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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.

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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.

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“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.

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“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.

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“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.

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“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.

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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.

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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.

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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?”

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“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.

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Next Installment

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.

David Davis is a writer, cartoonist, and educator in Southern California with an M.A. in literature and writing studies.

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Original Series

Nightmarish Nature: Horrifying Humans

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So we’re going out on a limb here in this segment of Nightmarish Nature and exploring one of the most terrifying, most dangerous, most impactful species to walk this planet. I’m talking about us of course. Sure, as humans, we may not seem all that horrific to ourselves, but to many other creatures we have been a force of nightmares.

Humans male as drawn by Jennifer Weigel
Humans male as drawn by Jennifer Weigel

Why are we terrifying?

Humans are among those species that engage in massive modifications to our environment to serve our needs, like beavers who dam rivers, elephants who eat all of the new growth scrub to keep the savannahs tree-free, and so on. Yeah, all creatures have some impact on their surroundings, but some take it up a notch, and we do so at an order of magnitude higher still. And we have gotten so good at it that we have managed to exist and thrive in places that would otherwise be inhospitable. We are outwardly adaptive and opportunistic to the point of being exploitative. We are the apex predators now.

Sabertooth cowering as drawn by Jennifer Weigel
Sabertooth cowering as drawn by Jennifer Weigel

We have forced many creatures into extinction, intentionally and not, and have sped up these effects enormously. The National Audobon Society chose the egret as its symbol after it made a comeback from being hunted to near extinction, and it was one of the lucky ones. Many weren’t so lucky, especially if they came in direct conflict with humans, such as wolves and the big cats who were in direct competition, or those who were really specialized in really specific niche circumstances that we pushed out of the way. And this is in only a very very limited scope of our earth’s history, and has since been even more ramped up with industrialization.

Humans female as drawn by Jennifer Weigel
Humans female as drawn by Jennifer Weigel

But humans aren’t all bad are we?

Depends on who you ask… We have created all sorts of incredible opportunities for some species too. Take mice for example. And coyotes. And kudzu. And a whole host of animals whom we’ve domesticated, some of whom wouldn’t have continued to exist otherwise or certainly wouldn’t exist in anything resembling their current forms. And the most massive extinctions occurred long before our arrival, when the earth was still forming and underwent rapid catastrophic changes and swings, decimating critters as they were trying to get a foothold. Nothing is constant except for change; that has always been true.

Wolf begging for cheezborger drawn by Jennifer Weigel
Wolf begging for cheezborger drawn by Jennifer Weigel

So it isn’t my goal to get all eco-con​scious and environmentalist here. Just that I feel if we are going to explore some of the more terrifying aspects of nature, we need to look in the mirror. Because if a consensus were taken right here, right now of all living beings globally as to what is among the most terrifying creatures among us, I’m sure we’d appear on that list.

If you enjoyed this closer-than-kissing-cousins segment of Nightmarish Nature on Horrifying Humans, please check out past segments:

Vampires Among Us

Perilous Parenting

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Freaky Fungus

Worrisome Wasps

Cannibalism

Terrifying Tardigrades

Reindeer Give Pause

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Komodo Dragons

Zombie Snails

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Original Creations

Werewolf-ing It Well, Part 3 by Jennifer Weigel

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Continuing our junkyard dawg werewolf story from the previous two St. Patrick’s Days… Here are Part 1 from 2022 and Part 2 from 2023 if you want to catch up.


Werewolf transformation digital art by Jennifer Weigel
Werewolf transformation digital art by Jennifer Weigel

So apparently it really was my lucky day at that suburban gas mart last St. Patrick’s Day. I got the mother lode of all Scratchers. I hit it big time. I had no real idea of what that meant, but it looked promising. Maybe I could get a Cadillac to tour Route 66 AND a cabin in the woods… But who was gonna drive?

Now apparently you can’t just cash these things in at the register. You have to mail them in or something. Why does life have to be so complicated? Anything involving those good for nothing mailmen has to be rigged or part of some larger conspiracy, I’m sure. But I pocketed my prize and made some plans. I couldn’t rely on old Sal not to just pocket my prize for himself; he wasn’t the sort that would let me have my dream. Or even understood that I had dreams beyond just chasing rabbits (though those are the best).

The next full moon I whined and howled at Sal to take me in to work with him. Sal just patted me on the head. Didn’t even offer a treat or nothing. Seriously, I had to get out of there, this suburban situation was the pits. I couldn’t do another year of it, watching my life tick away. So, when that didn’t work, I gently grabbed my Scratchers ticket like I was retrieving a very important slipper and slunk over and hid in his truck under that ratty blanket he kept in the back.

I managed to creep into the junkyard office and hide there while Sal was sleeping on the job. Those mastiffs nearly ratted me out, but fortunately they were chained up, and they weren’t all that bright anyway. Just growled a string of profanities at my cur form, like I hadn’t heard that before. Anyway, I waited it out and before long I heard Monty’s car pull up, rattling like the dilapidated Honda Civic held together with duct tape that it was. Sal’s truck pulled off, spitting gravel and exhaust in its wake as always.

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Dusk was setting in and I could feel the change starting. Nothing to do for it, guess I’d just have to run with it then. Monty had settled in as usual, watching bad porn and staring off into nothing. He still smelled like day old jelly donuts (the kind you can get a whole bag for $1) and coffee, as usual. Good boy Monty, how I’ve missed you and the occasional stale donut, even if it wasn’t a cookie. I approached him from behind and coughed.

Monty nearly leapt out of his skin. He blanched as if he’d seen a ghost before he managed to find his voice. “Shit, that wasn’t a dream,” he stammered, pointing. As he realized I meant him no harm, he regained his composure and even offered me a day-old jelly donut, which I accepted gratefully. I think he could tell that my tail would have been wagging if I’d still had one at that time.

“Lucky, what in all of hell are you doing here?” he asked, eyes still wide as saucers. “And for Christ’s sake, put on some pants.” He offered up the spare uniform that still just hung from the hook behind the door. I guess in my fervor to talk to him I’d forgotten to dress. Oops.

Werewolf transformation digital art by Jennifer Weigel
Werewolf transformation digital art by Jennifer Weigel

“Monty, old friend, I need a favor,” I barked. I handed him the Scratchers. His eyes grew wider.

“Shit, where’d you get this?” That’s a lot of money,” Monty exclaimed. “They’ve been looking for the winner of this one…”

“I’d stashed it in my hidey spot under the place where the carpet peels up after I got it… It’s our ticket out of here,” I retorted. “You don’t think I want to spend the rest of my days laying around suburbia with tightwad treat-skimping Sal do you?”

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“I suppose not,” Monty quipped. “But what’d you have in mind?”

“You and me, we could get a cabin in the woods, live off the land. Get out of this shit-hole. Hell, you could even get a real car, one of those big-boat Cadillacs with the wide tongue-lolling windows…”

“Um, you could do a lot more than that with this, but I catch your drift. And I want out of this hellhole too. But, like…? I mean, you aren’t gonna bite me or anything, or get all weird.” Monty fidgeted like he did when he was nervous. “I guess I knew but didn’t want to admit it – dude you’re a freak show.”

“Gee thanks. Trust me, being a dog is better any day except that you can’t drive or get your own treats and crap,” I retorted. “And if was gonna bite you I’d have done so a long time ago. It doesn’t work that way, anyway. Seriously, you don’t believe all that werewolf mumbo jumbo on Netflix too, do you?”

Werewolf transformation digital art by Jennifer Weigel
Werewolf transformation digital art by Jennifer Weigel

Monty shook his head tentatively. “I don’t really know what to believe. I mean, I guess I always knew you were like this, but I didn’t let it sink in.”

“Well, get over it and help me get my dream cabin,” I snipped. “Seriously don’t just stand there gawking all night; I put on clothes and everything. I only have tonight.”

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“You mean before you turn back into a dog?” Monty asked.

I nodded, still licking the jelly off my lips.

“But I thought werewolf changes happened every full moon,” Monty asked.

“I do, but these Scratchers change like the wind. We gotta cash in quick,” I growled. “And if you try to turn on me, I’ll hunt you down. That’s OUR ticket outta here.”

“No, no, I get it,” Monty said. “I’ll make good on it, I promise. I can follow up on the ticket first thing tomorrow; it says to mail it in or go to the courthouse or something. I’ll figure it out… I guess you can stay with me until we get it sorted, but you have to be really quiet about it. I’m not supposed to have pets in that crap apartment for all that a little dog hair would be an improvement.”

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Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.
Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.

Check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s writing here at Jennifer Weigel Words.

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Lighter than Dark

LTD: The Firing Squad

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So you’ve just gotten the pink slip.

Work is letting you go. Amidst all of the layoffs, you just didn’t make the cut. Well, I’m sorry to say, but it behooves you to go quietly. And quickly. Because you don’t want to stick around for the Firing Squad…

In fact, if your HR department is outsourced to one of those Eldritch contractors like so many are nowadays, get outta dodge NOW. Like seriously. Leave the lunch you brought in the fridge; leave the personal items in and on and around your desk. Hell, leave your coat and purse if you are not near them. You can get new ones. Maybe one of your ex-coworkers can help you retrieve your stuff later. Because you need to get out while the getting is still good.

The Firing Squad is coming.

And if they so much as see a pink slip anywhere in your immediate vicinity, it is complete and total annihilation…

Ready Aim Fire...  The Firing Squad appears digital art by Jennifer Weigel
Ready Aim Fire… The Firing Squad appears
Wing Shot...  The Firing Squad takes aim digital art by Jennifer Weigel
Wing Shot… The Firing Squad takes aim
Sharp Shooter...  You're a goner! digital art by Jennifer Weigel
Sharp Shooter… You’re a goner!

I warned you… Those Eldritch contractor HR departments mean business… It’s like going to the Library. Or making Jell-O.

Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.
Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.

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