groaning, I got to my feet and glared at the crystal chair. " Now you decided to teleport me back here". I rubbed my head, which was still throbbing where it hit the cavern floor.
I looked absent - mindedly around the cavern, then I remembered what happened before I ended up here. I cursed. " Oh God, I hope I didn't accidentally wipe out Sunwood." I grabbed the Harley, hopped onto it, then reconsidered and hopped onto the crystal chair. "My bedroom", I thought. The chair spun faster and faster then hurled me through time and space to my bedroom. I landed face first on my bed.
I rolled off it onto the floor. I staggered to my feet and tried not to vomit, as teleporting always made me very dizzy. I heard coming up the stairs, so I pulled off my owl mask and stuffed it in my pocket. Hazel came in, with a bandage on her forehead and a plastic bag in her hands. " Mahkey!", she yelled. She hurled herself at me and caught me in a bearhug.
" Oh, Mahkey, Mahkey, Mahkey. Your father and ah have been so worried. Where were you?". I frowned at her. " How long was I gone?". " Well, excludin' the sleep zombie epidemic, abou' three days". I gaped at her. " Three days?". She nodded. " Yes, though ah wouldn't worried too much if ah were you, Mahkey. A lot of people are showin' up around now. You were probably infected". I nodded at her. She smiled at me, then went downstairs. I decided to follow her.
" So where's Dad?". Hazel picked a pair off underwear of the hall floor. " He's gone to Jay Clarions' funeral. Ah'm on mah way there now. Ah just stayed behind to get together a laundry". She gave me a strained smile. I gave her a pitying look. " You know what. I'll get together the laundry. You go". She spun around. " What?, no. Ah'll do it". " No, Hazel, I'll do it. Just go". She hesitated.
" Fahne, but don't forget to collect all the dirty underwear from your room, okay". I nodded. She smiled at me then bolted up the stairs. I went into the kitchen and sat down. I picked up the LA Times. On the front page there was a picture of a sleep zombie brandishing a hatchet at the camera. The headline read " A Nightmare on Sunwood Avenue: sleepwalking zombies take over a suburb". I smiled slightly. I was about to put it down when I noticed the headline underneath. It read " Real - Life Superhero: did a masked vigilante save Sunwood Avenue". I frowned at it, as below the headline was a picture of me driving through the park on my Harley. I was wearing my mask, thankfully, but it was still not what I wanted.
" Masked vigilante, huh?". " Yes, it's quahte odd, isn't it. Well got to go", Hazel said as she hurried through the kitchen. I watched her go, then pulled my owl mask out of my pocket. " Masked vigilante, huh".
General Perspective:
A mysterious hooded figure stood in a dark room over a pot filled with fire. " Yes, yes", it whispered to itself. " It is nearly here. It is coming. It is coming. The time of the Golden Man is coming". It reached into the pot and pulled out a golden mask. It put it on its face, then laughed maniacally.