Emperor of a Dead World (2 page)

Chapter 2

It would be getting dark soon but fortunately his father, as well as everyone else in the neighborhood, had solar electric, solar hot water and plenty of full tanks of propane. Every time his dad bought a new barbecue, which was every two years, he got a new tank. The reason he bought one every other year is that he always bought the cheap ones. He had a nice one once but it was a pain in the ass to keep clean. It was just a lot easier to buy a new cheap one than it was to clean the old nice one all the time. Besides, he liked having a spare propane tank around for emergencies.

By this time, Brad had showered, shaved, dressed and eaten. Most of the things in the refrigerator were past expiration but the stuff in the freezer was good and his parents had left lots of food in his room. After eating, he looked out the window and everyone was gone. The incident a few hours earlier had attracted about a dozen of his weirdo neighbors but they had finally dispersed. He did not know what everyone’s problem was and he did not want to find out so he stayed inside.

Now that he was clean and full, there was not much to do. There was no TV and he was not much of a reader so he walked over to the mantle and admired his high school football trophies. He had graduated less than two months earlier but it seemed like last year. He picked up a plaque and smiled, captain of the team his junior and senior year. He had been a high school hero but not good enough for a scholarship so college was out. What was the point in going if he could not play ball? He glanced at a picture of his high school sweet heart - Prettiest girl in school. She had dumped him right after graduation. She was going to college and since he only had a high school diploma, he was not good enough for her anymore. The only reason the picture was still there is because his mother loved the girl more than he ever had and she wanted them to get back together again. Of course, her real motive of getting them back together was to get Brad interested in college. He pushed over the picture then looked in the mirror and admired himself. He was six two with a strong build and had a face that girls fawned over. That is, before he got all these stupid blotches all over himself.

When he turned around, he noticed his mother’s laptop computer on the end table with a note on it. He had been so preoccupied that he had not noticed it before. He picked it up and the note instructed him to play the movie clip entitled news footage. As he sat on the couch, he turned on the computer. After it booted up he clicked on the icon mentioned in the note. When it played, he was horrified. For half an hour, he watched news clips of places all over the world in which people had gone crazy and were attacking each other. Everywhere people were running, screaming and crying as they tried to get away from lunatics that were murdering people in the street.

Is this a movie
, he wondered.

He sat in shock and tried to understand what was happening as he reflected on his father’s note and the way Joe, Richard and Sally had acted. He had never had any trouble with any of them. Could a fever really cause people to act like this? He had had the fever but he was the same - or was he? Maybe he was hallucinating. Maybe he was the sick one. Finally, he decided to check out the neighborhood first thing in the morning. He had to know what was really going on. He glanced at the news clip again and determined if his neighbors were crazy and tried to harm him, he would defend himself. While he reflected on this, he decided that since he lived in a gated community he would first make sure it was safe inside then he would see that no one got in from the outside. He glanced at the door then looked at his weapons on the table next to him. Feeling relatively secure, he put his feet up, closed his eyes and tried to sleep. After about twenty minutes, he got up and looked at the DVDs. He had seen them all except a Redbox his mother had never returned due to the all the craziness.
Boy is she going to pay some penalties on this
he chuckled as he picked it up.
Creature
, he groaned. Not his type of movie but he put it in the player anyway. As he walked back to the couch, he looked at the picture of his ex-girlfriend lying on the mantle. He returned it to its upright position wondering if she were safe in this insane world. The movie started and he was asleep in ten minutes.

In the morning after breakfast, he slid the knife sheath onto his belt, tucked the Glock into the back of his pants, put on his football helmet, attached the shield to his left arm, grabbed the sword and headed out the door. As soon as he walked out, his next-door neighbor Charlie came to greet him. Charlie looked mean and ugly, which was about normal for him. Brad had never liked Charlie. The man was a condescending ass. He held his sword tightly and said, “How’s it going Charlie?” Charlie did not reply. He just kept coming and foaming at the mouth as he came. Brad held up the shield to fend him off and while he was wrestling with old Charlie, Long tall Sally and Little Richard returned and it looked like they intended on taking Charlie’s side.

“So you guys are going to gang up on me are you?” he laughed.

Turning back to Charlie, he looked closely into his eyes and he could see he was not fighting a man. He was defending himself from a monster and monsters like this had driven his parents away. He glanced over and Richard and Sally were almost upon him. He looked back and Joe had snuck up behind him. To his left, he saw the pudgy pair Ben and Jerry. That was not really their names but they were always eating ice cream so he thought the nicknames were appropriate. He tried to step away from Charlie but Charlie kept coming and he realized this was no joke. His neighbors were attacking him just like the ones in the news footage and they were intent on killing him. He pumped himself up as he always did before a big game and tried to stare Charlie down. Charlie, however, did not back down. Suddenly Joe grabbed his arm. He elbowed Joe in the chest and shouted, “Back off, I mean it.” When he pulled his arm away from Joe, he accidently drove his sword into Charlie’s neck. Charlie dropped and Brad froze, horrified by what he had just done. He only had a second to reflect because Joe grabbed him from behind while Sally attacked from the front. In desperation, Brad hit Joe in the face with the butt of his sword then pushed Sally away. He now looked at Charlie lying on the ground, then at Joe, then at Richard and the others. He did not know what was going on or why the world had changed but he was not going to let these things kill him. Sally came back and he swung his blade nearly cutting her head in half. As Sally fell, Joe grabbed him and knocked the sword from his grip. Brad quickly pulled his dagger and punched Joe in the face leaving a knuckle guard imprint on his forehead. Joe staggered and came back and now Richard was on him, apparently mad about the incident with Sally. This was too much. Brad was a high school football star but he was tired from being sick and his energy was gone. He dropped the dagger and pulled the Glock. POW, POW, one in Richard’s head and one in Joe’s. Now several more neighbors arrived on the scene. Having had enough, Brad grabbed his weapons then ran in through the open front door slamming it shut behind him. Once inside, he dropped his weapons on the floor. No sooner had he set the dead bold than he heard a noise behind him. Vera, Chuck and Dave were in the house.

“What the hell,” he shouted. “No one invited you guys.”

He pulled off his helmet and swung it hitting Chuck in the face and driving him backwards into the other two as the helmet went flying. He now ran into the kitchen with an angry Chuck behind him. As he headed around the island, he picked up a butcher knife then turned and slammed it into Chuck’s head. Chuck dropped with the knife still inserted in his skull. Here came Dave and Vera.

“Christ,” Brad cried as he picked up the toaster and rapped Vera in the head. She was dazed but she still kept coming. Around to the other side of the island now and wham, he broke one of his mother’s nice chairs over Dave’s head. Dave did not care about the chair. That was between Brad and his mother. He still came on. Brad grabbed a broken chair leg and ran it through Dave’s eye and deep into his brain. As Dave fell, Vera came at him. Having had enough he turned and punched her in the face knocking her down. She started to get up but he pounced on her and kept punching until her face looked like a smashed in pumpkin. After he had completely pulverized her, he stood and checked behind him but no one there. When he looked back at Vera, he had tears in his eyes and he almost threw up. He could not believe the things he had just done. Fighting back his grief he walked into the living room and got his Glock then searched the entire house. Satisfied the place was secure he dropped onto the couch and closed his eyes.

About two hours later, he opened his eyes. He was so exhausted that he had fallen asleep as soon as he sat down. Now that he was awake, he was very hungry but the place stunk. He needed to get rid of these smelly bodies and he needed to do it now. He grabbed Chuck by the leg and pulled him toward the entrance. When he opened the door, he gasped then immediately slammed it shut. They were everywhere. The gunfire must have attracted them. He thought for a moment then peeked out the back and it was clear. Since Chuck was filthy, he got a trench coat from the closet and put it on then threw Chuck over his shoulder and headed out. After tossing Chuck into the furthest corner of the yard, he retrieved Dave and Vera. He now stood and stared at his neighbors filled with remorse. After a moment he realized he was covered with their blood and some sort of puss. That was it. There was not much in his stomach but whatever was there came out all over them. Now completely nauseous, he closed his eyes and turned to go inside. When he opened his eyes, he found he had three new visitors blocking his path. They must have heard him puking his guts out and come to investigate. Since he had no weapons or any kind of defense, he stood still and waited for them to make the first move. He had run this play many times on the football field and he knew he could get around them. After a few seconds, they did not seem to notice him so he headed for the door. Feeling like crap, he moved very slowly because he did not want to puke again. In order to keep an eye on them, he tilted his head so as not to stare directly at them. They were just wandering around and sometimes bumping into each other as he maneuvered himself between them and the door. He did not know if they could run or not but he was very fast and he knew they would never reach him before he made it inside. He glanced at the door to make sure the path was clear then jumped up and down and yelled, “Screw you.” They immediately came at him. He stopped and stood still but it did not matter, the gig was up. He ran through the door and locked it before they were anywhere near him.

Once more, he showered and cleaned up. In the bathroom, he found three cans of air freshener, which he sprayed all over the house. He now understood the air fresheners and baking soda all over the place. Having taken care of the odor, he was very hungry but he could not bring himself to eat. For a long time, he sat and contemplated his situation. He had just killed several of his neighbors. Of course, considering his father’s note and the news footage, he knew they were not human anymore. They were now some sort of creature from a horror movie. Thinking of them as creatures helped him deal with the things he had just done.

While he tried to determine his next move, he concluded that these things would pay no attention to him if he covered himself with their gunk. All he had to do was go out and rub the trench coat in monster mush. This was a disgusting idea but he was out of options. He looked out back and they were gone so he grabbed the trench coat, dagger, sword, shield, helmet, gloves and Beretta then walked outside. When he got to the dead pile, he rubbed the coat in gunk. After this, he stood still for almost two minutes trying not to vomit. Finally, filled with disgust, he put on the coat. This almost caused him to throw up again but if disgustingly possible, he was getting used to the smell.

He now headed for the front yard. As he glanced at his reflection in the patio door, he smiled. The image was disgustingly perfect. When he got to the corner of the house, he slowly peeked out. There were about a dozen of those creature things hanging around. He concealed the sword under his shield then took a deep breath, hugged his shield tightly to his body and hobbled out.

Chapter 3

As he walked out, he observed his neighbors very closely. He had to appear as one of them. He took a few steps and no one paid any attention to him so he started across the yard. The first one to cross his path was little Rita. She was only six and she had always been very friendly to him. It broke his heart to see her like this. He did not turn his head as she passed and for the first time ever, she paid no attention to him. A tear came to his eye and he wanted to pick her up and swing her around the way he always did. Every time he swung her, she would shout out, “One more time.” One more time always became a dozen more times but he did not mind. She was such a cute little girl. Making it by Rita gave him confidence. If he could get past her, he could get past anyone.

Directing his attention toward the others, he watched the way they shuffled. He was starting to get the hang of it when he encountered Ben and Jerry. He slowed to let them pass and when he did, something bumped into him. He stopped and tensed up then looked down at twelve-year-old Max. The kid never had paid any attention to where he was going. Some things never change. Max moved on and so did Brad.