Unhappy Endings

by Chris Philbrook

  He remembered the first time she caught his attention. He'd been exiting the town’s little convenience store and a little girl, maybe eight or nine years old lost control of her bicycle and tumbled over its handlebars. As the little girl sat on the ground, holding her skinned, bleeding knee and crying her little heart out, he saw Emily who appeared from out of nowhere rush over to her. Kneeling beside that little girl, he watched as she pulled some tissues from her purse, offering one to the little girl to dry her eyes and with another she gently cleaned the girl’s knee. A few minutes later, the girl got up, her face all red and puffy from crying and hugged Emily. Emily hugged her back and smiled as she watched the girl get back on her bike and peddle off.

  It was at that time he knew he had found his next target. He began observing her and eventually learned about her bartending job.

  He knew that on Tuesdays she would finish work at 9:00, have a margarita with extra salt, down two glasses of water and by 10:00 she would be traveling down this back road on her way home. The road had murderous potholes for car shock absorbers and was out of the way but she favored it because it shaved fifteen minutes off getting home. He felt thankful; it would make things so much easier. He looked down at his watch and noticed that Emily was five minutes late. Alan frowned in the darkness. He hated waiting.

  He saw the headlights of an approaching car. His heart raced as he stepped away from his white Jetta and waved his arms, trying to get the driver's attention. The car slowed and pulled over to the side of the road just in front of his car. He smiled as Emily slowly emerged from her silver Camry.

  “Car trouble?” Emily asked Alan as she approached.

  “Yeah,” Alan said as he looked down at his feet and ran his hand through his short dark blonde hair. “Everything was fine and then all of a sudden it started making a knocking noise and then it died on me. It was a real bitch to pull over to the side too.”

  “Yikes! That’s not good. I had something like that happen to me last year. I spent more money than I wanted to get my car fixed,” Emily said as she shot a glance over her shoulder at her car.

  Alan swore under his breath and kicked the tire of his car in mock frustration. “Not exactly the news I wanted to hear.”

  Emily’s eyes got big as a look or recognition came over her face, “Hey, you’re that dude who comes into the bar on occasion. Adam, right?”

  Alan chuckled. He was always misremembered or not even remembered at all. He took pride in that. Blending in and being unrecognized was useful for his hobby. He was just average. He wasn’t short, but he also wasn’t tall. He was neither thin nor fat. He even had people argue as to whether his hair was blonde or brown. “Alan actually, but that was pretty close,” he said, pausing as if thinking something over. “Hey, if it’s not an inconvenience, could you possibly give me a lift into town or let me use your cell phone so I can call Triple A? I left mine at home,” he asked using his best pleading look.

  “Yea totally. Car’s a bit of a mess, but if you don’t mind that, I can give you a lift,” she said smiling brightly to Alan before turning and heading back to her car.

  When Emily turned her back to Alan, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a Taser. Before Emily knew what happened, 50,000 volts of electricity coursed through her body. She dropped to the ground convulsing as Alan pulled a roll of duct tape from his car and quickly bound her hands and feet with it before slapping a piece over her mouth to keep her silent. Alan scooped her up easily in his arms and carried her to the back of his car. He popped the trunk and gently set her inside. Her eyes were glossy and unaware as he reached down and gently brushed the hair out of her face.

  “Thank you so much dear, sweet Emily. We are going to have so much fun together,” he said lovingly to her as he closed the trunk shut.

  *****

  Years ago while doing some work on his home Alan had found the hidden room in his basement. He had heard the stories about how the Underground Railroad had run through the town and that some homes had secret rooms that had been used to hide the terrified slaves as they made their way North towards freedom. Never in a million years had he dreamed that he would be lucky enough to find one of them. The unremarkable old room sat 15 by 15 feet and was accessed by a hidden door in the floor of the basement. The former residents who built that secret sub-basement had done excellent work at concealing it. For 150 years it had remained hidden until he accidentally stumbled across it. Alan had cleaned it out and managed to squeeze in a small bureau, some portable work lights and a bed. Beautiful Emily was bound and gagged to the bed.

  Sweet, beautiful Emily. She reminded him so much of his younger sister Beth. The curve of her hips, the swell of her small, but firm breasts. She even had the same thin shaped lips. He could almost believe that Emily and Beth were twins. Beth was twenty eight, just two years younger than him. He had always loved his sister, just like any big brother should. But when she hit her teens and came into her beauty, that love changed. He would sneak outside her window at night and just watch her as she got ready for bed. She was the first girl he ever saw naked. That same night he had stayed up late; fantasizing about her naked body and all the things he would love to do to her.

  It took a year before he had the courage to act on his feelings. Their parents had left for a week to go on vacation and it was just Alan and Beth home alone. One night they got into their dad’s booze and got good and drunk. Without warning, he took his sister in his arms, pulling her close to him, pressing her firm young body against his. He kissed her full on the lips, one of his hands sliding up to cup her breast. She pulled quickly away from him with a look of confusion and disgust all over her face. She called him a sick pervert, a freak and a lot of other words that broke Alan’s heart into a million pieces. She never told anyone what had happened that night, but from then on, their relationship had crumbled before his eyes. She made sure she was never alone with him. If their parents went somewhere she stayed at a friend’s house. The worst part was the way she stared at him when no one was looking; she looked at him like he was some sort of monster.

  Years later he left for college as did she a few years after him. From then on they only saw each other on the major holidays and after the death of their parents, she cut off contact with him completely. They hadn’t seen or spoken to each other in almost four years. He had tried to contact her numerous times, but letters were returned unopened and her phone number became unlisted. It got to a point that he was thinking about hiring a private investigator.

  Alan looked down as a soft moan brought him out of his quiet reflection. Slowly Emily began to stir. Groggy at first, but as she slowly realized the situation, she began to panic and fight against her restraints. As she pulled and fought against the fur lined handcuffs (they were ugly and Alan hated them, but they also prevented abrasions to the skin) he sat down beside her on the bed. She recoiled in fear, crying and pleading against the duct tape over her mouth as he reached over and gently caressed her tear-soaked cheek.

  “There there, baby, there’s nothing to be scared of, I promise,” he said as he smiled down at her.

  Soon it would all be over and he could show her the true extent of his love for her. Alan pulled the pillow out from under Emily’s thrashing head and gently placed it over her face and applied pressure. Emily struggled harder against the fuzzy restraints that held her captive and the more she did, the harder Alan pressed the pillow to her face. After a few moments, her struggles lessened and then ceased. He held the pillow to her face a little longer, just to make sure she had achieved the peace he had promised her.

  He pulled the pillow away from her. She looked so beautiful and peaceful as she lay there on the bed. He checked her pulse and her breathing and found nothing. Tenderly he removed the tape from her mouth, careful not to hurt her and then he undid the restraints. He sat silently next to her on that bed for just a few moments waiting. Normally upon death, the body’s muscles relax and release the contents of its bowels and bladd
er. Alan was pleased to see in this case that Emily’s body did no such thing. Cleaning up a woman’s bodily waste was not something he enjoyed doing.

  He undressed Emily, admiring her young beautiful body, her small but firm breasts with their dark areola and small nipples. The smooth skin and toned body of a woman that frequently worked out and took care of herself. He smiled to himself when he saw that she was shaved bare in her most intimate of areas. He neatly folded her clothes and got up and set them on top of the bureau. Hands shaking in anticipation, he undressed and set his clothes next to hers. Slowly he made his way back over to the bed and lay down on the soft white cotton sheets next to her. Emily’s body was still warm, but already beginning to cool. Trembling, his hands timidly explored the curves and crevices of her body as his manhood began to harden against her. He turned her face to his and softly kissed her. That night he lost himself to complete bliss and joy with Emily.

  *****

  Alan found himself wandering in total darkness. The air clung cool and heavy against his bare skin and had a faint sweet smell that was both familiar and unrecognizable at the same time. He wasn’t sure for how long or how far he had been walking as he rubbed the rising goose bumps on his arms. Time and distance didn’t seem to exist in this void that he found himself wandering aimlessly in. He had a feeling deep down in the pit of his stomach that he should be afraid, but instead he was filled with a sense of peace and comfort that he had never felt before. If this was a dream, he prayed dearly that it would last.

  “Alan Anderson.”

  Alan froze in mid step. The voice seemed to come from nowhere yet was everywhere. Alan looked around, half expecting someone or something to emerge from the darkness, yet he saw no one. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat as a sense of dread suddenly filled his body. “Hello? Who’s there?”

  “The end is here Alan Anderson. I know of your particular tastes, I know what you desire. Do as I say and all that you dream of shall be yours.”

  Alan wiped away the beads of sweat that were forming on his forehead, the dread he had felt settled like a weight into the pit of his stomach. “Please, I don’t know who you are or what you want, but I haven’t done anything. I swear.”

  The void filled with a booming laughter. Alan’s hands shot up to cover his ears, to block the sound out, but it was futile. He felt his blood run cold as that booming laughter violated every fiber of his being. It was the laugh of someone who saw through all his lies and deceptions. Someone who knew the monster that hid within him, just out of sight but close to the surface. His soul was laid bare before the voice and he felt frightened and alone.

  “You have murdered four innocent young women, smothered the spark of their life while they were in their prime. You desecrated their lithe young bodies over and over before disposing of them when they begin to putrefy. All because your darling sister Elizabeth refused to let you fuck her.”

  Alan collapsed to his knees, eyes stinging fiercely as the tears flowed like rivers of guilt across his cheeks. He wasn’t sure for how long he remained like that, a shaking and sobbing mess trapped in an endless and unforgiving void.

  “What do you want from me?” Alan pleaded as he began to slowly recover his composure.

  “Humanity is coming to an end and it shall be judged by its dead. There will be those who will stand against the coming tide, who will fight to their last breath to survive, to see humanity redeemed and to see it rebuilt. I want you, Alan Anderson to infiltrate the pockets of resistance you find and to crush them. You will be my wolf among the sheep. You will gain their trust and turn on them and I will see my army grow.”

  Alan slowly rose to his feet and wiped away the remnants of the tears that had soiled his cheeks. He wasn’t sure why, be he felt empowered, like he had a sense of purpose. He was important. “I understand.”

  “When you awaken, Emily will be there waiting for you. She will be your guide, your protection and shall offer you comfort when you need it. Do well and you shall be greatly rewarded as I promised, but fail me and you will know a punishment that you could never begin to comprehend.”

  “Are you the Devil?” Alan asked, voice shaking. He was afraid of the answer, but he had to know.

  “I am beyond such concepts as Good and Evil, God and the Devil. I am the hunger that shall consume humanity as it turns inwards on itself. But if you insist on naming me, then Devil will suffice. Wake Alan Anderson, wake and swell the ranks of my army."

  Alan slowly awoke, confused and unsure of what had happened and where he was. Sweat and the soft white cotton sheets stuck to him. He realized he was in bed, alone. Panic set in. He shouldn’t be alone; Emily should be right next to him, cold, and pale blue and beautiful. A faint shuffling sound from the foot of the bed caused him to immediately sit up.

  Emily stood at the foot of the bed. She was nude, her bare skin pale as she stared at him with milky white eyes that seemed to see right through him. She took one awkward step towards him, and then another. Alan should have been terrified, but he wasn’t. Emily was dead, he had killed her just a few hours before, but here she was, slowly making her way towards him. His mind raced. Had that dream been real? Was he the Devil’s servant?

  Emily sat down on the bed next to him. He wanted to pull away, but the urge to see what happened next was too great. He gasped loudly as Emily’s cool soft hand wrapped around his manhood and slowly started to stroke it. He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips and was surprised when she kissed him back. Not softly like he had done, but hard. He felt her tongue push past his lips into his mouth. More surprise struck when he grabbed her by the hair and returned the kiss in kind.

  The recently animated corpse of Emily broke the kiss and pushed him back down onto the bed. For the next hour, Alan was lost in a pleasure he had never known before.

  *****

  Several long days had passed since that terrifying and wonderful night.

  Alan pulled back the heavy curtain and took a peek outside. The view of his little section of the neighborhood didn’t reflect the chaos that engulfed the rest of the world. The sun shone, and there were no signs of violence, mayhem or the undead. It looked like a quiet lazy Sunday. He thought about the scenes from the TV as the world spiraled uncontrollably into Hell. No one could explain how or why, but the dead were returning to life and attacking the living. The footage being broadcast was gruesome and brutal. Hordes of the undead were swarming terrified survivors who were either running for their lives or fighting for them. The carnage was unsettling at first for Alan, but after a while he found a certain predatory beauty to it. The undead were an unrelenting force of nature that couldn’t be stopped; spreading like wildfire until they would eventually consume everything.

  In between the broadcasts of horror and violence, newscasters would pop up on the TV and announce the locations of government and military maintained safe zones, heavily fortified areas full of food, water, medicine and other necessities. Alan wrote down the locations of these safe ones. After all, he had the Devil’s work to do. The other night, Alan had dreamt again of that dark awful place and the Devil had told him more of his plans for him and his silent companion. He was to make his way into these groups and at first opportunity, kill one or two survivors in the night. Their corpses would reanimate shortly after and feast on the others as they slept, turning them as well.

  That morning Alan had packed up some supplies in an old hiking backpack. Lots of canned food, a few water bottles, his first aid kit, a couple pairs of socks and some other items that he felt would be necessary. Now the pack waited by the front door until he received the sign that it was time for him to leave the safety of his home.

  Emily silently followed him everywhere he went. At times he wouldn’t even realize that she was nearby until he’d turn around and see her standing there, staring at him with those milky white eyes that seemed to peer into his very soul. Over these past few days, he had learned a few things about the undead just by watching her.
She made absolutely no noise. She didn’t make snarling or moaning noises like the undead did in movies. Unless she bumped into something while walking, she was a ninja. Dead Emily also didn’t seem to decompose like other dead bodies. Usually by now, a body would be in the beginning stages of putrefaction, but Emily was still just as beautiful as she was that first night. Adam was sure the Devil had something to do with that.

  Closing the curtain, he made his way to the kitchen when his stomach growled loudly; reminding him he hadn’t eaten yet. Luckily he had gone shopping before everything happened and he had been eating sparingly since. As a result, he had a fair amount of food on hand. The power finally went out last night so he rummaged through the cabinets and got the things he needed to make himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. To pass the time he had tried making advances on Emily, but when he slid his hand up her shirt, she just slowly turned her gaze to him and stared at him blankly. Though her expression never changed, he got the feeling that she wasn’t in the mood. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the memory as he savored the taste of his sandwich. He had to be the only guy in the world who got shot down by a zombie. Zombie; using the word felt silly, but before the power went out, the people on the news were finally calling them that and it did seem to fit.

  The silence was shattered by the sound of the kitchen door behind him being violently kicked in.

  “Stay where you are mother fucker,” boomed a man’s voice.

  Alan nearly jumped out of his skin as he dropped his sandwich on the counter and turned to see a filth-covered and crazed man leveling a pistol at him. The man wore torn jeans and a light blue t-shirt with some dumb catch phrase on it. His wild and unkempt dark looked like he hadn’t showered or slept in days.