Chapter Excerpt from SCARLET MEMORIES Volume One by Jessica T. Ozment
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Ian's life is a dream come true. He has the perfect job, good friends and plenty of money. Little does he know, his whole world is about to become an apocalyptic nightmare. While filming a new movie, he discovers one of the actresses has come back from the dead. Forced to take charge of the film crew, Ian and his co-workers journey to what they hope is safety. Lives will be lost and emotions are stirred as new horrors arise. Will Ian and his crew make it out alive? One thing is for sure, no one is safe
Chapter
One - Genesis
He lays a hand across his chest as he walks
into the room where Allison’s faint voice traveled from. He had been following
the light whispers to an upstairs room they had been hiding. He squinted his
eyes; desperately focusing through the darkness. He reached for the light
switch, no power.
‘Ryan?’ Came Allison’s soft voice trickling
out from the center of the room. It was barely above a whisper. Ryan shifted
his gaze but was unable to make anything out. How he wished his eyes would
adjust already.
‘Allison?’ He cried. ‘Where are you? I can’t see you.’
With that, he heard something scamper quickly
across the room.
‘Allison?’ He choked again.
His heart nearly dropped to the floor when he
heard a loud thud.
‘Ryan I am here….follow my voice…,’ it
sounded as though her voice trailed off. Was she being dragged?
With the sweat building above his brow he
moved slowly, and carefully, closer to the sound of her voice.
‘Closer…’ Allison beckoned.
Her voice became more shrill. Ryan felt a
knot curl into his stomach as she called out to him. Something was wrong.
They’d been together almost every day for the past six years. He knew her voice
well; he could sense the unease in her tone.
Ryan finally decided to stop. In the darkness
his hand brushed up against what felt like the edge of a firm bed. He traced
the wooden frame along the edges, feeling for anything that could be Allison.
As he felt along the side of the bed, his hand reached something wet. His
initial reaction was to pull away; to wipe it on his jeans.
‘I’m right here baby…’ She murmured.
At that moment Ryan felt a very cold and wet
hand grasp his arm tightly. So tight in fact it burned.
‘Allison, what is wrong with you? Why are you
so wet?’
Ryan waited for her response. She had gone
quiet.
His voice started to shake. ‘Allison?’ He
repeated.
At that moment, Ryan turned his head towards
the bedroom door. He sees the lights slowly coming on one by one. Until finally
the light in the room flicks on. Ryan turned quickly to face her . But it
wasn’t Allison at all. It looked like it could have been her. Or, at least a
shell of her anyways. He threw her arm off of his shoulder and backed away from
her.
‘You’re not Allison...’ He could only manage
a squeak.
As the lights brightened suddenly, a
barreling voice shouted, ‘Cut!. I told you to hold on to the last sentence and
make it sound… more intense!’
Ian threw his palm to his forehead and
pressed it firmly there. He’d only been playing the part of Ryan for a few days
but, already the director was starting to annoy him.
‘Alright! I’ve got it!’ He mouthed to Jim
through a half smile.
He was getting tired of his antics. He was
constantly barking at him over every small detail. No matter, it wouldn’t be
long before filming was done. And then Ian would return to New York. He’d been
taking smaller roles in order to get his name out there. But, lately it seemed
he had been dealing with the worst of directors. He would just have to deal
with it. He turned to his Co-star Kendra who was playing the part of
Allison. Despite her stage makeup he
could tell that she felt drained.
‘You alright Kendra?’ he asked, raising his
hand to rest on her shoulder.
He watched as her eyes followed his hand,
seeming to skim them over.
‘Yes…I am fine.’ She croaked as she got up
and walked to the other side of the room. It looked like she was afraid to be near him.
‘You sure?’ He asked. ‘You seem a little
tense today.’
He motioned for his assistant to grab some
refreshments. He took the water and offered her a bottle. Brushing back his
black hair, he watched as she guzzled it down quickly as though she had been
parched for days.
‘Why don’t we finish this scene tomorrow?’ He
asked her, looking over at Jim for support.
Kendra bit down on her lower lip. Nothing
irked her more than finishing the day with an uncompleted scene. But, she
really couldn’t see this day lasting much longer with the way that she felt at
the moment.
‘Ah, sure.’ She sat the empty plastic bottle
down and walked over to Ian. ‘I guess that would be ok. I’ll just be in my
dressing room taking this off.’ She said, motioning toward the atrocious outfit
and body suit that she was wearing. It smelt heavily of sweet candy due to the
fake blood the makeup artists had doused her with. It had begun to make her
nostrils burn.
‘Uh, Ok, yeah that sounds fine. But, you two
better have your butt’s in gear and lines down by then!’ Jim shouted.
With that Jim turned around. He need no
longer waste his time staring at the pair of them if they weren’t making him
money.
Jim Cranston was the type of person who
invested his time very wisely. His father taught him that, ”time is money” he’d
say. And he took that as seriously as he could.
‘Listen up everyone!’ Jim roared. - That
seemed to be the only way that he could express himself these days- ‘I’m going
to be in my office if anyone needs anything…’ He paused taking in a breath.
‘And by that, I mean leave me alone!’
He swiftly turned and headed towards his
office at the back of the warehouse.
Which wasn’t entirely a warehouse anymore? The props and building crew
had turned it into a house within a warehouse for the film. His tiny office was
located in the back of the warehouse. He did this on purpose. He avoided other
people whenever possible . Which was a bit odd for the occupation he had. Jim hurriedly raced passed the film crew to
his office and slammed the door. The ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ sign rocking back and
forth swiftly as he did.
With Jim’s exit underway, Kendra realized she
had better start making hers. She was truly feeling horrible. ‘If this didn’t let up, she would have to see
a doctor soon.’ She thought to herself.
‘Ian I’m going to head to bed. See you
later?’ She asked brushing her brown hair away from her face.
Her brown eyes looked rather dim. The pair
had taken to grabbing a drink after each completion of important scenes.
‘Yeah, of course. That is if you’re feeling
any better than you look.’ He joked. Trying to put a smile on her face before
she left.
He knew she needed something to cheer her up.
He allowed a large smile to pass over his face. Kendra smiled half-heartedly.
Ian could tell that all she had on her mind was hitting her head on a soft
pillow. Far away from any cameras and hot lights pointed at her. She pushed
passed him quickly as if she were about to throw up; running in the direction
of her dressing room. It was also located near Cranston’s office. This happened
to be Cranston’s doing. Kendra was a good looking girl.
Ian grabbed his manuscript of lines he had
thrown into his actor’s chair. The one with his name on it for in between
scenes and such. He would need to study hard tonight if he wanted Jim off of
his back. This film was proving to be his least favorite. The only person who
made it bearable was Kendra. And she was too sick to hang out with him.
Resigned to spending the rest of the evening alone he made his to his dressing
room.
On the way to his room, Ian noticed there was
a small crowd around Jeremy - The key grip guy for the film. Their gazes seemed
situated on his smart phone. What could
be this good? He wondered as he walked closer to the cluster of people. It’s probably just some dumb crazy cat
video. Everyone is really into those these days. The sound of the people’s
whispers slowly began to get louder and louder. Whatever it was, it sure had
everyone excited.
As he got closer he noticed that what he
mistook for excitement was actually fear. Everyone’s face, including Jeremy’s,
looked extremely frightened at whatever they were witnessing. What the hell is up with everyone? Ian
asked himself. He was finally able to get a good view of what was playing on
the cell phone… As he stared at the screen his heart sank deeply into his
stomach. He knew now what the other people had known all along. The world had
just lost its mind.
‘What in seven hells are we going to do?’ Ian
heard Jon the kitchen guy blurt out, scared beyond measure.
The crowd began thinning out around Jeremy.
They all backed away from his phone as if it were the plague. No one seemed to
want to be near it, let alone touch it. Ian decided to move forward and get a
better view. Jeremy saw Ian walk toward him.
‘As you’re still pretty calm, I take it
you’ve not seen this yet?’
Ian shook his head as Jeremy restarted the
video from the beginning.
As the video starts back up, Ian notices what
appear to be Russian soldiers in a makeshift hospital. From the look of it, Ian
could tell that they were at war. As the camera focuses, the cameraman walks
towards the injured soldiers in the hospital beds. He zooms slowly into the
frame of the face of a young Russian soldier who appears to be sleeping.
But
wait… Ian thinks. Is he sleeping? He’s so still and pale….what’s going on here?
The soldier never moved. The camera man grabs
the patients chart from the end of the bed. He pulls up the top of the first
page. And then speaks something in Russian. The words, ‘He is dead.’ translated
across the bottom of the screen. The
eerie silence that followed only made the realization more bizarre. At that
moment, the viewer hears the cameraman speak something in Russian again. His
words seemed rushed and worried. He leaps backward, nearly dropping his camera.
The video bouncing around within the small confines of the cell phone
eventually straightened up and re-focused. What Ian saw next would not be
believed around the world for many days to come.
The
soldier that the cameraman had focused on wasn’t dead at all… Or was he? Ian frantically thought.
He still had the look of death upon his face
but, he was moving… The soldier stretched out his arm towards the cameraman.
His mouth was open wide with rows of teeth, many of them broken and chipped. At
that moment Ian looked back at all of the people who had already watched the
video. His look was of disbelief. How
could the cameraman make something like this up? No one seemed to care.
They all seemed busy getting their things together. One person tripped over a
cord from the cameras and ripped part of the backdrop from the last scene that
they filmed.. How odd? Ian thought.
Again his gaze shift back to the phone.
This time, you could not see very much of the
background because, there was an alarming amount of blood covering the camera’s
lens. As if that wasn’t enough, you could barely make out in the background
shadows shuffling about the room. What am
I seeing here? His hands began to tremble.
A banner for the local news channel passes
across the video’s page. And then the newscaster appears in the camera’s frame.
His look wasn’t that of disbelief. Oh no. It was the look of despair. Like he
knew something that he didn’t truly feel like talking about. But, this was his
job and somebody had to do it.
‘We come to you now from the Channel 12
newsroom with an alarming video. We are live coming straight out of Russia’s
war zone nearing the capitol.’ The News Anchor dropped his gaze to his command
prompt screen. He paused, took a deep breath and proceeded with the story.
‘It appears that there is a high body count,
casualties of war that the military cannot account for. This is a follow up
statement that goes along with the video we have just shown you. It appears
that the dead are rising!’ The news anchor dropped his papers, coughed and
adjusted his tie.
‘Ahem,’ he clears his throat. ‘It would
appear that the dead are attacking people. Anyone they come in contact with.
The government has called for a state of emergency in almost all of the United
States. We are advising that you stay home, don’t open your doors. And above
all be safe. Witnesses have reported seeing the dead bite other people and
moments later that person experiences violent seizures, followed by vomiting
and then…they turn.’
The anchors blue eyes flushed red at reading
this statement. He didn’t look as though he believed it himself.
‘So, please get your family somewhere safe.
And await further instructions as they come available, we will continue to
bring you the latest and most accurate news…um’, he choked. ‘Here at Channel 12
news station’.
The anchor then dropped his papers, storming
away from his desk at great speed. Then,
the Russian video began to air once more, as if it were on a loop.
Jeremy stuffed his phone back into his
pocket. He had a feeling he wouldn’t want to look at it again for a while. This
was all getting to him. He thought he’d had it with his job as key grip working
under Cranston. But, now this? He can be sure that he’ll be adding a few more
greys to his already salt and pepper hair. He ran his fingers through his
shaggy hair. He knew for sure that they couldn’t stay here. They needed to go.
But, to where? He looked to Ian.
‘So…What do you think we ought to do?’ he
asked turning his head around the room, soaking in everyone’s demeanors. Each
person had a different look about them. Some were grabbing their things and
heading for the doors. Others, well they looked to be in a state of confusion.
They didn’t seem to know what to do. He
could only think of sadness and a sense of hopelessness.
Ian peered around the room as he saw Jeremy
do. Everyone looked helpless. He knew that half of these people had no homes to
go back to. That many of them had family in another state. Most of the cast and
crew had been flown in. He could only imagine what they must be going through.
And then he remembered that his
family was back in New York. Surely, they
will know of someplace safe to go? He talked himself into thinking.
In reality he wasn’t so sure. His parent’s
barely watched the television as it was. He doubted they knew any of this was
happening. Ian’s eyes began to water. He allowed himself to think positively
about the situation. Someone will help them. They are strong.
He forced himself to bury any thought of
them. If he didn’t he’d be unable to take care of himself.
‘I’ll go make sure Kendra and Jim know. You,’
he motioned with his finger at Jeremy,’ We need to make sure everyone here has
a place to go. I’ll come back with those two to help you make sure.’
‘Alright, I’ll see you in a minute.’ Jeremy
said walking in the general direction of the others.
Ian shuffled passed the staging area towards
the back of the warehouse where he would find Kendra and Jim. He felt drained
and way under-prepared for this situation. He wondered what could have started
all of this. No one really knew where it began anyway. How bad is it out there? He thought. Lowering his head and focusing
on his shoes. Ian came to the double
doors that would lead him to the dressing rooms. He focused on the sign that
read, ‘CAST AND CREW ONLY.’
His attention was broken when he heard a noise coming from behind the doors.
Opening the door to see who could be in the break room, he heard the noise
again. Searching for the light switch Ian tripped over something. What was that? Ian suddenly had no
breath left in his lungs. He could only
think of what he’d tripped over. His mind wandered over so many outcomes. Oh my god it’s one of those things! He
cried! I’ve got to find a light switch.
He thought with exasperation. But, just then, he heard something slop onto
the ground. It sounded eerily like wet meat being thrown into a pig trough. The
old familiar,’suuuueeeewwwwyyy pig, pig,
pig!
Sueeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwyyyyyyyyyyyy!’ came to mind. God what am I thinking? Where is that light
switch? Ian felt quickly along the wall as he jumped up. It seemed like it
took him forever to find it.
‘Click’
The light switch snapped up to the on position. Ian had been facing his
hands on the wall. He had to turn around to face whatever it was he had tripped
over. The thing. He snapped his neck
to in front of the door entryway. It was Kendra. She had fallen onto the floor
and busted her head open. And from the looks of it, it was fairly bad. He
rushed to her side.. As he got closer, he noticed that she also had what looked
like a bite mark on her shoulder. You could tell because she had changed into
her nightly pajamas. Which included a tank top that read, ’Kiss the cook,’ and
‘fuzzy pajama pants’. They had giant pink lips all over the length of the
fabric. There was also,’muah!’ printed all over the bottoms. He inched his way
closer to her. Bending lower as he checked for her pulse. He grabbed her head
and lifted it off of the concrete floor. Ian checked the wound on the back of
her head. It definitely did not look pretty. And had already begun to smell? Why would it already smell like that? I
heard her hit the ground… The wound was also doing something else that he
didn’t understand…The blood had already begun to congeal.
But, that
doesn’t make sense. She just fell! None of the facts seemed real to him anymore.
Nothing, none of the evidence would back up what he had heard only moments
before. He gently laid her head back down onto the floor and stood up. He
searched the cabinets in the break room for a towel or something that could
stop the bleeding. Bleeding? I thought I
just saw her would congealing? Why am I grabbing this? He thought to
himself. He had just found a dish towel that he could use and threw it into the
sink next to him.
‘GRRWWAAH’
Came a voice from behind him.
It was a sort of grunt mixed with a moan. He
wasn’t completely sure which one he had heard. He whipped around to see Kendra
off of the floor and heading towards him. Her face paler than before. Her eyes
had a crazy look about them. As if they were strangers to her own body. She
also had throw up on the corner of her mouth and cheek.
‘Kendra?’ ‘He asked. ‘What’s wrong with you? Are you ok? I just
heard you take that fall… And I am sure I just saw you dead on that floor!’ He
spoke to her, his voice quivering with fear.
She lunged at him out of nowhere. Grabbing at
his shoulders and arms trying to take a bite out of them any way that she
could. Ian looked down and noticed her mouth open much wider than she had ever
done before. It looked unnatural. It seemed that her teeth had gotten longer
too. But, taking a second glance he realized that they were broken and jagged.
‘You’re
one of those things!’ He cried, Pushing her away by her shoulders.
Trying to avoid her jagged teeth. She just kept coming at him. No matter what
he did. God that smell was revolting!
He eventually pushed her so hard, that she fell against the employee
refrigerator. Hitting her already battered head into the corner of the handle.
Kendra lay on the floor not moving. Her body unconscious the blunt force trauma
she had just endured. He knew he had to do something. But, what could stop a dead person .. Thing ... Creature? That was
when he looked down and saw Kendra’s finger twitch. Her arms then began to move
to push her lifeless body off of the ground. Droplets of congealed blood fell
from the giant gash in the back of her head. Gross! He thought as he rushed to find something he could use to
‘put her down.’ He looked over at the sink area where they usually prepared
their daily meals. This is one of the first times that he had come into the
break room and found all of the dishes done. Why today? He grumbled.
He had hoped that he would find a knife or
something blunt to use. There was nothing. Not even a coffee maker. They were
all used to getting Starbucks, so, there was no need for one. Ian could not
believe that nothing of use was in the room. At that moment Ian decided to push
passed Kendra and opened the fridge. He grabbed ahold of her long hair and
slammed it between the fridge doors. Kendra spat drying blood out of her mouth
and clawed at Ian trying to grab him from the legs. But, Ian moved away just in
time. He slammed it so many times that her head began to crush. He could see
her brains squishing out of her skull and falling to the floor with a splat.
Kendra finally stopped moving. She was no
longer slashing at him with her broken fingernails. Her arms and legs hit the floor completely
still. Her body seemed truly lifeless now. Out of sheer curiosity, Ian pulled the
door of the fridge open. He could see brains and teeth all over the floor. And
that smell was so much worse now. It’s like it was coming from the brain
itself. And Ian had gone and made a soup of it all over the floor! Putting his
arm to his face, Ian jumped back wafting in front of his face. He grabbed the
trash can and fell to his knee’s throwing up immediately into it. He could
taste his meal from earlier. And the taste of the acid burning his throat. The
smell of Kendra’s dead body coming up with each time he threw up. He had to get
out of this room.
Ian rushed to the break room door and into
the dressing room area. He still had to warn Jim. Even if he was a complete
jerk the guy deserved to know. Passing the many posters and signs that the crew
had put up in the halls, Ian heard another noise. This time it was coming from
Jim’s office…He rushed to his door. As he was about to turn the knob, he heard
an all too familiar sound coming from inside the room. It sounded like the
electric shaver Jim was always shaving with. He carried that thing around
everywhere. Ian had no idea why he constantly shaved. It wasn’t like his beard
would grow over night. Just another reason confirming the fact that Ian
couldn’t stand Jim Cranston. But, he had come here to warn him and that was
what he was going to do.
Ian knocked on the office door before
entering. He knew the consequences that would follow if he didn’t. Jim hated an
unannounced entry into his office. He adored his privacy and promised anyone
who ignored that request a long and enduring one sided shouting fest. Of course
it was very rare for anyone to do this now. They had all had their share of
hearing him rant.
‘Jim I’m sorry to barge in’ Ian started. His
train of thought was violently interrupted by the images he now saw. Blood…
Blood, guts, body parts, brains, everything that makes up the human body mass
of Jim Cranston. The smell of the blood reminded him of the scent of iron and
rust. God! What happened here? He
glared around the room. It was dark and musty. But, from what he could see, it
looked as though there had been a huge struggle starting at his desk. All of
his nick knacks and paper weights were rolled across the floor. Far from where
they were supposed to be. And there was a lamp thrown to the floor, the bulb
busted. The filing cabinet closest to the majority of where his body parts lie,
was tossed to the side as though it didn’t weigh very much at all. He had thousands of manuscripts in there!
How the hell did someone pick that up? Much less throw it that far without any
trouble? Ian questioned.
What
if Kendra did this? He asked himself. Trying to mull over a
thousand scenarios in mind. It had to be her. She would be the only one who
could do this. He thought, spotting Jim’s family portrait broken and ripped up
on the floor. It made Ian think about his own family again. Were they alright? Did they get disemboweled
like this?
Ian shut the door to the office trying to
shake the scene from his memory. Unfortunately, it was instilled there forever.
Something he would never forget. He knew he would need to warn the others that
the threat had already been there all along. They had to get somewhere safe.
This thing could get ugly quick and without warning. And there was no time to
sit and dwell on things that he can’t change. He set out to tell the others
what he had just experienced. The most bizarre thing that has ever happened to
him. He had done things he wished he didn’t have to do. Kendra was his friend.
They did everything together recently. They were midway through the shooting of
the movie and were inseparable. Ian
tried to think about the last time he had a friend that close. He couldn’t
really think of anyone but Matt Rings. His old best friend in High School. He
was the biggest guy he knew. With the biggest heart too. Matt was a survivalist
junkie and somewhat of a doomsday prepper. He studied all things used for
self-sustaining situations. He wanted to be able to live life without needing
modern conveniences. And he was getting good at it. That’s when they went their
separate ways to go to college. Ian went to Pace University in New York. And
Matt… Well Matt went off to travel to teach himself the ways of the land. He
was doing something that he loved. They lost contact shortly after high school
was over. And Ian hadn’t heard from him from him in so long.
Ian snapped to it. He was at the front of the
warehouse now. Where everyone had gathered earlier to watch the video. Passing
a corner, Ian ran into Jeremy. When Jeremy saw him his eyes looked concerned.
‘Are you ok’ He asked Ian. Jeremy was staring at the blood all over Ian’s pants
and bottom of his shirt. To him, it probably looked like Ian had gone mad.
‘I’m fine’ he said waving his hands in front
of his face. ‘I need to talk to you about what happened in there.’ Ian pointed
to the back of the warehouse and dropped his gaze back down to the floor. How
was he going to tell him that he just kind of... murdered the supporting
actress and their boss? I mean, he knows that the world had gone to the dogs.
But, it still seemed barbaric. But, this was the first sign of trouble for
anyone in the entire group. They had managed to isolate themselves from the
current situation somehow. It must have been because they were so busy with
filming the movie that many of the cast and crew hadn’t traveled outside of the
filming location for days. Only the select few who lived here in Texas really
did. Ian pulled Jeremy to the side and
spoke to him very quietly. He knew this would upset a lot of people once it got
out. And now wasn’t the best time. Who knows what they would do if they found
out this early on. Ian was barely able to handle it.
‘Kendra and Jim are dead.’
Ian’s mouth suddenly ran dry at hearing the
words come out of his own mouth. Somehow it made it seem more permanent. More real. If anything was real anymore. Jeremy dropped his jaw so far down it could have
touched the floor. ‘What the hell do you mean they’re dead? We literally just
saw them like fifteen minutes ago!’ Jeremy said to him in dis-belief. He
watched as Ian began to recount what happened.
‘It was Kendra. Remember how she’d been
sick?’ He questioned Jeremy. ‘I think she came down with whatever the hell is
bringing the dead back to life. She must have gotten to Jim when she turned.
She killed him too.,’ He paused. Wiping the sweat off of his forehead. ‘She
ripped him to shreds and there was no saving him.’ Ian felt the image of Jim’s
body parts strewn across the room coming back to the surface of his memory.
‘There was no way that he could be saved…’
Jeremy looked up at Ian’s face. His emotions
seemed mixed. But, the majority of emotion that he saw was of sadness.
‘That must have been horrible to witness. We
have to tell everyone. They need to know to be careful with these things. I
checked with them and most of them want to get back to their loved ones. They
aren’t looking to stay here. And I don’t blame them.’ He shook his head. ‘Neither do I. But, there is something we
have to worry about. These things are strong and fast and we have to be careful
not to cross paths with them. And if we do, we have to be prepared to handle
them.’ Ian thought back to his toss up with Kendra. ‘Kendra came at me. She wasn’t
herself. She was one of those things. Had been sick all day. Remember?’ He was
repeating himself.
‘We
had to send her to get rest? It must have happened then. And it didn’t take her
long to take care of Cranston. You don’t want to see him. In fact, we can’t let
anyone back there. This is something they don’t need to see at all.’ Ian shook
his head and ran his fingers through his hair. It was drenched in sweat. He had
been through a lot already today. And he knew this wasn’t the end of it. No, it
was the beginning of what he believed to be hell on EARTH.
The two decided they would both tell the
swell of people out there what had happened. And then they would let them
decide if they wanted to stay together, go in groups or try to make it on their
own. Of course, they would shoot for option one; staying together. The more people we have the better. We need
the numbers. Ian thought. He suddenly was remembering a lot of things Matt
had taught him. He hoped more would surface soon. He knew he would need it.
Plus, it felt nice thinking about his old best friend again. He did miss him.
And things sure would be better if he were still around today. He hoped that
where ever his friend Matt was; that he was in a better situation than he was
in at the moment.
Ian took a deep breath. Allowing his lungs to
expand fully. He was nervous about telling the others what he knew. Knowing
that there was a chance that people would leave. The thing that was taking over
peoples bodies was right here. In the very same building. But, as far as anyone
of them knew, it had stopped with Jim and Kendra. It really wasn’t safe to stay
here much longer anyway. They needed a plan.
Ian and Jeremy walked into the filming area.
Everyone was too busy talking to each other to notice them step up onto the
main staging area. They both looked
around the room. The sense of terror was heavy in the air. So heavy that you
could almost taste it. If they were going to make a plan, they needed to make
sure it was something that wasn’t thought of out of fear. That could get them
into a lot of trouble. They needed to get somewhere safe. And this was hardly
it. This warehouse had too many ways to access the inside.
Jeremy cleared his throat loudly so that the
place would hopefully quiet down. Finally, a few people heard him and started
‘shushing’ the others. When they had won the attention of the audience they at
once began.
‘We know that many of you don’t have anywhere
to go.’ Ian said. Opening up the first button of his button down plaid shirt.
It had suddenly gotten much warmer in the room. Everyone was staring at them
wondering what to do next.
‘I need to tell you something that I just
witnessed. And I need you all to remain calm.’ Stated Ian bringing his hands up
and down signifying complacently.
He took another deep breath and prepared
himself for the next part.
‘Kendra and Jim are dead.’ There was a start
of an uproar in the crowd. You could hear people asking one another how this
could happen. ‘I don’t know how, but she turned into one of those…things.’ He
paused between words. He wasn’t quite sure what they should be called. No one
had a clue what it was that brought it in the first place. ‘I was forced to
defend myself from her. And it’s not a pretty scene.’ Ian lowered his head. The
tears welling up in the corner of his eyes.
‘She was my friend. I never wanted to see her
like that. ‘Sweat was beginning to pour from his scalp. He was very nervous
about the next part. ‘Jim was an innocent by stander in all of this. It looks
like she got a hold of him before he could find help. These things are strong!
We can’t fight against them if we don’t have a way to defend ourselves. And we
can’t just go running outside looking for a fight either. They tore Jim apart…
We need a plan.’ The whole room got quiet at that point. They all seemed to
agree with Ian about needing a plan.
Jeremy piped up finally,’ I think we need to
discuss changing locations. Now, I know we can’t stop you from leaving. But, it
would be in everyone’s best interest if we stuck together. What does everyone
think about that?’ Immediately Jeremy and Ian wished that they had gone about this
in a different way. The whole room started shouting. Before you know it people
were shoving one another. Yelling obscenities.
‘I want everyone to stop for a minute!’ Ian
shouted at the crowd. This was pointless time they were wasting. They needed to
do something quick. Ian pulled Jeremy to the side quickly. ‘How about we vote
on it?’ He asked. This was the only thing that he could think of. And if
someone didn’t want to stick together, well they could just go. They didn’t
need someone dragging them down.
‘We are going to vote on it.’ Said Jeremy.
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