| Empty Graves Part Two: Realisation of the Undead Jake Talbot lived in Fort Severn with his father and mother, Steven and Henrietta. Jake was 17 years old; he was a happy teenager and enjoyed his life to the fullest. He had a girlfriend whom he had known for many years, her name was Mary Chapman and she lived just two houses down from his. Jake, his parents and his girlfriend lived on Stewart Avenue, an average Canadian docking village street with the same houses on each side of the road that cut through the two rows of houses. Jake and his parents lived on the side facing the docks and Mary lived on the opposite side. At night Jake and her would sit in their windows and shine torches at each other as they talked on the phone, playing games with the light that bounced around the darkness of the Avenue. He loved her dearly, and she did him, despite never uttering the two simple words, they both knew what the other thought and they were quite happy in their small lives in a small fishing town in the middle of a big world with big ideas. On the scale of things then, and those to come, they were insignificant, but in the world of Fort Severn, they were a vision of the ideal couple. They'd known each other since Elementary school all the way up to their near adult lives now. They'd always been together, but it wasn't until they were 16 that they finally realised the spark between the two of them was more than plutonic. However, their happy little world in their happy little fishing village was shattered when the dead began to walk. After the outbreak at Ground Zero at the Greggor's Pass Memorial Hospital their lives had been destroyed and uncertainty set in, the only comfort was that they both knew they loved each other and that there was still hope. Each day the news made the situation grow bleaker and bleaker. The skies around them closed in and grew ever more darker, the patches of gray they were used to only occasionally turning into large, sprawling expanses of dark matter hanging in the sky as the stench of walking death could be felt creeping up on them. The peaceful fishing community lost its charm as the people feared to go out at night and even during the day, but at least in the day you could see if trouble was coming. However, in the early stages of the invasion of the undead, there was little reason to be worried in Fort Severn. The outbreak may have occurred in Churchill, which was quite close, but the spread of the disease was slow at first and initially radiated west towards Lynn Lake where it consumed the entire town, wiping out an ancient settlement from many centuries ago. From there McMurray, Red Bear and Edmonton fell with ease as the authorities actions were slow and misguided. The big men at the top had no clue what to do, and with their eternal safety secured for them in bunkers across America and Canada, their efforts were not as urgent. Had their lives been in major danger, the panic button would have been pressed from day one, from the discovery of what became known as "The Beta Subject," or the fisherman to most. Anarchy was spreading, whether it was living or dead, the world was crumbling around their feet. When the dead lumbered their way to the West Coast of Canada, they turned and made their way back east in the direction of Hudson Bay and all its fishing communities dotted around its edge. Hill Beach, Repulse Bay and Baker Lake all fell under the curse of the dead, however pockets of survivors were believed to be dotted around these locations. People were wising up to the realisation of the undead before the authorities, and something man was generally quite good at was self-preservation, or so they thought they were. It was only a matter of time before Eskimo Point and Churchill were in all meanings of the phrase, completely dead. Fort Severn was next in line. Some people fled to seek sanctuary in the rescue stations south of the boarder, while some fled to the neighbouring Forts at Albany, Rupert and George. But on the whole, the simple people of Fort Severn wished to stay where they were and fight for their freedom, protecting their loved ones and their homes they had earned. It was theirs and they would only hand over what was theirs if the zombies killed them first, and that was not something anyone wished for. As far as they were concerned, the dead would not take Fort Severn. Jake knew, as did Mary that this was not going to be over by Christmas, this was a war that was going to last years, possibly for eternity if their luck was bad enough and something wasn't done quickly to put a stop to it. But to end this madness, they all had to rely on the services of the authorities. The people panicked therefore. Everyone knew the government couldn't find a lumbering corpse if it leaped out of the ground and bit off their balls. Most thought the President was a country hick and didn't know much of anything except, "zombies bad, no zombies good." The people's faith in their government they had elected the year before was faltering, but at least their President was willing to do something, and not just sit there looking like a dead horse full of formaldehyde, and not to mention talking like one too. "This is the end of it all," said Jake as he sat on the porch of his house next to Mary who was holding tightly onto his arm, the fear of what could possibly be their horrible deaths lumbering towards them as they spoke. "Why is this happening to us? Why isn't someone putting a stop to it?" she replied as she trembled against Jake's sturdy frame, shivering on the doorstep of what was once a happy household who knew everything would be fine. "I don't know why this is happening and why it hasn't been stopped yet, but all I know is it's coming for us soon, and we'd better make sure we're not taken by surprise." "What?" "I mean look around, people are so scared they don't want to leave their homes, but at the same time they're boarding them up to the hills from inside. You'd better tell your parents to do the same, as will I, we can't leave ourselves open to these things." "I'm scared Jake, help me please." "Don't worry. I may know that those things out there are almost unstoppable, but I also know we're going to be fine. We're going to make it through this, I can feel it." "You'll always be there, Jake? You'll always be there for me?" "Mary, I'll be there for you forever. I'll die before those mindless things ever try to even touch a hair on your head," Jake says as he gives her a reassuring kiss on the cheek. Mary takes the kiss as little comfort, but in this new world of terror it was all she had to hold on to, she wanted to keep it like this moment forever and ever. But she knew it could never be. Something was going to happen eventually, she didn't know when, but she felt that it wasn't going to be all right, despite Jake's sureness. The sun set in front of them at that moment, just peeking over the foggy landscape at the other side of the Hudson Bay in front of which they sat, holding each other in fear, in love and in curiosity as to what was going to be coming soon. As the moment seemed to grow fuller and deeper, their silence was cut short by the sound of a police bull horn sounding from the distance further down the street. "Curfew is now in effect. Please return to your homes. Lock your doors and windows. Do not proceed outside until morning. Curfew is now in effect. Police will be patrolling during the night and will be posted at all emergency stations in the town should you need their help. Please return to your homes and lock your doors and windows." The car proceeded to stroll its way up the street, past the shivering pair on the doorstep and all the way to the other end of the street where it turned right and proceeded to holler its message to the residents who'd been locked away all day long. It seemed that Jake and Mary were the only ones outside in the open air at that moment, but in the situation they had found themselves in all of a sudden, it was probably quite true. But they were surrounded, they couldn't see their enemy yet, but they could smell them on the wind blowing from the west. Death was coming for them and they couldn't do anything about it so it seemed. The best they could do was hope and pray. Anything else was useless. The advancing armies of the undead coming at them from the north, west and south were slowly taking over their country, their land of freedom. It was over. |