Lost for Life

On May 15th, 2020, two pearl divers discovered something at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. It was a door, a large metal door partially covered with sand. They pried it open, and found a submerged laboratory. They tried to find anything worth value of looting, but found nothing important. They left he area, and sold their hard earned findings. They went to the pub to celebrate their victory and finding.

A police officer, who also liked to get liquored up after a hard days work, over heard the men bragging. Being curious, and rather drunk, he stumbled outside and flagged a passing patrol car and exaggerated a story of a sea monster living in a cave. The officer said he believed him, but left without really caring. Both soon forgot the incident. A week later, the two pearl divers became violent and attacked someone inside the pub. A riot ensued, in which 17 people were declared dead at the scene.

An hour after the pub riot, 39 were dead. The number grew, and grew, and grew as the dead rose to fight the living.

That was three years ago. In Parks County, there are several features of the area. Bottleneck Creek being the most prominent, there is also a temperate forest in the southeastern portion of the county. There are two small towns in this county. Jeden is more of a carnival, living on the water. Maxley is where all the important buildings are located. Grassland spreads where there are no buildings. There are farms also scattered about.

~Map~

Marie gently nibbled at the cotton candy Jack had bought her. She found it hard, she was carrying a teddy bear almost twice her size, while her 'friend' walked empty handed. Jerk.

A scream ahead of them, near the end of the pier, caught their attention.

"Jack, I think someone is being robbed...", Marie whispered. "Where's my boat?"

Jack, in his infinite knowledge, spotted the flag 'M' flew. It was a checkered blue and green pair of pants. Reaching inside, he drew M's pistol she kept inside the deck.

"Don't you lock your boat?", Jack shot heatedly at her.

"From what? Robbers? It's a boat? What're they gonna steal? My fishing lures?", M replied, remembering that her fishing lures were ones she found inside fish.

A muffled noise came from a small alley between the Bait shop and a Minnow gallery. Jack peered his head between, and saw a horrific sight.

A man was covered in blood, eating a woman he had cornered. She continued to swing her purse at the man limply, doing nothing to him. Jack ripped the man off of her, and planted the gun in his mouth. It tried clawing at him but Jack pulled the trigger. It stopped moving.

*Thunk*

"Jack! There's more!", M shouted, having just clubbed a woman with an oar. Mangled men and women were coming at them, coming from a boat that had recently docked.

It only took one more scream coming over his C.B. for Zak to shut it off in disgust.

All day all he had heard were screams and ravings of monsters coming over the sound,* though his Block was quiet with people still going about.

He decided he would go down stairs to see the owner of the apartment building Bill Flemin. He also owned the gun store on the floor level and was the current keeper of Zak's two fire arms. (They weren't really his yet, but they were "given" to him in exchange for helping around the shop and kept in the store until he was old enough to keep them)

As he made his way down the flight of stairs separating the apartments from the shop, he saw to his shock that there was a commotion in the store. The store was pretty slow most of the time; sales of guns only went up like this when people freaked out. As he walked in Bill shouted to him.

"Good Zak, your here, now get your ass over here and help me with the customers"
"Should you really be selling to all these people, there more likely to hurt each other than any thing else."

He said this, but still made his way to behind the counter to help out

"I don't care; with the sales I am racking up hear I can retire early."

Zak shook his head but still helped out; in the background he could hear Bills own HAM radio.

"So Bill, do you believe what’s being said on the TV and the sound"
"No, I don't, and neither should you. I have seen this before, some freak spreads some rumors, and maybe be even kills and maims a guy or two, and then every one is seeing monsters around the corner."

As there conversation finished up they had gotten all but one person out of the store that was now lying down in one of the isles. Closer inspection reveled he was dressed as a hobo and smell like one two. Bill then cursed and made his way over to the man.

"Hey buddy, this is not a pit stop, so get the hell out of hear."

The man responded with a groan.

"Fuck you two buddy"

Bill then started to nudge the man with his foot.

"Bill, you want me to call the cops"
"No, I'll get him out of here my self"

Bill then started to lift the man up when the mans head snapped down onto where bills neck had been a second ago, it only got a mouth full of air.

"Holy shits were the only words out of Zak's mouth before he ran into the back room to grab one of his guns. He could hear from the other room that the Bill and the hobo had fallen to the ground.

"Zak, a little help in here, like right now"
"I am coming give me just one second"

Zak then grabbed his gun and broke it over and griped it with his right left arm, then as fast as he could he loaded one shell in and dropped the over. Not bothering to pick it up he just scooped up another from a bucket and put it in.

"Get this mother fucker off of me, he keeps trying to bite me."
"I am coming right now, fuck"

In his hast to get back into the front room to help Bill Zak had run with the gun out and had hit the door frame with the front end of the gun jamming the stock into his gut. Zak saw through his pain clouded vision that the hobo was on top of Bill and trying to get past Bills hands to bite his neck

"Poor baby, you gave yourself a boo-boo, now get in here and help me out and i will ki..."

Bill did not get a chance to finish his sentence because the hobo managed to get by Bills guarding hands and bite his neck. Bill then let out a scream that turned into a gurgle.

Zak stood dazed for a moment as the hobo started to eat Bill, Blood spilling everywhere. A sharp intake of breath from Zak made the hobo turn around and look at him for the first time. It then let out a earsplitting shrike and got up and charged at Zak. Zak reacting on instinct raised the gun and pulled the secondary trigger that fired both barrels into the hobos chest.

The hobo was torn apart at the waste. Zak then started hyperventilating. He had just killed a man, just killed a man. The four words kept flashing through his mind. Screams from out side startled him back to reality. He checked the window and saw that similar events to what had happened in the shop happening out side.

He checked Bill, but he was already dead. He then turned to start gathering supplies and think about what he would do, the four words 'I killed a man' going through his mind one last time.

*The SOUND is CBer lingo for the talking on the C.B.