HMTL Original Series: The Dead Life – #7
Day 16
The noise generated by the rolling door of the storage unit was enough to tighten anyone’s ass given the situation. The storage facility made the sound louder and more sustained, thanks to an echo, and Dani winced each time a unit was opened up. It felt like every ghoul in the area would hear each sliding door and make their way to the Family Storage. Every open shutter would be like a dinner bell.
Bob peered into the unit for a moment and then stepped inside. Dani followed suit. It was a mess. The work of documenting the contents would have been much faster with Sandy’s help, but she had volunteered to keep an eye on the front office from the caretaker’s apartment above after they had sealed the shattered door with something more than cardboard.
It was not like Sandy would have approved of going into each unit, however. She somehow still believed that help would arrive any day now. Dani had no such illusions.
Dani’s gaze drifted from box to box in the unit, looking for some indication of the contents labeled on them. Most of them had no handwriting or sign of what was actually inside.
Bob was already deep into the contents of one box. He had assembled a hasty stack of books that continued to grow the deeper he dug. Bob had been particular about finding books all day.
It made sense. There had to be something else besides hiding from rotting, walking carcasses. Reading could pass most of the daylight hours. As for the night… well, there was sleep, Dani figured.
She turned her attention to a stack of boxes, uneven and haphazardly assembled. She grabbed the topmost box and moved it to a smaller stack. She pried it open and began to rifle through.
“Anything good?” Bob asked.
Dani held a handful of old letters in her hands.
“Not in this box unless you want some letters to read.”
“Might as well hold onto ‘em. It’s all that’s left of some folks. Might make for good reading.”
She tucked the letters back into the box and folded the flaps shut. She set herself to another smaller box. When she opened it she saw tangled piles of extension cables and Christmas lights.
“I found some cables and lights.”
Bob walked over to her and peered inside the box. He handed her a fat black marker.
“Might as well label it and pull it out of the unit. Might be able to connect them to the generator and give us some night lights if we need them.”
“Fair enough,” Dani said.
Dani labeled the box and set it right outside the unit. She turned her attention to the larger box that made up the bottom of the stack. So far most of these units had been uneventful but she had hoped some bounty was lurking within the over 200 units. So far 20 of them had been a bit of a bust.
But there were at least some books, thankfully.
She tried to shift the larger box but noticed it was very heavy. She peeled the tape that kept it sealed up and pried it open. She found herself staring at a box full of prepackaged nails and staples.
“Bob, we aren’t gonna be hurting for nails to build up the wall in the office…”
He stepped over and stared into the box and whistled.
“Well, let’s label it. We’ll grab it later.”
Dani scribbled “nails” onto the side of the box and on one of the opened flaps.
She peered around the unit. Bob was still engrossed in his books.
“Do you think we might stumble on more tools here? That is a lot of nails.”
Bob shrugged, he didn’t seem to be paying much attention.
“Might.”
Dani rolled her eyes. He was too far gone into perusing the collection he’d made.
Curious, she stepped around odd piles of junk, toward the rear of the unit. Just past a stack of boxes was a makeshift alcove. There stood a rolling tool chest and some gallon buckets filled with various tools.
Dani looked them over.
“Whoever had this unit must have been a contractor,” Bob chimed in right behind her.
Dani just about jumped out of her skin.
About an hour later they had hit their 23rd unit. The tools were the first of the more useful finds. So far it had been clothes, books, and paperwork in unit after unit. Fortunately, however, one unit contained a bunch of automotive supplies and parts. Neither Dani nor Bob knew if they’d be useful right away, but if something needed to be patched they hoped something in the collection would help. At least the two metal gas containers would be really helpful for later.
“Alright, we probably got one more unit before we should call it for the day. Gettin’ tired.”
Dani nodded.
Bob leaned over the lock and used his bolt cutters to cut it. The now useless combination lock hit the cement with a dull thud. Dani bent down and grabbed the latch at the bottom of the rolling door, and as gingerly as she could, she rolled the door up. Again, the sound made her wary. It was just too damn loud.
At first, the unit seemed oddly sparse. Just some card tables and some boxes resting on top. Dani and Bob looked at each other, shrugged, and stepped inside.
Bob leaned against the wall of the unit, a bit winded. He seemed very tired. It made sense given his age and circumstance. Dani took it on herself to check the boxes.
Her eyes grew wide.
“What? What is it?” Bob asked.
Dani pulled out a wax-paper-wrapped package. The smell of marijuana wafted through the unit, overlaying the musty air.
Bob did a slow blink.
“Is that… is that dope?”
Dani smiled.
“Like, a lot of it. At least three more of these packages in this box. Who knows what is in some of these other boxes?”
“Holy shit,” Bob whistled.
Dani opened the package. Sure enough, it was weed.
The celebration was cut short, however, with the sound of the front gate rattling.
No, not rattling. Violently shaking.
Something was trying to get in.
Thank you for reading the seventh installment of the Haunted MTL original series, The Dead Life. Please share your thoughts about the story with us.
Poised Potion Poison Potential, an RPG story by Jennifer Weigel
(There – I finally said it! Second time’s the charm. Can we move along now?)
So I think Barbarella is losing it. Like she’s been sneaking healing potions. We never did manage to get to an alchemist before she downed one of those unmarked flasks we got off the goblins when we took their lair. Yeah, we all know they’re healing potions but I can’t help but think the goblins weren’t getting their goods legit. I mean, they are goblins, ‘nuff said. And I’ve heard some of the black market varieties have other weird properties too, so I fear maybe she’s gotten a bad one or something.
Anyway, she’s been acting strange, spending a lot of time by herself. And not working out, like usual, but rather rifling through the treasure trove. Not that she’s at all sneaky about it. I mean c’mon, it is Barbarella after all. She’s kind of the polar opposite of discreet. She’s always been more of a don’t-tread-on-me and mess-with-my-buddies-mess-with-my-war-axe kind of a girl.
It’s making Squidge suspicious. Yeah I know, Squidge is a bit edgy anyway, but they’re acting even more so now. They seem to have an even tighter grip on whatever things they’ve stashed away all up in that cloak of holding or whatever it is that they never take off and that makes it hard to remember much of anything about them. Hell, I don’t even know what gender they are, not that it matters anyway. I don’t concern myself with what Squidge is or isn’t up to so I don’t really care; generally the best is to assume the worst and move on. Nosing around in Squidge’s business is like begging for a stab wound to the back in your sleep, if you know what I mean. But they’ve been acting even more paranoid than normal, so I think they’ve noticed that something is off too.
You know, it’s been a long time since I’ve even had to down a healing potion; I tend to stay in the far back and let the other two hack n slash, it’s safer that way. And health elixirs aren’t my cup-of-probiotic-smoothie-protein-tea (it’s all too snake oil salesman fad craze diet antioxidant stuff for me). I’m more of a freewhellin fireball flingin kind of spell-slinger. The healing arts magics are a bit too… mushy gushy lovey dovey for me.
We aren’t a goody-two-shoes fixer-upper team, more of a nice-fill-in-the-blank-I-think-I’ll-take-it kind of ensemble. You know the type. #thuglifeforever. But times like this do make me wish we had a paladin or a cleric or even a druid to tag along. Where do you find the moral high grounders when you need them anyway? Sure, I guess I could go to a church or something, but some of the lesser evil critters I’ve wagered pacts and bargains with may not take too kindly to that. And the nature nice guys are all save-the-treants which generally doesn’t mesh with the whole fireball jive.
I guess Squidge could ask someone, but they only really talk to The Guild and just in that you-don’t-stab-my-back-I-don’t-stab-yours kind of sense, so we don’t have anyone to consult with on these kinds of things. It’s certainly not worth seeking out a 100 gp pearl for a wizened old wizard to snort for further clarity, even if the relative scarcity and exchange rate has made them significantly smaller and easier to haul around at this juncture, assuming you can find them at all. I swear, if the alchemists didn’t need to get high to get anything done it’d be a whole lot easier for everyone. And don’t even get me started on the Oracle, that nympho dominatrix bitch. Suffice to say I will NOT be going back there anytime soon, for ANY reason.
So here we are. Maybe whatever it is’ll pass on its own. But I noticed a couple more of those goblin healing potions have gone missing. We all know they don’t work if you aren’t hurt. And I swear I saw Barbarella take her own axe to the shin before she downed one when she thought I wasn’t looking during my nightly séance with the campfire flames. My cohorts don’t realize I can actually do more than it seems from my ritual state. The demonspawn that grant me my powers aren’t always all-engrossing, especially if I’m channeling things I’ve done a bajillion times already and not trying to harness something new. Frankly sometimes it’s best to tune the spirits out since they pontificate at length for no reason, but I suppose I’m not one to talk.
I keep coming back to this thought though. Why would Barbarella hurt herself just to chug a stupid goblin potion anyway? Usually those dares go the other way. Goblin potions taste like bad grog two days following a dwarven ale upchuck hangover, and that’s if you’re lucky. Often they’re worse. And they’re not even that good as far as healing elixirs, mending maybe a minor flesh wound at best. They’re crappy, no getting around it, and a last resort at best. Why would she deliberately go out of her way to drink that shit?
You know, there’s a whole stash of the things left, and I am a bit down on health myself. Maybe I should try one to see what the allure is. Perhaps the camaraderie and shared experience could help me get Barbarella to sober up and leave the toxic sludge alone. Or at the very least, maybe I’ll understand what she sees in them. Perhaps they’re new and improved, but I seriously doubt it seeing as how they’re still just ill-obtained swag we got off some low-level goblins. You know, no one ever really gives goblins anything worth having unless they’re trying to exploit them in some way, and even then it’s really not worth it, seeing as how the goblins don’t have anything anybody wants to barter…
I swear those potions were in this satchel here; we had like over 100 of the things. Oh, here’s one, way down in the bottom of the bag having fallen under some of the other crap we looted that wasn’t worth much of anything. Wow I really had to dig deep to fish that out, and it’s only been about a week since the goblins’ lair… In the light looks like the same ol’ ordinary purple black pink tinged sludge we normally find, a tad more sparkle factor but not enough to care. Now why are Barbarella and Squidge both looking at me like I’m holding the golden goose egg of everlasting mana and fingering their weapons?
If you enjoyed this RPG story by Jennifer Weigel, perhaps you will want to see some art from previous campaigns or read the Twilight saga, both on Haunted MTL here.
Check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s writing here at Jennifer Weigel Words.
This is the kickoff to a new series exploring nature that is kind of horrifying, at least in ways. Our first subject is Vampires Among Us. There are lots of animals named for vampires, sometimes due to folklore and sometimes for their appearance (like the Vampire Squid), but most of these animals don’t have blood sucking tendencies.
Bats & Birds
There are legit vampire leaf-nosed bats in Central and South America that drink blood. They feed on mammals and are often shown to feed on livestock. They’d be kinda cute if they weren’t so creepy. There are also vampiric birds: some finches in the Galapagos have developed the taste for blood of other birds, mainly seabirds that flock to the islands to raise their young.
Leeches & Lampreys & More
And then you get into leeches and lampreys and other denizens of the water that are known to attach themselves to larger creatures and drink their blood. Leeches were even believed to have medicinal value (and still are in certain circumstances). And there are also numerous plants that are known to be parasitic and feed on other plants, wrapping their roots or vines around others to steal nutrients.
Spiders
Now I’m going to drift off into the realm where this becomes truly horrific. Spiders. Now, spiders aren’t vampires per se, seeing as how they actually kill their prey – they don’t just feed off of it while it remains living and wanders about its business. But because of their structure, they cannot eat solid foods, so they have to inject their prey with enzymes to liquefy it so they can slurp it out like a protein shake. That’s sort of vampirism on steroids if you ask me, just the kind that no one is coming back from.
Bloodsucking Bugs
But let’s get back on topic. Now let’s consider mites and ticks and fleas and mosquitoes and the like. Some drink blood for their survival; others do so as part of their reproductive cycle (like mosquitoes which otherwise eat fruit and nectar but need the extra protein from blood to grow their eggs).
Ticks need to feed on blood once at every stage of their life cycle and can pick up diseases along the way (like Lyme Disease) but don’t always do so. Different ticks are more likely to come in contact with different things and often humans are not their preferred meal but they are opportunistic and will feed on whatever is available when necessary. Symptoms of illness from tick bites may take years to develop and can have really weird side effects (like the allergy associated with Lone Star Ticks which makes a person unable to consume mammalian flesh).
Anyway, here are some brief glimpses of vampirism in nature. Thank you for joining us for Nightmarish Nature and may you avoid getting bitten by any true vampires among us… And I still think spiders take first place in the creepy eating category here, even if they aren’t technically vampiric.
This story came to me in a sort of roundabout way from a rather unusual source. So I thought I’d share it with you, dear readership, and see if you can make heads or tails of it. – Jennifer Weigel
Dread Pirate Rum Tum Tugger could tell this was the right spot.
The site, beneath the sweeping limbs of the Live Oak, Spanish Moss swaying gently in the breeze, was a perfect match to the crude map he had bought off that soothsayer Deuteronomy.
The earth moved easily, as if it had been excavated previously. He dug in with greater fervor with each swipe. The sandy soil gave way to reveal something hard. He scooped and smoothed the remaining detritus from the surface as he uncovered a box.
The carton was simple.
No markings; no ornamentation; no writing. Just a plain cardboard crate, brittle from having been buried for so long but still sturdy. He hoisted it from its burrow.
“Ha HO!” he shouted to the passing breeze, rousing a small cloud of birds that erupted from a nearby thicket. They captured his attention for a moment, but he quickly refocused and returned to his task.
The box was locked but no difference.
Any self-respecting ruffian like himself could pick a lock in seconds. And he did so with panache, as was his way. He pried the lid open and licked his lips.
Inside was the legendary Kernel of Eternal Life, a small sparrow’s heart, still beating.
Artwork description: Myself as Dread Pirate Queen Miss Kitty wearing black bell sleeve shirt and black vinyl skirt with strapping leather belt over leopard print shirt and tights, with strapping leather boots, pirate head wrap and leopard cat ears.
Image text reads: Purr! Avast ye mateys, Dread Pirate Queen Miss Kitty invites ye to check out her booty stash and dig ye up a dungbie prize. Seek ye some buried treasure! Just grab ye a plastic litter scoop and dig… dig… dig… to ye heart’s content.
I created this image for a promotional poster for a performance piece in a charity art show in which I, as Dread Pirate Queen Miss Kitty, hawked a carnival sideshow style sidewalk installation. For a mere $5 donation to the animal shelter the show supported, gallery goers could dig around in a kiddie pool full of litter to find a prize: a cheap plastic trinket from the dollar store. I had some takers, including one kid who seemed to really enjoy the digging and whose parents were all in, saying “You know, you can totally do that at home too.”
For more cat antics, we invite you to read C-2747’s logbook here on Haunted MTL. Feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or on her writing, fine art, and conceptual projects websites.
