HMTL Original Series: The Dead Life – #19
Day 17
Edgar cranked down the window, not all the way, but enough that he could fit his Glock and heavy hand outside. The two ghouls that had crept out from behind the building moved toward Dani and Jimmy. Edgar tapped the horn lightly, warning the pair.
Jimmy glanced backward, puzzled. Dani pointed toward her left and Jimmy turned to see the two undead wobbling down the sidewalk and nearly collapsing off the curb.
The ghouls seemed to regain their footing and continued their march. Edgar honked again and the rotting chasers turned their attention to the Cadillac.
They stumbled toward the driver’s side door with lurching, clumsy steps.
Jimmy wasn’t sure what the best course of action was. Their group was more than halfway to home by now, but they were trailing walking corpses and one pair arrived a little too close for comfort. Edgar has been riding slowly enough to keep the horde as a whole in check, but the other two made him wary.
Dani picked up her pace and Jimmy followed suit. The sound of a gunshot ripped through the air.
Jimmy whirled around to see Edgar had fired at one of the ghouls. A chorus of wild groaning followed from the trail behind the car.
Dani had turned back just as Edgar had taken aim and fired at the other attacker at the passenger side.
“What the fuck, where did he get the gun?” she asked.
Jimmy said nothing. What could he say? Edgar had kept his gun hidden on him since they’d arrived at the U-Stor-It. Jimmy had said nothing.
He snapped at Danielle, grabbing her attention. “Doesn’t matter right now, we’re almost there.”
Dani glanced between Jimmy and the Cadillac. She furrowed her brow. “A fucking secret GUN?”
Jimmy grunted and turned his attention back to his cart. This would complicate their stay.
“Hey, we’ll have Ed lead them away for a bit and come back around, alright, when we get to the gate?”
Jimmy had hoped he wasn’t too obvious in giving himself time to smooth things over.
Dani cast a harsh glance and shrugged as she put her focus into the shopping cart. “Sounds like a plan.”
Jimmy slowed down, slightly, just getting in range ahead of the front bumper of the car. “Ed, when we get to the gate we’ll get Mary out – can you lead them away in the car and come back around?”
Edgar honked.
Jimmy jogged back toward Dani’s position pushing the cart along. The plan would need to work for now.
They were almost on the street where they would need to make a turn. Dani and Jimmy began shifting their carts to the left and Edgar slowed the Cadillac down a bit to give them room. Hungry corpses continued to moan and stumble after them.
The whirr of the siren ripped through the air again, and Jimmy and Dani stared down the cross street on the right. The car was fast enough that trying to cross the street now would be dangerous. All they could do is helplessly watch the police cruiser approach their position with a trail of shambling, human shapes in its wake.
The Dead Life is a Haunted MTL original fiction series.
-Mountains-
A serene mountain landscape yawns; monumental evergreen trees fingering a brilliant azure sky stroked with wispy clouds. The air is crisper and fresher here, wafting its piney fragrance along the meandering deer path that bends and swerves down the gradual slope…
-Reset-
-City-
A bustling urban environment beckons, its diverse, brightly-clothed denizens laughing with one another, casually parting as you stroll through their midst. Sunlight dances through the crowd, reflecting off of towering buildings, cars, and bicycles. Sounds swell together as though breathing life into all interconnected within this rich tapestry of time and space. The street is a cacophony of alluring smells, and the savory scent of kosher all-beef hot dogs…
-Vegetarian-
Fragrant cumin zing of vegetable samosas…
-European-
Perfume of freshly baked baguettes embraces you in a warm hug as you sit at a small metal café table, savoring an espresso…
-Caffeine Free-
Lavender cremosa…
-Non-Carbonated-
Limonade…
-Reset-
-Beach-
The warm sand squishes between your bare toes as the soft ocean waves lap at your feet, beckoning you to wade further into the cool water…
-No Swimming-
The woven rope hammock stretched between two perfectly-spaced palm trees sways slowly as you lounge in its cradle, sipping a Mai Tai…
-Non-Alcoholic-
Iced lemonade in a highball glass through a red plastic straw…
-Eco-Conscientious-
Paper straw, the citrusy elixir providing respite from the steamy…
-Less Hot-
Warm breezy summer…
-Spring-
Spring air, children…
-Nature-
Birds…
-Silence-
You close your eyes, hammock gently rocking you to slumber.
We here at My Universe wish to thank you again for choosing our services. We know that there are many post-cataclysmic alternative realities available, and we appreciate your business. Please enjoy your respite from the societal collapse, and remember us next time you need to unwind.
And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website. And if you really feel like getting away and helping clean up the beach a bit, check out this relaxing video from Dylan Clark titled Seagrass. Or maybe that wasn’t so relaxing after all… 😉
Somehow I came across an older Midnight Panther comic book, Feudal Fantasy #2 from the late 1990s to be precise, and I thought I’d reappropriate it into a new story as a collage. Anyway, this is what evolved. Honestly there wasn’t a lot of content to work with, but that isn’t surprising seeing as how that wasn’t really the point of the original… And sorry, I saved the erotic bits for another project, though even that was pretty tame in this one – just a bunch of boobies.
Images: Black and white line drawings of wide-eyed anime women and men in various states of undress, looking cute, being coyly pensive, and hack ‘n slashing.
Text reads: I like… men who are dying. We ought to just kill everyone involved. The scent of blood!! I never see his face, he always wears a mask. What a waste of time. I don’t like this. The horny bastard. What a pig!! -Slash- Sounds like it could be fun.
Images: More black and white line drawings of wide-eyed anime women and men kissing and hack ‘n slashing.
Text reads: Mercenaries of glorious Edo, if you can make the flowers that bloom along the rivers during spring drop their petals, then do so. I’m the Ferryman of the River Styx. Whssh.
OK, OK – here are some boobies since you stuck with this so long. And here’s a link to some more of my comic book collages, in case you are interested.
And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website.
Black Friday.
You can’t beat the deals. So many of us. Waiting. Readying. Checking the time. Counting down the seconds. You better believe I earned my place at the start of the line. I’ve been camping out here since late Wednesday. Yeah, yeah, the holiday was yesterday. Whatever, I had my family’s full endorsement.
Because that new high-definition television beckons. The best in zoning out technology. All channel access. Cutting edge entertainment. Bleeding edge. That blade is sharp, baby. Like a razor.
But this kind of escapism is costly. A reality check says it’s not in my family’s budget. We don’t make that kind of money, and so here I am. Among all the others vying for the same prize.
Only one will get there first. Only one available. Must have TV. Must have T.V. Must. Have. T. V.
An employee approaches the door. Nobody noteworthy. A soon-to-be-casualty. No more. No less.
We rise and lurch into place. Ready…
On your mark.
Get set.
Go!
Original images generated with Nightcafe AI art generator.
And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website. Or if you just want more zombies, might I recommend either Elvis or the Fashionistas?
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