Tag Archives: City of Monster

Nov 14 2019

Michael and Jacob – Plywood derby

“Do vampires have feelings? Asking for a friend.” Narrator

Michael’s head began to swim then a wave of nausea struck. He heaved and this was followed by a second. His throat screamed as nothing came up. Michael looked down to notice blood on the ground when his body seized and he fell to his side.

Michael woke up strapped to a piece of plywood. The plywood was canted upward and he was moving backward. Michael could see someone above him. A monstrously tall man with a large backpack under a black trench coat. To the right Michael noticed Jacob strapped to a second piece of plywood. Thick leather straps held him securely as his sneakers dragged over the asphalt.

Michael looked himself over and found a large, bandage wrapped around his waste. A large red stain near his wound and a second near his chest. His boots dragging the ground. Behind him was a mob of zombies. Michael began to get a better sense of his surrounding as he continued to wake. The houses had begun to get bigger as he realized they had left his previous street and were now moving toward the center of the city.

“What is this?” He thought. “Broadway? Richie riches used to live here. Now they are all dead or fled to the North. The monster do not like the cold up there. Leave us poor folk to lie and steal and spend eternity in the City of Monsters. Frick’n backwoods justice from here to Buffalo. If that city still exists…”

Michael’s driver suddenly dropped him with a thud and he complained. He watched as the zombies approached. To the left was a large gate. The tall man was struggling to close. To the right was a small army. They fired and Michael’s ears rang. A row of zombie lay motionless. The tall man strained to pull the heavy gate further till a zombie approached and attempted to surprise him.

“Holy crap,” Jacob said as the tall man grasp the zombie and bit into its rotten flesh. The man didn’t chew but seemed to suck from the zombie victim. He then tossed it away, shook and pulled the gate closed like it was a thin sheet of paper. He turned to Jacob and Michael, his face covered in gore.

“Come on, no! This is not happening,” Michael began. “I understand the zombie apocalypse and all and the shit show my brother and I started by stealing from the Governor. I get that the punishment was life behind the walls of the city for me and my family. All that sucks and now my family is dead but this is not going to happen. I’m done. I am not staying here strapped to a wooden barbecue plate waiting to be sucked dry.”

“Michael.”

“No Jacob. This is the end for me. I’m not being left a husk of skin and bones.” Michael struggled to free himself but was barely able to move.

“I understand,” said the tall man as he grabbed a towel from a go bag and cleaned up his face. “I should of introduced myself.” He said.

“John Peterson and I am a vampire.”

Nov 8 2019

Dirt and Grime

Jacob woke up first, half buried in dirt and with his brother’s feet in his face. His face felt as if someone has superglued half of it together with rocks and other crap. He looked up at the bottom of the house. The jagged escape hole was covered in debris. Jacob could hear movement above the debris.

“Wake up, Michael.” Jacob said as he shoved his brother.

Michael woke up then winced as the pain from the tear in his side screamed. He looked himself over and found himself and the wound caked in mud.

“The zombies! In the house can they get us?”

“No, apparently the closet collapsed covering our escape.”

“Well, that was easy enough,” Michael said with a weak smile. “The escape that is. What do we do now Jacob. This was your idea.”

“Crawl to the back of the house. There is a way out under the back porch.”

“Sounds easy. Is it?”

“Yea, how’s your side? That nail tore you up.”

“Got some dirt in it. Can’t be bad, right. At least it stopped bleeding. Let’s go.”

Michael started the crawl through the dirt toward the rear of the house.

“So that has been here since we were kids?” Michael asked after a moment.

“Since before dad left.” Jacob replied.

Michael growled. “Ass.”

“Tell me about it. You left it got worse. He beat me, locked me in the closet and forgot about me. I would show up two days later through the front door and he never questioned how. Never was so happy to be beaten and locked up.”

The two men crawled under the kitchen floor listening to the footsteps of the undead searching for a hint of life to chow upon. Michael winced as his dirt covered bandaid fell away and the wound bled.

Michael headed to the left corner and grabbed an aluminum sheet. He attempted to remove it but it resisted. Jacob came up from behind him.

“It’s not the exit. There is a loose piece near the center.” Jacob said and began toward the exit when a loud ripping noise stopped him and he turned.

“What the hell, Michael!”

Light from outside snuck under the house revealing blood on Michael’s hands and upon the ground near his side.

“Dude, you’re losing a lot of blood. We need to get that wrapped up and stopped.”

“I’m not staying under this house to be treated by Doc Brown,” Michael snapped.

“Look, you attracted attention so now we are stuck.”

Outside the covered porch the two men could see them roaming.

“Can they leave us alone for a damn hour. They are always around. I just want a moment to breath without death trolling me from outside a freakin porch.”

The creatures outside the enclosure stopped. They stood for a moment then began to rip the wooden slats from the back porch.

Both men stood and watched. Jacob crawled backward and tapped Michael to do the same. A second then a third slat disappeared revealing a pair of jeans working hard to make a hole. A second set of hands grasp the wooden slats and tore them from the porch. The jeans knelt and revealed a pale, dark-skinned face and a wide unnatural smile.

“Thank the Lord… we have survivors,” said the man.

“I knew I heard something a few days ago but it was in the garage over there,” said a second voice.

“We have a horde on the way. We have minutes,” said a third.

The man with the huge smile reached forward, “We are here to rescue you. Hurry time is short.”

Jacob began forward but Michael hesitated.

Oct 16 2019

Jacob and Michael – The escape – part one

“Your closet is great and all.  Who knows what you did in there… you spent a lot of time in there growing up but I ain’t getting eaten hiding in a closet,” Michael spat.

Jacob smiled, “dude, if you only knew.”

“I do not want to know what you did in the closet, by yourself when you were alone. Change of subject.”

The two zombies, that had tumbled over the bedding blockade, began to stir. They stood upon the mattress. Attempted to move and fell. Three more stepped forward into the bedroom and approached the blockade. The lead zombie paused causing the second to stop suddenly and step to the left. The third slowed then stood and seemed to be listening.

“IQ test,” Michael said while watching the trio attempt to navigate the obstacle.

“Idiot zombies,” Jacob added. The closest zombie snapped at Jacob. Lunging from its prone position.

“F-U Teeth mother–”

“Let’s hide in the closet,” Michael interrupted.

Both men skirted past the fallen zombies and the mess on the floor. Jacob opened the faux walnut closet door. Inside, an arms length of women’s clothing.

“It’s her clothes,” Jacob said. The color in his face disappeared.

“We have to move them,” Michael began to pull handfuls of the clothing from the closet and toss them behind him while Jacob watched.

“No! Not the dresses! You’ll get them all dirty. They will!” Jacob screamed and attempted to stop Michael.

“Jacob stop!” Michael replied. Zombies crawled over the mattress and approached the two men. They were a foot from Jacob when Michael grabbed his brother and threw him into the closet. Jacob inhaled Sharon’s scent as the material overwhelmed him. He fought back and more of the clothing tumbled in all directions. Michael joined his brother inside the cramped, dark room. He attempted to close the closet door but realized that the door was blocked by all the clothing. Michael listened as the closet door behind them rattled. The prone zombies used the closet door to help them stand. Michael tried to close the door a second time with the same results.

“Jacob, can you pause your psychotic break and clear the floor so WE DON’T DIE!” Michael screamed. The zombie’s outside the closet clawed at the closed door and began toward the open door. Jacob recovered and shoved the clothing on out of the way. The door, free of debris, was jerked from Jacob’s hands. The zombie stepped forward and screamed. A guttural noise full of anger. Jacob felt hopeless as the creature lunged forward. It’s hands raised, became trapped within the metal hangers that remained on the curtain rod. The zombie attempted to rip its hands from the trap but became more tangled. Jacob shoved the clothing he stood behind into the zombie. He pushed the creature off its feet and it tumbled backward. Jacob grabbed the closet door and closed it.

Sep 28 2019

Jacob and Michael- The next part – part 4

The beginnings of a trap emerge. The room constricted as a pair of zombies approached. One on the right and the other near the center of the room. The two remaining zombies negotiated a pile of bedding in the doorway.

“Bust the window!” Jacob shouted.

“No way, it will attract more from outside. We will never make it through without being mauled,” Michael replied.

Michael peered out the window, into the darkness.

“I can’t see a damn thing.”

“Smash it!” Jacob insisted. He approached the zombie in the center of the room with the bat. He swung and struck the creature in the chest. It heaved a breath. It stumbled, stood for a moment then continued forward. Jacob swung a second time hitting the creature’s shoulder. The bat fell. Jacob’s hands shook.

Michael tapped the window with his own bat putting a small hole in the center of the lower pain. A second tap shattered the rest of the glass. Michael pushed out the outside screen and stuck his head out the window. A pair of arms wrapped themself around Michael’s waist and he took in a panicked breath. Pulled from the window Michael turned and shoved Jacob into the opposite wall. Jacob tumbled into the wall, stuck it and slide to the floor.

“Dude.. no!” Michael warned.

Jacob gasp then replied, “Ass… look.”

Michael turned to find a pair of swollen hands grabbing at the meal that was in the window for a moment.

“Damn…” Michael grumbled. “Frickn monsters. Five years Jacob! We have been in this crap five years. Monster invasion in New York City and now were are all in the soup. Brother…”. He said to Jacob. “We are done.”

Micheal squared up in front of a zombie. He swung at his face and stuck the zombie. It’s face twisted, the zombie didn’t hesitate and stepped forward.

Jacob stood and prepared to attack the other zombie but his bat lay on the floor beside the creature.

Michael swung again and his zombie fell. He banged the gore-covered bat on the floor. Moved to face zombie two, Michael swung and the bat became twisted in the rubbery arms of the reaching zombie. Michael watched the bat cartwheel into the wall. The zombie’s arms fell to its side at the elbow. It moved forward as if it hadn’t just walked into an aluminum fan.

“What the hell, dude?” Jacob grumbled.

“Hey, you did it first.”

“Now what!”

“We go melee,” Michael said as his took a boxer stance.

“Like your cleric… what was it’s name Wisconsin. Remember that melee?” Jacob asked.

“This is not a remember D&D moment Jacob!” Michael warned, paused then laughed.

“Wisconsin was a good character name.”

Both men laughed then stood firm waiting for the inevitable.

Neither knew how to fight outside of an occasional scuffle. They managed to scrap out some life within the City of Monsters.

Sep 2 2019

Jacob and Michael – My legs – part 3

Michael screamed. Thin boney fingers dug into his left arm.  Jacob prepared to swing the bat but stopped, afraid to strike Michael.  The zombie dug it’s long, sharp nails further into Micheal’s arm.  Michael twisted.  He grasp the bone-like hand with his right hand and pulled.  Pain radiated up his arm and into his shoulder.    The nails tore large cuts into his forearm as the  muscles in zombie’s hand stretched.  The second zombie pushed forward and reached toward Michael.  Jacob swung.  He struck the zombie and the zombie collapsed.

“Jacob, she has my legs,” Michael shouted as he looked down.  Barbara, her face unrecognizable had a hold of his right leg.

“Get her off my leg!!”

”She’s not on your leg. She is dead,” Jacob shot back.  Barbara lay in a pool of a thick, dark goo.   “She’s not moving.”

Michael pulled the thin fingers from his forearm.  He retrieved the bat from the floor and pressed the larger end against the zombie’s chest.  He pushed the zombie backward and jerked his ankle from Barbara’s perceived grasp.  Jacob grabbed Barbara’s blood soaked dress and pulled her away.

“Michael, your losing it,” Jacob stated. “Seriously thought I would be having the problems in this house.”

The two remaining zombies stepped forward.  The couch slid upon the floor.  Michael and Jacob stepped back toward a bedroom.  More zombies filed in through the back door.

“Michael calm down,” Jacob said. “It’s fine.”

”It’s not fine!  This is NOT fine!”

“Take a breath… Barbara is dead. We have to figure out how to get out of this.”

“I felt her grab my ankles!  We have to get out of this house,” Michael said while scanning the front room.

Four additional zombies had entered the house  behind the two the were still roaming behind the leather divider that was a couch.  The front door was on the other side of the room and the kitchen was a no go area.  Behind the two men was the main bedroom.  A large queen-sized bed sat in the center of the room.  A window in the front wall and a closet against the wall right in front of them.

”Maybe, we should hide in the closet.”  Michael smiled.

“Dude, not that.  Not now.  Let’s block this doorway,” Jacob replied.

Both men lifted the large queen mattress from the bed and stuffed it into the doorway.

“Why did you not add a door to your bedroom,” Michael asked.

“We have no kids.  We don’t need it.”  Jacob replied.

“Until I showed up and saw you two doing the nasty.”  Michael laughed.  His forearm painted in blood.  The men flipped up the frame and pushed it against the doorway.  Jacob grabbed a towel from the closet in the right rear of the room and attempted to hand it to Michael.

Michael stood with his back against the mattress and frame.  Behind the bedding blockade were three zombies attempting to climb the flimsy wall of fabric and wood.

Jacob tossed the towel at Michael and stood beside him.

“Wrap that up the best you can.  When we get out of here I will make you a proper dressing,” Jacob instructed.

“Ah, my brother the medic.  It’s been ten years since you left the Army.  You think you can still do a proper dressing?”  Michael asked.

“Better than you.”

From above Michael’s head a thin, rotten hand reached up and over the wall.  It ran its black goo covered hand over the side of Michael’s face.  Michael stepped forward, turned and growled.  “I am so tired of you monsters touching me!  Stop touching me!”

The wall built from bedding began to fall forward.  The zombies that managed to climb the mattress tumbled into the room.  Jacob stood with his back to the bed frame.  He glared at Michael.  Michael attempted to readjust the wall but the damage was done and a pair of zombie began to claw their way into the room from the floor.

“There are two more out there!”  Jacob screamed.

“It will not matter, if these two take us out,” Michael replied while wrestling with the bed frame to keep the other pair out.  He watched the room as one of the two zombies cleared his head and stared forward.  A simple sniff of the air alerted the zombie to the men’s presence and it started to move forward.  The other zombie followed soon after.

Michael found the bat and held it, larger end farthest away.  The zombie stepped forward.  Stopped after meeting the resistance created by the bat then continued forward.  The thin skin of the monster tore and gore began to cover the bat.  The other zombie moved around to the left of the first one.  The other zombies attempted to push through the mattress wall.

Aug 4 2019

City of Monsters – Jacob and Michael – The Wives – part 2

“Just push through it Michael.  You can do this,” Jacob said as he sat upon a chair on top of Barbara.

Michael paced the floor. Mixing words of disbelief with cursing. Banging on the back door began to spread around the house as zombie brethren began to beat their way into the house..

“You need to do it, Michael… now!” Jacob shouted.

Michael walked around and stood at a window.  He stared at the destruction of the once bright city.

“All these people…,” he said to no one.  “They just stand in the failing daylight staring at a charcoal drawing that was once a city.”

“Could you ever imagine something like this happening?”  He says too Jacob.  “A catastrophic infection spreading from the center of the country. Trapping a whole city within its walled boundaries?”

“I don’t know what to tell you Michael!” Jacob replied, his voice shaking.

Barbara managed to grab the small man’s right leg. Jacob reached down and shoved her hand free but it returned and strangled his bare ankle.

“If she draws blood you will be without a wife and a friend.” Jacob struggled to stay a top Barbara.  He manipulated the chair and dug a corner leg into the infected woman’s left shoulder.  The weight of the chair melted quickly through the rotting muscle.  Jacob moved his legs to the left.

Barbara pushed upward on the chair with her free right hand. Jacob set his feet on her left side and pushed back.

“Michael please…”

The back door opened with a crash. The large zombie stood in the kitchen and roared.  Michael swung the bat.  It struck the floor with a loud metallic boom and Jacob leapt from his chair.  Michael swung again striking Barbara and collapsing her chest.   The large zombie moved forward, followed by others.  Barbara attempted to breath, her infected lungs compressed. Rotten air retched from her mouth. Her broken face stared forward, human feelings of sorrow and pain vacant from her grey face.

Jacob ran forward and pushed a large leather couch into the smaller doorway to the kitchen.  Michael stared downward at what used to be his wife.  The body of his wife, her face, attempted to take in a breath but it wouldn’t come.  She stared at the ceiling.  Michael began to cry.  The pain in her face wasn’t there.  Michael knelt next to his wife, her breath slowing.

“Barbara,” he whispered and watched.  He reached forward.

Barbara turned, her eyes flashed.  She snapped at Michael’s hand.  Michael fell backward.  He grabbed the bat and swung three times.  Barbara took a final breath and finally left the world of the living.

“Help me, Michael,” Jacob pleaded.

Michael shot up from the floor,  swung and connected with the bat.  The zombie stumbled to the side and knocked over a second.  It then straighten up and charged forward.

“Hold the couch,” Jacob ordered.

The large zombie stepped forward and charged.  He struck the couch and fell forward.  The couch moved forward but the two men held the other zombies behind it.  Jacob grabbed another bat, and Michael his, and both men beat the zombie to death.

“Yea! buddy,” Jacob screamed.  He continued, his voice escalating with every sentence, “Its like we’re in a movie.  Remember those… fun little contraptions we could do before we had monsters attacking us every moment of the day.  We were so lazy back then.  Relaxing, watching stuff… doing nothing. Oh, and not killing our wives.  Michael we had wives that hated us.”

“They didn’t hate us,” Micheal said.  “They loved us.”  He looked back at what remained of Barbara and was suddenly jerked forward.