The City!

Forty years ago a fog swept over the world.  When the fog lifted millions of people were dead and when night fell the corpses would reanimate and walk and attack until sunrise.  They were not zombies either because they did not eat you they would only kill you.  The only thing that could destroy them would be burning the bodies and after a few disastrous attempts at trying to destroy them it was discovered it could take three days for the corpse to turn completely to ash.  Until then a burning corpse would walk around when the sun went down. Cement lined pits had to be constructed to hold these creatures a handful at a time, so the burning corpses would not escape as they burned. The rumor is that more than seventy five percent of the planet's population is gone.  

There is one big rule that most people live by and that is staying out of the city.  When I was fifteen our village was attacked one morning after all the precautions were taken.  People ran from their homes to help their neighbors instead of staying in their homes.  The screams of everyone dying was horrible that night my father went to go outside as the sun rose and he ran back in with our neighbors one year old in his arms.  He handed her to me and told me to take her and hide upstairs. 

My mother pushed me towards the stairs and asked him what was wrong. 

"The sun has been up and they are just now starting to fall down. Max and Jenny went outside and were in our front yard when they were being attacked. I grabbed Casey and ran back inside. It's not safe here anymore, we have to figure something out."  

I grabbed my suitcase and packed a bag of clothes for myself as Casey sat on my bed playing with my dolls.  I heard banging downstairs and I pushed my dresser in front of the door and grabbed Casey and went into my bathroom.  I heard my mom and dads screams and then silence.  After what seemed like an eternity, I pushed the dresser away and lifted Casey in my arms and went downstairs to see what had happened. There were my parents and Max and Jenny's bodies on the floor of my house and the front door wide open like someone had opened it not broken it down.

"Mama!" Casey cried.

I shifted her, "No baby, Mama is sleeping. We need to go somewhere safe."

I ran into the kitchen and started bagging up all the food my parents had in the house.  I grabbed the keys to the family van and took all the food and my clothes outside and placed it in the van.  I ran over to Caseys house and ran up the stairs to her room. I put her in her crib and ran into her parents room to search for a bag. Once I found one I ran back into her room and started packing all of her cloths and stuff she would need. I ran it out to the van and grabbed a few bags out of the van and started grabbing the food out of Caseys house. I grabbed Caseys car seat and put it in my van!  I ran upstairs and grabbed Casey and changed her diaper and gathered some of her toys and headed downstairs with her.

"Cup!" Casey said!

I stopped short, realizing that Casey and I had not had any food yet. I grabbed the bread and the fruit from the counter and opened the fridge. I filled another bag with what was in the fridge and filled Casey's cup with milk and ran out the door. 

"Libby where are you going?" I looked up and there was Max running towards me.

"I am taking Casey and leaving I am heading to my Aunt's house outside of town. If I leave now we can make it there in the next two hours. Casey's parents and mine went out after the sun rose and both were killed by the dead."

"My parents were killed too Libby!"

"Max do you want to come with us? We can sneak into the city and find stuff if we need it. My Aunt can help with Casey!"

"Yeah! Let me get my stuff."

We drove to Max's house and it started to dawn on us that we might be all that's left of our village. Max ran upstairs and I ran into his kitchen and gathered all of their food as well.  I grabbed a few of the blankets his mom always had on their couches as well. I sat with Casey in the van feeding her some of the butter and jelly sandwich I made and refilling her milk. Max Ran down and put his clothes in next to Casey. As we headed to the outskirts of town we stopped at the old store and left Casey in the Van as I added extra gas to the van as well as the two gas cans in the back of the van. Max ran in and came out with boxes of supplies and food. After we packed the van we headed to my Aunts. We saw corpses all over the road and coming from homes around the villages. I wondered if anyone was even using the burn pits anymore. 

As we got to my Aunt's house we saw the burn pens she had at the start of the property and noticed they were not burning I held my breathe as we pulled up to the house and my Aunt Lily ran out her front door to meet us with tears in her eyes.

"Well," She said taking Casey from me.  "I bet you guys are exhausted. Lets unload the van and get it in the garage so its not messed with, I reckon we have a lot to talk about!"

I followed Aunt Lily inside and she said, "I take it none of your parents made it out of the town?"

"Aunt Lilly," I said. "Corpses were still up after Sunrise."

She looked out the window and said, "I think we need to get the burn pit going again."

Max said, "Maam do you have a way to dig I will dig out the burn pits around the property to extend them"

Aunt Lilly looked thoughtful for a moment and said, "No I have something even better. I have a bunch of shipping containers that we can move the bodies into and then light them up and let them burn to ash."

"Where are the shipping containers?" I asked.

Aunt Lilly smiled, "You passed them on your way in."

Wait are you saying those hills at the start of your property are actually your shipping containers?" I said

She laughed and said, "I put them in years ago as tornado shelters. But I never finished connecting them so I think if we can get the dead in and set them on fire. I know its not a easy thing but we should be able to handle this. Also the lumber yard across from here is full of lumber as well as fencing. I want to put a large fence around the property but also set some of the thing wood in the new burn silos to get set up. But first you children need to rest. 

Aunt lilly walked us into the kitchen and sat us down and placed Casey in an old highchair she kept for visitors, "We will rest today after we unload the car. All the bedrooms are upstairs and I have a fridge up there as well. At the top of the stairs which is enclosed on all sides there is a door which I have installed a barricade just in case."

"So besides my room and the bathroom upstairs there is a loft that looks out over the living room and 1 extra bedroom. Libby and Casey will have the bedroom as there is a crib in there. Max I have a couch as well as a bed in the loft. Once the sun goes down I normally head upstairs right away and watch movies there or read. As we have electricity still I have a massive movie collection," She got serious and said, "We do not go downstairs unless we verify nothing has gotten into the house. Also the basement is secured but we do not go in unless we verify that the outer doors have not been breached first. Is that clear?"

Max and I said, "Yes Maam,"

"Also just be aware all the food except for 2-3 days worth is hidden. With the rash deaths lately we do not risk anything and I will show you were everything is after we make sure the basement is secure today." SMiling she said, "I think we need to make some food."

Leaning down she said to Casey, "Well baby girl I am your Aunt Lilly now to and I think you need some ham and biscuits don't you?"

Casey smiled and giggled. Aunt Lily looked sad for a minute and said, "Let's eat, and then we will check the basement doors. I hate to say this but we need to start working on checking homes and businesses and seeing what we can get. Also, the rule is if we find animals dead we burn them as well because I am not risking anything. We do not know what can happen since the fog set in. Libby girl while I cook why don't you and Max unload the car."

Aunt Lilly made breakfast as Max and I unpacked the Van. After we unpacked and ate Aunt Lilly handed Casey to me and I cleaned her up. Then we went outside and went to the basement. We found it padlocked and secure. However, when we came around the side of the building I saw feet peaking out of the bushes. I pointed them out to Aunt Lilly and she and Max pulled the body of her neighbor Jim out. It looks like he was trying to find a way in. Seeing the window next to where the body had fallen she said, "Hmm looks like Jim was trying to get in through the window. I think we need to get him in the container and get some wood. I also think we are gonna work on making a fence around the house. But for now, let's go ahead and get some of the stones from the garden and block off the windows just in case."

Max and I moved stones in front of all the basement windows.  After we completed the windows we checked the porch and made sure no one would be able to get underneath. Then we used a wheelbarrow and moved poor Jim to the burn container. We anchored him down in a corner and added a pile of brush and wood and Aunt Lilly said goodbye to her friend and lit the fire. We secured the door handle so it could not be opened and saw the smoke rising out of the vent on the roof. We took Aunt lillys truck and headed to the lumber yard and loaded fencing and started to measure out a fence. Aunt lilly bought us our sandwiches while we worked and we sat down as a car pulled into the driveway.

Aunt Lilly looked up and said, "Libby take Casey inside and Max get me my shotgun from behind the door."

I watched from the window with Casey in my arms. A couple got out of the car and the man said, "We are wondering if this is a killing free zone."

Aunt Lilly said, "This is private property and there has been many of killings in the area. What is your business here?"

The wife looked up and said, "We mean no trouble. We are trying to find a home to bunker down in to be safe. We were in the city and those creatures of the dead were getting into secured apartments at night. So many people had died."

After putting Casey in her playpen I walked out and said, "This morning we came here to my aunts house because the creatures were still alive an hour after sun up." 

The man muttered, "Shit."

My Aunt sympathized and said, "Listen most of the homes locally are abandoned and the lumber yard has also been abandoned as well. There is only one way to kill the creatures and that is fire and burning till they turn to ash. At the start of most of the farms is burn pits. We have modified ones here on my farm. I would suggest bunkering down and being safe."

The woman looked up with tears in her eyes and said, "Thank You for your kindness. We will swing by and let you know where we settle. I am a doctor and I will not forget your kindness. Also take this, I saw that you had a little one when we pulled in."

She walked up to my aunt and handed her a bag of infant toddler medications and vitamins. She turned to walk away when we saw choppers go over head. Se said, "My brother is in the Military they are trying to stop this but are failing."

Aunt lilly said, "Tell them to get shipping containers load the bodies and burn them thats the only thing that works."

Nodding the husband said, "We will and will check in on you all soon."

Later that afternoon Aunt lily said, "I see they took over the Aberdeen farm. I also see he got the burn pit going as well with the smoke that's behind the trees. That's were Abel had a massive burn pit."

I looked up and said, "dark will be here soon we need to start locking up."

We went around the house and started shutting and securing the shutters we added. Then max secured the new gates he added near the front and back door as well as around the basement entrance.

Aunt lily had went in and made biscuits, eggs and ham slices as we made sure all the windows were  locked in the bottom floor and shut all the blinds and curtains. As the sun sunk below the skyline I just made it upstairs to shut all the curtains and saw a group of zombies on the horizon. I finished getting the curtains closed and ran downstairs to let everyone know.

Aunt Lily handed me Casey and said "upstairs now."

Max and Aunt Lily made sure everything was locked and shut and moved larger pieces of furniture in front of the doors and windows. Then they pulled the door Max had installed at the bottom of the stairs and locked it. When they got up to the top floor Aunt Lilly shut the door and locked it as well as moved a dresser in front of it. We settled in for the evening and ate dinner while watching TV. Soon enough I had put Casey to bed and we heard noises outside the house. Aunt lily said, "I cannot wait till we get that fence line up. Tomorrow if it is cool I will keep Casey inside with me and I am going to work on getting the attic room set up. Just in case they were to get inside I want us to have a plan B."

"Attic room?" Max asked?

"Follow me you two," She said as she walked down the hall. At the end she showed us a rope that hung in the corner of the wall. When she pulled it a set of stairs came down and we followed her up. The attic room was large and spacious it had large windows throughout the space. She looked at us and said, "When my first husband was alive we had put the plumbing in and were going to make the space over there a bathroom and make this into our master bedroom. He died before we got to it and this has been my junk room ever since. There is enough room here to add chairs, a table and I have a few cots somewhere up here. A lot of this stuff is old so I can throw it in the burn pit when we add more bodies or add more wood to Jim to burn him again in the morning if it went out. Normally once they are on fire they stay lit but fires can go out."

We headed downstairs and Max told us to stay put. We heard scratching outside the house. He went into Lilys room and said, "They got up onto the porch. Aunt lily you and Libby lock yourselves in your room tonight and block the door. I will pull down the attic and if they get in and past everything I will hide in the attic."

Aunt lily smiled and said, "No worry dear these windows are strong but we will lock and block the doors just in case."

We headed into our rooms and locked the doors and blocked then with dressers. When we got up in the morning Max had just woken up and he said, "Nothing got in but I peeked outside and there are still zombies walking around 10 minutes ago."

Aunt Lilly looked at her watch and said, "But the sun has been up for 20 min already."

We went into her room and looked out over the property and saw that three to four zombies were struggling to walk and there were a few bodies on the ground as dead. She said, "Well lets get ready for our day and head downstairs. Its so nice now I know Casey and I will be able to get a lot done upstairs today. We will start loading bodies into the cart after breakfast and add them to the burn pile."

Max and I went downstairs' First and looked out the windows. We saw quite a few bodies on the lawn and we saw a corpse still walking through the garden. We looked out the windows in the kitchen and saw no more creatures. We opened the curtains to let the light in as Aunt Lily came in to start making breakfast. She sat Casey in the highchair and placed some rice crispies on her tray while she made some biscuits and gravy. When we saw the last corpse drop Max and I went outside to see what damage was done to the house. We saw a lot of scratch marks on the door that were not there. We walked around the full porch and saw that there were also scratches all along the windows and glass.

Max looked up and said, "I think we need to go to the lumber yard and get shutters for the downstairs windows."

Aunt Lily came out and said, "Breakfast is done and  oh man they scratched up the house something awful I agree Max I think that shutters would be a great investment."

I looked at Aunt Lilly and said, "Well we will get the bodies to the burn pit and then we will go over to the lumber yard and get the shutters they had. That way we can try to get them on before dark. We can get hinges so we can can open and close them. Also we can see about shutters for the main door as well that we can lock from the inside Before we shut the main door."

Max looked over and said. "Libby that is a great idea. Then if we have time we can work more on the fence for around the house."

Aunt Lilly handed us our breakfast and we ate and then went outside. I looked at her Garage door and saw a lot of gouge marks, "I think we need to get shutters and locks for the garage as well. If they get in they could mess up the cars and we need to be able to have them running in case we need to get out."

Max nodded and we grabbed a three wheeler and attached a cart to it. We started to load bodies into it. We knew that we would have to block the bodies in as we did not have enough chains. When we opened the door to the burn pit I suggested we load wood around the bodies after we set the chains. I looked at Max and said, "The lone resident seems to have moved to the door last night. We may have to start dropping wood and the bodies through the top hatch."

Max nodded and said, "I agree. Lets keep all the branches we find and wood scraps to start burning prior to getting bodies in here."

We made quick work of the bodies and used the grills lighter fluid to start a new fire and soon as we saw that the bodies were starting to ignite we added a pile of wood to the front door and started a blaze with that as well. We shut the door and headed up to the hatch. We decided that we would add more wood later that day once we worked on the shutters of the house. We headed back to the house to get the truck when Aunt Lilly cam out and said, "I went to the attic with Lilly and I see some things that may need to be burned. Should I take then to the burn pit?"

Max laughed for a moment and said, "No load whatever needs to go there to the cart in the garage. We were just saying we may have to start loading bodies through the hatch and then add wood and things that can be burned. Aunt Lilly we may have to go to the neighbors houses to start getting old things and food. Should we start looking for things to burn as well?"

Aunt Lilly sighed and said, "Not yet Max if people can escape here from the city they may need what's there. We may have to head back towards your old town first than the city. But I have a full basement of canned food and meat for now. I have a lot of wood behind the barn and when we get the attic done I may just do a good clean out of the basement and house. Plus we have plenty of trees that need trimming. Lets wait on the harvesting of others possessions until we know more okay."

"Sure thing, Aunt Lilly. We did notice a lot of scrap wood at the lumber yard and if we need to we can use the scrap wood as its not good for building anything," I said. "We may grab some of that as well besides the shutters and hinges. We may also grab some more lighter fluid if we have to add people to the top of the burn pit."

Aunt Lilly looked up and said, "Until we figure out why the bodies are staying up later we may want to just add then through the hatch regardless. We can open the doors once a week to remove the ash. That way we do not risk getting attacked if something else is going on."

We nodded and walked out to the truck to head to the lumber yard. When we got to the lumber yard we found two bodies in front of the gate. May and I loaded them into the truck and went to the section where the shutters were. We found them and loaded doors first and then the windows. We then grabbed some two by fours and went inside and grabbed nails, locks and hinges. When we went to leave we stopped at the scrap wood pile and grabbed a pile of scrap wood to add to the burn pit after we added the newest bodies. When we pulled back into the property we went to the burn pit and opened up the trap door and was greeted by the heat of the fire below. We added the two bodies and more of the scrap wood. We piled the remaining scrap wood next to the entrance and went back to the house.

We started with the garage door shutters and after a few hours we had the shutters ready and set up. We went inside the garage and opened the door so we could install the locks. When we finished we emptied the truck and pulled it in as we shut the shutters and the garage door. We added shutters to the side door of the garage and the one window. By the time we finished this Aunt Lilly can out with Casey and handed us each a sandwich. She looked at our work and nodded in approval. "You both are doing a great job., I like how you matched the shutters to the house, Thank you."

We continued on eating as we started working on the shutters for the front door. After we got the wood in place and started setting up the shutters to the front door. We finished the front door and some of the windows when Aunt Lilly poked her head out and said, "Its 430pm so start wrapping up what your doing. I think that we need to be ready by dinner time because if the timing is off you could be surprised by whatever comes this way."

We nodded and and finished putting the two by fours up on the last window and stacked all the materials near the rails to the porch. We put all the tools into the garage and shut the shutters on the garage and then shut and locked the front door. We started to shut the curtains and locked all the doors when I heard Aunt Lilly call us upstairs. She was standing next to the window and when we looked out we saw the first of the creatures coming over the hill. Aunt Lilly sighed and said, "I am glad I made a small pot of chicken soup. I will go get the pot if one of you wants to grab the tray with the bowls spoons and bread. I think we will be eating upstairs tonight just in case."

Max went down with Aunt Lilly as I changed Casey as she had already had her dinner with Aunt Lilly and was falling asleep. By the time they came back upstairs I was laying Casey in her crib. When I came out Max was moving the wardrobe in front of the stairs and Aunt Lilly said, "Before you eat why don't you go look at the work I did upstairs."

We went up the ladder and saw that Aunt Lilly had hung blankets to form walls around the bathroom a a curtain for the door. When we turned on the light and peeked in we saw she had added in towels and a basket of toiletries. I looked at Aunt Lilly and she said, "All these items were up here so I washed all the towels and curtains and found a box of old towels which are in the box as well as old magazines and books and random things that can be burned. I was happy I found a second pack and play up here as well. All I had to do was wipe it down and Casey was all set while I cleaned. So the next thing will be the next corner next to the bathroom. I am thinking of making that to a living room type area and then we will make bedrooms next to the windows. But I am guessing there will be a bunch of stuff that will be ready to be burned."

Max looked up and said, "Aunt Lilly you did a great job." 

I looked out the window and saw as the sun was setting there was another creature on the horizon. I looked at them and said, "I believe that the shutters and front door will have a test tonight. But even if they get in downstairs we should be fine up stairs."

We headed back to the second floor and sat down to eat our dinner. After we ate Aunt Lilly put the remaining soup in a container and placed it in her mini fridge she had upstairs. She said good night and Max and I sat on the couch and put a movie on low. After everything we did we fell asleep next to each other on the couch.

We woke up early the following morning and when we sat up Max said, "I guess we did not realize how tired we really were."

Yawning I said, "I guess so." 

Walking over to the window I pulled back the curtain enough to look out and said, "Max you need to see this."

He looked out and there on the lawn in front of the house was a ton of corpses still walking. Watching out our crack in the curtains he said, "They are starting to stay later and later. This is not good."

Libby, Max, Casey and Aunt Lilly

The Fence

I had just moved to town in Highlands, New Jersey.  Well we had to move because our town tried to kill us. We traveled for a month and after fighting with my mom we finally moved back to my parents hometown.  I was not happy we had to leave and I made sure I had all my camera equipment packed in the car and didn't argue. When we arrived in town I ended up making a bunch of friends and we would walk around town a lot. They thought it was cool that I loved photography and soon I had a bunch of pictures soon and my friends loved showing me places they thought would be great shots.

One day we were walking in the old historic district and we came upon a huge old historic home. When I first saw the building I asked my new friends about it and they go quiet and said that is the orphanage.  They were so quiet and solemn when Karrie explained that the orphanage was a home for children with special needs.  I smiled and asked if they accept volunteers to come in and help and Karrie grabbed my arm and said, "Never go there. People who go to help disappear and never come back."

I looked back at the building as we walked away.  Lifting my camera one last time I took a series of pictures. When I got home I went to speak to my mom about what had happened, however, she was not home yet from work. I went upstairs to my room and pulled out my memory card and loaded it into the reader. Seeing all the fun pictures with my new friends made me thankful that I moved here. Then when I got to the pictures of the fence and orphanage I got scared. You could see children peeking through the windows and hiding behind the bushes. The thing is when we were going past I did not see anyone in the windows or on the lawn.

I thought maybe I was wrong and I kept going through the pictures and I saw more and more kids appearing. When I go to the last picture that I shot from behind me I almost wanted to scream. There at the fence line was a guy around my age with black eyes reaching for me. I had taken this picture randomly and i was walking away at the time but there he was. My brain started to rationalize the picture, it could be the lighting, or he has dark eyes. Or maybe what everyone said was true and that fence was keeping everything bad in.

Deciding to take a break I went downstairs to see if my mom was home yet. When i realized I had some time yet till she arrived home I decided to do some research about the orphanage. I headed across the street to the library to do some research on the building. When I walked in I asked the librarian information about the orphanage, and she decided to spill everything she knew about it.

She told me the orphanage is a home for children with special needs. I asked her about what type of special needs. She looked at me and said, "What do you mean child?"

"I am a photographer and went past the orphanage earlier today." I said. "I went through the pictures after I got home and when I went through the pictures I had more and more children appeared in the pictures when there was no one outside when I was there and taking the pictures. So I am asking again what kind of special needs."

"Sweetie the kids in the orphanage are just that Children. I know your new to town but we don't start raising trouble about innocent people."

Laughing I said, "Yeah they said that about were I came from."

She gave a smirk and said, "What type of lesson did you learn about that?"

"I come from Brooksville. Florida where the Indian curse killed many innocent people including the elderly and children. SOrry not sorry ma'am I am here because my daddy and grandparents were killed because people only realized what was happening after the fact." I said turning around. "My Mama ran from the monster chasing us until we hit the town line and could never go back."

The woman looked like she wanted to say something and then said, "Wait are you from the town that the military has blocked off last year in florida?"

"Yes Maam I am." I said, "Believe me when I say our town was interesting before this all started. But I know from my town when a house is not just a house and and orphanage is not just a orphanage."

"Do you plan on doing something about this?" She asked with a worried look on her face.

Shaking my head I said, "No Maam I will not. Like I said where I came from and after all the loss including a few of my friends I just want to know if my mama and I are safe."

"Well I am sorry I cannot provide you any information for that building except that it is a orphange and the children there are special needs so they do not need people poking around." She said then ended with a, "Good Day."

I walked out of the library and headed back home. When I arrived my mom was back with a Pizza and I said, "We need to talk."

Mom looked at me and said, "Thats your serious face."

"Mom," I said, "I think we walked from one town trying to kill us to another."

My moms head snapped up and she said, "Amanda thats not funny."

"Seriously mom don't you think I know this," I said. "You didn't see half your friends killed in front of you. Believe me when I say I wish this could be a joke."

She sat down and said, "What did you find?"

I took my laptop in front of her and told her to scroll through. When she got to the orphanage pictures she saw what spooked me and said, "What in the world."

"Exactly mom," I said. "But I went to the library and asked the librarian about the orphanage and she went cold as ice and said they were special needs. When i pushed she got real defensive and said this town does not like people snooping."

"Wow, This building used to be a nursing home so I do not know what happened to it since I left for Florida," She said.

"Mom," I said. "After everything that happened at home I am worried we have a big fight coming."

Taking my hand she said, "No worries Amanda. This time we are more aware and hopefully we can go home soon."

"Have you heard from Maddy and Shawn?" I asked.

"I spoke with Maddy this morning. They went to speak to a local Shaman earlier and they are going to try a few things to try to appease the spirits," She said. "They said Dad, Grams and Gramps are still listed as missing."

"Mom," I said. "I do not want to be a negative person but you know as well as I do that Uncle Mark came for them."

Mom had tears in her eyes as she said, "I know baby. Uncle Mark was crazy and they did not know about the abuse that was happening in the psychiatric hospital. They would never had let him stay there if they know. Unfortunately by the time they started to figure this out Uncle Mark had died."

"I wish we could go back Mom, I hate it here." I said, "I know you grew up in this house and town but it seems off."

Sighing my Mom said, "Your not wrong Amanda I have felt it to. But until the situation back home is resolved there is no way we can go back there."

"I had a dream last night Mom about Maddy and Shawn. I believe they solve the problem because in my dream we were back home and Maddy and Shawn were getting married," I said. 

My Mom burst out laughing and said, "Amanda that is to funny because they always had a thing for each other but have never went for it. Dad even told him to ask Maddy out."

Shrugging I said, "You never know Mom maybe everything that is happening down there would convince them to finally take a chance. Life if way to short."

Mom laughed and said, "Once everything in Florida is fixed and we go home you have fun telling Maddy and Shawn that. How about this why don't we walk to the Parrot and get some Pizza for dinner?"

We walked down to the Parrot and ordered Pizza, Salads, knots and mozzarella sticks. The owner was a kind man who had the news on since it was a slow night. A news article popped up on the screen saying Florida town still under quarantine day 56. Why is this town blocked off? My mom asked him to keep it on and we stood up to get a better view. The news camera was aimed at a news conference at one of blockades and I said, "Mom look its Maddy and Shawn."

Mom looked at me and said, "What in the world are they covered in. They look like they have been in a battle."

I sked the owner to turn up the TV.  He did giving me a weird look, We listened as Maddy said, "Thank you for coming. We are so sorry that our city is shut down but to date over 30 residents have been killed and it looks like there may be more before this nightmare is over. We have started escorts to evacuating the residents that are willing to go. For your safety we advise not coming into our town because you could be at the same risk as our residents."

We heard a question asked, "What is causing the deaths?"

Shawn took over and said, "Monsters and ghosts."

The owner of the parrot changed the station and said, "Bullshit."

When he saw the look on my Moms face he said, "Susie Cue?"

I looked at him and said, "Sir unfortunately not bullshit. My Dad and Grandparents were killed by the ghost of my uncle who died. My mom was rescued by Shawn and Maddy as she was being tortured. If it wasn't for them I would be an orphan."

He came out from behind the counter and said, "Susie girl I am so sorry Max and his parents were killed. They were good people. Wait was it little Mark? He killed them. What happened? Oh shit what a horrible question, I am so sorry."

I sighed uncle Mark had an issue with drugs when he got older after they moved to Florida to live near us. Grandma and Grandpa had Uncle Mark put in a rehab mental home. The staff was horrible and tortured and abused him. They didn't know until they went to visit him after his probation period. When they got there they found him beaten and bruised. They had a ambulance come and he died a few days later at the hospital."

I figured why not and continued, "What they are going through is a curse on the town and now its time to pay for the curse. That's why we are here. We cannot be in town without it trying to killing us. We left everything behind. Maddy and Shawn are friends of my parents and are trying to save the town."

Martin looked worried and said, "Town curse huh?"

Mom asked Martin and said, "So that orphanage Martin is that a curse we need to worry about?"

Martin looked at us and said, "I will be honest with you Susie. One day the building was an assisted living home and the next we were told it was now a home for special needs children. But the thing was the staff who worked at the assisted living home were all let go and people questioned about who would be caring for the children and we were told that they had specialized staff."

"Martin," My Mom started, "When Amanda was walking with her friends she was taking pictures. She has a special talent for doing backwards pictures where she aims over her shoulder and does shots. She had taken a picture of just the building and did her backwards picture. These backwards pictures were less than 6 seconds apart and more and more children appeared out of no where and the last one had a older child reaching out of the fence towards her. The child in the picture looked scary."

I took out my tablet out of my purse and pulled up the pictures to show him. I handed him the tablet and said, "This is the series of the pictures I took of the building because I like older buildings. If you hit next you will see the next 6 pictures that are all taken over the shoulder."

Martin scrolled the pictures slowly and at the end of it he handed it back and asked, "Can you please start it over for me?"

I set it back up and he started going slow and made faces and after he handed me the tablet back he said, "Susie I think you stumbled onto something here."

"What do you mean Martin," I asked.

"Susie move in and Amanda come here and sit next to us," He said.

"Pull up the pictures starting with the house," He said. When I did he took the tablet and continued. "If you look at the house you can see faces in the windows. Look closely those faces look very elderly. We were told the residents were moved to a new private facility inland. Now the next one the first of the children appear on the porch. They are staring at the camera like they are glaring at you like Ms Connie and Ms Letty used to do when they would stand on the porch. The next picture the children on the grass sitting under the tree. Mr Jacobs, Mr Smith and Mrs Abigail and Mrs Constance would sit under that tree all the time. DO you see how they are ignoring the camera that's how they would be outside. Then the third picture has the kids in the distance walking the path. Those remind me of Mr James and Mrs Louise they were married for years and would walk the path whenever they could. The last picture is what got me though the kid reaching out to you and the kid behind him. They remind me of Mr Samuel and his brother Mr Kyle. Mr Samuel hates people and his brother is like his goon. There is something though one day Mr James and Mrs Louise family came to visit and they could not access the property. The new caretaker Mrs Jospehine came out and explained the assisted home was changed to a special needs children home and that her parents were moved. Their son was angry and said then why did the nursing home accept payment for that month. Mrs Josephine became angry and basically told them to leave and her parents moved. Later that night he got a call from his mom and she said that the payment issue was moved and that they moved to a new home by the Pine Barrens and they could afford the payments from now on and they would call soon once they were more settled. As they moved in on their own accord and just needed help with a few tasks here and there."

"So Martin what do you really think is happening?" Mom asked as the door to the resturant rang as the librarian and an older man came in.

Martin stood up as i moved to my side of the table, "Susie Cue it has been so nice catching up to you and meeting Amanda. I would be glad to come to your house for dinner tomorrow and catch up some more. I will bring dinner with me and you provide the desert."

My mom got the hint fast and said, "You sure Martin I can cook."

Laughing he said, "After everything you and Amanda have been through its the least I can do. Oh look your friends are back on the news cast."

He turned up the TV and we heard, "I am sorry we had to step away and leave for a minute. At this time we are putting out a all points bulletin if you know anyone in town and cannot reach them there are meeting points outside of town taking names of the residents who left. If your from the town please call the number on the screen and let us know where you are so we can add you to the safely evacuated list. Currently there are over 2950 unaccounted for. If you call the phone number you will also be given a list of names for the people who have elected to stay."

My mom lifted her phone and dialed the number. When someone answered she said, "This is Sue Maginan and me and my daughter Amanda are safe in New Jersey. Can you please put us on the list to call once its safe and Maddy and Shawn give the all clear to come home."

I heard her listen to the voice on the line and she said, "When we left we secured the home and we own it outright so there should be no issue with anything. I appreciate you asking though I cannot believe the banks are causing issues when people cannot go outside without the fear of being killed."

I saw her listening again and she said, "Maddy has a key to my house if someone wants to empty the pantry and freezer and give whats in it to the people who stayed that is perfectly okay. Besides the fridge and additional freezer and the pantry if you go into the garage there is 4 stacked totes with hurricane supply food. Please take all of it as well. Its the least I can do to help."

As my mom talked on the phone Martin brought over a box for our leftovers and he bought us out a box of cannolis and said, "A little treat for you both. I took care of your bill already. You both stay safe and Amanda you stay out of trouble."

Smiling I pointed to the screen where the reporter was speculating on screen, "No worries Martin I will not do anything to get into trouble especially after that."

Mom and I walked home and once we got there and were inside she said, "Amanda I think we may have walked into something that rivals what we were going through at home. Please stay away from there especially until we get more information from Martin."

"I get it mom," I said. "Keep myself alive here as well."

I headed to my room and settled into getting ready for bed. I looked out the window and could have sworn I saw someone by the tree across the street. I made sure my window was locked and closed the curtain and went to bed.

****************************************************

The following day my mom reminded me that we were having dinner guests that evening and I headed to school. As I headed down the road I heard my name called and I turned around and saw my new friend Shannon running towards me. I smiled and she said, "I have to talk to you."

I looked at her and said, "What's up."

"After we walked home from school yesterday did you go anywhere?" She asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I went to the library and asked the librarian about the home and then went to have dinner with my mom at the Parrot. Why do you ask?"

"The Librarian is my Aunt Carol and she came home in a mood," She said. "She complained to my uncle and started telling him people are asking questions. They went out for a while and when they got back she was telling my uncle they would need to keep an eye on you and your mom. Listen I could get into a lot of trouble so please do not say anything okay?"

"Shannon your secret is safe with me," I said as I thought I will say something to my mom and Martin later that night.

She smiled and said, "Now lets talk about something more fun, The Halloween dance."

Sighing I said, "Halloween dance."

"Yeah," She said. "Whats wrong you do not seem happy about the dance?"

"Shannon I have to tell you a secret," I said. I took out my phone and showed her the video feed from town. "This is where we are from."

She watched the video feed from the courthouse and said, "Amanda are you kidding me?"

"No," I said. "The town is cursed and the dead are going after the living. My grandparents and my Dad was killed by the ghost of my uncle."

Amanda- Main   Mom- Sue (Maginan)

Maddy and Shawn- Ghost zone

Martin- Owner of the parrot

Residents of the old assisted home- Ms Connie and Ms Letty, Mr Jacobs, Mr Smith and Mrs Abigail and Mrs Constance, Mr James and Mrs Louise, Mr Samuel and his brother Mr Kyle

Mrs Jospehine- Childrens home caretaker

Carol- head librian

Friends- Shannon

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