Gerald Dean Rice's Blog, page 110

10,000 word mark

I just crested the 10,000 word mark this weekend for The Golden Ones.  So far, so good.

I, Keveny - pt 10

I hovered. They'd been traveling for hours without seeing anyone. The dead were slow, but they were ceaseless. The monotony was killing me. I almost would have welcomed seeing people if it weren't for the fact they'd get eaten.

 

There was a sound from over on the right. Was that a cow? I drifted over. I realized two things as excitement bubbled up inside me. One: I was a bona fide city boy; and two: what the hell was I doing in the country. I never came here. For any reason. But there was my body, trudging across farm land for some reason.

 

Didn't Sefra's family have a farm?

 

She may have come out here to get out of the city. Major populaces were being attacked in greater numbers every day by the dead. It stood to reason she may have come out here.

There'd be enough elbow room for whomever was protecting her to cut these zombies down without getting his ass chewed off. Unless he was stupid enough to practice shoot stone drunk.

 

Maybe that's why I was here. I'd come with Sefra and… and…

 

And what?

 

I'd seen her in that vision-thingy—she was alive. How could I have died?

 

This was even more confusing. I barely noticed my body turning, bumping into another zombie and turning it too in my direction. The rest followed. At first they just stood there, staring at the lone cow. Then my body lunged at it.

 

"Hey," I said. "You're not supposed to do that!"

 

They weren't, were they? But they did. All of them joined in, tearing and ripping lengths of skin off until they got to the muscle underneath. The cow kicked one of them in the chest, crushing its sternum and sending it careening to the ground. It didn't get up, but that wasn't for a lack of trying. Its arms and legs moved, but how it landed it looked like its neck had been broken. It chomped uselessly at the air, effectively out of the fight.

 

The cow attempted to run away, but several zombies were attached to it, one was half on its back, attempting to scoot up to get to the flesh of the animal's neck. Apparently, I hadn't looked behind us in a while; about two dozen more zombies had joined us. Pretty soon farm territory wouldn't be safe. I had to figure out how to get to Sefra. Make sure she was safe.

I, Keveny - pt 9

"I guess. Look, I'm no expert in any of this stuff. Hell, I don't know if there's another Home somewhere. It's best you just worry about you and let somebody else worry about her."

 

I was headed back to the front door before I spoke.

 

"I can't."

 

"You can't?" Daniel said. "You can't what?"

 

"I can't leave her. I made a connection with my body out there. Maybe I can control it better with a little more time. I can make it fight the others off."

 

"Now did you hear what you just said? What sense does that make?"

 

"I don't know. Maybe none. But I have to try. I can't just leave her there."

 

"K!" Daniel shouted as I stepped off the porch. I turned to say something to Daniel, but the house was gone again, folded back into an endless wall of mist. I couldn't help but think I had made another mistake.

 

***

 

"Wynn. Wynn, they're getting closer to the house. You're not going to let them get in, are you?"

 

"My dearest Sefra, I would never dream of letting one of those vile creatures lay a hand on you.

 

I will defend you with the last of me."

 

"This has been my family's home for the last one hundred and fifty years. I have no intention of leaving it. If you would defend my honor, defend my home first."

 

Wynn opened his mouth, but said nothing. He turned back and forth several times and eventually left the room.

 

Sefra rose from her chair and went to the window. In the distance was a lone figure, just cresting the horizon of the farm. Wynn came outside a moment later with his shotgun, headed in that direction.

 

She waited.

 

A short while later came the shot.

I, Keveny - Pt 8

"Keveny, I only know of one place and here is where we have to be when it's our time."

 

"And how long is that?"

 

"Don't know how to answer that question. No watches here. No sun to mark the days passing by. We just… wait."

 

I looked around.

 

"Where are those girls from earlier?"

 

"Girls?" Daniel shook his head.

 

"Yeah, when I first came here. There were two girls."

 

"Ohhhh, that."

 

I made a face.

 

"What do you mean, 'that'?"

 

Daniel gave a small laugh.

 

"It wasn't girls. It appears as different things. Sometimes it appears as more than one thing. I guess you saw girls."

 

"What did you see?"

 

"I saw a bowl of apples."

 

"Apples?"

 

"Yup. I ate one."

 

I walked out of the great room and into the kitchen. It sounded just as hollow in here.

 

"I thought you said 'us' when I was here before. If those girls aren't really girls then who else is here?"

 

"Everybody," Daniel said. "That's supposed to be anyway." I made a face at him and gestured around me. "This place has many rooms. It's a lot bigger than you think. Matter of fact, I think my first wife is in here somewhere."

 

"Wait a minute." I paced, a thought slowly coming to the surface. "Will Sefra be here after she dies?"

 

"I don't know. If she lives a long life, probably not. As big a place as this is, space is limited. You have a place, but if you fool around and leave again you might not get it."

"So Sefra… she might get… left behind?"

I, Keveny - Pt 7

"Dwight! Dwight, help! Get this thing offa me!"

 

Dwight shot the second zombie in the head this time and it went down. He aimed his rifle at the one holding Coon Hat and when he squeezed the trigger the rifle didn't fire.

 

Dwight grunted, dropping the rifle when one of the other zombies grabbed him by the hair. He pulled a gun out of a holster on his thigh, but the zombie pulled him over onto his back and two more were waiting for him.

 

He was dead before Coon Skin Hat.

 

The other man had managed to fight off his attacker even without a nose and most of his left hand. He tried shooting with his right but his aim was even worse than before. He only managed to graze a few of them before he ran out of bullets.

 

They surrounded him and closed in.

 

"You ain't takin' me." Coon Skin Hat pulled out a bowie knife, held it in his good hand and plunged it into his chest. He screamed as he'd only managed to wound himself and my body, along with the others, closed in to feed.

 

I watched, but not for long. It was over fast.

 

I felt exhausted. I didn't know where my body and the others were headed, but I drifted along, unwillingly following, but unable to do anything about it.

 

It wasn't long before I saw a house out of the mist on the left. After a moment it dawned on me it was the same house from before. I went to it.

 

Daniel was waiting on the porch.

 

"Keveny, my man!" He slapped me on the shoulder after I came up the stairs. It was still awkward, that smile on his face.

 

"Daniel, what's happening out there?"

 

"The same thing that was happening before you died." The smile stayed on his face as if he were talking about his favorite sports teaming winning the game last night. "It's just getting a little worse."

 

"But if nobody does anything about this… it could be a real problem."

 

"It's no for you to worry about anymore. There's another place for us."

 

"I was thinking about that." He ushered me back inside. "You sure I'm supposed to go to that place? Y'know, the good one?"

Public Libraries- Attack!

Apparently, my public library barrage a few months ago met with a minor amount of success.  The Clinton-Macomb Public Library did buy a copy.  Also, the Philadelphia (not sure of the name) Public Library Bought 3 and have another 1 on order.  I wish I'd kept a list of all the libraries I hit up.  I think I might do that again.

I, Keveny - Pt 6

I floated. I could get a better perspective from in the sky and it didn't take long to spot them.

Two men in construction orange in a blind about a football field's distance from the zombie they'd shot.

 

Were they doing this for sport?

 

As if in reply another shot rang out, this one clipping my body. It didn't hurt, but I felt it. I made the sudden connection that if my zombie body were destroyed I would be too, that I would go back to that dark-dark place with that sleeping things.

 

Living or no, if these men were putting themselves in harm's way, they got what they were looking for. I didn't ask to be murdered—I needed to find my killer. No way was I going down so someone else could have a good time.

 

My body turned. I looked and saw the other ones turning with it. Maybe they were sensing me like some kind of homing beacon or maybe they'd heard the hunters. I zoomed in closer and saw the two men. One of them aimed and shot, popping one of the zombie's heads like a watermelon. The stink of alcohol was all over them. They howled with victory then clinked matching bottles of Wild Turkey before taking long pulls.

 

"They're coming! They're coming!" The two hunters grabbed up their rifles again and took aim.

 

Perhaps they were getting drunker by the moment or they were more nervous because the zombies were approaching. But they didn't seem to notice two zombies had begun approaching from the rear.

 

The intervals between their shots shortened and they began missing even more. One shot whizzed by my body's ear, another hit it in the thigh.

 

They were so focused on the zombies in front of them, they didn't see the two coming from behind until it was too late.

 

The first one wrapped its arm around the hunter wearing the raccoon hat like a lover. He spun on her right as it tried to sink its teeth into his neck, pushing it away, but not before getting bitten on the arm. He screamed, but it looked like the coat hadn't been torn. The other man turned as his partner attempted to shove the corpse off of him, but it had both hands on him and leapt at his face.

 

It took his nose off in one bite and the man screamed again, much higher this time. Coon hat's friend's eyes bugged out and he ducked and rolled away from the second zombie, coming up on one knee, his rifle aimed at it. He squeezed the trigger and the creature's back exploded. It took two more steps as he chambered another round, the other man screaming as the first zombie munched on his hand.

I, Keveny - Part 5

I could feel it, like it was next to me. It was. There was no distance in this place. No space. Whatever was here, I hoped it didn't notice me.

 

I—

 

*** 

 

"Sefra, darling, we have to move."

 

"Wynn, I'm not going anywhere. The news said the police have the threat under control. We don't have anything to worry about. Besides, there's always you."

 

I didn't know how I was here. That was Sefra, my girl, and Wynn, my best friend. Did they know I was dead? Why weren't they looking for me?

 

Wynn looked at her funny. The way other guys looked at her when we were together. Like they wanted her. But he wouldn't look at her that way. She was MY girl.

 

He stood in front of her. Sefra gave him that look. I don't know how to explain it—anyone who'd ever set eyes on her would understand.

 

Wynn sank to one knee.

 

"You know I would do anything for you."

 

"Then protect me."

 

***

 

I was looking at him again. Me. Him. Whatever. It was covered in crimson gruel from its mouth to its belt buckle. The house where it had attacked and eaten the man was nowhere to be seen. I hoped it had given up on the children.

 

There were others. I could hear them, groaning in the distance, autumn leaves crunching beneath their feet.

 

There was a gunshot in the distance. I ducked out of habit. There were about four other zombies that I could see, spread out across a field. There weren't any people within eyeshot.

Another shot rang out. The front of the zombie nearest me exploded, dark red goo spilling out of it. It slumped and canted to the right, but kept walking. Had to be large caliber. I still couldn't spot anyone. Was it sniper fire? If they were this far away, were they missing head shots on purpose?

Guest Blog

Tomorrow (1/27/09), I'll be guest blogging on Marilyn Meredith's site, http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com.  Anybody interested, hop on over and take a peek.

I, Keveny - Part 4

The clothes were familiar, but looking into that face was like looking into a mirror from a nightmare. The blue eyes were still clear but dull somehow, the face slack and gray. What remained of my hair was pulled in odd directions. I walked around my former body, hoping to find some sort of wound, a killing blow, anything that would indicate how I'd died. There weren't any ligature marks around my neck, no bullet holes, no lacerations. I could have been poisoned, but if so, there was no way to tell.

 

I stood in front of myself.

 

"What happened to you?"

 

The eyes seemed to focus for just a moment and it looked in my direction, it seemed, until it lunged just to my side, grabbing hold of an arm.

 

"No!" a man screamed. I hadn't been paying attention to any of his surroundings. They were behind a farm house and this man looked as if he were about to go inside. Whether he lived here or not was anyone's guess, but it didn't take long before he didn't live anywhere anymore.

 

My corpse bit into his arm and tore a long strip of flesh away. Its eyes burned with a kind of animal intensity, but there was no real intelligence in them. The man punched uselessly at the corpse but it was no use. It grabbed his free arm and bit off his thumb, the chunk of meat and bone sliding down its throat after two bites.

 

"Stop it!" I screamed. It was useless—he beat at the thing as it chewed the man to death right at the door. By the time it was over I was on my knees, sobbing.

 

I looked up and saw two children staring at my body from the window in the door.

 

It looked up at them.

 

"No. Not them!"

 

It stood.

 

"They're children!"

 

It slurped down one last bit of the man, blood and gore plastered down its front.

 

"If you won't listen, then I'll make you stop. I'll… I'll—"

 

I wasn't sure what, but something had to be done. I stepped into my old body and—

--vanished.

 

I wasn't anywhere.

 

Where ever I was I didn't belong. But something in here was moving.