BGI v3 [Part 1]

[...Posted by Ted H]

The original version of this started at the beginning of the school day and had people getting murdered on their way in to school as opposed to getting murdered on their way out. It was also the first ever use of the Default Will Rule. I might post the exact writing of it one day if I bear myself to re-read that gibberish.

Version 2 featured a similar start as version 3 with a few differences, notably Kristen's fate. Now she serves as a proper introduction to the undead threat. V2 zombie intro was more along the lines of "oh, by the way: zombies" as if it were some casual everyday thing.

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[BGI v3 - Part 1]

           "Report," the radio said after several nerve racking minutes of waiting. D immediately brought it up to speak. "Biohazard breach," he said "Level three. Containment efforts failed. Several specimens made surface contact, most remaining are in the school." The radio stayed silent for a moment, every second passing felt more and more agonizing to D. "And the labs?" the radio finally sounded. "Compromised," D said, knowing full well the hell that would raise. "One moment," the voice said.

            D sat back in his chair while he waited, fighting back the urge to start shaking. He was safe in his office, which doubled as a temporary bunker; a feature he hoped he never would need. He was lucky he happened to already be inside the office when the specimen escaped. The Mosier units move fast, especially the big one. All of them made for the exits and attacked the buses outside. D was grateful that they wouldn't survive; sunlight burns the fuckers to a crisp. The big one though, the original Mosier, that one wouldn't burn up. That one had enough intelligence to know it needs to take refuge. It'll be back inside the school before long.

            "What do you mean the lab was compromised?" a harsh voice yelled from the radio, bringing D back to the matter at hand. "The escaped Mosiers apparently made a mess of the lab on their way out," D said. He was about to continue when the voice stopped him. "You think it was just those little Mosiers that did all that? I'm looking at a report that every specimen was out." D's heart sank. Mosiers on their own were bad, but they were only small fries compared to some of the other experiments that were down in the labs.

            "I'm calling a clean slate on the entire Grimes facility," the man continued "Get the data and blow the labs." D bit his lip. His original plan was to hide out in his bunker until some sort of help arrived. Even if that wasn't the case anymore, the labs were a problem. "The labs had been locked down, sir. Unauthorized, and I can't override from my office. I'll need you to unlock the main office by remote."

            "Not possible," the voice said "Lockdown severs all connections from the outside. Use the emergency entrance."

            "I don't have any of the keys," D said, frustration building inside him "Send a mop-up team in to open the door."

            "Area's too hot for any team by air. We can send a ground team, but you'll need to disengage the lockdown in order for them to make it to you. And you need to get into the lab to do that anyway."

            "Understood," D said as he begrudgingly opened his desk and reached for the handgun tucked away inside. The Mosier units, he felt he could handle as long as me managed to avoid the big one. There were the other escapees though that D had no desire to run into. The JT would be lurking in some dark corner by now and God forbid he come within a hundred feet of the Friar. He knew there was no way anyone could be equipped enough to deal with half of the creatures that made their way up from the lab.

            The one bright spot D could figure was that they were all one of a kind monsters. Mosier was an early success and had been the focus of multiple production. Thankfully the project to make more Roofwalkers had only recently started, meaning there were only three or four running around of that kind. The Harper, he just now recalled, had the tendency to lay eggs; but the offspring had a lifespan of a couple hours and they never strayed far from the mother, making them easy to avoid as a whole.

             "One more thing," the man said, snapping D out of his own grim thoughts "We have every reason to believe that this wasn't an accident. Diagnostics at last check confirmed all containment units were at optimal condition. We called for a clean slate and that includes the staff."

***********************

            Ted wasn't dead. His arm was killing him and he tasted blood, but he was alive nonetheless. Whether or not that was a good thing remained to be seen as he sat up and listened. Things were quiet, a radical departure from what he remembered. Gone were the screams, the growls and the sounds of beating wings. All he could hear at this point was a distant rumble of thunder.

            The girl from before was still with him, but she was still out cold and Ted felt no desire to wake her. "Wait here," he mumbled as he crawled over to the emergency roof exit which was easy to get to with the bus on its side. He popped the latch, kicked open an exit and crawled to the outside world. The scene was not a pretty one; bodies laid strewn about, every vehicle in the parking lot was trashed to some degree, and piles of smoldering black puss were everywhere. It had been raining, which made the potent chemical smell the puss was releasing all the worse.

            "How long was I out?" Ted asked himself as he checked his arm. The pain was still there, but there were no noticeable cuts or abrasions. He wiped his brow to find he had a cut on his forehead, which had trickled down the side of his face. "Hello?" he yelled as he used his sleeve to clean off the blood. "Anybody left alive?"

            No one was around. Ted wondered if help was coming when he noticed a cop car crashed into the far corner of the school. Help had come and died with everyone else. More help would come, but Ted didn't want to wait for it at ground zero. He also didn't want to leave the girl behind, but he figured she was safer in the bus rather than out in the open.

            There was a gas station nearby. They would have a phone, and with a little luck they would be one of those old school setups with a shotgun under the counter in case any more  creatures attacked. He made for the edge of school grounds when he began to take notice of the metal fence hidden by the trees that enclosed the entire school.

            "Oh shit," Ted said as he walked closer. It reached about 20 feet in the air and was topped off with barbed wire. "Where...the hell...did this come from?" he asked as he ran along the fence towards the rear entrance to the parking lot. He figured there was a gate of some sort or at least a way out. The road to the exit took a curve, and when Ted turned it, he found there was a gate at the end, but it was sealed shut. The was no latch of any kind to find, nor was there any way to open the gate. The only noticeable item on the gate was a warning sign Ted neglected to even look at while still trying to figure a way out.

            -Ok. 20 feet. Can't be that hard to climb. Maybe if I'm careful, the barbed wire won't be a problem either-

            Ted nodded to himself as he figured he could handle climbing the fence when he reached over to touch it-then screamed out as the fence sparked and he jumped back involuntarily, the fence sending shockwaves through him. The fence was electrified, which Ted would've noticed if he read the warning sign. He knew it anyway now as he sat on the ground and tried to stop shaking, thankful that it wasn't anything more than just his fingers that touched the fence.

***********************

            Kristen blinked away the darkness. Her head was killing her, but she wasn't about to complain seeing how she managed to survive the bus crash. She was still trying to process what had happened earlier and still she could barely believe it. She strained to listen but didn't hear any more screeching or screaming outside. It was quiet.

            Slowly, she managed to climb out the opening to the bus. The man from before was gone, but she didn't blame him; if she had woken up first, she would've left him behind without a second thought. "Anybody?" she called out but none of the bodies responded. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to run and find help, but she didn't want to be caught by any of those winged creatures. She could hide in the bus, but there was no telling how long it would take for help to arrive or if it would find her before something else did.

            The sound of shuffling steps caught Kristen's attention. "Thank God," she said as she immediately reeled at the person. They had only one arm and their shirt was soaked in blood. Upon seeing her, the person reached their lone arm out at Kristen and stumbled forward. Something was off about their eyes as it let out a soft moan.

            Kristen didn't know what to do. She didn't have any medical knowledge but something told her someone shouldn't be walking around with those kind of injuries. "I'm going to get help," she called over "Wait right there, I'll be back." The person took no notice of what she said, but moaned louder when she started to run away. The lone moan was joined by another and Kristen noticed another student making their way to her. This one had both legs broken but dragged itself to her anyway.

            "Wait...This shouldn't..." Kristen started but her voice caught when she saw someone who was very much dead open its eyes and moan at her. The eyes were the same as all the others, pale and cold, no sign of life in the slightest. More people who were dead just moments ago began to stir and Kristen instinctively retreated back into the bus. She replaced the emergency hatch as best she could but it wouldn't stay shut, so she crawled towards the front of the bus. The bodies in the back were still motionless, but Kristen didn't exactly trust them to stay that way.

            "Help" she fruitlessly screamed out as the undead started crawling in after her. There was no way out for her as she backed up to the windshield only to feel hands grasping her from the hole in the driver's side. More and more crawled in as more hands reached in and held her. She wished she'd never tried leaving as the first zombies reached her and grabbed at her kicking feet. She began to sob hopelessly as more began pulling at her arms and she felt the first bites. She screamed through tears as more now climbed on top of her to bite and rip into her stomach and chest. She kept screaming as more hungry hands reached out to her mouth and face and began devouring her until she screamed no more.

***********************

            Ted knew what he heard. Someone had screamed. It was far away and muffled, but with the unusual quiet all around, it might as well have been right next to him. Ted felt a knot in his stomach since it was probably the girl he left behind.

            -She's dead. Those things came back and she's dead now and it's all your fault. And now they'll come for you-

            That last thought got Ted moving as he picked himself off the ground. He needed to figure out some sort of plan but stopped at the sight of an approaching figure. They were dragging their left foot as they walked and had their head down low, but Ted could still tell it was Aaron. "Where did you go?" Ted said aloud as Aaron picked up the pace in his approach.

            Something was wrong and it stopped Ted from running up to Aaron. The girl screaming had Ted up and ready to act in a heartbeat, but it seemed Aaron was ignoring it to get to Ted. Aaron was always a bit of a heartless asshole, but this was a bit much. It also didn't seem like Aaron was running away from anything, but he sure seemed to be in hurry to get to Ted when he saw him.

            Something was wrong with his eyes. Instead of pupils, Aaron had two empty pools of white staring out as he moaned and reached out for Ted, who backed up slowly until he realized there was an electric fence behind him. "Aaron, stop," he said as Aaron continued unhindered. "I don't know what happened to you, but stay back," he said as he looked over Aaron, who was covered in blood.

            Ted ducked under and shouldered passed Aaron, who continued forward a bit and his outstretched hand got caught in the fence, which practically blew it off at the wrist. Aaron took no heed to it as he slowly turned around to find Ted again. Ted meanwhile was taken aback at the lacerations in Aaron's back. Something sharp had dug into his back three times very deep. There was no way anyone could survive those types of injuries, let alone walk around after the fact.

            "Aaron, please," he said "Stay back." Aaron let out a desperate moan as he lunged at Ted again. This time Ted met him with a solid kick to the chest, pushing him right back into the gate, this time catching more of him on the fence. Aaron convulsed wildly on the fence but couldn't escape as it cooked him over to the point his head ruptured.

            Ted understood what he just did, but wasn't sure if anyone, even himself, would appreciate the circumstances. Something was wrong with Aaron and he acted on instinct rather than logic.

            -He was hurt, and I killed him. He needed help and instead I tossed him into-NO. He was dead. I didn't notice him before because he was just another corpse in a pile. But if that's the case, how the hell did he manage to still get up?-

            Ted didn't have long to ponder that. He turned away from Aaron to see several more people who were dead not five minutes ago pick themselves up and shamble their way towards him.

Why LAND OF THE DEAD sucked pt.2

[...Posted by Ted H]

Hey, remember this? Yeah, I re-stole this movie from my brother so I can continue my bitchfest about it.

Part 1

BGI to come next week.

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*I will spoil the shit out of this movie in this review. You have been warned*

Part 2: NOT Safe Haven

            Aight, I'll come clean; Fiddler's Green served as the base inspiration to Safe Haven...but I made Safe Haven less impossibly run a whole lot less stupid. Essentially: what if I took Fiddler's Green and took out everything wrong with it as a story?

First line of defense in this dump, according to the movie, is a chain link fence. It's been X years since the zombie apocalypse began and you sure as hell didn't set up this place yesterday, so why isn't there more than just what I see there? It's electrified? Ok, so? That saps a shit ton of power. Where are the generators? Hydro-electric set up? Anything? This shit is important, and it explains how this fence, let alone the whole city, is powered. Hell, even if you explain that, it won't stop an entire horde from bringing it all down when they all bum rush the fence.

 The big selling point to Fiddler's Green (fuck it, I'm calling it FG from now on) is that it's bordered on multiple sides by a river. Ok, that's fine. Maybe the hydro-electric theory I asked is inferred by the fact that they're surrounded by river. Maybe, but you're not off the hook cuz I'll find something else about this city to bitch about. How bout the idea that FG offers luxurious living for those who can afford it...

 WHAT? Luxury? In the zombie apocalypse, the best luxury you can hope for is not being eaten. This movie is trying to sell the idea that not only did the "1%" survive, but that they continued being the 1% after the fact. You can go shopping? With what money? There is no economy. Money is worthless. But even if there morons still honored the dollar, where is the money coming from? Let's say that all the rich people somehow found a way to bring all their money with them to FG. Now what? Spend it, of course. Now what? It's not like you're actually earning any money anymore.

 How do you make [money] in the apocalypse? You scavenge the wasteland for valuable stuff like ammo, medical supplies and toilet paper. Food? No, but I'll get to why in a minute. To get all the valuable stuff, you need to go out into zombie land and hope you live...and I bet those rich people ain't doing the leg work there. You think they'll pay people to do it for them? Fuck that. Why would I risk my ass in the wasteland and bring you back supplies, just so you can pay me money so I can buy the stuff I just risked my ass to scavenge?

 I guess you can say "Hey, I'm possession of this [impenetrable] fortress and would love to let you in if you were willing to periodically go out and gather supplies." That would work, if only for a while until everyone wondered why the guy in charge isn't doing his fair share to survive and just overthrow his ass...but it's a good starting concept.

 How about food and medicine? Not. Possible. First of all, in the intro, the people were raiding a supermarket. You know what happens about six months after any food market is abandoned with food still inside? How about a year. Two years? Three? This movie takes place several years after the zeds took over. Either that supermarket is completely raided long ago, or those people need biohazard suits just to walk inside. The decay should be so bad that the toxicity would be a much bigger threat than zombies. They mention "mostly canned goods" meaning that, as implausible as it is, that particular supermarket hasn't been raided yet. Canned goods are the only thing worth raiding when the apocalypse strikes, so if they're still there, then so would all the rotting meat and fish, which would kill everyone.

 Speaking of expired, how about that medicine? After expiring, that shit starts to break down and eventually becomes toxic as well. If FG wanted to sustain itself indefinably, then at this point they would be more concerned with growing and processing their own food and setting up their own medicine, cuz that shit is finite on the best of days.

 ...Back to the impossible economics of FG. I know it's always fun to throw in some sort of social commentary in these zombie movies, but Romero wasn't even subtle here. THE RICH and THE POOR! Back in the movie: Cholo and Riley get into an argument over the one guy who died before. Cholos justification is something irrelevant but he mentions how he's gonna live with the rich people now, to which Riley responds "They won't let you in there...we're the wrong kind." To the kids playing at home, that translates to: They won't let poor people in there even though money is meaningless and the only currency is TP.

 ...Actually, Cholo got bitched at for going after non-essential supplies. You see, while Riley and company were going after expired medicines and rancid meat, Cholo chose to go after unopened liquor...you know, stuff that isn't rancid. Not practical, but he's still smarter than everyone else who thought 10 year old Pringles were a good idea.

 So, as the movie moves on, it shows Cholo and Riley in contrast as they travel; Cholo walking through the rich people mall where everyone is rich and happy doing rich people things with the money that's on par with monopoly money and rocks...and Riley as he walks through the deserted and dead city streets on his way to the poor people sector where everyone dresses like hobos.

 This movie needs a plot...and since a good one isn't ready, we'll take two mediocre plot points instead. Cholo wants to be a rich person, and Riley wants to leave FG forever. And since I previously stated that any drama from this movie will come from the humans, then one or both of those plot points are gonna go wrong and cause our drama.

 So Cholo is delivering the "essential" supplies to the big guy in charge. Opening his door isn't the guy but his servant, a fat black man. This movie can't be made by the same director who made the movie in 1968 where the bad ass hero was the black dude helping keep all the white people alive...now we have this movie where the first [living] black person we see is a man servant.

 Anyway, the racial stereotype tells Cholo that there is a situation in the other apartment. Instead of waiting for security, Cholo decides to kick the door down because we need to think he's a bad ass and not just an asshole. He walks in to find that a man had hung himself off of an overhead light. The man's son runs in to cut him down, but by the power of movie magic, the overhead light breaks and they both fall down and the freshly zombified man eats the son. Cholo then kills the zombie, after it abandons its easy mean in favor of his quietly sobbing wife, because we needed unnecessary drama. Then security shows up and Cholo, like a "badass" says "It's your problem. Clean it up."

 Can someone explain to me what went down? How did this guy get infected? And don't say anything cuz Cholo immediately armed himself when he realized the guy was dead. Did anyone explain how this would even be possible in FG? Or did Romero change the rules to his zombie universe and now anyone who dies comes back as a zombie, because you need to establish these things! And if anyone who dies comes back regardless, then you need to have better protocols for suicidal idiots, sick and old people or else everyone dies! Haven't heard from grandpa in a couple days and he was sick? Well now we might have an unaccounted for zombie roaming around killing people. Good job. Sloppy, just sloppy.

 ...And was the son even suppose to be dead? Cuz he was breathing in that last scene. What the fuck?

 Cut to Riley looking for a car. By the way, he bought a car and was planning to drive it away to live in Canada...because...Canada. The car is gone now and the only person there he can yell at is another hobo.

 Cut to fan(boy) service of the Shaun of the Dead people as zombies at a "Take your picture with a zombie" booth...and yes, that's exactly what the booth says. The rule that says "Don't say the Z word" apparently doesn't apply despite the fact that they've been referred to as "walkers" to this point. Another booth involves shooting a zombie with a paintball gun. What the fuck is this shit? Remember how Day of the Dead involved bringing live zombies in to study and research and how NOBODY liked it but it needed to be done?

 We have officially gone from this:

"Hey, let's bring in live zombies to where we live and sleep. I know it's a bad idea but we have a chance to figure a way to come out on top in the zombie apocalypse. It's necessary for the survival of humanity."

 to this:

"Hey, let's bring in live zombies to where we live and sleep. I know it's a bad idea but huh huh huh pictures and paintball! We can make some money doing this even though money is useless."

 ...also dancing strippers. That's one of the few high points here.

 Also there's one more zombie game. This one they throw in a whore in a caged area with two zombies and take bets as to which one kills her. And no one objects to this. Remember, we're in the poor part of FG and we need to sympathize and identify with these poor schmucks...and they are actively cheering on zombies as they try to kill an unarmed woman.

 Cut to Riley threatening a midget in a cowboy hat. Man, remember when Romero zombie movies had some respect? Remember when the most outlandish character in these movies was "that one helicopter pilot who carries a machete and probably sold weed before everything fell to shit"? Well now we have a midget ordering his goons to fuck Riley up while zombies get cheered on as they try to kill a whore. And yes, she is a whore because Riley eventually says to her "I've seen you working the streets." before she says something about him checking her out.

 Riley then realizes what's going on and kills the two zombies and everyone freaks out because "Someone in the zombie apocalypse has a gun! And he shot zombies as they tried to kill someone! Everybody run!!!!!!" Then the retard shoots the midget after licking his gun. I can't believe I even wrote that last sentence.

 Then security shows up and arrests Riley, the whore and the retard. Killing zombies is apparently a crime in FG. With ass backwards priorities like these, I can see why Riley wants to escape.

 Now we're in jail where the whore, our female lead, is recanting us a tale of how the man in charge of FG is so evil and how she could have been something more than a whore if not for him and blah blah blah...I wanted to scream "Shut the fuck up!", but Riley beat me to it. Wow, I might actually like this guy...might. Maybe if he didn't insist on hanging out with a retard and a whore for the rest of the movie.

 At this point, Romero remembers he's making a zombie movie and decides to show us Big Daddy and company. They marched non-stop until they ran into one of the oldest zombie deterrents: a wooden barricade. Then Big Daddy realizes one of his followers has a cleaver and he tells that zombie to chop through the wood. He apparently uses zombie-language to tell him, because fuck any science that says the brain decaying will slowly kill the zombie, why not have them evolve to the point where they're almost human. In Day of the Dead, it took Logan for-fucking-ever to make Bub the way he was in 1985. Why not wait 20 years for undead evolution? PASS!

 Now we couldn't conclude this part without at least introducing the big bad villain of the movie: Kaufman. Cholo finally meets with him and tells him he wants to move in with the rich people. Kaufman say, essentially: "Ha ha, no." Cholo gets pissed, and Kaufman calls in one of his security guards, and at this point I realize just how much like Nazis these security guys look. Yeah, real subtle, George.

 Cholo later beats up the Nazi, takes his gun and decides to take action. Maybe the zombies will show upto the zombie movie later on...

Adventures in the Wasteland - Anchorage Dog Memorial

[...Posted by Ted H]

...In attempts to keep this from becoming the zombie-only blog, I feel the need to change things up, if only for one week.

While any attempt to do a long form write up of a play-through of a game like I did with Oblivion last year is probably not gonna work out, little snippets are always fun. Fallout games are so slow to start that I would bore myself to death before the game proper ever got off the ground.

Anyway, enjoy. Zombies are back next week.

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[Adventures in the Wasteland - Anchorage Dog Memorial]

            So there I was, waltzing my way through the capital wasteland, minding my own business. I came upon the Anchorage War Memorial and usually the game spawns a nice little encounter there. Sometimes it's raiders in the middle of an initiation, sometimes it's some random wastelander getting attacked. This time I came across a scavenger who didn't have anything of particular interest to trade. He had a brahmin and a dog in tow. Shortly after our exchange we were under attack by a couple mirelurkers.
          Anyone familiar with Fallout 3 will know that the Anchorage Memorial is a nesting ground for mirelurkers. Spend too much time fucking around and you'll end up dealing with one. At the time I was particularly low leveled and mirelurkers are not for pussies. My usual MO for these types are to drop a few frag mines as a trap and lure one over, softening them up (if not killing outright) for a few close range shots with a hunting rifle right into their weak point.
            Like I said, that's my usual MO for higher leveled enemies. Until I get my dart gun, it's all run and gun. Unfortunately, these two mirelurkers got the drop on myself and the scavenger. The two of us and his dog had to make due with no planning. It was close combat, meaning my nuclear option, the fat man, was suicidal (besides, those mini nukes aint cheap Holmes). A combination of pot shots and VATS got the job done though, but not before one of the mirelurkers got the better of the scavenger.
            Not wanting any good loot go to waste, I took everything on the scavenger (he probably would've wanted me to have it anyway) then I looted his brahmin. The dog was nowhere to be found, but I had no interest in it anyway. I then moved on in my adventure, never bothering to look back.

            Several levels later I found myself back at the memorial on a quest. Moira Brown wanted me to install some surveillance device in the mirelurker nest. After accomplishing my goal and sprinting out the door with a few mirelurkers after me because my Stealth Boy is a piece of shit and couldn't even keep me cloaked for five god damn minutes, I set myself up on top of the memorial and waited until the game said I was no longer under [caution] so I could fast travel to Moira for my reward (and the bonus for not killing any mirelurkers).
            Confident that I completed my "stealth" mission, I prepared to leave when I heard the sound of panting right next to me. I looked over and staring my in the face was a dog. Not just any dog, mind you. It was the scavengers dog, waiting patiently for its master to come pick it up. I was immediately reminded of Dogmeat, the dog companion in the game that you meet under similar circumstances; his old master was killed and you find it standing by the corpse with no other purpose.
            Unlike Dogmeat though, I couldn't recruit some random scavengers dog. It was loyal to one person, and that person was dead (and probably had his body dragged away and eaten by a mirelurker or super mutant or something). The dog was prepared to wait forever at the last point it could track its master to, never flinching, never caring for anything other than the return of its master.
            It was almost heartbreaking if not for the handfuls of creatures I brutally murdered up until this point. At this point though, I wondered if I should just leave it here. Mirelurkers would always be around, and there was no way I was going to stand guard with it forever. I should really just put it out of its misery. Its master was gone forever and I was the only one who knew. Could I in good conscious leave this poor dog to its eternal wait?
            I had a combat shotgun. It would be a quick and clean shot to the back of the head. It wouldn't feel a thing, and then hopefully be with its master. I leveled with its head and prepared to pull the trigger. Was I really about to do this? I had ruthlessly murdered a small army at this point, but every last one of those murders were self defense. I pointlessly smacked mole rats with a poisonous stuck but only if they come after me. I aggro super mutants at the Brotherhood of Steel in hopes that one of the Brotherhood dies and I can loot, but even if the Brotherhood guy has only 1 HP left, I still won't murder him. I am not a nice person, so it's not  like the karma hit would faze me.
            I couldn't kill this poor beast. Perhaps it would find some better future down the road. Maybe like Dogmeat, some random scavenger would happen across it and adopt. Maybe it would wander off and join up with other strays and ruin some wastelanders day. Maybe. But a maybe future would be better than a definite death at the hands of myself, who has too much blood on my hands already. I bid the dog goodbye, and made my way back to Megaton to receive payment from an aspiring survival guide author with a few screws loose.

            You'd be surprised how often I find myself nearby the Anchorage Memorial. Despite my attempts to branch out my scavenging and continue the plot to the ends of the map, I always seem to be crossing a certain body of water that led to a certain war memorial. On one particular trip, I decided to visit the top and see if the dog was indeed still on his vigil. I noticed no green dot on my radar and immediately thought the dog had moved on, either to become a rabid stray or with a new owner. Then I noticed the red dot approaching.
            At this point I was capably armed enough to handle a single mirelurker with ease, from a distance no less despite my melee build. As I went over to claim that sweet, sweet mirelurker meat, I noticed something queer nearby. A headless dog. Oh shit. It then dawned on me that mirelurkers don't usually hang out on the top of the memorial, unless they're attacking something. I just killed the mirelurker that just got done killing the scavengers dog.
            A sad ending to an unfortunate tale, lost in the endless collections of tragedies in the Capital Wasteland. But maybe it's not quite as tragic as it seems. Maybe the dog knew just what went down that fateful day where I crossed paths with its owner for the first and last time. Maybe it understood what had happened to its master and who was responsible. Maybe it knew its future was bleak and pointless now. I like to think that at that point the dog decided to stand vigil at the Anchorage Memorial, not to wait for the impossible return of its dead master, but to wait for the inevitable return of the mirelurkers. If it was going to die, then it would die fighting. A final defiant volly against an unending army of amphibious mooks. It would die fighting, just like its loving master.

            That's what I like to think happened that day. And while there are only so many mirelurkers I can kill, and only so much I can do to honor the nameless scavengers dog, I know this; the endgame plot now has added weight. The water purifier, untainted will fill the Capital Wasteland with non-irradiated water. Mirelurkers can't survive in that kind of environment.
            Those fuckers are going down.

Million Dollar Zombie 2-1

[...Posted by Ted H]

busybusybusybusybusy...

...and who doesn't love needless cliffhangers?

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[Million Dollar Zombie 2-1]

            “Stay on this road until you reach flashing yellow lights,” Ted said.

            Not much talking had been done during the five hour trip. Not much talking needed to be done. The five men packed into Jack’s truck all knew what job they had to do. Ted was the "guide" while Marko was armed and tasked with killing a zombie, any zombie, and covering the escape. Jerry would drag the zombie corpse to the truck. Jack would serve as the getaway driver and Jay tagged along to take pictures to sell for even more money. Martin had demanded that they get some pictures if they could and since Jay had a degree in photography, he might as well handle the pictures.

            Martin had provided them with the location of the last place the military would quarantine and block off. That was their way in. It was up to them to get their proof and get out before the military would block off their exit. In terms of a time limit before the last exit would actually be blocked off, Martin wasn't sure.

            "Make a left," Ted said as they reached the lights. "So...Ted," Jay said "You used to live here or something?" Ted, Jerry, Marko and Jack were all pretty close friends, but only Marko really knew Jay. The two roomed together for a semester in college and Jay never really had opportunity to get to know anyone else in the group.

            "Didn't live here," Ted answered "Went to college here for a while."

            "What you major in?" Jay asked, not wanting to go back to the tense silence. "Doesn't matter, never finished," Ted answered "Kicked out this semester, Jack hooked me up with a job cuz I couldn't go home." Jerry reached up from the back seat and slapped Ted on the arm. "Not like you're gonna need to worry about money after this, am I right?" Ted didn't answer.

            "First thing I'm gonna do is buy a hooker!" Marko announced. "Sins of the father?" Jay said as a joke but no one took notice. Marko didn't need much convincing to join in the little zombie hunt. He was always game for doing reckless and seemingly dangerous things. Part of that was because there weren't many people around him growing up to tell him otherwise.

            His mother worked all the time and he never met his father. As his mother put it: "That lazy ass Mexican didn't even have the decency to stay the night, let alone for when you were born." His mother was white, and for her sake, Marko was born white. She named him 'Mark', but kids growing up added the O to his name and it stuck, making him 'Marko'.

            The five men had fallen back into silence, which didn't please Jay one bit. He turned to look out his window and snapped some scenery pictures. His memory card could hold about 200 photos; not that he was planning to take that many, but he liked to be prepared.

            "Anyone get an idea on the weather?" Jack asked as he hit the wiper blades. It was early December and the snow had been light in the area until this point but the bleak sky ahead hinted that it wouldn't last. "Lake effect incoming," Jerry said as he fumbled out a cigarette from his coat "But we'll be long gone by time it gets heavy."

            "It's getting heavy now," Jack mumbled as he looked over to Ted who was studying the surroundings through the snow. "Right here," he finally said and Jack stopped the truck. "Go time!" Marko shouted as everyone but Jack got out. "Enjoy yourselves, ladies," Jack said as he cranked the heat and waited for everyone to walk away so he could turn the truck around.

            The plan was simple: Get into town, and figure out what was going on. If it were indeed zombies, then they kill one and bring the body back to the truck to bring back to civilization. They weren't stupid, they weren't going to even attempt to ring in a zombie without killing it.

            "No hero shit," Marko said with a wink as he dug into a bag he brought "Unless of course it makes a good story." Jerry looked up at the falling snow as Jay snapped some pictures of the area. Marko pulled a 9mm handgun out and handed it to Jerry, then pulled another one out for himself. "Something's defiantly up," Ted said "I don't like this one bit."

            "We'll be fine," Jerry said as he checked his gun "Don't pussy out on us now."

            "Weather does put a damper on the plan don't it?" Ted asked

            "No biggie,"

            "In case you forgot, the plan was to listen for a deadie, then discretely lead it back to the truck."

            "Yeah, then we'll take care of business there."

            "I dunno about you, but I'm having trouble hearing much over this wind."

            "So be extra careful."

            "On top of the snow killing all visibility."

            "For fucks sake Ted, you do realize how much money is at stake right? No one said this was gonna be easy. I don't hear anyone else bitching, so man the fuck up already."

            "Actually," Jay said "Now that you mention it, I'm not so hot for this plan either now."

            "I don't fucking believe this," Jerry screamed as he threw his hands in the air.

            "Maybe we could wait for the snow to let up," Marko suggested as Jerry shook his head. "It's only gonna get worse from here," he said "Plus I don't know how long we have what with the army incoming."

            "You ladies gonna get moving or what?" Jack said from the truck.

            "I don't need to remind anyone what kind of payday we're looking at," Jerry said addressing everyone outside "So nut up and let's get this done."

            Jay snapped a picture of everyone before they set off into town. Ted led the way, knowing the town layout, and with the snow, a guide was needed all the more. Jerry and Marko followed, weapons drawn just in case things get out of hand. Jay brought up the rear, taking pictures to sell later since Jerry insisted his cousin shouldn't get all the press.

            They slowly made their way up the street looking for anything, living or otherwise. "Ya know," Jay said "Maybe there's a better explanation than zombies. I heard there was a gas leak or something and it killed everyone." Jerry and Marko turned to stare at Jay for a beat before moving on. Jay hesitated a moment before shrugging. "I guess that would explain the zombies."

            They reached an intersection before Ted stopped. "Two ways we could go from here," he said "Keep going up this street towards the high school or turn here and hit main street." Jerry looked down both streets the best he could. "Main street, probably."

            "Might be too many at once," Marko said. "Best chance to find one quick," Jerry responded. They turned to main street as the snow picked up. "This is stupid," Jay yelled over the wind "We should at least go back to the truck and drive through." Everyone looked to Jerry. "Probably the smarter idea," Ted said as Jerry made a face. "By the time we get back to the truck and drive up here," he started but stopped at the looks he was getting from everyone else. "Fine," he said "Let's head back. Pussies."

            They turned around and made for the intersection when a gust of wind blew through and they stopped at the sound of a moan. "Everyone heard that, right?" Jerry said as they strained to listen over the wind. "Where's it coming from?" Ted asked. Marko aimed his gun out front while Jerry was aiming behind. "Defiantly should make for the truck," Jay said.

            The wind then died down a little and they could hear better, only to find out the moan they heard wasn't alone. "Only need one, right?" Marko asked. "More can only be better, right?" Ted said sarcastically. "Shut up and stay close," Jerry hissed with a lower tone. The snowfall lightened up a little to reveal a small pack of humanoid figures not ten feet from where the men stopped advancing. The three people were slouched and stumbled as they walked as if they were drunk.

            "They don't notice us," Marko whispered. "We almost walked right into the middle of them," Jay added. "We already did," Jerry said as the snow calmed down more to reveal people stumbling all about. "Slowly," Jerry said as they backed up the way they walked in. A distinctive moan sounded as one of the people caught the four men and made for them, catching the attention of others. "They're...they're drunks. That's all," Jay said as he took another picture "This isn't reality. Zombies aren't real."

            "Are you fucking serious?" Jerry yelled as they started to run. "Well we were kind of humoring you for a while," Ted started, but stopped at the sight at the intersection. More figures were stumbling into view right in their path, making a way to the four running men. "Cut through yards!" Ted said as the snow began to pick up again. They started but stopped at the sight of more approaching people. They were cut off from the truck and surrounded.

Million Dollar Zombie pt 1

[...Posted by Ted H]

...Because there's nothing short sighted and foolish about embarking on 2 major projects at the same time...right?

 

The plan right now is to alternate between MDZ and BGI, maybe mixing something small in there every so often so this doesn't become 'the zombie only blog' but whatever.

 

...and I'd also like to point out the best kind of manuscripts are the unsolicited kinds and I shouldn't need an agent just to submit a fucking request...

 

...whatever, just another message in a bottle for the ocean...

 

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Million Dollar Zombie - pt 1]

 

           “This better be good,” Jerry mumbled as he blindly made his way through the dark apartment. He almost broke his neck when he tripped over an empty beer bottle, all because somebody had the gall to pound on his door at three in the morning. “I swear to God, if you’re a salesman, I’ll shoot you dead where you stand,” he announced as he opened the door. It wasn’t a salesman, it was much worse. “Long time no see, cousin,” Martin said as he let himself in. “Damn, its dark in here. Turn on a light, will ya?”

           “How about, you go fuck yourself,” Jerry said as he shut the door and flipped the lights on. Martin had found a chair and took a seat. “Don’t you even wonder why your favorite cousin is here?” Martin asked.
            “I’m wondering what kind of a death wish you must have by bothering me, let alone at this hour.”

 **********************

            Jerry and Martin were never close, which was originally the fault of Martin’s father. A long time ago, their grandfather was dying of cancer and it put a tremendous strain on the family. Even though they were children at the time, Jerry and Martin weren’t very different than they were today; Martin was a selfish entitled brat and Jerry hated him. When the grandfather finally died and the family finished the funeral, it seemed that it was time to put everything behind and to move on. That’s when Martin’s father published his newspaper story. Martin’s father was a journalist working for the Times. He was thought to be taking a leave of absence during his fathers death when it turned out he was working on his biggest story yet.

            “Valiant Struggle: The Brave Death of my Father” debuted a few days after the funeral, and it recounted the final days of Jerry’s grandfather in as much detail as the paper could print. Nothing that occurred in the hospital during those final few days were left out. Everything from what doctors said in the open to seemingly private conversations were detailed in the article. It was all capped off by a public and tearful “Goodbye Grampa.” from Martin which touched everyone as a genuine and heartfelt gesture from a spoiled brat. It turned out to be staged by Martin and his father as a perfect ending to the story. The story itself won him a Pulitzer, a promotion, and disowning from the entire family.
            When Martin’s father died while on assignment during the war in the Middle East, no one in Jerry’s family cared. The cries of “My father was a great man!” and “There are no more proud figures in my family” from Martin fell on deaf ears. Then, in his biggest gesture of entitlement to date, Martin announced that he would take up in his fathers stead. The second he received his journalism degree, Martin was offered his father’s position at the Times.
            Despite the legacy he was riding his success on, the rest of the family did not consider him as seemingly evil as his father, so they still included him. That changed when Jerry’s mother discovered a lump in her chest and raced to the hospital where breast cancer was revealed. Jerry grew suspicious when Martin came to “support his Aunt during this rough time” and when he discovered that Martin had plans to write a story about this similar to the grandfather story, he confronted him and tossed him down a staircase.
            Jerry spent the next few months in prison, and served every day with a smile. Martin strayed far from the family after that. He would show up to the occasional Thanksgiving dinner but few rarely talked to him.

**************************** 

            “I’m glad you still fancy yourself a bad ass, but I’ve got something important to discuss with you,” Martin said. Jerry said nothing and folded his arms.

            “There are a couple reasons why I am here right now. One is that I don’t know who I can trust besides family, and as crazy as it sounds, I mean it since I’m talking to you of all people…and Two, I’m confident I’m being followed, so this was my best chance to talk to you without being spied on.”
            “I’m gonna count to three, and if you’re not gone by then…” Jerry said as he made for the closet where he kept a baseball bat.
            “Do you really think I’d come to you unless there was tons of money at stake?”
            “Fuck you and your money.”
            “I’m talking millions.”
            “And I’m telling you to leave.”
            “I can tell by this dump you don’t care much for money, but just imagine how it would benefit your mother once her cancer gets bad.”
            “Get OUT!” Jerry screamed as he pulled the bat out pointed the bat at the door.
            “Just relax.” Martin said as he pulled out a folded piece of paper. On it was scratchy writing, but Jerry could recognize a very big number with a lot of zeros at the end of it. “Its a reward for anyone who can prove what is happening right now isn’t just a rumor.” Jerry eyed Martin for a moment. “What rumor?” he asked.
            “Its unconfirmed, obviously,” Martin started “But word is that a nowhere little town about five hours north of here has gone completely off the map. Gone. Complete communications breakdown. Rumor says a bunch of nasty storms ran through and knocked out power, but I don’t buy it. If that happened you’d hear about a state of emergency or something. Nothing. Then word of something weird surfaced. It sounded so crazy that I dismissed it, but when multiple sources started talking about the same thing, I dug deeper.”
            “What are you talking about?” Jerry asked.
            “Zombies.” Martin said with a spark in his eye and a face of stone cold seriousness. The two men endured silence for a moment before Jerry spoke. “I’m expecting a punch line or something at this point,” he said while Martin retained a poker face.
            “So fine,” Jerry said “You need proof. Why does this involve me? Its not like you ever needed help before being a douche bag.” Martin sighed. “The second I started digging into the situation, the government was on top of me. I must have triggered a red flag or something,” Martin said while playing with the folded paper in his hand. “I wouldn’t be able to leave the city without being tailed so actually going to the town itself is out of the question. But you…You’re clean, as far as the government cares. I made sure of it.”
            “Not interested,” Jerry said as he gestured with his bat for Martin to leave. “A reward has been offered. Ten million dollars to anyone who can actually confirm the zombie town rumor. And that’s just the lowest offer I’ve come across,” Martin said as Jerry lowered the bat. “I also know you have a friend who used to go to college there. Don’t you think he’s concerned?”
            Jerry knew he’d be a fool not to go for the money. Hell, the money is what drove Martin to his doorstep. “Tell me one thing, and be honest,” Jerry said “Is it all about the money? Or do you at least care a little bit about the actual people in that town?” Martin didn’t answer, which spoke volumes to Jerry about how little Martin cared about the human face of this zombie threat, not that Jerry was entirely ready to believe the zombie part.
            "And what if it turns out to be nothing?" he asked as Martin smiled. "If you end up wasting your time, I'll pay all expenses myself," he said, never losing the smile "I'll even give you a portion of your cut in advance." Martin was serious, he never talked lightly about spending his own money so recklessly.
            “Fine,” Jerry said to Martin’s joy “But I’ll only do it if Ted wants in. Now get out.”

********************************** 

            Car horns blared as Jack swerved through traffic, determined to make it into the turn lane so he could enter the gas station last minute. “You drive like a fucking idiot,” Ted said as Jack stopped the engine.
            “You just wish you could pull that kind of shit off,” Jack responded as he exited the car.
            “I wouldn’t need to since I don’t fuck around with my cell phone while driving.”
            “Maybe you can ignore texts, but I refuse. You have no right to bitch anyway since I still made the turn.”
            “Whatever. What was the damn emergency anyway?”

            “Fuckin’ Jerry. Wanted to know where we were and why you ain’t answering your phone.”
            “Phones home. You want a breakfast sandwich or something?”
            “Smokes,” Jack announced and started pumping gas.
            Ted went in for a breakfast sandwich and came out with two packs of cigarettes. He entered the truck again but Jack didn’t drive off. “We’re already late,” Ted said, but Jack didn’t make any attempt to drive. “What are you waiting for?” Ted demanded as he lit a cigarette. “Jerry lives couple blocks away,” Jack said “He said he’d meet us here.” Ted rolled down the window. “Must be important,” he said “If he's actually up before noon.”
            They waited a few more minutes before Jerry came running up to the truck. “Thanks,” he said as he climbed into the back. “We’re late for work as it is,” Jack said as he started the truck and drove off “This better be as important as you said it was.”
            “It is,” Jerry said “And you shouldn’t go to work today. In fact you’ll never need to go to work ever again.”
            “Whatever. Hope you brought bus fare,” Jack said, rather uninterestedly “Cuz I’m not dropping you off at home.”
            “Go fuck yourself,” Jerry said as he turned his attention to Ted “Hey Ted, when was the last time you heard from anyone in Cazenovia?”
            “Not really sure,” Ted said “Been a little too wrapped up lately to notice.”
            “I bet it's been a week since you heard from anyone.”
            “What's it to you?”
            “Because no one else had heard from that place since it inexplicably went off the grid last week.”
            “And you think…?”
            “My cousin Martin is willing to pay us to go check it out, and bring back evidence of what the cause of the blackout.”
            “Because Martins proved to be a reliable person in the past,” Ted said sarcastically.
            "Didn't you go to jail last time you two spoke?" Jack chimed in.
            “He paid me $2,000 cash," Jerry continued "He didn’t go himself because the government is apparently up his ass.”
            The three sat in silence a moment. They all knew about Martin, and they all knew he was as close to being Jewish as they come. If he paid that much money up front, there was a definite pay day on the horizon. And if he approached Jerry to do it, then it's really must’ve been something he couldn’t do on his own.
            “How much money is on the line, exactly?” Jack asked.
            “Millions,” Jerry said “I spent all night going over the figures with Martin. Fucker refused to leave unless we ironed out the logistics. There is a serious pay day pending if we can provide the proof.”
            “And what proof would we need?” Ted asked.
            “Uh…This is the tough part, so take me in all seriousness," Jerry said “The apparent cause of all that is…zombies.”
            “Seriously?” Jack asked. Ted stayed quiet.
            “It doesn’t matter,” Jerry said “I got the cash from him anyway. We might as well check it out and if it turns out to be zombies, we’ll have a massive opportunity. All we need to do is kill the zombie and bring the corpse back as proof. Martin wants the rights to break the story, and we’ll go down as the first ever zombie hunters or some shit.”
            “I think you need to cut down on the weed.” Jack said.
            "I was going to invite you along," Jerry said "But with that attitude, maybe not."
            "Whatever, why don't we just take the money and run?"
            "This is my cousin we're talking about. He might make some bull shit story up about how I robbed him."
            "He might be doing that right now, just to fuck with you."
            “Might as well try,” Ted said “I feel like visiting some friends anyway.
            “You ain’t getting any of this money unless you help, Jack,” Jerry said.
            “Fine. But only for the money,” Jack said.
            “Excellent. Now turn off here, we need to pick up Marko.”

BGI v3 [Part 0]

Once upon a time I went on winter break in high school and found myself very bored very fast. So I decided to write a book.
...Now we are here and you are about to read the newest version of the story that started everything. And it was the original appearance of The Default Will Rule.

...fun fact: there's a school that approved of armed janitors...which is funny cuz the original version of this story (and another story I wrote in high school) involved a [disgruntled] janitor with a gun.

Enjoy.

----------------------------------------------

[BGI v3 - Part 0]

            "That's not ominous," Ted said sarcastically as he looked at the dark clouds approaching. "Shh!" Aaron scolded him as he continued to smoke his recently lit cigarette. The two seniors stood outside the high school in a tucked away corner near the back entrances. They weren't suppose to be out with another half-hour to go in the school day, but Aaron didn't want to wait any longer for a smoke and Ted didn't feel like sleeping through his last study hall. So, in what was a regular routine so long as the weather was nice, they cut out early.
            Under normal circumstances, they would never get away with what they do, but the Grimes High School was different. The teaching staff was in constant flux and new teachers were introduced monthly. Some staff members were brought in that never seemed to actually do any teaching and no one could find them during the day. It was as if they were around for something other than running a high school. The lack of familiarity with students meant Ted and Aaron, among others, were allowed to slip through the cracks and disappear from certain classes.
            "I don't feel like getting caught because you wanted to voice your opinion on the fucking clouds," Aaron stated. Ted shrugged and continued to look out. Dark clouds were slowly rolling in. It didn't look threatening, especially since there was no distant thunder, but something about how the wind was subtlety picking up struck Ted as interesting. Aaron took notice of the wind too, if only because it occasionally blew his own smoke back at him.
            "Thought you said Will was cutting out with us," Ted said to Aaron, taking care to lower his voice. Aaron shrugged. "Not my fucking problem." He was about to say something else when a small tremor sounded and the ground shook momentarily. "What the fuck was that?" Aaron asked. "Beats me," Ted said as he took notice of a distant thunder that at first he thought was coming from the approaching clouds, but was really from within the school.
            Whatever the sound was, it was quickly joined by a multitude of other unexplainable noises, some of which sounded like animals, though neither Ted nor Aaron could wager a guess as to what animals they could be, or if any such creatures were even suppose to exist, or where the sounds were even coming from. There were two discernible growls; one high pitched and one low. It seemed as if they were all originating from under their location.
            "What's under us?" Ted asked in a whisper. "I don't...nothing," Aaron said as he thought back to the basement layout he knew about from the various Saturday detentions he spent cleaning things out. "There's nothing suppose to be under this spot." The two knelt down and strained to listen more but all noise was drowned out when the school buses drove in to line up for the end of the school day, the roar of the multiple engines made it impossible to hear anything else.
            "Wanna figure this shit out?" Ted asked as Aaron tossed his cigarette. "Fuck that," he said as he watched as more buses drove in. "Well we have three options for the next half-hour," Ted said "We could stand out here like idiots, trying to hear anything over the symphony of buses...We could investigate the mini earthquake we just endured like men...or we could run to the buses like girls and suck our thumbs. Aaron made a face and shook his head, but reluctantly agreed. "Yeah, let's figure this out," he said "Odds are it's nothing."
            The two made for the doors when they stopped dead in their tracks at the sound of dozens of screams. "Maybe it's not nothing," Ted said as the initial screams were joined by dozens more. "Maybe we should, I dunno, be girls and run to the buses," Aaron said as Will came sprinting out the back entrance. "Oh shit! Oh shit!" he screamed as he grabbed Ted's shoulders.
            "What the f-" Ted started before a rush of students came crashing out behind Will, the faint animal like growls now amplified so they could be heard over the bus engines. The sudden stampede knocked Aaron away as Ted dragged Will aside. Aaron made a feeble attempt to get over to Ted and Will, but as a second group of frightened students came running out with the even louder and now multiple inhuman cries trailing, he decided to head for one of the buses.
            "What is wrong? What is it?" Ted yelled at Will who was trying to push Ted away so he could run. "Will!" Ted screamed as he slapped the underclassman, "Talk to me!" Will turned his head back to the entrance and his eyes went wide. Ted looked over to see someone rushing up to the glass doors from the inside, but they weren't running rather than gliding, their feet never touching the ground.
            The person hit the doors and blew them open, taking to the air when they came out. It was one of the teachers that had "left" maybe a month prior, but it only bore slight resemblance now. Out of the back, it had two large leathery wings that kept it airborne, their neck had been stretched three feet longer and from the middle of the chest down to the stomach was replaced by a deformed face that was still chewing on something Ted couldn't figure as it spit out the occasional bone fragment. A third arm was weakly sticking out of its right hip, holding onto a broken metal rod.
            The creature stretched its neck all three feet up and it scanned the fleeing crowd before it looked down on Ted and Will with its black eyes. It opened its mouth and let out a scream, Ted realizing that the noises he heard before wasn't coming from two different creatures but from one singular monster. Will and Ted took off as the beast flew down for a kill. Ted glanced back quick and dove to the side, separating himself from Will as the winged monster crashed down on top of the poor kid and started ripping into him with its elongated claws.
            Ted got to his feet and made for one of the buses, climbing onto the first one he could get to. Aaron was gone and there was no way Ted could track anyone down in the chaos. He made his way to the back as the sound of breaking windows and falling glass was heard. Ted and the eight other students on the bus looked over to see dozens more winged creatures, smaller but just as deadly, fly out and attack.
            "Get us out of here!"someone screamed and the driver finally put the bus into drive, just as the bus in front was knocked over and a few creatures flocked in through an open window. "Hang on!" the driver shouted as he maneuvered around the fallen bus and made for the exit. Ted looked back at Will's body to find the large winged creature was gone. He didn't need to waste much time looking for it since it flew over and intercepted the bus.
            The driver floored the accelerator with the intent to road kill the creature but as the bus made contact, it grabbed on and attempted to lift the bus into the air. "Hold on, I'm gonna try-" the driver started but was cut off when the creature, using its third arm for leverage, used its other right arm to chuck the metal rod through the windshield and right into the drivers chest.
            The bus lost all speed and the creature stopped it before going under to try lifting it again, this time to success. "Out the back!" Ted yelled as he turned but stopped at the sight of three of the smaller creatures banging on the back door, trying to get in. He tried making his way to one of the exits in the middle of the bus as it began its vertical lift. The run quickly became a climb and Ted had to take refuge using one of the seats as the bus was soon lifted straight up in the air.
            Students screamed as they fell down and crashed into the rear of the bus. The creature shook the bus violently and Ted held on while others were rattled off their seats and fell. One girl bounced off of Ted's seat and managed to grab hold of the one across the aisle. Ted reached over and grabbed her before she slipped and fell like all the others. After helping her up, he looked up to see the creature let loose one last scream before letting the bus go.
            The bus didn't fall far as it came down perfectly on its rear, jostling the pile of students that were otherwise motionless. Ted and the girl were almost thrown off their seat, but were able to recover. Looking back up, Ted didn't see the creature anymore, but noticed his view of the sky was moving; the bus was tipping over. The two clutched the seat as the bus came crashing down on its side.
            The landing threw the students to the other side of the bus. Ted quickly attempted to sit up, but found everything too heavy as he dropped back to the ground. The dwindling number of screams outside slowly became distant to Ted as his last thought was a wish that this was all only a bad dream.

 

 

 

 

 

2013

[...Posted by Ted H]

Well well well well well....2013. What could I possibly hope to accomplish this year?

I've decided that no one singular project can hold my attention for long, so instead I will embark on the hopeless quest of tackling multiple major projects to amuse myself this year.
Don't call these resolutions, because if you call me out on this in December, I'll throw this very disclaimer right back at you: I make no actual promise to do shit.

Such projects include:

-BGI (v3)
My original major project. I wrote the original in high school and it set me off on the path I find myself on today. Everything I've accomplished since (except the Fat Lady poem) was made possible because of the "success" of BGI.
Rereading the original makes me cringe and wonder why all the people who read it didn't just smack me in the head for the atrocious grammar (so bad that the Geneva Convention has made reproduction of that story illegal). I rewrote the story and fixed a multitude of the errors (grammar and continuity) a year later and even now as I reread version 2, I cringe.
Version 3, which to my amazement has been demanded by multiple people (more than 1) will be attempted this year.
The first version was about me and my friends in the very high school we attended, if it became the plot of a Resident Evil game, all to fulfill my own hubris. Version 2 made no deviation to that set up. I originally wanted to make version 3 a little less stupid, but I feel the need to keep nostalgia in place and keep it about a handful of teenagers fighting off zombies and more in their high school (cuz that concept is sooooooo original).
BGI is an abbreviation. Few will get it and that's kinda the point.
I will put BGIv3 in its entirety on this site.
...and yes, the main character is still named 'Ted' because fuck you, I'm awesome!

-Million Dollar Zombie
What BGI was to my high school, MDZ kinda became that to my college by accident. I needed a setting and in being devoid of originality for settings, I used the college.
...and the main character here is also named 'Ted' because (again) fuck you, I'm awesome!
It's less Resident Evil in this one and more Walking Dead (and seeing how I rarely expose myself to any version of the Walking Dead, show-game-comic, this should be interesting)
Probably won't put all of MDZ on this site.

-Safe Haven
More like make a meaningful advancement to that story. My month long stall killed all the momentum for that and I recently wrestled with the idea of changing the ending, which halted all writing cuz it would require a rewrite. I've decided to keep the ending, or at least not make it as radically different as I intended. SH will take a backseat to the above two, at least until I iron out a few details.
All updates will be here, ya know, if I get there.

-Adventures is New Vegas
I'm gonna play Fallout: New Vegas and write about it. I had enough fun doing the same with Oblivion last year, and if I need a break, NV will help me keep sharp.

-That One Night
Make an honest to God attempt at publishing this bitch. The major problem is that it's not quite long enough to fit some peoples loose definition of novel. Also there's the fact that it's almost impossible to explain to people who like plots to be simple.

-Write a poem
It's been a while.
I'd blame my muse...but that would be lazy...
...So I blame my muse.