The Dead Series (Book 1): Dead Nightmares

by James Lawrence Jr.

  DEAD NIGHTMARES BY: James Lawrence Jr,

  Table Of Contents

  Page # Chapter

  Chapter One A Birthday Party Pg#5

  Chapter Two Field trip Pg#14

  Chapter Three Skipping School Pg#22

  Chapter Four Bad News Pg#26

  Chapter Five Encounter with the strange Pg#30

  Chapter Six Strange But Familiar Place Pg#35

  Chapter Seven A race against time Pg#39

  Chapter Eight The Bear Exhibit Pg#45

  Chapter Nine The Zoo Fights Back Pg#49

  Chapter Ten No Time To Rest Pg#55

  Chapter Eleven Choices Pg#61

  Chapter Twelve Supply Run Pg#66

  Chapter Thirteen Hijacked Pg#70

  Chapter Fourteen A Force To Reckoned With Pg#74

  Chapter Fifteen Mechanic Shop Pg#81

  Chapter Sixteen Turned Down Pg#88

  Chapter Seventeen Aftermath Pg#92

  Chapter Eighteen A Simple Dinner Pg#96

  Chapter Nineteen No Escape Pg#105

  Chapter Twenty Why Pg#111

  Chapter Twenty-one False Hope Pg#116

  Special thanks to:

  Terisa Briley, Cheryl Davis, Sydney Cutrara, Dan Holt, Yolanda Hargrove, Brittany Hutt, Taylor Reynolds, Adam Ramsey and Anthony Mauriello to whom without I would have not been able to make it this far along.

  A Birthday Party

  On October, A late Sunday afternoon in Maryland, the sun sits comfortably shining upon a grey paneled four-story apartment. A crow sits perched on a tree, watching through the windows of an apartment filled with commotion. The small two-bedroom apartment seems crowded with hordes of memorabilia, furniture, and junk from a long time ago.

  Today is the birthday of a kid named Keith, a prime example of a boy with a golden heart. Keith had a mop of black curly hair that seemed endless on a small head like his. He wore a fitted orange shirt with a gear symbol and khaki cargo shorts that barely showed his ashy dark knees. His family showered him with smiles, love, and gifts; which seemed whimsical to a boy of his age. The get together was small, mostly consisting of close friends and family. The room seemed congested though no one seemed to mind it through all the fun. The only person who didn’t show was Keith’s older brother Troy. Troy was thirteen, set in his rebellious ways and was determined not to attend any family gatherings. Nobody seemed to miss his presence at the party except for Keith. He had nothing but devotion and admiration for his older brother. The rest of the family marked Troy as a delinquent or the black sheep.

  While the party continued, Troy secluded himself to the rooftop of their four-story apartment with his friend Patrick, though he was more of a lackey to Troy than a friend. Patrick thought that a guy like Troy would never hang out with a chubby nerd like him. Even though he was slower than Troy, Patrick usually managed to keep up in things like parkour and video games. He wore a black shirt covered by a jacket that was green and dingy along with cargo pants. The old green coat was given to Patrick two years ago by Troy. Ever since then he wore that jacket, even in 90-degree weather.

  Patrick said emphatically, “Shouldn’t we be down there celebrating your brother’s birthday.”

  Troy looked at Patrick with cold eyes before looked down, his hands fidgeting with the trigger of a BB gun rifle. He responded, “Nah” seeming a bit indifferent. He points the rifle upward taking aim at the tree near the house as a gust of wind picks up blowing his blond-tipped dreads into his eyes. From time to time he would mutter and then said, “He doesn’t need me in his life” eventually the gun goes off, and a crow falls off its perch.

  Patrick twitched a little as he heard the gun go off and walked over to peer down to see what got shot. Troy puts the BB gun down and slowly starts to climb down the apartment building to get a good look at his game. Patrick scurries after Troy, making sure not to be left behind. On the way down Troy took a short glance through his apartment balcony to watch the party a little.A cold breeze blew over his exposed body. Troy had made up his mind to hop in to collect his black windbreaker.

  As Troy opened the door and proceeded inside, the entire party paused, the room went quiet, and everyone looked up. Troy looked over into the front room, and as his two eyes watched his family in silence, many eyes watched back in discontent. His movements stopped as if to blend into the environment. Keith’s face exploded with joy to see his brother, but before he could say a word, his uncle put down his cigarette in a harsh manner.

  Their uncle Calvin spoke with his head down messing with his hands, “Are you here to join the party or ruin it like last Thanksgiving?”

  Troy's eyes remained as silent as his mouth and uncle Calvin continued, “Your mother worked hard on the feast which you so quickly destroyed when you flipped the table. You never even apologized for what you did.”

  Keith's smile quickly went away. Troy’s father stood up, pointed at a chair and said with a firm voice, “sit”. Troy looked at the chair and walked past it to his room.

  His father seemed to begin to boil, and his voice bellowed from his gut, “Come sit yo ass down!!”

  Troy ignored his command and continued looking for his jacket. As Troy came out of the room with his jacket on and before Troy could even start zipping the jacket up. Suddenly his father lunged at him, grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him into a chair. It all happened with such great speed that Troy thought he was still standing. Troy's father’s finger seemed like a gun, never moving its aim from Troy, “don't get up.”

  Troy’s mother came up behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder, and said softly, “That's enough Matthew.”

  Matthew looked back and saw Keith’s jaw wide open and eyes so heavy with tears. This seemed to have calmed Matthew as his breathing started to slow down.

  “Cut him a slice of cake Margaret,” Matthew said calmly as he walked over to sit back down.

  Troy’s mom looked up and reluctantly returned with a plastic plate holding a thinly sliced chocolate cake. She ushered him to grab the plate but remained silent. When Troy started to look up at his mother in the eyes, she quickly looked away, almost dropping the plate and hurried to sit down.

  Keith tried to join in the conversation, “guess how old I am?” Troy’s eyes did not look up.

  Instead, they stayed fixated on the slice of cake, “You're six years old, you're growing up” his monotone voice echoed the words slowly as he talked. “Yup!!”

  Keith said as he jumped up and ran over to Troy, “I will be your age soon and we can start hanging out.” Whenever he got too happy and started to smile it would become evident that some baby teeth were missing.

  Troy’s eyes seemed to be still zoned out, but he glanced up to look at his excited brother.

  A half smile rose from Troy and remarked, “Yeah, sure buddy.”

  Troy’s smiled quickly faded when a voice from behind said; “We don’t need any more black sheep in this family. You would become a bad example for a good kid like Keith.”

  Troy’s uncle continued, “How is school going; I hear YOU been pretty distant,” Troy’s aunt quickly jumped in, “What are your goals after school? What are your plans in life, flipping burgers?”

  Troy’s smile never returned as he half-heartedly agreed to say, “They are right.” He then stood up, gently pushed Keith aside and started walking. “You do not need me in your life lil bro.” and left through the front door. Nobody seemed like they wanted to stop him except one, Keith.

  Patrick was waiting downstairs for Troy and looked up when he appeared. He then asked, “What went on in there, I could hear shouting?”

  Troy walked forward passing Patrick and pretend
ed he didn’t hear anything. His attention turned towards the crow he shot earlier as he walks over to its still twitching body. Patrick catches up, jogging after a little bit, now out of breath. Troy knelt over, studying where the bird was shot to judge his aim. The bird was struck in the lower chest just below the heart. It was a fatal shot, Troy had no idea a bird was in the tree when he fired. He then looks up at the sky and noticed that it was starting to get late.

  Patrick breaks the silence by saying, “I can watch over the bird until it gets well. I don’t mind? I won’t even tell anyone who shot it. You don’t have to feel bad about-”

  “Feel bad about what?” Troy interjected. “I am not like you, my brother, or anyone around here.”

  Troy then reached down and started to uncover the earth, his hands moving slowly and calculated to make sure the right depth was reached.

  “Sympathy, empathy, love. I lack these qualities, yet it makes me stronger than most people.” Patrick looks at Troy a little nervous as to what Troy is planning.

  He speaks softly, “soooo...what does that mean?” Troy stops digging and turns his attention back to the bird, which is now slowing panting but never turns back to look at Patrick. He then picks up the bird, which fights back slightly but then gives up because of the pain.

  “It means”, says Troy. “That I have greater control of situations. Let me give an example. If we only had enough food for five people to last five days in a sealed room, help comes in ten days, and there are 15 people in the room. Naturally, someone would try to feed everyone with what food was available, and they would probably starve before help comes because the food would run out in less than two days. But if you lack those qualities I mentioned earlier and made everyone takes turns eating or even make a couple of people not eat for a couple of days to preserve food then you would easily survive. It all comes down to who has the guts to do what needs to be done.” Troy holds the bird examining the wound. He then puts the bird in the hole and starts to cover it up.

  “WHAT ARE YOU DOING, IT ISN’T DEAD!!” Patrick shouts, panicking.

  “No”, says Troy, “but he is dying, the gun shot it in the side and the metal pellet got stuck in the lungs. That wheezing you heard earlier was it trying to breathe. Granted, even if we take it to a vet, it will die on the way there.” Troy stands up, walking away as Patrick stands in shock of what he just saw. The bird’s cry, muffled but not silent, shrieked out through the dirt but after a few minutes went silent. Patrick catches up moments later to Troy who is sitting on the stairs looking back at what he has done.

  “So why did you even bother burying the bird?” Patrick asked looking puzzled. Troy’s eyes look up towards his apartment and answered backed, “I don’t want him to see it because he loves animals. Some good has to come out of this family.” With that, Troy sat with his arms crossed and looked up at the developing lavender night sky.

  Field Trip

  I woke up to the sunlight reflecting on my face and jump out of bed as if my bed sheets were on fire. I was excited to go to school today because we have a field trip to go to the zoo. I dash to the closet, stepping and knocking around toys and dirty clothing scattered through the room along the way. I look over to my favorite orange shirt with a gear symbol and sniffed it; it smells of outside but barely enough that it doesn’t bother me.

  My big bro Troy opens the door fully dressed in all black you would think he was a shadow, his frown hangs just as low as his pants.

  I start to grin, “Cheer up bro. If it helps, I’ll let you play with my Soldier Of The Knight Toy?” Troy looks over to me, staring up and down.

  “So I’m supposed to cheer up because a boy still in his underwear is bribing me with toys?”. Troy chuckles a little while pointing at me.

  My grin fades quickly, “you're not being nice.” Troy shrugs at what I said and then stands up and grabs his backpack and walks over to me while I am still fighting to put on my pants.

  He then pats my head “Later, K. Have fun.” Troy starts to grin slightly. I pause and look up in complete admiration of my older brother and give the thumbs up sign. Troy chuckles and closes the door. I allowed that moment to replay over in my mind for a second and I smile as I put on my tennis shoes.

  Like a ball of lightning, I shoot through the hallway and into the front room. I grab my big brown jacket and put it on as quickly as I could, “Alright mom I’m ready to go to school. Let’s GOOO!!” Mom rises slowly from the couch, her facial expression closely resembles a zombie.

  “Ok, honey, meet me at the- ” Mom starts to talk, but this is all I can hear before I dash out the door. Jumping around the black SUV, I see Mom opening the door to step outside, and I race to sit in the car before she tells me to get in. Mom gets into the car, starts the engine, and turns on her favorite music station, 94.8 the Klassics. The car begins to back up until she realizes she forgot her purse. She then races back into the house and leaves me bouncing to the beat on the radio.

  “This is an emergency broadcast over all radio stations! There appear to be some mentally deranged people who are considered highly dangerous located in the Salisbury area. Please try to stay indoors and do not approach these individuals. Report to the police station anywhere there appear to be sightings. Thank you for listening, your scheduled broadcast will return immediately.”

  I look at the radio and pause for a second trying to understand what the radio was trying to say. Mom comes back and sits in the car putting on her seatbelt, “ Alright let’s go!”, she says.

  I look up at Mom frowning. “Am I still going to be able to go to the Zoo today, and the radio person said not to go?”.

  Mom smiles at me, turns around in her seat and says, “Don't worry. I'm the boss, I'll make sure the radio knows.” Withthat said, she turns up the volume on the radio and starts to drive.

  As we make our way to school, I notice there weren't as many cars on the road as usual. I rolled down the window and started making waves with my hands to pass the time. We pulled up to a stop sign and were about three-quarters of the way there when a man who was in his underwear covered in red came screaming and running across the street. Mom called him naughty words out the window and sped off.

  “I swear no manners. I’m sorry sweetheart pretend I didn't say that.” Mom said with her eyes looking through the rearview mirror. My eyes followed the man as he played tag with some people on the street. I went back to making waves with my hands but this time I pretended my hand was a dragon. The weather today was a little cloudy but mostly sunny with a slight chill in the air.

  We arrived at the Laxford Elementary school just before the first bell rang. I jumped out the car and Mom looked over the seat smiling at me.

  “Love you sweetheart. Have fun...” Her voice trailed off as she looks down at her phone with a worried expression. I grabbed my things and quickly shut the door before bouncing off towards the school joining the other students as we stood in the front hallway waiting for the first bell.

  I find an unoccupied space by a column, and lean on it thinking to myself “Man, mom is always on her phone.” Someone places a hand on my shoulder and interrupts my thoughts.

  “Thinking hard?” A familiar voice echoes from behind. I turn seeing it is my buddy, Kyle. My worries instantly fade and a huge smile surfaces. Kyle grabs me, shaking hard and screaming “Are you ready for the field trip?” I punched his arm slightly “You know it!” The bell rings, and everyone quickly scurries off to their classrooms. We dash through the art-filled hallways only slowing down when a teacher yells at us to walk. Kyle and I almost slip coming around the corner; we raced to hang up our backpacks and coats in the cubbies that lined the entrance to our classroom. “Mrs. Baker 1st grade,” the sign read as we made a right turn into our Teacher’s room. Mrs. Baker greeted us at the door of her class.

  “Hello, little ones!!!” she said without breaking her smile. Kyle whispered to me, “She isn’t that much taller than us.” “Good morning Mrs. Baker,” I said, smiling eagerl
y ready to get in class and go on the field trip. Kyle just waved and walked past her. The moment I stepped into her classroom, I noticed how the gleaming light from the window had illuminated the entire room covered in class work and school projects. The desks were arranged into five groups of four, and each desk had a nametag on it. I walked over to my desk and pulled out my messy notebook. My hands skimmed through the pages of colorful images I had drawn in my boredom to find a blank white page. Needing to capture my thoughts, I searched through the classroom to find some source of inspiration. My eyes become fixated on the whiteboard that sat in the front of the class filled with drawings of animals. I dug into my cargo pockets and found a chewed one-inch long pencil. I took out my pencil and started drawing pictures of the zoo animals I would like to pet.

  After a few minutes, the bell rang, and everyone raced to his or her seats. Mrs. Baker walks to the front of the classroom.

  “Good morning,” she says then continues. “Now class, we are about to go on a field trip to the zoo. Has anyone been to the zoo yet?” She starts pointing to the pictures on the whiteboard then continues.

  “There are plenty of different animals at the zoo, and we will be taking a test when we get back on each animal that we see there”. We were given a paper that had pictures of different zoo animals. Each animal had empty lines underneath and we were instructed to fill in those lines about that animal from what we learned while at the zoo but my eyes never left my notebook.

  Instead, I started drawing a bear, some wolves and other predators I thought were cool. Mrs. Baker returned to her desk to answer the ringing phone. Suddenly, with a brief word. Mrs. Baker turned back to the classroom and told us to stand up and grab our backpacks. In groups, we all stood and lined up at the door and awaited our teacher. My buddy Kyle was standing fourth in line before Mike came out of nowhere and cut in front of him.