Hey y'all, just wanted to pop in beforehand and give a warning for brief but strong language. Just in case that bothers you.
—
It was a fine day. The three of them were on their way to a small down in Arkansas where— Unbeknownst to Daphne— Fred would find the perfect engagement ring. The sky was a bright sunny blue. Fred had his arm wrapped around his girlfriend and the two of the chatted happily as they plodded along the asphalt.
But despite the picturesque surroundings, something was gnawing at Velma. At first she'd tried to ignore it. She busied herself with her map and and tried to keep her mind occupied. But as more time passed, the more futile her efforts became.
Guilt. Velma had an unmistakable pit of guilt simmering in her gut. As she looked ahead and saw Daphne and Fred, arm-in-arm smiling at each other, she couldn't help but feel like a monster.
They had it all back in their lakefront home. Everything they could have dreamed of was right there. They were on the brink of settling down into a marital bliss that Velma would never know. They didn't need adventure. So who the hell was she? To barge in and sweep them away into some crazy fantasy. She landed in Sanctuary 3 and messed everything up for them. Or for Fred at least. As kind as the were to her about it, nobody could deny that was what had happened.
So, Velma decided she was going to do her damned best to make sure this proposal went perfectly. She wasn't necessarily one for love and all that mush. But she was wanting to get this leaden weight off of her conscience, so she would make this the most romantic proposal if it was the last thing she did.
She would try her best anyways. As soon at the got to the damned town she'd—
"Hey look! We're here!" Fred piped up suddenly, breaking Velma's train of thought.
The three of them stopped for a brief moment, staring at chipping wooden sign that read:
"Welcome to Ten Acres, Arkansas!
Population: 308"
Velma laughed and stepped towards the sign. She easily flicked off the '3' and the '8' so the sign read "population 0" She turned around to see Daphne shaking her head in mock disapproval. She shrugged in response.
"What? It's more accurate!" She half scoffed.
"What about zombies?" Daphne snarked back, "Don't they live here?"
"I'm not so sure zombies live anywhere... they are undead" Fred joked. Daphne laughed and gave his hand a quick loving squeeze.
Velma peered down the Main Street of the town, "For our sake let's hope the population really is zero." She muttered as she waved the gang forward.
The three of them strode down Main Street. Their eyes darting wildly around for any signs of zombies. Thankfully, their eyes saw nothing. Their noses however, were not so lucky.
"Eeyuck!" Daphne cringed as a breeze wafted the smell into her face, "it certainly smells like zombie in this town!"
"Quiet Daph!" Velma snapped, perhaps a bit harsher than she'd meant to, "if there are zombies here, they'll hear us before we hear them."
Daphne looked at her with reproach and nodded. At that exact moment, Fred let out a gasp that echoed down the street. Velma turned on her heel.
"Fred!" Velma whisper-shouted, "Did you not hear what I just— oooh."
Sat on the side of Main Street was a squat little building with a chipping pale yellow paint job. Printed across its canvas awning was "Fine Jewelers." Jackpot.
Fred almost dove face first for the door before he remembered that the whole thing was supposed to be a surprise. He turned to Daphne a charmingly awkward smile on his face, "uhh, this looks like a good place to camp." He whispered, "Daph, how about you got get some firewood while Velma and I scout it out?"
Daphne crossed her arms, but a small smile appeared on her lips, "Sure Freddie," she said, "I'll meet you inside."
Fred nodded with a boyish grin on his face before turning and darting into the jewelry store. Velma turned to follow him, but before she could she felt Daphne's hand catch her wrist.
When Velma turned to face her friend, she saw a warm knowing smile on Daphne's face, "don't let him buy one with copper in it." She whispered, "I'm allergic."
Velma cycled through surprise, excitement, and giddiness before silently nodding at Daphne and handing her the lighter before following Fred into the store.
When Velma stepped into the store, the thick smell of zombies worsened. It put her on edge immediately. But besides the smell, the shop was oddly normal. She looked around and saw unbroken glass cases, still filled with fine jewelry which glistened in the sunlight streaming through the large display window. Velma and Fred looked at each other, relief and confusion on their faces. This place was perfectly preserved. From where they stood inside that shop, it was easy to pretend that they were back to how the world used to be.
Ever the optimist, Fred smiled, and made his way to a small display case with several silver rings inside.
Velma on the other hand, was sure the place was too good to be true, and pulled her gun from its place in the bag and double checked that it was loaded. It was. She slid it into a pocket in her jeans, where she'd be able to reach it more quickly. Then she strode over to join Fred.
"Gosh, these are beautiful!" Fred gasped, "what do you think, Velma?"
Velma shrugged, "looks like a shiny rock to me, but I think Daphne will like them."
"To each their own I guess," Said Fred as he bent down to read the display tag. "Wow! These are expensive, maybe we should look in a different section—"
At this Velma burst out laughing, "what are we supposed to do? Leave a couple thousand bucks in cash on the counter? It's the apocalypse, genius. You can just take things!"
Fred didn't respond. Velma turned to look at him, and saw him staring at another case display across the room. She strode up to see what at caught his gaze and audibly gasped when it came into view.
The there were a few pieces of jewelry in the case but one stood out immediately. A silver ring with some kind of purple gem (an amethyst, or maybe a diamond colored purple? Velma wasn't sure.) the gem was cut into a heart shape and around it were small floral patterns embedded with what Velma assumed were diamonds.
The ring was flashy, yet somehow refined— elegant even. As they looked at it, they both knew. That was the one for Daphne.
"That one," Fred whispered in awe, "she'll love it."
"How should we get to it?"
"Give me your gun."
"What? We shouldn't—"
"I'm not gonna shoot it, I just need something heavy to break the glass."
Velma reluctantly pulled the revolver from her pocket and handed it to Fred. Who accepted it and strode forward to the case. He began to tap on it gently with the end of the guns handle, hard enough to break the glass, but not so hard to risk damaging the ring inside.
As he did this, Velma noticed Daphne waving at her through the front window of the store, Velma shot her a thumbs up but, Daphne didn't stop instead she became more frantic and mouthed 'turn around.'
Velma felt her gut go ice cold. Her breath caught in her throat as she slowly turned on her heel. What she saw made her freeze in terror.
At the back of the store was a small door labeled 'employees only.' it was the type that had no handle or latch, and would swing easily when pushed. Worst of all, it had a window on it, through which Velma could see fifteen— maybe twenty zombies, packed tightly together in the store's back room.
The reality of the situation sunk it: She and Fred were standing in a powder keg. One wrong move and it would explode.
She shuffled carefully over to Fred, "give me the gun!" Velma hissed.
Fred didn't look up, oblivious to the threat surrounding them. Instead he kept banging the handle against the glass. Velma was acutely aware now of how loud that sound was. "No way!" Fred whispered, "just give me a minute!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! With each hit of the gun against the glass, electric shocks of fear ran down Velma's spine. She could see the zombies growing restless as the noise continued.
Instinct took over, and Velma reached out to snatch back the gun. But, Fred's grip held fast. In the sudden movement something snagged the trigger, and sent a shot through the glass of the door.
Wails of a dozen zombies split through the silence of the the shop. Fred's face turned ghost white as a torrent of undead burst through the door.
"RUN!" Velma screamed, making a beeline for the exit.
But Fred didn't move, he'd grabbed a heavy wooden display hand adorned with several large bracelets and was still trying to break the glass.
"I've almost got the ring!" He shouted back, "just hold them off for a bit!"
In that moment Velma wanted to smack Fred upside the head for being an idiot. But as a zombie came up behind and lunged at him, Velma had no choice but to run back to Fred and fire a shot into the zombies grey milky eye.
A ring of wailing monsters circled around them, blocking their only escape route. Velma did her best to keep them at bay, she kicked a few of them down, but eventually they got too close. She drew her gun and embedded lead into the rotten brains of a few undead. It bought her more time but after five zombies fell, the trigger stuck, she was out of shots.
Velma looked around, her heart racing. And after a few moments of desperate panic she heard it: the door to the shop swung open and Daphne flew in. Makeshift torch ablaze in one hand and a metal bat in the other.
The smell of burning flesh filled the room as Daphne mowed down zombies. For a moment there was an open path in the crowd. Velma took her chance and bolted towards her safety.
Fred followed after her, clutching the silver ring triumphantly. And, Velma was distantly aware of Daphne emerging last, slamming the door behind her and jamming it with a bat so no zombies could escape.
The three stood there on the street panting for a moment, before Velma turned on Fred.
"WHAT in the ever loving FUCK was that?!" Velma bellowed at Fred, "We could have gone back in once it was safe! But instead you almost got us all FUCKING KILLED!"
Fred recoiled from Velma, his face flushing red. He opened his mouth to make some meek rebuttal. Before he could, Daphne started screaming.
She was hysterical, tears streaming down her face as Velma and Fred rushed to see what had happened. And then the saw it. There on Daphne's forearm was the distinct, bloody pattern, of a bite mark.
—
Well then, I'm not sure what to write considering the massive cliffhanger I've just left us on. (Sorry about that) well... let me know what you think with a review. I'll see you next Thursday :)