A Penny Saved (© Jesus Riddle Morales)
Page 1 A penny saved, is a penny earned! That was the moral
statement Chris’s grandmother told him every time he seemed to be slacking off
in the financial department of life. However, money-- as greedily worshiped it
was--had recently lost nearly all of its value. Money simply wasn’t the thing
that people wanted most any longer. Instead, the thing most desired in these
dark days was life - specifically, their own!
It had been just twelve hours since the crazed mob of
walking dead appeared. They moved furiously fast and attacked anybody in sight;
women, men, and children…it made no difference to these things. Pools of blood
and torn flesh littered the streets, fires enveloped neighborhood buildings,
and people looted stores in the most rapid amount of time possible. The world
had gone completely mad, as ghouls that sported faces with all manner of rot
and torn flesh had ravaged the city with their sickly-green eyes of bloodlust.
Earlier, in Wisconsin, the summer was warm and the
normal lives of people went about in its usual fashion. As he drove he truck,
Chris began to notice a slight air of panic among the voices of the radio
hosts. That noted; he began to tune into an alarming variation of news briefs.
What was going on here? Thought Chris. There had been an elevated terrorist
warning a few days back and Chris wondered if some radically, religious
fanatics were up to no good again. However, no terrorists--no matter how
insidious they were--could match the frenzied panic Chris witnessed in the
streets. Cars rushed by at top speed, losing control every so often, and
creating mighty explosions as they crashed into buildings and storefronts. The
National Guard was seen running through the streets, enthusiastically gunning
down what appeared to be burned or injured psychopaths. These psychos also
seemed to share a cannibalistic lust for flesh.
Chris was far from his family. Being from Chicago, he
could only wonder what was happening in that city. It was miles away - way too
far to get to under these odd circumstances, so Chris just prayed inwardly that
his family was safe. Living alone, he was heading toward his studio apartment,
but soon ran into a roadblock. A large bus had toppled over on its side and blocked
the road ahead of him. He could see the ravaging zombies tearing away at the
people inside. Screams of agony and sheer terror penetrated his soul, for he
had never heard such cries of pain and despair before. Shaking uncontrollably,
Chris reversed and headed down the opposite side of the road. Hundreds of
people were running around on foot and hundreds more were chasing after
them…we’ll, that’s if you considered the things chasing them to be people.
Chris got a good look at many of them as the things tried desperately to get at
him from outside his Ford Explorer. Luckily for him, the windows were too thick
for the savages to break through - at least this was true as long as he was
moving. The crowd opened up as a mix of policemen and National Guard sent a
wave of bullets in the huge mass of tangled bodies. It seemed that some were
normal, and some were certainly not! Nonetheless, the authorities needed to
clear a way for the tanks to move through.
At this, Chris swiftly drove through the cleared street
and passed up a winding road ahead of him. There, he saw five people running
toward a large shopping mall. He stopped, taking a look at the group running
rapidly to the main gates. He saw two black men; a white man, and two women
rush through the empty parking lot with guns ready. Chris was tempted to join
them; after all, the mall would be a great place to hold up in…if they could
only mange to secure it. However, Chris was distracted by a more familiar
vision. It was Penny! Penny was a girl that he knew from his high school days
in Milwaukee; she was a good friend to him. But in those days, she already had
a jock for a boyfriend. The mere sight of her made his heart pump. Sexy,
beautiful, slim, athletic, and kind, Penny was the focus of admiration from
many young men in those early days. However, today her beauty was overshadowed
by the look of sheer terror on her face.
Chris saw her running from an adjacent street. Fourteen
ghouls were chasing her at an alarming speed. The things were fast, and Chris
had to speed up the truck so much, that he nearly ran Penny over in his attempt
to save her. But his attempt proved worthy, as he opened the door and invited
the screaming woman in. [ Continue to page 2 ] |