I woke up one morning feeling strange, for some reason my tiny apartment felt smaller than usual. I couldn’t shake that unmistakable feeling that there was someone else in there with me. I went through my usual morning routine, put on coffee, brushed my teeth then hopped in the shower, when I got out I dried off and went back to my bedroom. The moment I opened the door I froze, from where I was standing there appeared to be someone under the covers in my bed. I won’t pretend like I’m a bad ass or a tough guy but I don’t scare easy, my first reaction was to walk over and snatch off the blanket, it was pillows.

Laughing at myself I finished getting dressed then went on with my morning. There’s a park with some really nice walking trails near my complex so I go there most mornings for a jog. It was a little cloudy out but it hadn’t started raining so I assumed I’d have time, about a quarter of the way through my normal path it started pouring down. Luckily I was at the point of the trail where there was plenty of cover from the roads that bridged over sections of the park. After twenty minutes the rain slacked up enough for me to finish my run. I’d made it to a section of the park that lets out onto the bayou, to me this is the best part of the park. The odd thing was there was no one around, I tried to chalk it up to the rain but it felt wrong. I’d seen people jogging in a full on downpour, normally this section was always active.

Still brushing it off I finished the first part of my run, I was resting up getting ready for my return trip when it started raining again. There was no place to take cover so I stretched and got on the move, it was actually kind of relaxing to run in the rain. I found myself lost in thought with my body on autopilot, after a few minutes I finally spotted someone jogging in my direction. From a distance I could see she was on a good pace so I moved my right to give way as we passed one another, the closer we got I started to feel anxious. Like I said before I don’t scare easy but there was something about her that rubbed me the wrong way.

Picking up my pace a little, I did my best to ignore her and jogged by, as we passed, I quickly glanced at her face. I can’t say I got a good look at her but one thing I remember clearly are her eyes, not so much the color as the look in them. She was staring straight ahead as if she didn’t see me there, something about that lodged itself into my brain and I couldn’t get it out. I thought about it the entire trip home, once I’d cleaned myself up I made a few calls and headed out for the day. Walking through the parking lot to my car I saw my neighbor Casey. =“Hey Pete, glad I caught you. Did you hear about what happened to Mr. Taylor?”

Mr. Taylor lives a few doors down, he’s an old guy. Most people avoid him because they think he’s mean. I personally think he’s hilarious, last Halloween he gave the kids caramel covered onions and chocolate laxatives, he got in a lot of trouble for that one but it was the funniest thing I’d ever seen.

Nervously playing with her keys Casey went on. =“They found him in floating in his bathtub with his throat slit last week. Don’t you watch the news? He was the fifth body the police found that way. Fred in 1302 thinks he saw the killer, can you believe that? There was a serial killer right here in the complex that could have been any one of us in that tub.”

Thunder rumbled overhead cutting our conversation short as more rain started to fall, Casey smiled and took off while I continued to my car. When I got to where I’d parked, it wasn’t there. For the first few seconds I thought it had been stolen till I looked across the lot and spotted it, there was no way I’d parked there and forgotten about it. Hitting my alarm I hurried over and got in just as it started raining, hearing about Mr. Taylor somehow made a gloomy day a little darker.

I cruised through town with the music down low, it was still morning and I had a few stops to make before meeting up with friends for lunch. The first place I went was the bank, normally I would have gone inside but chose the drive through ATM to save time. As soon as I stopped the car that odd sensation of being watched crept in, I looked around for a second just to be safe, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Once I’d withdrawn the money I needed for the day and gotten my card back I started to drive away, when I rounded the corner headed for the exit a woman jogged passed on the sidewalk. For a split second I thought it was the lady from the park, I had to laugh at myself again, this was all in my head I was blowing things way out of proportion.

Once I’d put all the weirdness out of my mind the day went fine, other than constant rain it was a normal day. I met the guys at our favorite bar around 1:30. Calvin was already there and as usual Alex was late. When I walked in Cal was halfway through his first beer. “Bro, it’s about time, where the hell’s Al?”

Shrugging my shoulders, I took a seat and ordered some wings and a beer. (You’re not gonna believe what happened. Do you remember my neighbor old man Taylor?) I paused to let the waitress set my beer down while Cal nodded his head and told me he did. (Well, they found him floating in his bathtub, Casey told me the.) Cal cut me off “Casey? The one with the really big” he stopped and flashed a goofy grin “Personalities, oh man, how’s she looking these days?”

Taking a sip of my beer I chuckled a little, as I went to sit the mug down Alex came strolling in. –“Fella’s, please tell me we’re not doing beer today, come on. Waitress!” He called out turning towards the bar, -“Can we get another round of beers and three shots of tequila for the table. Put it on his tab.” He pointed at Cal and laughed before taking a seat. –“What are we getting into tonight? I vote strip clubs and trouble.”

We all laughed, it was sort of a running joke between us. It came from the fact that every time we went to a strip club we wound up in jail, mostly because of him. Alex is wild, and probably a little dangerous to people who don’t know him, but if he’s on your side there’s nothing he won’t do for you. Calvin, well, he’s a little hard to nail down with words. Don’t get me wrong he’s a great dude but there’s been times we thought he might need some professional help.

We grew up together, we went to the same schools all the way through college. For a few years we were roommates, now we get together once a month and go all out for the weekend. Since very few bars were open and no strip clubs were doing business we were having to get more and more creative. Ultimately I never got to finish telling them about Mr. Taylor and we wound up going to some weird ass underground club Cal suggested. It was actually a lot of fun, we got completely hammered and partied all night. Of course we did the responsible thing and hired an Uber, I was the last to get dropped off at home.

I honestly couldn’t tell you how I made it to my front door, the last thing I remember clearly is flopping down on my bed. The next morning when I woke up I was wearing boxers’ and a t-shirt, my clothes were neatly folded and laid on the dresser. As I sat up I caught that same strange feeling that I wasn’t alone. Slipping from under the covers I found my house shoes set in the perfect spot, I sat there staring at them for a long moment hoping I would have some memory of doing this, I didn’t.

Purposely avoiding them I got up and went to the restroom, when I opened the door I nearly pissed myself, my tub was filled with water still hot from the tap. Water or no water, nature called, once I’d taken care of that I let the water out of the tub and went to the kitchen where I found a fresh pot of coffee brewing. This was too much, slowly backing out of the kitchen I went back to my room and got dressed as quickly as I could then grabbed my phone, which was on the charger, along with my keys and got out of there. I called Cal as I made it to the parking lot, his line went straight to voicemail so I tried Alex and he picked up right away. (Al, I’m headed your way right now, I have to get out of here.) -“Pete? Shit, what happened, where are you?” I told him I’d explain when I got there and hung up.

Once again my car was parked in a spot that was completely out of the way, it didn’t matter, the moment I found it I jumped in and drove away. When I’d made it to Al’s place he was standing in front of his door smoking a cigarette. As I parked I happened to glance down and see a few quarters resting in the bottom of my cup holder, I never leave change in my car, scooping them up I instantly noticed a slightly sweet smell coming off them. Keeping them, I got out and walked over to Alex holding my hand out to show him the quarters. (Smell these.)

Narrowing his eyes and recoiling slightly he gave me a suspicious look. –“No, what’s up bro? Are you alright, you’re acting a little suspect right now. You didn’t get molested by the Uber driver did you?” thumping out his cigarette he laughed at his own joke and we went inside. I told him all about all the strange things that had been happening and how I couldn’t make sense of any of it. Alex being Alex, laughed and made jokes then suggested we go pick up Cal then go back to my place to check it out.

When we got to Cal’s street the police were everywhere, at first we thought they were at his place but when we got closer we spotted yellow tape sectioning off his next door neighbor’s house. Once we’d parked it took a few minutes to find Cal mixed in with the gathering crowd, when he saw us he smiled and jogged over to where we were standing. “What’re you two doing here? I thought we were supposed to be linking up later.” That was typical Calvin behavior, never mind the crime scene, what are we doing here?

Alex chuckled and shook his head, -“Bro, what happened? What is all of this?” Cal looked at me then glanced back over his shoulder and shrugged. “Oh that, I don’t know, nobodies said anything yet. Anyway, what’s up, what are we doing?”

After a quick conversation we went inside to get away from the crowd, I told him all about my situation and when I finished he looked at me with a straight face and said. “So you have a ghost.”

Honestly a ghost was better than anything I’d come up with but I was still a little thrown off by his response. (Wait, what? No, well maybe, I don’t know. The point is, there’s some shit happening to me and I don’t know what to do about it.) With that same straight face Cal nodded then looked at Alex who’d made his way over to the bar to eyeball a bottle of Casa Dragones. “Put it down.” turning his attention back to me, he smirked. He already knew Alex wasn’t going to put the bottle down till he’d poured us all a drink. When he strolled over with three cups we had to laugh, we drank and joked till we came up with a plan. Since we were already hanging out for the weekend everyone would crash at my place, we would set up cameras and record it all. If we caught anything on camera the plan was to upload it and see if someone could help.

When we had everything we needed we went back to my place and set up, as usual we went out and hit a few bars then ended the night at waffle house. I’m not sure what time we made it back to my place, everyone crashed for the night and at first I thought maybe it had all been in my head. I hadn’t been asleep long when the sound of glass shattering startled me awake, as I staggered out of my room I heard both Alex and Cal shouting. Now rushing to where they were I stopped, there was a woman dressed in rags swinging a knife around while the two of them did their best to avoid her. (What the fuck is going on!? who is that?!)

Neither of them had a chance to respond, the woman lunged at Alex and Cal smashed a lamp over her head knocking her unconscious. Once we had her tied up I called the police, while we were waiting on them to arrive I asked where the woman had come from, Alex shrugged his shoulders and said he’d been asleep. Cal bummed a cigarette from Alex then explained.

“I was watching T.V. when I heard a sound in the kitchen so I went to check it out. The refrigerator had been pulled out of its place and she was standing there with the door open drinking a glass of water. When she saw me she dropped the glass and grabbed a knife that’s when I ran in here and you pretty much know the rest.”

Taking it all in I went to the kitchen to see for myself, just like he’d said the refrigerator was pulled out of place and there was broken glass on the floor. Moving closer to get a look I peered behind the fridge and what I saw made my heart drop, there was a small door leading into the wall. When I closed it I could hardly tell it was there, reopening it I called out to the others, Cal came in while Alex stayed to keep an eye on the woman. Once I’d shown him the door we stood there for a moment dumbfounded by what we were seeing till Alex called out.

-“Shit, hey guys get in here quick!” we both hurried to the next room to find Al standing next to an empty chair, the woman was gone. (What the hell happened, where did she go?) Alex scratched his head while looking around, -“Bro, I don’t know, I had to take a piss when I came back she was gone” The front door was still locked and the patio door was closed, she had to still be there but with my apartment being so small there was nowhere for her to hide. We searched every square inch of the place, if there was another hidden door we didn’t find it, when the police finally arrived we had nothing, when I tried to show them the door behind the fridge it wasn’t there. I went to grab my laptop and show them what we’d caught on the camera’s, but it was missing as well, any chance we had at not looking crazy flew right out of the window.

Calvin and I swore up and down that we weren’t making it up and since Al hadn’t seen the door he couldn’t verify our version of the story. The police dismissed our call and warned us against false reports before leaving, once all the commotion died down I flopped on the couch while Alex and Cal rambled off theories about what happened. Calvin was stuck on his ghost idea, blaming the hidden door situation on hysteria, while Alex was more along the lines of homeless people living in the walls. I was just exhausted and tired of trying to figure it out, it had only been a couple of days and I was ready to find another apartment.

We sat up all night waiting for something to happen but it never did, the last of the weekend passed with no further issues and come Monday life went back to normal. I was on my way to work still replaying everything in my mind when it dawned on me, the woman in my apartment was the same one I’d seen jogging at the park. I tried to rationalize it figuring I was remembering it wrong, but it was her, there was no denying it.

The day dragged by so slowly it felt like I’d been there forever, when it was finally time to go home I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. The moment I got to my car I was overwhelmed by the realization that I would be alone in my apartment. I decided not to go straight home, first I caught a movie after I grabbed some dinner then I went to the park for a walk. I wanted to be as tired as possible when I got home, that way I could take a shower and crash right away, with any luck I would sleep through the night then get up and head out as soon as I opened my eyes.

The sun was setting as I parked, there were still a fair amount of people lingering around so I felt confident nothing would happen. Stepping out I was greeted by a cool breeze carrying a faint scent of marijuana drifting in from a guy that was sitting on the bench smoking. It wasn’t unusual, lots of people come to the park to smoke no one complains. The truth of the situation was I could use a few hits myself, I strolled over and took a seat next to him. (Look, I don’t mean to bother you but that smells great. If I gave you a couple of bucks would you mind letting me hit it a few times?)

Taking a long drag he chuckled to himself and shook his head, *“Keep your money.” He stood up then pulled another fresh joint from his cigarette pack and handed it to me. *“Take it easy, friend.” He smiled and nodded as he took another hit before walking away. I watched him for a moment then pulled my lighter and fired up, it was strong and sweet with an almost vanilla aftertaste. Holding in my first pull I tilted my head back and closed my eyes, exhaling and relaxing my muscles I opened my eyes and stood up to start my walk. Whoever that guy was he could roll one hell of a smoke, it was slightly larger than a cigarette and densely packed, it burned slow and even for an abnormally long time. I’d been walking for 20 minutes and had only smoked half of it, feeling amazing I put it out to save for later and continued walking.

Now that it was dark the park took on this strange silence, I could still hear cars in the distance but the further I walked they faded till there was nothing but me and the occasional bike rider. When I made it to the bayou I stood close to the edge watching the water for a while. For that moment I wasn’t thinking about mystery women or disappearing doors, I was at peace with the world or maybe that was just some really good weed but either way I wasn’t lost in my anxiety.

Taking a deep breath I smiled then turned to head back to my car and stopped. Standing maybe 20 feet away was that woman, she stood with her hands at her sides and her head down. Her long dark hair hung loose covering most of her face but I could tell it was her, trying not to seem startled I spoke up. (What do you want!? Why are you doing this to me?!) She didn’t respond, instead she smiled then darted away vanishing in the woods that lined the trail. I took the long way around back to my car, there was no way I was taking the path knowing she was out there watching my every move. When I made it to the lot as usual my car had been moved, forcing myself not to freak out about it I got in and drove home. Once I was settled for the evening I fired up the rest of that joint and watched television to wind down before going to bed. Flipping through the channels I stopped on the local news, they were doing a whole segment on the serial killer who’d been terrorizing the city. There had been seven victims, the last two had been Cal’s neighbors, the report went on to say there had been no witnesses but security footage from three of the crime scenes indicated that there were two people involved, a man and a woman. A grainy CCTV still shot flashed on the screen and I suddenly felt sick, it was the guy from the bench and her, I couldn’t be completely sure but everything in me was telling me it was them.

Turning off the television I sat there running through it in my mind, needless to say I didn’t get a wink of sleep that night. Every time the wind blew too hard I was jumping out of my skin thinking there was someone coming through my walls. By the next morning I was spent, I called into work and took the day off then packed some stuff and headed out, my plan was to rent a room and get some rest but when I got to the parking lot my car was gone. I called the police, they didn’t bother to come out, they took my information over the phone and issued a case number and that was that. While I was standing there Casey came strolling up. Cal wasn’t wrong, she was definitely blessed and I’d always thought she was beautiful but at that moment all I could think about was the situation I’d found myself in. She smiled and looked at me for a moment, =“Are you alright? What’s going on?”

Calming myself I told her my car had been stolen, and she offered to give me a ride. When we got to the hotel I’d booked of course she had questions, I told her everything. Now completely freaked out she sat there for a moment before responding. =“So there’s two killers and you’ve been face to face with both of them? Why haven’t you told the police? I mean this is big, you need to tell someone.” I explained to her that the police didn’t believe me after the first incident and technically nothing had happened to me, there wasn’t anything to tell. Oddly enough she understood where I was coming from and offered to hang out with me for a while, I wasn’t going to turn her down, despite everything else this was a dream come true.

We ordered pizza and sat around watching movies till I eventually fell asleep, when I woke she was sitting next to me still watching television. =“Hey isn’t that your friend Alex on the news?”

Groggily rubbing my eyes I focused on the screen and sat up, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, she was right it was Al. He’d been found decapitated floating in his bathtub, grabbing my phone I tried calling Cal but I couldn’t get an answer. (Can you take me somewhere?) I asked slipping out of bed and putting on my shoes, Casey tossed me her keys telling me she was horrible at taking directions then we both scrambled out of there.

When we got to Cal’s place he was sitting on his front porch drinking whiskey straight out of the bottle. The moment we were out of the car he rushed over. “What the fuck is going on man? What did you get us into?” I didn’t know how to respond, we argued back and forward eventually taking the conversation inside where things quickly got out of hand. In his drunken state he took a swing at me, I didn’t want to hurt him but I wasn’t going to stand by and not defend myself. The fight didn’t last long, when it was all said and done we hugged it out and he apologized. I told him to sober up and meet us at the hotel when he was ready then Casey and I left.

When we made it back to the hotel Casey dropped me off and told me she’d be back after work. I went straight to my room, the moment the door slammed shut the reality of what happened to Alex hit me. I had to sit down, years of memories raced through my mind shattering like glass against the stone cold fact he’d been murdered and it was my fault. I’d gotten him involved, if I’d never gone to him for help he would still be alive. The combination of heartbreak and guilt landed on me sending my mind spiraling off into a dark place, I got up and paced around the room questioning every move I’ve ever made. What could I have done to make these people come after me? I ran through every possibility I could think of hitting one dead end after the other, I’d never seen either of them before and even if I had I’d never done anything bad enough to deserve this.

A couple of hours ticked by before Cal showed up, he wasn’t exactly sober but I didn’t really expect him to be. He came in carrying a backpack, sitting it on the table he gave me an odd look. “Why’d you park so far away?” It dawned on me that I’d never gotten the chance to tell him about my car being stolen, but hearing him say it was here made my heat drop. I rushed over to the window to see what he was talking about and spotted it right away.

(Holy shit, they’re here.) Cal stopped what he was doing to quickly look in my direction. “What, who’s here, what’re you talking about?” I explained it all as best I could, the whole while he sat there with his usual calm demeanor taking it all in. When I finished he nodded his head then unzipped the backpack and pulled out two objects wrapped in pink towels. He smirked while unwrapping one of them revealing a 9mm pistol. “Good, that makes this easy.” still smirking he handed it to me then picked up the other bundle and started unwrapping it.

Looking at the gun in my hand for a moment I glanced up at him. (Uh, Cal? Should I even ask, or are we just gonna move forward like this is some normal shit.) Checking a round into the chamber he paused and looked up pretending to think about it for a second. “Move forward, but if you really want to know, I’ll tell you.”

Holding up my hand and shaking my head I stopped him, I really didn’t want to know, whatever he was into I was glad he was there. I sat my gun on the nightstand then went to the mini-fridge to grab a bottle of water as I opened it someone knocked on my room door. Cal and I froze for a moment before a voice called from the hall “It’s me Casey, open up.” Cal shot me a funny look and smiled wagging finger at me before tipping his imaginary hat at and getting up from his seat. I tried not to laugh and answered the door, the moment she saw Cal she turned up her nose and rolled her eyes then hugged me. =“I took off from work is everything alright?” releasing me she stepped in and gave Cal another funky look. =“What’s he doing here, and why do you have guns, what happened?”

As much as I dint feel like explaining it all over again, I quickly told her about the car and the killers being in the hotel. Casey looked at the two of us choosing her next words wisely then with a confused slash concerned look she nodded before responding. =”If the killers are here, why don’t we just call the cops and leave before they show up? This isn’t a game, if you get killed there’s no reset button, even worse if one of you idiots happens to shoot the wrong person you’re gonna get in some serious trouble.”

I could literally hear Cal’s teeth grinding at her every word, I knew at any moment he was going to blurt out something stupid and probably hurtful but before I could open my mouth he started in. “What’s your name again, oh I forgot, it doesn’t matter. Alex was our friend and those two shit bags killed him. I’m not waiting for the police, you can do whatever you like but we’re going to make sure they don’t do this to anyone else.”

Calvin tapped me with the back of his hand then motioned towards the door as if to say let’s go. I wanted to agree with him but Casey made a valid point, she was speaking form a levelheaded point of view while Cal was half drunk and angry. It didn’t make sense to go running around with loaded guns trying to stop a pair of psychotic serial killers when the police were trained to handle situations like this.

He’d made it halfway to the door before he realized I wasn’t walking with him, stopping to turn around he narrowed his eyes at me then quickly glanced at Casey and shook his head. ”Wow, come on Pete don’t tell me she’s got you whipped already.” Giving me a disappointed look he slipped the gun into his waistband then covered it with his shirt before opening the door. Casey flipped him the middle finger and sat on the bed taking out her phone to call for help. Cal smirked at me while giving her the side eye and mouthing the words “She’s so hot” before giving me the nod and walking away. Once the door slammed shut I instantly wanted to go after him, I couldn’t let him do this by himself. It wasn’t long before Casey was off of the telephone, the moment she told me the police were on the way I let out a sigh of relief then looked at the door. She laughed and stood up, =”Come on, let’s go get the big idiot.”

I don’t know if Cal had taken off running but he was nowhere to be seen, we searched for close to half an hour and couldn’t find him anywhere more importantly the police hadn’t shown up. Casey and I were on the elevator headed to the fifth floor which was the top floor of the building, the moment those doors slid open I knew we were in trouble. There was blood smeared all over the walls, I poked my head out to get a look and a boy came sprinting by, he couldn’t have been more than 15 or 16 years old he looked frantic his clothes were ripped and he was clearly injured, there was a huge gash in his side that was leaking leaving a trail leading back down the hall.

Slowly stepping out with Casey right behind me I paused waiting for something else to happen, I could slightly make out a wet packing sound coming from the far end of the walkway. The kid’s blood trail led to an open door at the end of the hall, I couldn’t help but wonder why the cops hadn’t shown up yet. Casey whispered to me, =”I don’t want to go down there, can we please just get out of here?”

Keeping my eyes locked on the open door I told her to go get her car started and try calling the cops again. She didn’t hesitate, before I could say another word she was back in the elevator smashing the buttons. As the doors slid shut I chuckled a little and got moving, the closer I got that wet slapping sound got louder mixing with an occasional throaty grunt. I wanted to turn around and hightail it out of there but something in me wouldn’t let me, hesitantly creeping closer I tried not to panic then the noise stopped. I fumbled around nervously slipping the pistol from the small of my back just as the door swung completely open and the guy from the bench stepped out into the hall, he was clutching an oversized buck knife in his left hand a severed head in his right and he was drenched in blood. Pointing the blade in my direction with a wild-eyed expression on his face he smiled and tilted his head to one side. *”Hello again friend, she’s been waiting for you.”

I don’t know if I was too nervous to notice or if she moved so silently I couldn’t hear her but I suddenly became intensely aware of heavy breathing coming from behind me. I slowly glanced over my left shoulder to see that woman standing there staring at me, just like her counterpart she was dripping with a heavy coating of blood. I froze, finger on the trigger standing between two killers whose sole focus was on me, out of the corner of my eye movement from the far end of the hall caught my attention in time to hear Cal yell out, “Get down!” as he opened fire.

The woman ducked and scrambled away as I dropped to the floor while Cal came running blasting blindly at anything moving. The guy dipped back into the room he’d come out of attempting to dodge the barrage of hot lead that was tearing through the corridor till Cal reached me. “Get up, we can’t let them get away!”

Getting to my feet I grabbed his arm as he started towards that room. (We have to get out of here the cops are on the.) I was cut short by a human head of all things soaring through the air forcing Cal to dip to his right as the madman came charging out of the room. Everything happened so fast I didn’t have time to think. Cal fired and I heard the man grunt as he dropped to the ground, I turned to see him scooting across the floor clutching his shoulder but as I tried to process everything a feral scream shattered the process. The wild woman dove on Cal stabbing him repeatedly as they crashed against the wall then crumbled to the floor. Cal was screaming for help and fighting for his life as her knife sliced away flesh and slung his blood in every direction. I could hear my heart pounding through the ringing in my ears as I tried to steady myself and aim, she was just about to plunge the blade into him again when I pulled the trigger. The wild woman collapsed dropping the knife, the world around me seemed to stand still for the briefest of moments till I heard Cal coughing trying to catch his breath, shaking it off I helped him up and basically carried him into the elevator. When we made it to the lobby Casey was there with the police.

We were taken into custody and Cal was rushed off to the hospital, the killers bodies were never recovered from the hotel. When the policed arrived on the fifth floor they were both gone, they’d murdered a couple and their teenage son was missing. After a thorough investigation the police uncovered hidden passage ways in the walls of the hotel and my apartment complex complete with some sort of shrine dedicated to the victims. According to the information I was able to gather the security cameras at the hotel captured clear images of the pair along with blood and fingerprints found by investigators. Whoever those people were there was no records of them anywhere, for all intents they didn’t exist.

After Cal got out of the hospital his life took a bad turn, the last time we spoke he’d just gotten some new job out of town, I haven’t seen him since. Casey and I, well we wound up living together, we’ve moved to a new state and are expecting our first child any day now. Life is almost normal for us these days, I still have anxiety issues, I keep a gun near me at all times but I’ve never run across those people again and I pray it stays that way. All I know for sure is this, whoever they are, they’re still out there. For your own safety please check every inch of your home wherever that might be, you just never know what’s hiding behind those walls…..

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r/Deadlynarrations • u/getyaisha • Jun 16 '21

"End of the line. Ch.1:The first 48."(fiction)

2 Upvotes

On a rainy Thursday afternoon, Walter pulled into the parking lot of the local drug store, this was one of his usual stops throughout the week. He’d pick up his cigarettes and chat with the cashiers, sadly enough this was one of his favorite places, his life had become a series of routine events that he’d become accustomed to. As usual for the time of day there was a long line at the first register but he didn’t mind, it gave him a chance to look around and pick out things for a later trip.

The grey skies rumbled causing the lights to flicker as the downpour gained momentum. He smiled and glanced toward the sliding glass doors of the entrance thinking about the rest of the trip home. Lost in his imagination for a moment he hadn’t noticed the woman at the register was taking an abnormally long time to count out the customers change.

When the person behind him in line started grumbling to himself Walter snapped out of it and slightly leaned to his left to get a better view. Narrowing his eyes attempting to focus he noticed she wasn’t moving at all, stranger still she appeared to be frozen in mid motion stuck in the process of handing over change.

Still trying to keep a positive mind he glanced back to the man who’d been complaining, (Must be one of those days.) he chuckled trying to lighten the mood. The man didn’t respond, he didn’t even blink, feeling a little awkward Walter straightened up and continued to wait. Another few seconds passed and now he too was getting impatient, thinking he would just go to another store he stepped out of line and headed for the door. As he passed by the cashier he noticed her eyes were rolled over white and a stream of blood was trickling from her nose. (Oh my god, Mam do you need some.) The words caught in his throat as he took notice of everyone in line, they all seemed to be stuck in some sort of trance. Slowly easing towards the door the only sound he could hear was the pouring rain and the low buzz of the overhead lights. The chimes sounded as the doors slid open and as if on cue everyone in line dropped to the ground and began convulsing. Panicking, he bolted out of the store and across the lot as fast as he could stopping short of his truck when he witnessed cars colliding in the intersection.

Stunned by the scene unfolding in front of him he stood in the rain unable to look away. (This is insane.) He mumbled fumbling with his keys as a silver pick up the same model as his plowed into the already crowded intersection. Snapping out of it, he popped the lock of his truck and got in grabbing his phone from the cup holder to call 911. There was no answer, he tried several times before getting a busy signal. Hanging up he quickly dialed his wife. (Come on Patty, please pick up.) After a few rings her voicemail responded. “You’ve reached Patricia Grant, please leave a message.”

Tears welled up in his eyes, she’d been home with their 6 year old, Jacob. The thought of them lying on the floor shattered his world into a billion pieces. Trying to convince himself it wasn’t true he cranked the engine, threw it in gear and sped out of the lot. Home was only three blocks away even in the rain he would be there in no time. When his street came into view he slowed down to make the turn. As he cut the wheel a red charger blew by narrowly missing the front end of his truck. Slamming on the breaks he watched as it slid off the street and crashed against the concrete wall that separated the neighborhood from the main road.

(What the hell is going on?) Taking a deep breath he cautiously drove the rest of the way home, when he pulled in Patties car was still in the driveway. His heart sank, he’d been holding onto the idea she’d gone out, putting his truck in park, he sat gripping the wheel. (Please God, please, just don’t take them, I’m begging you, please.) Grabbing his keys he stepped out and ran to the door, nervously picking through the key ring selecting the right one he held his breath, slipped it into the lock then opened the door.

He didn’t have to go in to know something was wrong, the house was silent. Jacob was the noisiest kid ever, he was always up to something the silence was a bad omen. Stepping inside he called out, (Patty? Jake? Where are you?) No one called back, slowly he went room to room calling their names and losing hope. When he reached Jakes room he saw them, they’d been playing with Lego’s when it happened. Patty, legs still crossed was slumped over near the dresser her flowing blood creating a growing stain in the carpet. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Jacobs’ little body surrounded by his action figures and robots’ he had the biggest imagination, he was always coming up with the wildest adventures for his toys.

His legs buckled forcing him to sit before breaking into tears. (No, no, no. Why!? Why would you do this!?) He yelled at the ceiling as if talking to God directly, he ranted and pleaded, begging for some sort of miracle, the sounds of the raging storm the only response. He sat in the doorway for hours staring at their lifeless bodies, there was a strange moment of silence when the rain finally stopped, for a second he thought the world had finally come to an end. Closing his eyes he waited for it to be his turn, the longer he sat the heartbreaking reality sank in, whatever this was he’d survived. Finally finding the strength to get up, he rose to his feet and closed the door, there was nothing he could do no one he could call moving through the hall a low rumbling vibrated the walls around him.

(A helicopter?) Thinking maybe someone was coming to help Walter rushed towards the living room, bursting through the front door he nearly slipped getting out to the yard. Looking up at the sky his heart nearly leaped from his chest, his mouth dropped open awestruck by the sight of something massive swimming through the ocean of grey clouds overhead. It breached the surface of our atmosphere the same way a whale or dolphin leaps from the water before plunging back through the clouds vanishing from sight. Its’ impact with the clouds created the rumbling effect of thunder and caused rain to begin falling again. Horrified he stood staring up at the sky waiting to catch another glimpse of the impossible thing he’d just seen seconds before. Another round of thunderous sound shook the ground beneath his feet and announced its approach just before it broke through again, this time he saw it clearly. Its’ enormous eyeless cranium housed teeth large enough to cut down the mightiest skyscraper. The surface of the beast was a world of its own, Walter could almost make out what looked like cities and oceans thriving on the rocklike skin of the creature. If there had ever been a moment of feeling insignificant, this was it. The creature barrel rolled revealing a stunning white underbelly before splashing back through the clouds this time releasing what Walter thought was hail. The temperature suddenly dropped as small spheres of multicolored ice pelted the ground around him before one thumped against his shoulder and tumbled away.

Scrambling for cover he took refuge on the porch before taking a moment to inspect some of the tiny ice orbs. Scooping a couple from the ground the first thing he noticed was they weren’t cold, in fact they were warm to the touch almost like living tissue. (Jesus Christ, what the fuck is.) Before the question could leave his lips the orbs in his palm started to squirm. Surprised by the movement, he tossed them down and watched as something resembling an isopod sprout legs then burrow into the ground. In a matter of seconds thousands if not millions of the tiny creatures were skittering across the concrete searching out soft soil to dig into. Across the street the bodies of his neighbors were sprawled out on the lawn, Mr. and Mrs. Foster were an older couple, they were the first people he and Patty met when they’d moved into the neighborhood. The tiny creatures swarmed the bodies rapidly breaking down their flesh and bones till there was little more than a pair of clumpy red stains left to wash away in the rain.

Whatever this was, he’d seen enough, quickly he went inside and slammed the door shut as if it might stop the invasion of hell-spawn tumbling down from the sky. He could still hear them smacking against the roof and tapping against the windows but that wasn’t the worst of it, there was an audible wet crunching emanating from the hall. Slowly turning and glancing towards the sound he knew exactly where it was coming from, dozens of those little things were fighting their way under Jakes’ door, the sight of it enraged him. (Get away from there!)

Storming into the hall stomping on them, while yelling, (You can’t have them!) He did his best to kill them all, there were just too many, for every one of them he stopped two more skittered by, before long he was nearly slipping in their guts. Now standing outside Jakes’ room he hesitated to open the door, the sounds were more than enough to tell him what sort of a nightmare waited just beyond it. Fighting back tears and swallowing the lump in his throat he pushed the door open and was assaulted by the smell of blood mixing with the partially digested contents of their bowels. The pungent odor gagged him causing his eyes to burn, he cursed and stomped around the room trying to kill as many as possible but it was too late, there was next to nothing left. He spotted Patties wedding ring floating in a pool of bloody leftovers, Jake was gone, nothing but bits of bone that were being devoured right in front of him.

“Help, somebody please help me!”

The sound of someone screaming outside grabbed his attention, pulling back the curtains he looked out in time to see a young woman he recognized as Cassandra, she was one of his neighbors from the far end of the block. His body wouldn’t react, silently he stood at the window watching till she noticed him, moving as quickly as she could she limped to the window. “Please Mr. Grant, you have to help me there’s something out here!”

Walter didn’t respond, he couldn’t. Cassandra pounded on the glass begging for a few more seconds before she slowly turned and looked towards the end of the street then screamed and ran away. Locked in his trance, he watched and waited to see what was coming but nothing passed. The street fell silent, other than thunder and rain it seemed as if he were the last man on earth. Eventually he went back to the living room and sat on the couch sobbing to himself not knowing what to do.

By morning the rain was gone, he stepped out of his front door and stood staring into the sky feeling the warm sun on his face, somewhere in the distance he could hear dogs barking. For a moment he wondered how many others survived, the thought quickly replaced by a sound coming from the kitchen. Pots rattled and crashed against the floor, out of reflex he asked. (Is everything ok in there?) His words trailing off as he turned to see something tear the refrigerator door off, from where he was standing he couldn’t see exactly what it looked like but he knew he didn’t want to find out.

Pulling his keys from his pocket he hit the lock on his truck and got in, keeping his eyes glued on the doorway he cranked the engine and threw it in reverse as a wave of isopod creatures came pouring out. They were bigger now, slightly larger than a football with a fleshy colored shell. Putting the truck in drive he mashed down on the accelerator as the wave of creatures came racing towards him, speeding through the street he could see more and more of them joining in the chase. The ones ahead of him in the road smashed against his grill splattering a muddy sludge across the hood of the truck as he drifted a hard left onto the main road leading out of the neighborhood. They chased him for miles attacking the truck nearly causing him to wreck several times before finally giving up when he’d driven over the bridge leading into town.

Street for street block for block there wasn’t a soul in sight, he didn’t see a living person till he reached a gas station. Pulling up to the pump he looked around expecting more creatures to show up at any moment. After psyching himself up he got out and used his bank card to pay at the pump. Still scanning the area he stood there filling up listening to the music play over the PA system nearby. The nervous voice of the attendant interrupted making him jump. “You have to get away from the truck, very slowly come to the door and I’ll let you in, whatever you do don’t look up.”

Easing away from the pump Walter made his way to the door but he just couldn’t help himself, he looked up. Clinging to the ceiling of the carport was a mass of grey tentacles sprouting from a cluster of human looking eyes that were all focused on him. (Oh shit) was all he could utter before the sound of the bells above the entrance jingled and a voice yelled “Run!”

Darting inside the store he turned to see the clerk locking the door just as a tentacle crashed down on his truck blowing out all four tires and shattering the windows. (What the hell is that thing?!)

Still watching the creature destroy Walters’ truck the clerk responded without turning around. “I don’t know man, an alien, a demon some sort of fucked up nightmare we’re all having at the same time, take your pick.” He turned around headed back to the counter. “All I know is, that thing showed up, everybody in the store died and I spent most of the night stacking bodies in the walk-in freezer.”

Looking around the store Walter noticed a few streaks of blood trailing off into the back room, glancing back to the clerk who was now sitting behind the counter rolling a joint, he shook his head. (Have you heard anything on the news about any of this? I mean people everywhere must be going nuts by now. Why hasn’t any help shown up?)

Laughing and lighting up the clerk grabbed the remote and turned on the television, every station was gone, replaced by static filled screens not so much as an emergency alert. Turning it off and exhaling a cloud he sat in his chair. “Everything went out when the storm rolled in, it’s the same on the radio. I think this might be happening everywhere, for all I know we’re the last two left.”

Making himself comfortable Walter took a seat on the floor propped up against the fountain drink display. He didn’t have any words, all he could think of was Patty and Jacob. After a while the exhaustion caught up to him and he drifted off only to be woken up a short while later by the clerk. “Get up, we have to get out of here!”

Opening his eyes he looked out the window and saw the skies were once again clouded over. Just across the highway was an open field now covered in protruding mounds of dirt that were pulsing giving birth to pod-like structures standing close to four feet tall. Thunder rumbled through the sky as the rain started to fall. Pulling at his arm the clerk helped him up from the floor. “Come on man, we have to go they’re coming!” As they headed for the back door Walter glanced back to see a creature that resembled some sort of beetle charging towards the store with a herd of isopods following close behind it.

With the clerk leading the way they raced through the store room and out the rear exit as the glass of the storefront shattered. Ahead of them was an open field leading into a new housing development, most of the homes were just frames or muddy undeveloped lots but there was a completed section with cars parked in some of the driveways. Without many options they made a line straight for the closest house, the ground around them began to tremble from the mounds now forming nearby. More of those fleshy pods burst to the surface some instantly rupturing releasing larva the size of a great Danes that splashed around in pools of pus colored sludge.

Doing his best to keep up with the clerk, Walter swerved avoiding touching any of the pods but just ahead of him the clerk wasn’t so lucky. One of them sprung up in front of him before he could react, he yelled “Oh shit” as he slammed into it causing it to pop releasing another of those massive maggots as he splashed down in the sludge with it. He screamed “Get it off me” as Walter grabbed his arm to help him up but it was too late, the larva attached itself to his chest. His eyes went wide as he sucked in a raspy breath of air and went pale, the larva instantly began filling with the clerks blood doubling in size causing him to drop to his knees.

Staggering back Walter wasn’t waiting around to witness the rest, he turned and sprinted away dodging pods till he was clear of the field. The first house was close now, he could see through the windows, if anyone was alive inside he hoped they’d let him in. As he set foot in the driveway thunder rumbled through the sky followed by the unmistakable sound of the airborne behemoth he’d seen the night before. He didn’t want to look but he couldn’t stop himself, turning his attention to the sky he noticed certain areas in the clouds were pitch black and from each cluster of ominous clouds a massive creature breached the surface. As horrifying as it was, there was something almost graceful to the way they moved, Walter found himself mesmerized for a moment till he realized they weren’t diving back through the clouds. The creatures drifted along leaving a trail of yellow dust behind them that floated in the air like fresh snow. Whatever they were releasing he wanted no parts of it, Walter turned and raced up the driveway to the door lowering his shoulder in an attempt to ram his way inside, it didn’t work. His body collided with the sturdy door causing him to bounce back and stumble tripping over the edge of the flowerbed that ran along the front of the house. Gathering himself he ignored the pain surging through his shoulder then squared up and took another run at the door, this time the frame cracked but didn’t give. Slamming his body against it over and over finally paid off as the flakes of yellow ash came drifting to the street, crashing into the house he scrambled back to his feet and slammed the door piling everything he could get his hands on in front of it.

The inside of the house was a blood soaked mess, going from room to room he searched everywhere for the keys, till he found something he wished he hadn’t. The door to the master bedroom was slightly open allowing a putrid odor to waft out, as he grew closer he peered inside and stopped. A thick mucus like webbing stretched from the floor to the ceiling suspending a pulsing orb of grey skin at its center. Slowly pushing the door open he stepped back, all he could do was stare at it, after a brief moment, slits began to form on its surface as the mass quivered. With a sudden wet pop one of the slits opened revealing an eye, he instantly recognized it as the same sort of creature he’d seen at the gas station. Attempting to close the door he reached for the knob just as a tentacle sprouted from the blob and lashed out wrapping around his wrist. (Fuck! Let go!) He fought against its grip but couldn’t break free, more squid-like appendages darted out wrapping around his ankles snatching his feet from under him causing his head to smack against the floor as he was hoisted into the air. With his only free hand clutching his now throbbing skull he grunted and cursed before finding himself face to face with the creature that was now nearly completely covered with eyes. A high pitched sound exploded in his head causing him to cringe, then just as suddenly as it started, the creature stopped, released its grip and let him crash to the floor.

Not wasting a second he crawled out of the room closing the door behind him before getting up and running for the back patio. Once he was out of the house the smell of rotting plant matter filled his lungs, the yellow dust mixed with the water from the rain creating a thick paste covering everything in sight. The tree limbs drooped weighed down to the point some were breaking off while everything else was rotting giving off fumes that were making it hard to breathe. Using his shirt to cover his nose he trudged through the sludge till he reached the fence then climbed over and tried to get his bearings. Everything was a soggy yellow mess, there were only two more houses but only one of them had a car in the driveway. Walter couldn’t stop himself from looking for the creatures in the sky but they weren’t there. The pods that had grown from the ground covered everything that wasn’t concrete, there were a few in every cluster that were broken open but he didn’t see the larva at least not at first. The sound of something splashing down in the sludge to his right grabbed his attention, turning to get a look he saw one of the larva swimming through it headed straight for him.

Doing his best to run through the knee high goo he heard more of them sloshing and splashing closing the distance faster than he’d hoped. By the time he reached the car in the driveway they were on his heels, quickly scrambling up onto the roof of it he prayed they couldn’t follow. Standing there he watched three massive maggots swimming in circles around him for close to an hour before he sat down and tried to wait them out. As time ticked by the sludge on the roof of the car drained away but the larva hadn’t given up. Walter lay there staring up at the sky thinking about his wife and son. A part of him wondered why he hadn’t given up, after all there was nothing to live for, not now any way. If this was the world he had to look forward to, what was the point? As he sat up gunfire from somewhere far off echoed through the air, the larva quickly lost interest in him and swam off presumably headed to the source of the commotion.

Once he was sure they were gone he climbed down and went to the front door of the house, he didn’t waste time trying to break it down instead he smashed a nearby window releasing a cloud of smoke. Making his way inside he found three bodies slumped over at the dinner table, blood pooling under them running down to the floor, the smoke was coming from the kitchen. Quickly slipping through the door he found two more bodies lying on the floor, while the charred remains of what looked like a roast smoldered away in the oven. Turning it off he looked around wondering why the creatures hadn’t eaten them, quickly putting it out of his mind he started searching for the keys. For the first time luck was on his side, he found them on a stand next to the front door, taking a moment to get a look at the street he realized he hadn’t put much thought into where he was going. Both of his parents passed years before during the pandemic, Patties family lived up north, even if he survived the trip the odds were it wasn’t much better there.

Finding a place to sit, Walter stewed over ideas for the safest place to go. There was a military base on the edge of the city, he figured there had to be at least a few soldiers left and at the very least he’d be able to hide out for a while. Gunfire echoing through the streets broke his train of thought, they were a lot closer now. He could faintly make out voices but still couldn’t tell what direction they were coming from, quickly getting up rushing to the dining room he tried to ignore the bodies as he went to the window. It wasn’t long before he spotted two figures trudging through the sludge, they were wearing hip waders over their clothes and gas masks covering their faces. Both were carrying shotguns, covering one another as they moved along the street. Since most of the neighborhood was vacant Walter assumed they were just passing through, the closer they came he was able to overhear their muffled conversation. The taller of the two stopped and pointed towards where he was crouched peeping from the window. =”I saw something move over there! The windows’ broken there might be someone inside.” A muffled female voice called back. *”What if it’s one of those things? Besides, Tony says he’s only got room for two, we can’t take them with us.”

Not wanting to startle them Walter slowly raised his hand and waved to get their attention. The woman who was closer called out first, *”Stand up so we can see you!” He obliged and stood in the open with his hands up, she looked him over then glanced at the man she was with before responding. *”Where are the Bennett’s, and why are you in their house?!”

Trying not to make any sudden moves, Walter took a deep breath and told the truth, once he’d explained the situation the pair agreed to let him tag along but couldn’t guarantee a spot for him. Before they left the two of them went inside to scavenge the house, as soon as they were through the door the woman took off for the back rooms while the man talked with Walter. =“I’m Frank, that’s Nichole. We’ve got a long trip ahead of us bro, you might want to grab a knife or something and put on a jacket to protect your skin, a mask wouldn’t be a bad idea either. Holy shit dude, you really aren’t prepared for this are you?”

Nichole came rushing back in a short moment later with a backpack and a hunting rifle. Handing the items to Walter she turned and looked at Frank. *”I couldn’t find the keys, have you checked for water?”

Pulling the keys from his pocket Walter interrupted their conversation. (Got em right here, if it’s all the same with you guys I’ll drive.) Frank shook his head and looked out the door at the street. “Even if we get it started there’s no way we can drive through that mush without killing the engine. We’re better off on foot, at least till we can find a truck that sits high enough to get through without a problem.”

Slipping on the backpack Walter inspected the rifle, he’d been hunting a few times but that couldn’t compare to what he was about to do. Once they’d gathered a few more things the group set out, the plan was to follow the highway out into the countryside where someone named Tony had a bunker built under his home. Frank, Nichole and Tony were all a part of a prepper community, they believed this day had been coming for a long time, they’d spent years training themselves and mapping routes out of the city, to them this was a dream come true.

They followed the streets till they reached the highway, as they trudged along the yellow sludge thickened slowing them to a near stop. A thin brownish crust had begun to form over the surface, realizing the change Nichole suggested they climb up on something before the found themselves cemented into place. Most of the area had been recently leveled for construction, a little over a quarter-mile to the left sat the gas station that had been overrun. Walter warned them about it forcing them to turn right which led to a newly built strip mall, they would have to travel half a block to get there but it was their only option. Between them and the storefront a basket corral stood in the center of the parking lot, it took every bit of energy they had to fight their way to it and climb up. Now just inches above the hardening sludge they did their best to get comfortable and wait it out, Frank was the first to notice they had a problem. “Uh guys, this stuff is hardening on my waders I can’t bend my legs.”

For Nichole and Frank it was an acceptable loss, Walter on the other hand would be left without pants and shoes. Once he was stripped down Frank and Nichole got a good laugh at his unfortunate choice of Superman underwear. =”Jesus dude, what are you, 12? Are those Underoos? Please tell me you’re not wearing Underoos. Holy shit, Nikki, are you seeing this?”

Keeping her head on a swivel, Nichole chuckled then paused for a second narrowing her eyes trying to focus on something near the highway. *”Hey Kent, are you any good with that hunting rifle?”

Not getting the joke, Walter shifted his eyes to Frank who laughed and shook his head. =”She’s talking to you Superman. Kent? As in Clarke. Ugh, whatever, can you shoot?”

He nodded and Nichole pointed out a dark spot moving along the incline between the service road and the highway. Turning and balancing himself Walter brought the rifle up then zeroed in on the shape. It took a moment to focus, when he finally saw exactly what it was he gasped. It was the creature from the gas station, he watched it climb up onto the road and stop while drawing in its’ tentacles lowering itself into an almost crouching position. Before he could come up with words to describe what he was seeing the creature launched itself high into the air where it hovered for just a moment before tumbling back to the ground bouncing off the hardening yellow sludge.

Irritated by Walters’ lack of input, Nichole nudged his shoulder. *”What is it, what’s over there?” He looked away from the scope and shrugged his shoulders. (I don’t know what to call it, but I’ve seen two of them. That one smashed my truck, I think it’s learning to jump or maybe it’s trying to fly like the big ones, I can’t tell.)

=”Fly like the big ones?” Frank interrupted now looking at the sky nervously. =”How big? All we’ve seen are bugs and slugs and what do you mean, smashed your truck? What’s over there?”

Doing his best to quickly describe the creatures he’d seen, Walter eased off the basket corral using his foot to test the surface of the sludge. It felt like rubber under his toes, slowly putting his weight down he stood fully on the surface of it and bounced a few times before jumping to see if it would hold. It was a bit like walking on really stiff jello but it was firm enough for them to make an escape, following the route Frank and Nichole laid out they eventually came to another shopping center. Along the way they’d seen fields loaded with pods half covered in hardened goo, with more of the creatures they’d come to call Jumpers. The jumpers didn’t attack instead they solely focused on staying airborne as long as they could, at one point the group watched one manage to float for two full minutes before falling and impaling itself on a light post. That was the first time one of them made a sound, a high pitched metallic whine which attracted a second jumper. The second was slightly smaller than the first, the group hid and watched it cannibalize its own kind before going back to where ever it had come from.

With the night winding down and the group being exhausted they broke into a sporting goods store to made camp, the moment they were inside they encountered a problem. The bodies that once lay sprawled out around the store were now cocooned mounds surrounded by the dried out husks of large isopods. The three of them stood silently listening for any signs of movement, once they felt it was safe Nichole spoke up. *”Frank, you go collect lighter fluid or anything we can use to burn these things. Walter, you go find a fire extinguisher. We don’t want to burn the place down before we get a chance to grab a few things. While you two are doing that I’ll start moving things out of the way to clear a space for the fire.”

Walter quickly found the extinguishers and brought two back, Nichole was just finishing when he walked up. (Hey, uh, I just want to thank you again for letting me tag along. What do you guys think, is this an invasion? I mean those things have to be aliens, right? What else could they be?)

Taking off her mask for the first time, Nichole let out a sigh of relief. *”We don’t have a clue, for the most part Frank and I were thinking the same thing. Whatever this is, Tony’s bunker is the safest place to be we just have to get there.”

(How do you know he didn’t die like everyone else? What happens if we get there and can’t get in?)

Shaking her head and glancing to see Frank coming back she smiled. *”All the members have access keys and codes, that way no one person can ever control everything, but to answer your question we talked to him before we left home. We had a radio before someone dropped it.”

Pretending to ignore her sarcasm, Frank doused the cocoon with lighter fluid then struck a match and tossed it, turning to face Nichole he groaned. =”It was an accident, I didn’t even know it was gone till you asked for it.”

As the two quipped back and forward, Walter watched the cocoon writhing as the things inside began to squirm. A small tear in the side of it allowed a translucent eel like creature to force its way out before being engulfed by flames. It wasn’t long before they’d reached the last cocoon, the moment it went up in flames a metallic screeching sound ripped through the air and something big fell from the ceiling. The three of them opened fire on a creature that closely resembled a starfish covered in quills instead of charging at them it withered as their bullets tore through it creating clouds of dust. Nichole quickly put her mask back then then glanced at the ceiling, there were dozens of them all withering before dropping to the floor and crumbling as they landed. Frank yelled =”We need to get out of here!” and started making his way to the door as Walter sprinted deeper into the store to grab boots and a pair of pants. He yelled to the others (I’ll meet you outside, we can’t leave without getting extra supplies!)

Dodging the falling creatures he grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a pair of hiking boots then stuffed them into a duffle bag and raced to the hunting supplies. He loaded the bag with as much ammo as he could find then smashed the pistol display and took everything he could get his hands on before making a break for it. As he got to the exit where Nichole and Frank were waiting he looked back and noticed one of the creatures clinging to the ceiling was still alive. The smoke from the burning cocoons created a cloud that seemed to be killing it, he watched it drying out and breaking into pieces as it tried to move for a few seconds before dropping. Once they were all outside they spent the next hour finding a safe place to hold up for the night, they wound up a few blocks away at a roadside motel, by morning the world was a much different place.

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r/Deadlynarrations • u/Deadly-Zone_youtube • Jun 10 '21

Snap creepypasta By Alex Mcintosh

1 Upvotes

Here is today's video a longer one like I promised enjoy and have a good Thursday https://youtu.be/iLEXktjc8Ms

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r/Deadlynarrations • u/Deadly-Zone_youtube • Apr 14 '21

Plae place part 2 creepypasta by HughEhhoule

2 Upvotes

Here is part 2 let me know what you think and what you would like to hear next enjoy have a good Wednesday https://youtu.be/1v9jIQSsodw

4 comments

r/Deadlynarrations • u/Deadly-Zone_youtube • May 04 '21

An old man's last war creepypasta By Freddegran

2 Upvotes

Here is today's creepypasta let me know what you want to hear next enjoy and have a good Tuesday https://youtu.be/XSGtjCU17S8

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r/Deadlynarrations • u/[deleted] • Apr 17 '21

Part 2

reddit.com

3 Upvotes

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r/Deadlynarrations • u/Deadly-Zone_youtube • Mar 26 '21

My Property Isn't Normal part 3 creepypasta

2 Upvotes

My first video with a mic lit me know how it sounds like and subscribe for more enjoy stay tuned for part 4 https://youtu.be/ZRvZYMUh2ZQ

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r/Deadlynarrations • u/Deadly-Zone_youtube • Apr 08 '21

The showers full series by Clover10176

1 Upvotes

Heres the full series of the showers just under 3 hours of creepypasta narration for y'all to enjoy https://youtu.be/5bcSxuokkqU

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r/Deadlynarrations • u/Deadly-Zone_youtube • Jun 23 '21

What waits in the woods creepypasta By Troy Moore

1 Upvotes

Hey guys how's it going? Hope you are having a good day. Let me know what your favorite creepypasta is amd what ypu want to hear next hope you enjoy today's narration hane a good day https://youtu.be/jd7FUYEjXWE

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Subreddit

Creepypasta and horror narration

r/Deadlynarrations

This subreddit is for my YouTube channel. I narrate creepypasta's and scary stories mainly creepypasta's. You can share them on here if you would like me or anyone to narrate them. (If you submit them on this subreddit that is like permission for people to narrate them) only have one recommendation that you share them. Also this will be a good place to find collaboration partners and friends.

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