Zac Zombie: Slayer of the undead

by Eduard Joseph

one friend and one friend is plenty.

  “Cool” I said, but I did not look up.

  “My dad made us move.” Richard said, “I hate moving. We move every few months. He says he’s looking for the right place to settle down.”

  I nodded and continued eating the vomit salad. Perhaps if I drowned out the sound of his voice with my chewing he might stop? It was worth a try.

  “Would you like to be friends?” Richard asked, “I don’t know anyone here.”

  I stopped eating and thought a moment. There had to be something wrong with this boy for wanting to befriend someone who gave him the cold shoulder. If he was mentally disturbed we might get along. I hated normal people. Perhaps I should give him the benefit of the doubt?

  I slowly raised my head and stared at him while chewing the last bit of salad in my mouth.

  “You want to be friends with me?” I asked confused.

  “Yes.” Richard said, “You’re the first person to talk to me since I got here.”

  “When did you get here?” I asked.

  “Two weeks ago.” Richard said.

  Two weeks ago? How is it possible that nobody spoke to him in two weeks? I grunted a few words at him and I was the one that spoke to him the most? How sad was that? It was even sadder than my friendship with the lunch lady. Maybe the two of us had more in common than I initially thought.

  “Really.” I said, “I’m sorry. People here can be real jerks.”

  Richard smiled and said, “So I’ve noticed, but you seem nice.”

  I guess I was a nice guy? I’ve never been told I was a nice guy by anyone except my mom, which didn’t count. I am pretty sure she only said that because she was my mother.

  “Thanks.” I said, “You too.”

  “You want to come over after school?” He asked excited.

  I lowered my head and ate my salad again. Why would I want to go over to his house? And do what? Play dominoes? And then he said the words that I’ve longed to hear for months.

  “I have the new Zombies from hell game.” Richard said, “Zombies from hell 3.”

  I stopped chewing. It was as if every muscle in my body froze with anticipation. A cold shiver ran down my spine. Could he be for real? That game was expensive. And what were the odds of meeting another guy into zombie games? Perhaps it was a prank? I paused for a moment waiting for someone to burst out laughing, but that never happened.

  I glanced at him through my hair that hung like curtains before my eyes (I hate when they do that) and smiled at him.

  “Sure.” I said.

  2

  Richard lived a few blocks from my house – who would have thought? He lived in a double storey house with his father. It was one of those houses you could bet belonged to a loving family – white picket fence bordering a picture perfect green lawn.

  As I could gather from what ramblings made sense Richard’s dad was a spokesperson for some company – I did not catch the name; not that I really cared. It could have been Altec or Avon or something starting with an A.

  Their house was still an array of unpacked boxes, but the living room was the first room to be unpacked. I guess a boy needs his TV and games. They had quite a big TV. It was one of those plasma TVs that had the 3D option.

  I sat down on the couch while Richard loaded the game. The house had a strange air about it – as if I’ve been there before, or perhaps seen it in a dream. It was an odd sensation, but I decided to let it be. Old houses freaked out most people.

  Richard handed me a game controller and sat down next to me.

  “I just love zombie games.” Richard said and smiled at me.

  His teeth were extremely crooked beneath the braces making me wonder how long he had them and how bad were his teeth before he got braces.

  The front door shut, making Richard jump up. I thought he would jump right out of his skin. I looked over at the front door and noticed a man standing there with a jacket draped across his arm.

  “Dad.” Richard exclaimed, “You’re home early.”

  His dad stood in silence for a moment and stared down at the boxes lining the hallway.

  “I thought you would at least unpack a box or two.” His dad said calmly, but annoyed.

  “I was,” Richard said, “But I made a new friend at school.”

  This was probably my signal to get up and introduce myself. I bet his dad wants him to be friends with decent kids at school.

  I put down the controller, got up and held out my hand.

  “I’m Zac.” I said, “Nice to meet you, sir.”

  The man did not even look at my hand. He stood motionlessly staring transfixed into my eyes. I have to admit, it was kind of creepy and awkward.

  “Violet eyes.” The man murmured to himself.

  I figured he was not going to shake my hand, so I lowered it to my side again.

  “Yeah.” I said, “They’re actually blue, but sometimes they look violet in the light.”

  The man snapped out of his state of fascination and smiled at me – which was even more disturbing than the stare.

  “Amazing.” He said, “Nice to meet you Zac.”

  He looked like someone that just won the lottery, but did not want anyone to know. How could anyone be so creepy?

  “I’m Richard’s dad.” He said, “You can call me James.”

  “Yes, sir.” I said.

  James glanced into my eyes again and appeared to get lost in them for a moment. He glanced over at Richard who stood behind me and then smiled at me before hastily leaving the room.

  That was weird.

  “What was that about?” I asked.

  I turned to Richard who seemed foolish about his father’s manners.

  “I have no idea.” Richard said, “He normally isn’t creepy.”

  “That’s good to know.” I said.

  Great. I brought out the creepiness in people. Perhaps his dad was secretly gay and liked me? I do not want to sound like I am bragging, but I am attractive – sort of… or at least I like to think I am. But then again, why haven’t I met a girl that liked me?

  “Zac, did you hear what I said?” Richard said.

  I did not even notice when he spoke to me. I was trying to figure out the creepiness that was his dad.

  “No.” I said, “Sorry, what?”

  “This is a two player game.” Richard said, “I can’t play without you.”

  Why would he buy a two player game when he knew nobody in town? It made no sense. I sat down on the couch again and took a hold of the controller. Richard pressed the start button and the game began. The first stage was in a house. Our characters stood in an empty room, each one holding a weapon. Richard’s character had a chainsaw while mine had an axe.

  I decided to explore the house in level one and moved my character through a doorway to the left. I noticed something lurking in the shadows. A second later a zombie jumped out. I vigorously pressed buttons on the controller and killed the zombie. Five more zombies jumped out and I took them down with a breeze. When I was certain the room was secure, I glanced over at Richard’s side of the split screen. His character was lying on the floor in a pool of blood and the words You died flashed on the screen.

  “You died in the first level?” I laughed.

  How pathetic! First levels were usually the easiest level in video games. Richard groaned and clicked the try again option.

  I clicked on the enter level 2 option and my character went outside. A group of a hundred zombies awaited my character outside the house. I directed my character towards the zombies and cut them down by swinging the axe like a madman. The blood splashes seemed so real – the graphics in this game was truly amazing.

  While killing several zombies in the game with one blow of my axe, I noticed from the corner of my eye that James stood in the doorway. He had his arms folded across his chest and kept staring at us – as a matter of fact, I think he was staring at me.

  If I wanted to get to level 3 of the game, I had to st
ay focused – no matter how creepy his dad was. I continued killing zombies in the game until only one zombie remained. My character took him down by throwing the axe at him and piercing his skull. The words successfully completed level 2 flashed on my side of the split screen.

  I heard Richard moan again and glanced at his side of the split screen. A group of zombies were devouring his character and the words You died flashed on the screen.

  “You really suck at this.” I laughed.

  “I know.” Richard laughed, “I will get the hang of it.”

  Richard spotted his dad and looked up. I could tell from the look on Richard’s face he was just as baffled as I was.

  “Did you offer your friend something to drink?” James asked.

  “No, dad.” Richard said apologetic.

  I glanced over at James and then looked back at Richard. They did not appear to be family. His dad was creepy and Richard was just weird.

  “Would you like some soda?” Richard asked.

  “Yes please.” I replied.

  Richard got up and left. I looked over at James. He stood in the doorway a moment longer and then walked over to the couch. He sat down next to me, clasped his hand together on his lap and smiled at me. What a weird family.

  “What?” I asked with an awkward smile.

  “I’ve been looking for you.” James said.

  What? What a weird thing to say. Should I jump up and run for my life?

  “What do you mean?” I asked uncertain.

  James shifted a bit uneasy as if trying to reveal to me that he had homosexual tendencies

  “There is no easy way to say this.” James said, “I am a Seeker.”

  A what now?

  “I don’t follow.” I said confused.

  “I belong to an ancient organization of Wise Men.” James said, “We are called the Seekers of Life and I’ve been looking for you in this town for two weeks.”

  What was this man talking about? He sounded like a madman.

  “And you wear the mark of the slayer.” James said.

  “Mark?” I asked concerned.

  “Slayers of the undead have purple eyes.” James said, “They are born that way. That’s how the Seekers know that they’ve found what they were looking for.”

  Wow, wait a minute. Back one up please… slayers of the undead? I think it was about time I left.

  “I think I have to get going.” I said uneasy.

  “I know this is a lot to take in.” James said, “But the undead are all around us. They are not just fictional characters in video games.”

  James sounded very convinced about what he was telling me, I on the other hand was not convinced. I got up and put down the video controller. James quickly jumped to his feet.

  “You cannot run away from your destiny.” James said, “You are the chosen one. When the dead rise, a slayer will rise and save us.”

  All I could think of was getting away from the creep. I could not even think of a good excuse to leave, so just turned around and left.

  3

  When I got home I took a long shower and tried to wash off the feeling of that creep’s eyes on me.

  How could anyone be so disillusioned? I mean, I liked the whole zombie genre, but I was not crazy enough to think that the dead actually walked the earth. Okay, fair enough – I have heard that mad cow disease had the same symptoms (fever and uncontrollable rage), but it was just too far-fetched to be real, right?

  I got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my body. I got a glimpse of myself in the mirror and stopped a moment. I scrutinized my appearance in the mirror. I was not imagining it. I was attractive and had a great body. Why did I not have a girlfriend? I liked girls, but none of them at school seemed to care about me. I always thought that girls liked broody, dark and mysterious guys – isn’t that why that vampire books sold millions of copies worldwide? What was the name of that book series again? I know it was turned into a series of movies as well. You know what I am talking about – a hundred year old teen vampire who stalks a teenage girl and then there is a whole love triangle between the girl, the vampire and a dog – I mean werewolf. I was not one for vampire stories so it never really grabbed my