Joe’s father waits patiently outside the rest stop. Once Joe comes out of the bathroom, they begin to walk. Joe doesn’t know where they are going and when she asks her father, he just moans and continues to walk. 

The sun cakes the blood of Joe’s first kill onto her skin, making Joe feel even dirtier than she had before. The gravel road they had been walking on turns to pavement making it easier for her to walk. She doesn’t feel tired and she isn’t hungry, even though they have been walking for a good twelve hours, but her mouth yearns for the taste of human flesh. She tries to think about something else, in hopes it will distract herself, but everything moves too slow in her now mushy brain.

As the sun sets, two black vans pull up beside her and her father. Before she can realize what is happening, a barbed wire net covers her face making movement impossible. She feels something sharp stab her neck. Her neck slowly goes numb, followed by her arms, then her chest, then the rest of her body. She falls unconscious right as she sees her father being stabbed just as she was.

Joe wakes up just like the morning before, laying on a cold cement floor. She still is unable to feel any part of her body except her head. Her head is pounding as hard as a butcher pounding a hunk of meat. She moans in displeasure and fights to move her body. After thirty minutes of squirming, she is able to feel her arms. She crawls aimlessly around the dark room, trying to find some leverage. When she finds the wall, she digs her nails into it and pushes herself to her feet. Once she gets up, a door swings open. Light floods in. Joe is so startled that she falls, back first, onto the cement floor. She feels the barbed wire net cover her face again. The net is used to pull her across the floor. The wire’s sharp edges dig into Joe’s face, making her bleed.

Joe is pulled to her feet. When her eyes adjust to the bright sun, she sees Benny standing a mere fifteen feet away. She suddenly remembers the burning in her throat. The craving of human flesh. Before she can stop herself, she charges at Benny. Arms flailing, mouth drooling, mind racing. Benny pulls out a gun and aims it at her forehead. He looks away and pulls the trigger. The bullet pierces Joe right between the eyes. She falls to the ground, the burning in her throat gone.

The post Adventures of Joe pt. 4 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

“Ahhhhhhh,” Joe cries.

The light makes her feel like someone is stabbing her brain with needles. She feels hands grab her by her tattered shirt and lift her to her feet. When her eyes finally adjust to the brightness, she see’s her father holding her up. Suddenly she remembers what happened. Without even thinking about it, she throws her hands around him. Unlike before, he embraces her without ripping out her flesh.

“Am I…dead?” Joe asks.

“Yes, now you are one of us,” her dad says.

She follows her dad to the door. Everything seems to be moving slowly around her. Even her thoughts are moving slowly. He leads her into a ransacked rest stop at the end of the street. Other zombies are gathered there feeding on the defenseless store clerk. Joe sees the flesh being ripped off the man’s face and her mouth begins to water. Before she knows it, she has pounced on top of the man, shoving the others out of her way.

She sinks her teeth into his shoulder and feels the thick blood flow into her mouth. The taste speeds everything up. Suddenly it is as if she was still human. She feels a rush of adrenaline flow through her body, but unfortunately, it fades quickly.

Once she is finished, she gets up and walks back over to her father. She catches her reflection in the a mirror that is placed above the door. Her black hair is in untamed knots all over her head. Her skin, once the color of olives, now looks like the color of slushy snow on the highway. Her body is covered in dried blood and dirt. She is hunched over so much that you can make out her spine. Her clothes are tattered and worn. Her shirt, ripped at the neckline, exposing her milky shoulder. Her arms are turned in a way that makes her look like she doesn’t have any joints.  Then she sees her eyes, the once beautiful, green gems are now dark and foggy. When she used to look into them, she would see a sort of gleam or sparkle, now all she sees is emptiness.

Check out the first and second part of Joe’s adventure.

The post Adventures of Joe Pt. 3 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

“Hey grandma, I was just about to make some Mac N’ Cheese. Do you want any?” Joe yells.

No response. Joe walks towards the entryway. She can hear someone in the living room, but it doesn’t sound like her grandmother. With the pot in her hand, she rushes in. It is her grandmother, but she’s not herself.

Her face is grey and drained. Her arms and legs look like they have been dislocated. And there is a red stain smeared around her mouth. She is drooling over the couch, right where Joe had been sitting only a couple minutes ago.

“Grandma? Are you okay?” Joe says creeping towards her.

Joe’s grandma turns her head towards Joe and moans loudly. She stands up and starts limping in Joe’s direction, her head cocked to the right and her eyes drooped low. Joe’s father had warned her about this. There had been an outbreak of a virus in Canada that made people forget who they were and start attacking anyone with a heartbeat. They were calling the people who had been infected zombies.

Joe holds the metal pan tight to her chest as her now zombie grandmother gets closers. A tear rolls down Joe’s thirteen year old face as she lifts up the pan and slams it into her grandma’s cheek. Her grandma hits the floor with a thud. Joe kneels next to her and lets the tears fall. Caught in remorse, Joe doesn’t notice her grandma coming to until she feels her hands grab her body. She lets out a surprised scream and stabs the zombie with the handle of the pan. It breaks through the soft skull and impales its brain.

Joe stands up and walks backwards, towards the front door. She stands with her back against the brass knob, trying to catch her breath. Suddenly someone opens the door, causing Joe to fall on her back. She gets up frantically, in fear that another zombie is about to attack her, but it is just her neighbor, Bella. Joe throws her arms around Bella, thankful to see a friendly face. When she lets go, she sees Bella is not alone. Her other neighbors, Scarlett and Benny, stand in her driveway, looking as scared as Joe feels.

Just as Joe is about to tell Bella what happened, the kids hear lazy moaning coming from the end of the street. A dozen zombies stumble towards them. They slowly creep back in the direction of Joe’s house, trying to find an escape route. As the zombies get closer, Joe begins to cry again.She knows this is it. Suddenly a man on a black horse comes riding down the street. He hits the zombies in the head  with the butt of his shotgun, taking them out.

“You guys look like you need some help,” the man says, “My name is Eragon. Follow me.”

Joe walks next to Eragon’s horse as they head towards his ranch to get more materials. After they gathered everything they need. They get into Eragon’s truck and drive until the sun starts to set. They stop at an abandoned town that appears to be safe and rest, thankful for the day to be over.

TO BE CONTINUED…

The post Adventures of Joe appeared first on KRUI Radio.