In the Dead of Night (Part 2)

And now Part 2 of...

In the Dead of Night

"Humph, only in the movies Frank," he told himself. He thought he might as well try to find an open truck anyway, because he did not fancy the idea of running through all the ghouls he would eventually encounter. Up, over the fence, and down he dropped to the ground on the other side. There were seven trucks parked in the depot and in the distance he noticed the main gate was open.

He looked in all seven of the trucks, but no keys were left hanging at the end of his rainbow. What now? He had never tried to hot-wire a vehicle before, but he was a college student so why not give it "the old college try?" He hopped up into one of the cabs and slid the steering wheel up to its highest position. He ducked his head underneath the dashboard, pulled down the wiring, and broke into frenzied laughter. He knew he was probably not going to get lucky, since he hadn't the slightest idea which wires needed to be crossed. After several minutes of trying different combinations, he sat up and drew a breath.

In the coolness of the cab, he sat and listened to the noises of the evening. The sound of sirens filled the air and what could have only been explosions rang out in the distance. He knew he should keep moving, but where should he go? He needed some kind of protection, which is one of the reasons he left his apartment in the first place. "The Pawn Shop!" he exclaimed out loud and to his surprise. Surely there would be something there he could use to protect himself. Since there were not many living people that he could seein this area, he figured that maybe it had been evacuated. His apartment complex was located just ten minutes from the downtown area, which is where the first reports had come from. The other possibility was that the people ran away in a mass panic and probably had already looted all the stores, including the pawnshop.

Whatever had happened, he had to check it out before he went any farther. Then he realized that he would have to double back in the direction he had come from because the pawnshop was on the other side of his apartment complex. "Great." As he opened the door of the truck, he saw that a group of zombies had moved into the trucking depot.

There were more than twenty of the zombies converging on the door on the driver's side of the truck. He slid over to the passenger's side and opened the door. He climbed out and onto the roof of the truck just as a couple of the ghouls made their way to the door. From the roof, he could count about twenty-five of the dead beginning to surround the truck.

Two things in the air, which caused him to stagger back, immediately flared his senses.He heard the unearthly moans that streamed into his ears as a horribly foul odor rose up to fill his nostrils. One of the dead was attempting to climb onto the hood of the truck. When Frank saw this, he decided to make his move. He leapt to the next truck's rooftop again and again until he was on the last truck, as the zombies slowly followed his actions. He jumped down off the truck just as the first of the zombies neared him.

He ran from the truck depot and headed towards the pawnshop. As the sound and the smell of the ghouls were left behind, he slowed his pace and began to look ahead for others, living or dead. At the first intersection, he saw several cars and trucks scattered throughout the area. An apparently large fire had blackened two of the cars. A few figures were moving about near an abandoned gas station and Frank realized that the staggered movements were not those of the living.

He stayed near the shrubbery and the buildings that lined the East Side of the street. So far, none of the zombies had noticed him. He moved along in silence, keeping an eye out for every moving shadow. After a few more yards he saw the pawnshop in the distance. It looked as though it had already been looted and had sustained some fire damage. "Fire?" he questioned to himself. He realized that earlier he had heard sirens bellowing out in the night, but the sound of them had now moved away. It appeared that the events, which took place here, had happened some time ago, though the smell of smoke still lingered in the air. The smoke was accompanied by an ever-growing stench, which Frank quickly recognized.

Nausea grew within him as his lungs filled with the putrid stink of dead flesh and his head began to swim. Light-headed, he stopped behind one of the small buildings.He buckled over and grabbed at his stomach and the last meal he had eaten spilled out onto the ground. He stood up after a few minutes, wiped the tears that watered his eyes, and spat out the last bit of bile-laden saliva. He gulped in some fresh air and put his head against the wall to steady himself. He looked around to see if his actions had attracted any attention.

Seeing that he was safe, he continued onward to the pawnshop. He entered through a glass-less window frame on the far right side of the storefront. As he had suspected, all of the guns were taken. The tile floor was covered with broken glass and bullet casings. He sifted through the rubble in the middle of the shop. He found only broken guitars, busted stereo equipment, and several cabinets that had been reduced to shards of particleboard.He decided to make his effort whole-hearted and checked the corners of the shop as well.

He moved pieces of melted jewelry and threw aside different bits of plastic handles and hardware. He moved a large table to one side and a clanking sound on the debris-covered tile caught his attention. He looked down to see an array of tools that had been displayed on top of another table. No doubt the mob that ran-sacked the place, were uninterested in this table with all the weapons there were to be taken. What might he find?

~*~*~*~*~*

Tune in tomorrow for the exciting Conclusion!!

• Today's Cure song is Holy Hour from the FaithCD - (1981) One slow,dark,dreary tune that seems to be about disappointment in either religion or love. There are some abstract lyrics from this dark time in the band's history.

"I sit, and listen dreamlessly. A promise of salvation makes me stay."

CJ