Chapter 1
Growing up, I always loved hockey. Hockey was that one place that I could go and just let out all my anger. I would always play with my buddies, Doug, Xavier, Blake, and Eric. Doug was a brute. He wasn’t the biggest guy in our town, but he was the best guardian a center could ask for. Not only would Doug slam someone against the boards and get a penalty for you, he would drop his gloves for you. Xavier was amazing. He never liked playing center for some reason, probably because he was always afraid of getting hit. He could make a shot from anywhere on the ice though. He always had his head up and paying attention. One day, I passed the puck to Xavier right after I passed our red line because I had two guys on me and he didn’t have any. And he managed to pull off a one-timer. Without hesitation, he shot from the middle of the ice and it hit the goalie’s shoulder and then bounced off the poles and hit the net! We would always call Xavier the Sniper, because he would never miss his shots. Nobody would ever mess with those two. Xavier could shoot from anywhere and Doug would make sure that nobody would try and stop him. We not only enjoyed being the best hockey team in our town, but we also enjoyed being a team in general. Knowing each other became a hobby.
One day I got back home. I walked into my apartment and sat on the couch. I laid my head down on the end of the couch closer to the window so I could look at the door. I felt my eyes getting heavy. And then I felt my phone buzz. I woke up and grabbed my phone. I turned it on and noticed that I had a new text from Doug.
MEET ME AT THE RINK
TEN MINUTES
BE THERE
I started to reply, “What’s going on?” But before I could hit send, another text came in.
NO QUESTIONS
So I grabbed my bag and I got in my car. As I was driving I noticed that there was nobody. Nobody else on the road. And that was not an exaggeration. There was absolutely nobody on the road. Me being the twenty-one-year old guy that I am, I decided to drive in the middle of the road. Nobody stopped me. I heard no sirens. I heard no horns. Completely silent.
And then I hit it.
I didn’t realize what it was. All I knew is that I hit it hard enough that my front bumper bent in half, my windshield cracked in half, and something went flying. I got out off my car and went and started looking for what I hit. I found where the thing was at when I hit it, and there was a blood spot on the street.
“Oh my God. What did I hit?”
I heard moaning coming from the woods.
“Hello? Is someone there?”
I heard more moaning. All of a sudden there was a rustling in the bushes. I saw two small green dots. I put my hand on my gun. Ready for the animal to jump out. I slowly walked towards my car, without looking away from the lights. I grabbed my phone that was in my car and I called my girlfriend.
“Hey, Babe? It’s me. Go to the rink.”
“Why? Leo? What’s wrong?”
“Just be there.”
And I hung up.
I got back out of my car and looked for the weird lights again. I couldn’t find them. I got back into my car, and there was a weird smell. Like a dead animal. I didn’t notice it before. But I didn’t know if I just wasn’t paying attention or if it was a new smell. I reached back for my bag, but my hand landed on something cold. It felt like a kneecap, but it didn’t feel real. I turned around to see what I just put my hand on, and I saw eyes glaring back at me. I heard that moan again. Then it tried to stand up. It hit it’s head on the roof of my car. I jumped out while it was trying to grab me. I felt a hand touch my shirt. I got out, pulled out my gun, and aimed at the thing in my backseat.
“Get out of my car, now!”
I heard another moan, but there was a word in the moan this time.
“Br… Bra… Brains.”
I pulled the trigger and saw the bullet hit it in the shoulder. I saw the arm jolt back, and I could see my bag through the hole I had made. It looked straight into my eyes, and growled at me. Louder than before. All of a sudden it jumped through the window of my car. Glass went everywhere. I pulled the trigger three more times. I saw them hit the things head. One hit a glowing eye, another hit it’s nose, and the last one hit it’s jaw. It fell atop of me. I quickly threw it off. I heard more moaning from the woods, so I jumped back into my beat up car. I drove off towards the rink as fast as I could, speeding, but it didn’t seem like anyone was going to stop me.
I got to the rink and I grabbed my bag. I noticed that there was blood on my strap. I rubbed it off and got out of my car. I saw Doug’s bike, but his helmet wasn’t on his bike. I walked over, and I noticed that there was blood on his bike. I ran up to the doors and noticed that the lock was busted in and there was a foot mark near the handle. I pushed on the door and headed toward the locker room.
I knocked and walked in. I saw Doug and Xavier talking about something, and there were boards on the coach’s office. Doug had a line of blood sprayed across his face, plus his usual busted knuckles. Xavier was drenched in blood.
“What the-”
“Leo!”
“What happened to you guys! And don’t call me that.”
“Zombies.” Doug said with a straight face.
“No! They’re not zombies. There’s a virus going around in the meth that’s been sold around here lately.” Xavier said, as he pushed up his glasses. “Zombies are a fake thing that are not real. There is no possible way that zombies could be real.”
“Why is the coach boarded in his office?”
Doug looked back at the office and then back at me. “He was bit.”
Xavier face-palmed.
“I gotta go find my girlfriend. She’s still out there.” I turned around and started running, I heard Doug yelling for me to stop, but he couldn’t stop me from making sure she was safe.
I called her phone as I got to the doors. No answer. I called again. Still no answer. I called again.
“Please, Baby. Pick up. Come on.”
“Gosh, needy mu-”
“You don’t know how great it is to hear your voice! Are you coming?”
“Yeah, I’m pulling in. And the running club is doing great, they’ve actually managed to catch up to me.”
“Wha-”
I looked up and saw my girlfriend’s car pull into the parking lot. And the a group of people right behind her. She parked and started walking over to me.
“Babe, run!” I pointed to the hoard closing in on us.
She turned around to see what I was pointing at, and then she noticed what was following her. She started running towards me, I backed up and opened the door. She got inside and I showed her the way to the locker room. We got inside and I grabbed a hockey stick and barricaded the door. I wrapped her in my arms.
“I love you so much. Are you okay? Did they get you?”
“No. I don’t know. They haven’t gotten close. What were those things?”
Doug walked back into the locker room from the ice.
“They’re zombies.”
Xavier came in right behind him.
“No! They’re not you dumb fu- Oh. Hi there. Uh, Leo? Can I talk?”
I walked over to the restroom with him and he got close and started whispering.
“What is she doing in here? This is a guy’s locker room. It says so on the sign.”
“Yeah, but what’s she gonna see? We’re not changing.”
He had a look of thinking on his face and I walked back over to my girlfriend. I wrapped my arms around her again and pulled her close.
“I’m so glad you’re okay.”
I heard a noise that sounded like someone sharpening a knife. I looked up and saw Doug sharpening the blade of a hockey stick. He had almost made a spear. There was a sudden pound on the door and everyone’s head jolted up. It was dead silent for a few seconds then it happened again.
THUD
Doug stood up. He made a fist with his hand, and I saw all the scars on his knuckles grow ghostly white, and he gripped his new spear. There was another noise coming from the other side.
THUMP THUMP THUMP
Xavier reached into his bag and pulled out his hunting knife. Easily an eight inch blade. He reached in and grabbed another knife about the same size and held them in his hands. One pointing down, and the other pointing up. There was a noise from the office. A soft noise though.
Skrrrrrt
Skrrrrrt
Skrrrrrt
I looked at Elyssa and I took a step back from her. She walked over to my bag and grabbed my stick. She stood behind me. I looked back at her, and she nodded at me.
“Doug!”
“Yeah, Leo?”
“Open the door.”
