History Repeated: An Unforgettable Day

A Story by MsBeccaBunny

What happens when a virus overtakes a small town?

“Happy Halloween!” Ryder squealed in Rayne’s ear. Rayne jumped, and then scowled at Ryder. “Was that really necessary?” Rayne whined. Josh just glanced at them, amused. “Wipe that smirk off your face Josh. I’m not in the mood.” Rayne grumbled. Josh didn’t say anything as the girls continued to fight. The banter ceased as the bell beginning class rang dully in their ears. Rayne Michaels was an American Indian and proud of it. Her Cherokee characteristics were her most prominent feature. She was a freshman at the University of Phoenix. Ryder was also a freshman but she was African American, her skin a milk chocolate brown. Josh was a sophomore at the University. He was tall, 6’1, and had the body of a lifeguard. These three had known each other since their freshmen and sophomore years back in high school.

Their physics teacher, Mr. Banner, walked into the classroom agonizingly slow. “Today students, we will be learning about inertia.” he said in a monotone voice. At hearing the topic for that day, Josh, Rayne, and Ryder quietly began talking with each other, as did most of the class. “Who knew college would be so boring.” Ryder quietly whispered. “What did you think it would be like? Parties till dawn and no homework?” Rayne said, raising an eyebrow quizzically. Ryder grumbled to herself, probably something about wishing that was true.

Josh was the first to notice something was off. He looked outside of the large glass windows, watching the autumn leaves roll lightly in the wind. Then he saw it. Someone was running, and not a normal jog either. At first Josh found this hilarious and chuckled to himself. Rayne and Ryder both turned to look at Josh, trying to figure out what was so funny. “Look out the window.” Josh whispered to the girls. They followed his gaze and both just stared as the man ran down the street, his arms flailing. “Do you think he’s okay?” Rayne asked worriedly. Ryder snorted. “Does he look okay Rayne?”

In the next moment, the door to the classroom was flung wide open. A draft carried in with a few leaves. The Dean, Mr. Koontz, was screaming hysterically. “They’re here, they’re here, run for your lives, the zombies are here to kill us all!” Everyone in the room just gaped open-mouthed at the Dean as though he had just given birth to a whale before their very eyes. Mr. Banner was the first to regain his composure. “Surely Mr. Koontz, you need to calm down for a moment. There is no such thing as zombies. If you’ve seen anything it was probably just someone in a costume.” Mr. Banner tried to reason. “No! No! I know what I saw, and if you don’t believe, then you’ll all die!” Mr. Koontz proclaimed loudly, his voice cracking with hysterics. Then, the next moment, someone was slammed against the window from outside. Blood dripped from their mouth, their gender impossible to tell based on the chunks of rotting flesh falling off their body. Everyone then swiveled their head back to where Mr. Koontz had stood moments before, but was now halfway down the block, running quickly for a man his age.

Ryder was the first to scream, then more followed. Everyone ran from the classroom, tripping each other in the process. Ryder, Rayne, and Josh stuck together. They ran to Josh’s house which was only three blocks from the college. “What the hell was that?” Josh demanded, slamming the front door behind him, cursing as he failed to latch the deadbolt. “How should I know?” Ryder said, shaking, trying to hold back sobs. Rayne just stood there, shocked. After a moment, Rayne spoke up. “What did you hear Dean Koontz say before he ran from the room Ryder?” “Zombies?! How is that even possible?” Ryder broke down, sobbing, her arms wrapped around herself. “If it really is zombies, we’ll have to find weapons. I’ve seen enough horror movies to know the basics.” Josh said, trying to show courage, though none was making itself known. “This isn’t one of your horror movies Josh! This is reality. We have to plan things out.” Rayne declared. What Rayne had said finally struck home with all of them. “Is there no hope?” Ryder whispered.

“I’m sure there’s something that we can do.” Josh said putting his arm around her, immediately ceasing her shaking. Rayne peaked through a crack in the blind of a nearby window. “It looks like we’re safe for now.” she said, now sitting on a chair next to the window. “It might not be the best idea to sit right there.” Josh said, moving away from Ryder to make room for Rayne. Rayne started to move but stopped at the pissed off look Ryder was giving her. “I’ll just stand.” Rayne said. A few awkward moments passed. “What are we supposed to do?” Ryder finally asked the question on everybody’s mind. She looked at Josh, waiting for an answer, while making an effort not to look at Rayne. He shrugged, “You heard Rayne. This isn’t one of my horror movies.” he said, mimicking Rayne. “Okay, if you’re going to be immature, then you can go get eaten alive for all I care.” Rayne huffed and glared at Josh. He ignored her comment.

“Josh, do you know where your parents are?” asked Ryder. “I don’t know. Mom!” Pause. “Dad!” Josh yelled. He became more frantic the more he searched. “Josh,” said Rayne. “Josh!” she said, this time more forcefully, and grabbing his shoulders. Softly she said, “Josh, you need to calm down. Think about where your parents might have gone once they heard the news.” Josh’s eyes wouldn’t meet hers; he was looking behind her above the fireplace. There, on the mantle, was his answer, a cross. “They must be at the church. They are very religious after all. It only makes sense.” Rayne turned to look at Ryder. They nodded to each other. This was going to be difficult. The church was only two blocks down but a lot of things could go wrong in that time. They didn’t have any choice but to go by foot. Their cars were left at the college, and who knew how many of those disgusting creatures would be there.

“Well, it looks like we’ll need some weapons to defend ourselves.” said Rayne, sounding more confident than she felt. And with that, they each grabbed the closest weapon they could find. Rayne grabbed the fire poker sitting against the wall, Ryder found an old golf club in the half closet, and Josh found a sturdy oak cane by the door.

Without a single word they slowly slid out of the door, each listening for the sounds of the undead. They had made it a block when trouble started. A zombie had been hidden behind an old Volkswagen, and had grabbed a fistful of Ryder’s hair.

“Let go of me!” Ryder screamed. The things holding her started to lean towards her neck, the creatures’ mouth dripping globs of blood. “Don’t touch her you disgusting piece of filth!” Josh yelled, making impact as he swung the cane around, hitting the zombie square on its head. With a sickening ripping noise, the zombie’s head rolled off its decomposing body. Its body became limp and released it hold on Ryder. “Come on Ryder, we have to get out of here. Some others might have heard you and Josh yell.” Rayne said, grabbing Ryder’s hand as she just stood there stricken with fear. They made it the rest of the way to the church without incident.

“Is anyone here?” Josh asked quietly, pushing open the double doors of the church. It was a gruesome sight. The church looked as though it had been through a massacre. Blood dripped from the pews and a large puddle of it had pooled in the aisle. “I think I’m going to be sick.” Ryder said swaying dangerously. She plopped down into the closest blood-free pew.

“So what do we do now?” Rayne asked Josh. “I guess we just hole up and wait until someone comes across us.” replied Josh, frowning. So that’s what they did after they reinforced the church door with a couple of pews.

A couple of hours later, the doors of the church ripped open, kicked down. The three college students jumped about five feet in the air, startled from their light to nonexistent sleep. Rayne squinted into the bright light now shining in through the door. “No way.” She whispered in disbelief. For there in the doorway stood a large swat team. The team led the teens out and into a helicopter landed a couple of blocks away. As they made their way to the chopper, they vaguely noticed several bodies that laid in crumpled heaps, their heads lopped off of their bodies.

♦♦♦

A few months passed, and according to the news, the virus bringing the dead to life had been destroyed. Rayne, Ryder, and Josh had been filled in on the situation on their way to the nearby Army base. The virus had come from a radiation leak into the soil near the cemetery. The chemical reaction reanimated the dead, the side effect being that they craved human flesh. You could kill the zombies by beheading them. And you could be turned into a zombie if you were bitten or scratched.

Rayne, Ryder, and Josh never forgot that Halloween, and the story has been passed down for generations. I, being a descendent from Rayne, knew of this story. My name is Eric. The year is now 2100. 100 years ago today, the dead rose. And it seems like once again, they have to be stopped. Eric loaded his gun, aiming it at the closest flesh eater, and fired.