Serial Story Tuesday (I'm Still Behind Haha)

I wanted to have part 8 up on my own blog by today, but unfortunately, I was having issues with my left wrist the other day and I wasn't supposed to use it too much. So, typing/editing was out of the question. I hope to get it up by Thursday and if I do, I'll try and post it here as well.  But, here's the one part you are missing! Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Muhhhh: A Zombie Love Story

part 7

Hearing those nearby crackling of leaves made every hair on my body stand up. I stood there, forgetting about my zombie boyfriend and wanting to hide in some dark hole where no monster could get me.
Jack stood in front of me, his gun now pointing towards the threat of whatever was coming near us. To say I wasn’t scared would have been a lie. Sure I was scared. Anyone who said they weren’t scared were either really stupid or a zombie, and if that the case, well, then, you had nothing to worry about.  As much as stumbling around like a brainless idiot with drool and blood dripping out of your open zombie mouth sounds like a party (okay, so maybe that’s a lie..), I wasn’t about to join the zombie club.
In my moment of panic, I didn’t notice that Zander had moved away. Jack noticed. He gasped and kicked my leg so I would look over at where Zander now stood. I had no idea what was going on? What was he doing, standing there where the noises were coming from? Was he going to join them and feast on me and Jack like a buffet or was he going to protect us? I was naïve to think the latter, but that idea sounded a lot less painful than the first. What can I say? I’m an optimist at heart.
  
    “Zander? What are you doing?” I whispered.  I’m sure if Jack had a free hand, he would have clapped one over my mouth pretty hard. Lucky for me, he didn’t.

Before I could say anything else, a low, strange sound filled the air. It sounded almost like a our dog, Sandy, who would growl every time a stranger came to our house.  I looked around, not seeing any dog around. Then, it hit me. It was Zander.
I was learning something new about zombies every day. I glanced over at Jack who looked just as confused as I was. He glanced at me and I knew what he was thinking. Zombies don’t growl. They don’t say anything other than their usual moan. Maybe Zander was infected with a different strain of whatever made all of those people into zombies.  It just gave us more questions than answers.
If Zander had fur like a dog, it would be standing upright by now.  His growl became even more menacing. Maybe that was because it was a zombie growl.  Obviously, I was no expert on these things.
Another zombie appeared at the edge of the river. She stood there, wearing a tattered blue dress and a nametag on it with the name “Pamela.” She looked really familiar. Where have I seen her?
She took a slow stumble forward in her tan knee high boots. I gasped as I imagined her crossing over and eating our faces off. I liked my face the way it was. I backed away behind Jack who still stood there with the shot gun held tightly in his hands.
In an instance, everything changed. Pamela smelled our presence and lunged towards us. Before I could get a scream out, Zander lunged at her. It was almost like watching a wrestling match between two hungry zombies.  As they both turned on each other like animals, Jack began to pull at my sleeve. He wanted to sneak away while we had the opportunity. I was torn. I was scared and wanted to go home, but I wanted to make sure Zander was going to be okay.
I didn’t get a choice in the matter. Jack started to pull me away almost violently as we made a mad dash for home. I protested, feeling my heart getting heavier and heavier with the thought of Zander getting hurt.
Jack wouldn’t hear my protests until we made it to our yard. Only when we made it to our front door and it was locked behind us did he let go of my arm and turn to face me. Utter exhaustion and fear hit every bone in my body and I slid to the floor, tears rolling down my cheeks.
I could hear my parents talking loudly in the kitchen. Loud music was playing upstairs by our little sister.  It was like it was before the zombies came. It seemed so normal that there was no way Zander could be out there as a zombie fighting another zombie. He did it for me.  I had a zombie bodyguard. I was like Whitney Houston and he was Kevin Costner. Well, if Kevin Costner was a zombie, of course.
The thought of that made me smile and I wiped the tears from my cheeks before my parents could see them. At dinner, everyone asked what went on in the woods.  Lucky for me, Jack couldn’t say a word. He was always a horrible liar. When my mother asked us that question, he just ducked his head down and stared down at his empty plate.

    “It went alright,” I said, quickly, not wanting to give anything away.

    “Well, did you get anything?” my father asked, wanting to get straight to the point.

I looked at Jack who shook his head. I smiled. “We didn’t have an opportunity.”

Before my parents could say anything else, a loud series of knocks sounded at our front door. It sounded pretty urgent, whoever it was.

    “Who in the hell could that be?” my father asked, throwing down his napkin.

He walked into the living room with everyone following behind. We were all curious to know what was going on. It reminded me of when we first found out about the zombies. Chub and Neil both stood at our door that fateful evening with guns in their hands, blurting out everything. Chub seemed more excited at the possibility of becoming a zombie hunter. I think he wanted to be like the guys you see in zombie movies who swoop in to save the rest of the surviving human race. Unfortunately, I was learning real life is nothing like the movies.
It was almost like deja vu to see Chub and Neil standing outside our doorway again. They both looked pretty confused but excited.
  
    “What’s going on?” my father asked, cautiously. He began to peer behind them for some sign of another wave of zombies coming at us.

Chub shook his head. “ You are never going to believe what we saw.”

    “Excuse me?”

    “Seriously, you have to follow us.”

The sense of urgency in his voice made my heart clench in my chest. My hand immediately went to the necklace around my neck as I imagined Zander.

    “You’ll never guess who we saw out there,” Neil said.

    “As a zombie,” Chub added, nudging my father on the ribs.

Oh, crap.

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Posted in: serial story,serial story tuesday,The Talent,Zombies

Serial Story Tuesday on a Saturday (Yes, I'm Behind..)

So the past couple of weeks I have been a horrible blogger/writer. Usually, every Tuesday on my blog, The Undeveloped Story, (and this one), I post an installment of my latest serial story called Muhhhh: A Zombie Love Story. Well, I got behind last week and that threw me off this week, so I haven't been too punctual with posting the story on the day I'm supposed to. I am two parts behind on this blog, so I'm going to post one part now, another part on Monday and then on Tuesday, we should be all caught up! If you are new to reading this story and want to catch up from the beginning, head on over to my blog by clicking on the title of my blog above and searching for the title of the story. You can also read a synopsis of my story there! Let's get started!

Muhhhh: A Zombie Love Story

part 6

    “Let’s go.”

I didn’t give my brother any time to back out. We grabbed a few necessary weapons and rushed out the door. I stopped in my tracks as soon as I saw Chub and Neil standing out there beside Neil’s truck. They looked over at us as soon as the door slammed behind Jack. I cringed. Didn’t he know how to be sneaky?

    “What are you two doing?” Chub asked, looking at the guns we held in our hands.

I swallowed and Jack sighed. Of course he wasn’t going to be of any help here.

    “Well, um, you see, Jack wanted to go hunt, so I thought I would help him. You can’t go out there alone, you know,” I said, making sure I smiled brightly.  My mom always told me my smile could win anyone over.

Neil didn’t seem fazed by it at all. He crossed his arms in front of his burly chest and leaned against his truck. “Do your parents know about this?” It seemed like he already knew the answer to the question by the way his blond eyebrows arched across his forehead.

Before I could reply, my mother walked outside and looked at the group that had formed in the driveway.

    “What’s going on?” she asked, wiping her hands on the apron she always wore.  “It’s too dangerous for you kids to be standing out here for so long.”

    “That’s what I thought,” Neil murmured under his breath. I glared at him and shook my head.  He wasn’t helping.

Chub stepped in. “It appears your kids want more experience hunting down those zombies. I can’t say I blame them. The more you know, the better prepared you’ll be.”

Our mom looked over at us with a look of concern. “But they never go out with at least their father. I’d rather they not go alone.”

    “Dad isn’t always going to be with us 24 hours a day,” I said. “Besides, Jack is now the best hunter in the family. I need the practice.”

The few moments it took for my mom to speak seemed like torture to me. The longer we waited, the sooner it would get dark, and that was a bad idea. I didn’t want to be out in the woods at night fall. That’s when people messed up and got killed.
Jack went over to our mother and put his arm around her, silently assuring her that we would be okay. Finally, she took a deep breath and nodded.

    “But, only for a couple of hours,” she said. “I mean it, okay?”

We both nodded and Chub laughed. “I knew you would cave in, Mary,” he said. “You couldn’t say no to those faces.”  He held up his hands when my mother shot him a dirty look. “Hey, if those kids need anything, they can just text me or something and I’ll help them out. It’s good that they are trying this on their own.”

Before my mother could say anything else, I grabbed Jack’s hand and waved goodbye to everyone else. We headed out into the woods, knowing that the three we left behind were watching us intently.  I kept getting a bad feeling that we may be followed, but I tried to push that aside. I had to stay focused on the task at hand. I needed to find Zander
Of course, the walk was silent. Jack kept looking around as we went, making sure we weren’t surprised by the side. With every crack of a twig nearby, Jack’s hand on the gun tightened.
After what seemed like forever, I was about to give up the search.  It was no use and what did I really  expect to happen? Zander to see me and instantly turn back to who he was before? It didn’t work that way.
Jack sensed my frustration and put his hand on my arm to stop me.  I did and turned around to face him. The look on his face said it all. There was no point to this.
Maybe he was right. Maybe this was just a useless and stupid decision on my part.

    “You think we should just give up, huh?” I asked.

Jack nodded his head in response. The wind started to blow and I pulled my blonde hair into a ponytail. I didn’t want to give up, but I didn’t want to go too far. We had  no idea where we were even going.

    “You know how to get home, don’t you?” I asked, looking around at where we ended up. I didn’t recognize anything. Everything started to look pretty eerie.
Jack nodded his head again. He looked at me for confirmation to go home and I had to nod slowly. It was getting late and my hopes had disappeared.  Before we could start moving again, Jack’s head turned to the left. He cocked his head and listened intently.  I tried to do the same to know what he was hearing. I didn’t hear anything.

    “What do you hear?” I asked and that caused Jack to clap a hand over my mouth, shaking his head.

I shut up and waited for Jack. He looked pretty serious as he stood there with the gun ready in his hands. I had never shot a zombie before, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to do so.  That zombie used to be a person, too. Just like Zander used to be a person. Wait. What if….?

    “It could be Zander,” I said, pushing past my brother without thinking.

If Jack could talk, I’m sure he would have said something extremely nasty at that moment.  I felt him rush to my side, mentally cursing me along the way. I paid no attention to him. I could feel Zander nearby. It had to be him.
We came across a river and Jack pulled me hard on the arm, yanking me backwards. Before I could protest, he shook his head and pointed to the far side of the water. There he was, swaying like he always did.  I glanced at Jack who stood there, staring at Zander. He seemed in disbelief at what he saw. Him and Zander were friends and now there he was, not the same Zander we knew and loved.
I had to get close to him. I had to touch him. There was something drawing me close to where Zander stood, even though the dangers could be waiting for me. Jack kept close to me, keeping the gun raised.

    “He won’t hurt me,” I whispered.

Jack’s eyes narrowed and I sighed. “I just know, okay? Zander would never hurt me.”
Zander stood still as we got closer. He looked over at us with those beautiful eyes of his that now looked empty. But, I knew he was in there. He had to be.

    “Hey, Zander, it’s me again. Remember me? Meg?” I asked, slowly. I was only a few feet away now. I was almost close enough to touch him.

    “So, Zander, I know that you may be confused right now, but it’s okay.” I smiled. “Because I’m here now and I want to help you. Will you let me do that?”

He never blinked. Zander just stood there with that same empty expression on his face. I could feel Jack tense up behind me.  I wish he had felt the same comfort I did when I was around Zander.  There was nothing to worry about. How I knew this, I wasn’t too sure, but I wasn’t about to argue with this voice in my head.
Without thinking, I brought my hand out closer to him. Zander kept looking at my face as I reached even closer. Jack tensed up even more, but I was still confident at what I was doing.
Keeping my eyes on his face, my hand finally made contact with his hand. My heart felt like it was about to pound out of my chest, but Zander made no movement to hurt me. He looked down at my hand and then back at my face.
His mouth opened and my breath caught in my chest. What was he about to do? Jack brought the gun up closer with his finger on the trigger.
It wasn’t necessary.

    “Muhhhh.”

What did that even mean? I almost smiled at the sound, but kept my composure. “What
did you say?” I asked.

It was almost as if he answered my question. “Muhhhh.”

I started to laugh. I really wanted to throw my arms around him and hug him so badly, but I knew that I shouldn’t. That was pushing it.

    “Muhhhh.”

I like to think that meant I love you in zombie talk. Maybe I was going to need a zombie translator.
I was too deep in the moment to hear the crackle of leaves nearby. I was too focused on Zander to notice what was coming towards us.



*To be continued

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Posted in: Love,serial story,serial story tuesday,The Talent,Zombies

Why I Like A Certain Music Festival

The weather here in Missouri doesn't appear to like me very much as of late. On Saturday, lightning hit my house and knocked out my internet connection and phone line for a few days (luckily, the power still held strong..). So, I haven't blogged or really written anything since Saturday.  But, let's talk about something else, yeah? :)

I've been asked so many times what inspires my writing. I'd have to say that it's music. Most of the time, I can't write if some kind of music is playing  in the background. Sometimes, I need to evoke a certain emotion that maybe a song can help get me to. So, yes. Music is very important to me. I tend to lean more towards the rock genre (whether it be punk, hardcore, alternative, metal..yes, I do listen to metal lol).

So when I found out a few of my favorite bands were playing at Warped Tour this year, of course I had to get tickets. If you don't know what Warped Tour is, let me try to explain as best as I can. It's basically a punk rock music festival that travels all across the country throughout the summer. It's an all day event and it's an awesome hot, sweaty day. In order to survive the heat, you have to drink several bottles of water and continue to coat yourself with sunblock (unless you like the lobster look...). It's where people are free to be who they are and not get judged if they have an "emo" haircut or a green mohawk.  People walk around with their tattoos showing the individuals they are. It's fun to be able to enjoy the music with people who appreciate it just as much as you do. Around the area I live in, it's all country music. People don't know even know the bands I'm talking about. If they do,  it's rare.

On August 3, I'll be making a trip up to St. Louis, Missouri so I can let go of all the stress the past year has brought and have fun. I hope everyone reading this takes the time to plan a little trip and do the same. You have to have some fun, you know haha. But, I understand if a punk rock music festival isn't your thing. :)

Have a great weekend! Oh... and check out my blog, The Undeveloped Story, later on tonight for part 6 of my serial story, Muhhhh: A Zombie Love Story. I wasn't able to post it on Tuesday because of, well, those pesky internet issues.

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Posted in: Entertainment,music,personal stories,serial story tuesday,The Talent,weather

Ready To Read Another Serial Story Installment?

Sorry, I haven't really been doing much updating here. I've been busy with writing and trying to work on my own blog. But, here I am, ready to post another installment of my new serial story. If you missed parts 1-4, you can hop over to my blog, The Undeveloped Story, and read it there. :) Let me know what you think!

Muhhhh: A Zombie Love Story

Part 5

    “Meg? What’s going on?”
My mother repeated her question as I stood there with the shot gun feeling pretty heavy in my hand.  My family looked down at the gun and then back at me, expecting an answer.
    “Well, it’s a pretty funny story…”
Chub cut in with a smile on his face. “You see, I needed some help chasing off a zombie, so Meg here decided to help out.” He patted me on the shoulder. “You raised a nice kid here.”
Everyone looked at me again. I nodded my head slowly. “Yeah, that’s it.  My assistance was needed. Good thing I stayed home, huh?”
The only one who didn’t look convinced was my father. “Wait, you needed help, Chub?” he asked. “You never claim to need help when I offer it. But, you need assistance from an 18 year old?”
The attention was then put on Chub who didn’t seem to let the phase him in the slightest. He shrugged and placed the rifle on his shoulder.  “Maybe if you were nicer, I would enjoy having you help me.
    “Being nice doesn’t kill zombies.”
    “Well being grouchy doesn’t help me,” Chub said with a smirk. “Watch it, old man. I’ll slap the face off your face.”
With a wink and a slap on my dad’s shoulder, Chub walked off to his house, a slight swagger in his steps.  My dad shook his head and muttered something that sounded like, “Like that would happen.” He walked off into the house, leaving us to gather up the supplies and put them in the house.
After dinner, I sat up in my room, thinking about what happened that day.  Even though he had changed so much, I knew that the zombie I saw for the past few days was Zander. It had to be.  My eyes went over to the photograph of me and Zander at our high school graduation. We were both so happy to be rid of the place we felt was prison. We had all of these great plans.  During the summer, we were going to go backpacking through Europe with a few of our friends. Zander always wanted to go to Europe especially Scotland.  Being the romantic that he was, he always told me he wanted to get married there one day. I envisioned us getting married at some old but beautiful castle with all of these green fields surrounding it. Then, when fall came, we were both going to head to New York City where he was going to major in Pre-Law at NYU and I was going to go to film school. We started searching for apartments, groaning about how expensive and small they were, but inside we were excited to be getting out of North Carolina. It was all coming together.
Then, the zombies came and destroyed all of that.  During all of the chaos that happened at the beginning, Zander’s whole family disappeared. I knew something was wrong because Zander wouldn’t have left me. If he was running away from all of this, he would have taken me with me.
My parents sat me down and told me to move on. They told me to let him go because he was gone. They feared the worst and he wasn’t coming back.
Well, they were wrong. He did. Unfortunately as a zombie.
I smiled sadly. I guess nobody saw that one coming. Not even me.  Now what was I to do? I just couldn’t bear the thought of anyone killing him. The image of my father and Chub going on their daily hunts made me grimace. It could easily happen and I had to make sure it didn’t.
I had to be honest with myself. My boyfriend was now a zombie. Perfect, I thought. Just perfect.
A week went by and I didn’t see Zander. I would wait up at night by my bedroom window, hoping he would show up beneath it again. After the fifth night of another no-show, I started to get worried. Whenever my dad came home from his hunts, I would ask him if he had killed any zombies and if he had, I would ask him to describe them. He would always give me a weird look and shake his head.  He never described Zander and for that I was thankful.
The next day I knew I had to get out there and look for him, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to sneak out by myself. I needed some help. I needed an accomplice. Who better than someone who wouldn’t talk?
I pulled Jack aside after breakfast and said, “I really need your help.”
Jack gave me a look that I knew said, “I’m not interested.” But I wasn’t going to hear that.
    “I’m serious, Jack. It’s important. Please?”
Finally, he sighed and nodded. He raised his eyebrows, wanting to hear more about what I needed.  I knew I had to confide in someone. There was no way I could do this by myself. Plus, I was going to drive myself crazy if I kept it to myself. Maybe Jack could give me some advice. Of course, it would be in his own silent way, but it’d still be advice.
After I told him that I found Zander, his blue eyes widened. He shook his head in disbelief.
    “It’s true,” I whispered. “I saw him. There’s just a slight catch..” Jack looked at me, his eyes now narrowed. I took a deep breath. Here we go. “You see, he’s now a zombie.”
Jack shook his head almost violently.  He mouthed “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
    “I’m not kidding. Please, Jack. Please help me. I have to know for certain or it will drive me crazy. If it’s him, I don’t want anything bad to happen to him.”
My brother whirled around and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from the stand nearby. He started to write something down furiously and afterwards he shoved it in my face. I read:
  
There is no way that it’s Zander. He’s gone. Let it go. Even if it is, you can’t do anything about it. He’s a friggin’ zombie, Meg.  You can’t have an attachment to a zombie.  You’re going to get hurt and then it’ll be my ass. No way.

I ripped up the piece of paper and threw it in the trashcan. “You don’t understand, Jack. I’m going to do this whether you help me or not. Wouldn’t it make you feel better if you were there? Jack, it’s Zander. Come on. I’m sure he remembers me. He has to.”
Jack rolled his eyes and sighed. He nodded his head slowly and I grinned.
    “Great. Let’s get going.”

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Posted in: Love,serial story,serial story tuesday,The Talent,writer,writing,Zombies