Latest / Dr. NoSleep Animations / 12 Horror Stories Animated (Compilation of June 2023)

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12 Horror Stories Animated (Compilation of June 2023) · Dr. NoSleep Animations

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Dude, it's unlocked, Santos says, pushing up the window of
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the old Victorian-style house. Who leaves their windows unlocked if
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: they have anything of value inside, I ask, looking down
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: the side of the house toward the dark street. Idiots,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Santos says, climbing through the window. I'm telling you, man,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: this lady has all kinds of antiques we can sell.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: I have it on good authority. Shaking my head, I
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: climb through the window and into the house. It smells
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: like old persons. all musty and heavy and kind of sweet.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: I shut the window behind me and then follow Santos
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: through the dark living room, dodging around velvet couches and
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: side tables with doilies on them. He stops at the
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: stairs to the second floor, tilting his head. Did you
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: hear that? No, I whisper. What was it? I swear
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: I heard someone talking, he says. Maybe the old lady's awake. Fine,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: so let's come back later. Hell no, man. If she
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: gives us any shit, I'll just shove her down the
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: goddamn stairs. Santos heads upstairs and I follow along, wincing
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: at each and every creak of the stairs. We step
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: through the first doorway on the left in the hallway. Jesus,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: I say, stepping back out. The room is filled with dolls.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: They're everywhere, on shelves, on the bed, on chairs and
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: on the windowsill, and at a little table with a
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: tea set arranged before them. They stare blankly in all directions.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: glassy eyes reflecting moonlight from the window. Santos swings his
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: backpack off and puts it on the bed. Come on, dude,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: he says. Grab the ones that look old. They're worth
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: the most, I bet. This is what we came here for? Dolls? Yeah, man.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: How are we going to sell them? I have a guy,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Santos says. You have a doll guy? Yeah, bro. Just
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: hurry up. As I step into the room, chills running
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: up and down my spine. I swing my own mostly
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: empty backpack off and set it down on the bed. Turning,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: I let my gaze drag across the dolls, looking for
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: the oldest ones. My eye catches on one sitting on
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: the bed. It's a doll with shiny red curls falling
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: around her porcelain face, which wears an expression of surprised worry.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: The eyes are glass or marble, green and glinting. As
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: I reach out to grab her, I'm only half aware
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: I'm doing it. I pick her up and bring her
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: closer to my face. staring into her eyes. My focus narrows,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: and it's as if I'm seeing nothing but this doll,
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: mesmerized by her strangely real eyes. I'm vaguely aware of
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: a commotion between the foot of the bed and the window,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: but I pay no mind, not as long as I
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: have Samantha to keep me company. Yeah, Samantha, I say,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: as though she just told me her name. But as
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: the commotion in the room dies down, my connection with
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: the doll fades, bringing me back to reality. No, Samantha,
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: I plead with her. Don't leave me, don't. Realizing I
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: don't hear Santos anymore, I look up from the doll.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: My gaze moves to the foot of the bed where
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Santos lies on his back, staring up at the ceiling.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Eight dolls surround his head, each one of them shoving
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: an arm deep down into his mouth, stretching his jaw
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: wider than it should go and making his throat bulge.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: There's another two dozen dolls around him, at his arms
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: and legs, as though they're holding the limbs down. None
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: of them move, though. For a second, I think Santos
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: is playing a trick on me, but the way those
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: doll arms are shoved into his mouth looks downright painful.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: And as I stare at him, I notice he's not breathing.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Fear makes my limbs heavy and my thoughts fast as
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: I turn to the bedroom door. An old woman stands
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: in the doorway, a wretched expression on her face. Her
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: yellow teeth are bared and her eyebrows tilt down as
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: she peers out from under them. I realize she's grinning.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: It's anything but a happy grin. I back away, looking
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: over at Samantha for help, only to find an expression
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: on her face that mirrors the one the old lady wears.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: There's movement all around me, and I look down to
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: see that I'm surrounded by dolls, and they all wear
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: that same insane expression on their faces as they close
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: in on me. Hello? Mom? The old Victorian-style house is
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: completely dark as I get home from my job at
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: the coffee shop. It's strange, because my mom's car is
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: parked outside. I push the front door closed behind me,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: putting my keys away in my pocket before reaching for
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: the light switch. Nothing. No lights. Mom? I call. It's
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: a three-story house. Four, if you count the cellar. Maybe
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: she's up in the attic. Maybe she lost track of time.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: Or maybe she's down in the cellar trying to get
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: the lights back on. I never wanted to move here
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: in the first place. I liked our old house. But
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: my mom has a thing about Victorian fixer-uppers, and she's
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: always wanted to do this. She'll take a year or
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: so to fix it up and then flip it. Besides,
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: I won't be living here much longer. At the end
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: of summer, I'll be going off to college. Right now,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: I'm just trying to earn some extra money so I
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: won't have to work during the first semester. Pulling out
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: my phone, I turn the flashlight on and shine it around.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Boxes are stacked everywhere in the huge living room. Our
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: couch and chair are still coated in plastic wrap. Dropping
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: my backpack, I head toward the cellar, opening the door
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: to a gust of musty air. Mom? I call down. Nothing.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: I think about going down and looking around, but the
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: notion sends a shiver up my spine. No, I'll check
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: the rest of the house first. The kitchen is nearby.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: I find a half-eaten plate of pasta on the table.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: It's cold, like it's been sitting out for a while.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: The chair next to the table is lying on its back.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: A lump forms in my throat. What the hell happened
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: in here? My mom was eating, and she got up
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: in a hurry, but why? Did she get a call
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: and have to go somewhere? But why wouldn't she take
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: her car? With a mounting sense of dread, I search
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: the rest of the first floor. and then head up
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: to the second. No one lived in the house for
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: many years before my mom and I moved in just
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: days ago now. And the place is certainly in a
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: state of disrepair. Every level is drafty, and every floor creaky.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: So as I move up the stairs, each step is
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: accompanied by a creak. As I reach the second floor,
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: the flashlight on my phone times out, plunging me into darkness.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: A whoosh of air rustles my clothing, as though someone
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: just rushed past me, inches away. A chorus of whispered
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: voices sounds from all around me. I can't understand the words.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: I get my flashlight back on and the voices stop.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: I look all around. There's no one there. My fear
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: is getting the better of me. Stealing myself, I quickly
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: search the rest of the house, ignoring the tricks my
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: mind plays on me. But I still find no evidence
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: of my mother. And there's only one more place left
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: to look. The cellar. At the top of the cellar stairs,
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: I shine my flashlight down. I've just turned it off
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: and back on so it doesn't time out again. I've
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: been down there once before when we first moved in.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: I had to flip the breakers to help my mom
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: figure out which ones were responsible for what portions of
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: the house. Now I remember that creeping feeling I got
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: while I was down there. I shrugged it off at
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: the time. Now, All I want to do is run,
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: but I can't. Not if there's a chance my mom
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: is down there. So I step down onto the first
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: stone step, and then the next. The stairs end a
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: few feet from a stone wall, and the cellar opens
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: up to the right. As I step off the last
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: stone stair, I turn that way, shining the light into
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: the space. My eye catches on the electrical panel, my
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: heart jumping up into my throat. The panel has been
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: torn apart. Wires stick out in all directions. Pieces of
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: the black breakers litter the ground below. Matthew? My mom's
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: voice is soft and almost apologetic. But why does it
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: send a jolt of fear up my spine? I turn
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: toward the sound, shining the light into the far side
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: of the cellar. There's a narrow gap in the wall there,
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: about two feet wide, that I don't remember being there before.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: Then I see the old chest of drawers that's been
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: pushed to one side, revealing the gap my mom now
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: stands in What are you doing down here in the dark, Mom?
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: She smiles sadly, looking pale. Come here, Matthew. A creak
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: sounds from directly above me, drawing my attention. Is someone
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: else here? I ask, still looking up. I jump as
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: I look back down, seeing my mother now standing just
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: a few feet away. She holds a hand up, blocking
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: my flashlight beam from hitting her face. Mom? Are you okay?
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: I'm just so hungry, Matthew, she says Huh? Hungry? Yes,
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: she says, stepping toward me. I've never been so hungry.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Something moves in the corner of the basement, just beyond
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: the edge of my flashlight's illumination. Even as I step
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: away from my mother, I look over her shoulder at
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: the movement. I suddenly can't breathe. My eyes are so
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: wide I feel like they're going to pop out of
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: my sockets. The human-sized creature is hanging upside down from
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: the ceiling in the corner. It unwraps mottled white and
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: leathery wings from around its body, revealing a humanoid structure.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: Its skin is hairless and the same white gray as
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: its wings. Its completely white eyes shoot open and fix
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: on me just a second before it screeches, opening its
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: mouth to reveal a set of savage fangs. In the
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: blink of an eye, it's no longer hanging upside down.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: It's racing toward me, wings flapping and arms extending. I
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: turn and run, vaulting up the steps. When I'm a
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: mere three steps from the doorway, another one of those
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: human bat things sweeps in front of the door, screeching
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: at me. My phone's flashlight times out, just as the
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: three of them converge on me in the stairwell. The
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: building shook from an explosion. I had to reach out
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: and steady myself on a table, cluttered with research equipment.'
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: They' re through the wall!' Bellamy shouted from over by the
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: boarded-up windows. He was peering out through a small hole
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: designed for this very purpose. And they're using Zom strapped
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: with explosives! Sheena and I looked at each other over
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: the research table. It's the Reapers, she said, although we
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: were all thinking it. We need to get out of here,
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: I said. Right now, if they get you. They're here
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: for the vaccine, she said, heading over to the fridge
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: where the few samples of the newly finished vaccine were.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: a vaccine that could end the hell we'd been living
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: through for the past five years. But some people, like
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: the leader of the Reapers, didn't want the world to change.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: He was ruthless and powerful, and he didn't want to
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: give that power up. How did they know? I asked.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Who didn't show up today? Sheena said. Of course. Luther,
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: I said. That son of a bitch. Get down! Bellamy
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: shouted a second before the boarded-up windows exploded. sending me
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: and Sheena flying. I smashed into a wall and came
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: to rest in a pile, surrounded by shredded wood and
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: broken glass. Scrambling over towards Sheena and the vaccine vial
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: she'd been holding, I quickly saw that her left leg
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: was badly broken. Shattered vials were all around. I couldn't
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: see a single intact one. Sheena moved, looking up at
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: me while the dust was still settling all around us.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: She smiled and opened her right fist, revealing a single
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: intact vial. Go, she said, blood spilling out of her mouth.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: Go now. Your notes, I said. Are they in your office?
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: Gunshots sounded from down the hall. There's no time, Gina said. Go.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: I took the vial and shared a look with the
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: brilliant scientist. Then I got to my feet and ran
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: out into the hallway. Keeping the vial in my left hand,
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: I pulled my pistol out of my holster with my right.
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: When I got to the stairwell, I slammed through the
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: door and came face to face with one of the Reapers.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: His face was scarred up, denoting him as a warrior,
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: not slowing. I barreled into him with my shoulder as
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: he tried to get his rifle up. He slammed into
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: the wall and fell down the short flight of stairs
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: toward the first floor. I shot him twice as I
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: made my way down. Then I stopped and grabbed his rifle,
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: bolstering my weapon and sticking the vial in my left pocket,
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: hoping it wouldn't break. But if I died, all would
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: be lost anyway. I had to take the chance. The
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: rifle was a military M4, capable of fully automatic fire.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: I switched it from three-round burst to full auto and
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: moved down into the basement of the college research facility.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: There were maintenance tunnels under the buildings, leading all around
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: the campus. Upstairs, another explosion rocked the building. As I
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: ran through the tunnel toward the next building, I noticed
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: I was bleeding. Looking down, I saw a piece of
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: glass about the size of a cell phone from the
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: old world. It was sticking out of my abdomen just
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: above my belt line. Ignoring it, I hurried on. While
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: we had fortified the research buildings of the campus as
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: best we could, it wasn't where we stayed. We had
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: a much more defensible place a few miles away, somewhere
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: that the leader of the Reapers, Killian, wouldn't dare attack.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: not unless he wanted his troops decimated. We had a
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: stash of bicycles stored outside a far building, just in
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: case something like this happened. I made it to the
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: building with no problems and stepped outside. I couldn't see
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: anyone around, and all the bikes were there. As I
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: stepped over to them, I heard a scuffling sound from
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: behind me at the corner of the building. I half turned,
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: seeing a gigantic man with a badly scarred face, wearing
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: full tactical gear and body armor. He was pointing a
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: pump shotgun at me. Killian, I said. So predictable, Killian said.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: Did you not think Luther knew about these bikes? He
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: told me everything. Stupid, I should have known. I don't
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: have anything, I said to him. It was all destroyed
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: when your people shot an RPG at the building. Killian laughed.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: You think that will keep me from killing you? I shrugged.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: There was no way I could get my weapon out
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: before he pulled the trigger. Even if I could, he
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: was wearing body armor. Only a headshot would do. But
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: then I saw some movement from behind him. A shambling
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: figure came into view, about 15 yards beyond Killian. You
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: know the problem with using zombies as walking bombs? I asked.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: What the hell are you talking about? The problem is
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: they're unpredictable. You never know where they'll wander off to.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: Some stupid last words, Killian said, raising his shotgun to
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: blow me away. His finger whitened on the trigger, But
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: just before he fired, the zombie with a bomb strapped
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: to its chest kicked a rock that went skittering across
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: the ground. Without moving the shotgun, Killian looked over his shoulder.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: I moved quickly, stepping to the right, raising my M4.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: Killian fired his shotgun at me. I fired my M4,
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: but not at Killian, who was covered with body armor.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: I shot at the zombie, at the bomb on its chest.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: It exploded about 10 yards behind him. I was thrown
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: to the ground, but I sat up quickly and looked around.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: Killian was in pieces. Lots of them. Wincing, I got
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: to my feet and looked down at my injuries. His
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: shotgun had been loaded with buckshot, and I'd taken several
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: of the small balls in my left leg. But the
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: wounds weren't my major concern. I didn't think they were life-threatening.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: I reached into the left pocket and felt for the vial.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: It was still intact, despite the holes through my pants
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: from the buckshot. I sighed. and limped over to the bikes.
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: Pedaling would be a b * * * *, but
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: it was well worth it. Killian was dead, and we
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: had a vaccine. Things were looking up. The room in
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: the boutique hotel was simple enough. It had a bed
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: and a bathroom and a television. But best of all,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: it had a window looking out onto a pristine sandy
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: beach in turquoise water. It wasn't like we'd be spending
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: much time in the hotel anyway, Abby and I had
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: all kinds of fun activities planned on the remote island,
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: and we'd paid a small fortune for this vacation, so
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: we were determined to make the most of it. But
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: as we arrived at the three-story hotel, we were feeling
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: the effects of jet lag from flying halfway around the world,
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: so our plan was to get some serious sleep. I'm
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: gonna take a shower, Abby said when we settled in. Ugh,
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: please do, I said from the bed, waving a hand
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: in front of my nose. Abby smiled, but her eyes narrowed.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: I was going to suggest we fool around once I
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: got out, but I don't know about that anymore. I
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: take it back, I take it back, I said, pleading.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: We both laughed, and then she went to take her shower.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: I flipped on the television. There was a popular superhero
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: movie on, but it was dubbed in the local language.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: At least there were subtitles. Zoning out, I closed my
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: eyes for a few minutes, but when the building started
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: shaking I jumped up from the bed, looking around in confusion.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: The television shorted out, along with the lights. I ran
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: into the bathroom as the shaking continued. Abby was shouting,
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: and the water suddenly shut off. Grabbing a towel, I
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: ripped open the shower curtain and helped her out. Then
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: we both crouched in the bathroom doorway. We had the
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: shades open on a beautiful sunny afternoon, but something had
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: happened to the sunlight. The room was totally dark. After
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: about a minute, the shaking stopped and things settled. Still,
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: We stayed in the doorway. Abby's blonde hair was still
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: dripping as she clutched the ends of the towel to
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: her chest. Earthquake? She asked. Must have been, I said.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: The room was still dark. I couldn't see anything. Stay here.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: I went over to the window, seeing nothing but darkness.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: Like a black blanket had been thrown over the window's exterior.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: I reached around on the nightstand for my phone. When
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: I lit it up, it showed I had no service.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: What the hell is happening? I whispered. Did you close
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: the shades earlier? Abby asked. No, I... Suddenly, the lights
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: in the room came back on. The sound of water
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: hitting the shower basin came from the bathroom. The television
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: came back on, but there was only a blue screen,
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: and the window remained dark. I swallowed hard and moved
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: back over to Abby. No service, I said, showing her
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: my phone. I helped her up, and she went to
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: check her phone. Stepping to the door, I tried the knob.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: It moved, but I couldn't open the door. Then I
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: remembered the deadbolt. I unlocked it and then tried again.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: The door didn't budge. So I leaned forward and peered
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: out through the peephole. The hallway looked normal. There was
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: no one out there. The door across from us was closed. Then,
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: from the left, someone came into view, distorted by the
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: fisheye lens. No, it was two people. A sliver of
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: dread stabbed through me as the people, a man and
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: a woman, walked right up to our door. As the
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: man looked up, I jumped away from the peephole, producing
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: a frightened grunt. What's wrong? Abby asked from further in
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: the room. It's us, I said, not really believing the
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: words myself. What? I shook my head, trying to come
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: back to my senses. I stepped back to the peephole.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: The hall was empty again. What did you see? Abby said,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: coming up next to me, grabbing my hand. I saw
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: us in the hallway, walking up to the door, just
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: like when we got here. Abby shook her head, brows furrowed.
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: Then she moved forward and looked for herself. There's nothing there.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: You're right, I said. You're right. See if you can
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: open the door. I sat on the bed while Abby tried,
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: to no avail, to open the door. I kept looking
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: from my phone to the black window. I couldn't shake
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: the feeling that something terrible was happening. Abby tried to
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: phone the front desk, but she didn't even get a
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: dial tone on the landline. We were stuck. I'm sure
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: someone will come check on us soon. We can't be
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: the only ones in the hotel, Abby said. We tried
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: our best to pretend like everything was okay. We even
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: tried to sleep. but it was no use. Our phones
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: still kept time, so we watched as the hours dropped away.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: There was still electricity, so we were able to charge
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: our phones and computers, but we couldn't access the internet
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: or call anyone. We couldn't communicate with the outside world.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: 24 hours passed, and nothing happened. We banged on the
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: door and the walls, we ate the few snacks we had,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: and we drank water out of the faucet. The blackness
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: outside the window never changed. Every so often, I would
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: try to open the door again. When I decided I
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: tried to break it down, Abby talked me out of it.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: She was certain someone would be coming soon. I wasn't
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: so sure. On the second night, Abby was snoozing lightly
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: when I heard something from out in the hall. I
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: jumped up and rushed to the peephole, looking out. The
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: door across from us opened, and an Asian couple walked out,
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: rolling their suitcases behind them and chatting in a language
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: I couldn't understand. I banged on the door and screamed,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: waking Abby, but the couple made no sign that they
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: even heard me. And by the time Abby got to
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: the door, they were gone. I could tell she didn't
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: believe me. After all, I was the only one who
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: had seen anything out the peephole. I'm telling you, there
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: were people there. I heard them talking. I said, fine,
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: I believe you. Is that what you want to hear?
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: I guess they were deaf, even though they were talking.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: You don't f * * * ing believe me! I shouted.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: Don't lie to me! Don't shout at me, Abby said
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: in a low voice. Remember what Dr. Shelton said about yelling.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: F * * * Dr. Shelton! Don't you see that
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: we're screwed here? If we don't get out of here,
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: we're going to starve to death! Abby stormed past me
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: and into the bathroom, slamming the door. Another day passed.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: We didn't speak much. Our hunger and fear took up
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: our thoughts and energy. We just laid on the bed,
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: staring up at the ceiling. We kept the light on,
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: unable to bear the pitch dark. Finally, sleep came to me,
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: but it didn't last long. Josh! Abby called, jerking me awake. Josh!
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: She was in the little hallway next to the bathroom.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: I stepped to the foot of the bed and saw
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: the box, sitting just inside the door. What the hell
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: is that? I asked. Did you get the door open? No,
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: Abby said, almost crying. It still won't open. The box
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: was just sitting here when I came to use the bathroom.
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: I skirted the box, careful not to touch it. It
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: looked like cardboard, but not quite. The texture was wrong,
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: like it was slicker than cardboard, slightly shinier. After looking
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: out the peephole and seeing nothing but the empty hallway,
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: I tried the door. It still wouldn't open. Come on!
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: I screamed, banging on the door. After a minute of this,
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: I'd worn myself out. Are you done? Abby asked. You
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: really think that's going to help anything? I ignored her
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: and turned my attention to the box. It was closed.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: The two long flaps pressed together on top, but there
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: was no tape holding them in place. And when I
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: touched the top of the box, the two flaps opened.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: Working carefully, I opened the box and looked inside. I
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: think it's food, I said. Abby, who'd been standing back
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: with a blank look on her face, seemed to snap
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: out of her daze. Really? Inside the box were small
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: rectangular bars. They were the same color as the cardboard,
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: but they had a different texture. I could smell them.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: They smelled like those all-natural granola bars you get for
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: five bucks a piece at health food stores. My stomach rumbled.
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: I reached in and grabbed one, lifting and taking a
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: bite out of it while Abby yelled for me to stop.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: Are you kidding me? She said. You're just going to
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: eat it? Just like that? It was the best thing
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: I'd ever tasted. I closed my eyes and made a
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: small moan as I chewed. What do you want me
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: to do? Send it off to the lab to have
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: it tested? I said. But my heart wasn't in the fight.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: I scarfed the rest of the bar down and had
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: to stop myself from eating another one. It's not like
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: there wasn't plenty in the box. There was. Probably 48
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: or more of the things. but I wanted to wait
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: to see if there were any ill effects before eating more.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: Abby made it about an hour, asking me how I
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: felt every five minutes before she ate one. With some
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: food in my stomach, I finally fell asleep for a
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: little while. Two more days passed. Even though we now
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: had food to eat, it gave us little solace. The
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: stress combined with the close quarters meant Abby and I
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: were yelling at each other for what seemed like once
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: every two hours. Finally, in the middle of another fight,
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: I stormed to the bathroom and slammed the door, locking it.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: Abby came to the door and started tapping on it,
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: egging me on. She wanted to keep fighting. So I
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: turned on the shower and sat under the warm water,
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: not even bothering to take off my clothes. I sat
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: there for a long time. At some point, I turned
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: off the water and took off my wet clothes. After
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: drying off and hanging my clothes... I unlocked the door
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: and headed out of the bathroom to find the hotel
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: room door open. I froze, looking out the open door
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: and into the hallway. Abby? No answer. Holding the towel
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: around my waist with one hand, I moved into the room.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: It was empty. Abby was gone. I ran into the hallway,
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: looking frantically left and right. Abby! The hallway lights were on,
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: and I could see a window at the end of
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: the hall to my right. It was pitch black on
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: the other side of the glass, just like the window
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: in our room. Running to the left, I rounded the
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: corner toward the stairs and the elevator. No sign of Abby.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: I hit the elevator button, but nothing happened. It didn't
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: light up, so I tried the door to the stairwell.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: It wouldn't budge. I ran back the other way, passing
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: the room and stopping when I got to the window.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: I screamed, punching the window. A sharp pain shot through
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: my hand, and I knew I'd broken something. The window
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: remained unmarred. Clenching my teeth and gripping my right hand
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: below the wrist with my left, I stumbled back to
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: the room, tears streaming down my face. And as I
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: came to the door, I noticed something on it. There
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: was a small device fastened over the peephole, almost like
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: a little version of those doorbell cameras people have. I
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: couldn't remember if it was there when we came to
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: the room, but as I looked around, I saw that
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: every door had one. I went across the hall and
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: banged on the door. There was no answer. I did
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: the same with three other doors.
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: Nothing.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: I turned back and went into my room, leaving the
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: door open about halfway. I stepped behind it and looked
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: through the peephole, and I saw the hallway as it
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: would have been if the door had been closed. But
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: it wasn't closed all the way. I should have seen
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: the door jam and only half the hallway, but I didn't.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: Whatever the device was on the other side of the door...
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: It was playing a recording of the hallway. As I
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: was contemplating this, the sound of movement came from inside
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: the room.' Abby?' I said, hair standing up on my neck.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: I crept past the bathroom and into the room. I
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: could see the back of Abby's head just beyond the bed,
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: as if she were sitting on the floor with her
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: back against the bed. I rushed over toward her.' Abby, baby,
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: I—' The words jammed in my throat as I saw
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: my girlfriend. Her parts were all mixed up. Her mouth
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: was on her forehead— her tongue hanging limply out. One
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: of her eyes was on her left cheek. The other
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: one was where her mouth should have been. Her nose
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: had been turned, her nostrils pointing to the left instead
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: of down. Her left leg had been swapped with her
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: left arm. She looked up at me with confused eyes,
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: then tried to get up. She managed to get to
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: her right leg, but when she tried to walk, she
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: stumbled into the window. I moved back, watching as her
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: left leg twitched and worked where it came out of
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: her t-shirt at her left shoulder. She kept trying to
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: get up. Her eyes rolled in desperation. My mouth wanted
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: to work, but there was nothing to say. I was
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: sure I'd gone insane. Back in the real world, my
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: blubbering body was a vegetable. Maybe I'd been in an accident,
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: severe head injury. As I backed toward the hall, I'd
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: passed the television, which suddenly switched on. This time, there
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: was an actual program on, instead of a blue screen.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: It was a news program, in English. There was an
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: aerial view of a pristine beach and turquoise water, but
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: the tranquility of the scene was in stark contrast to
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: the mess of rebar and plumbing and wiring that stuck
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: out of the ground where a building had once stood.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: The building I was in now. The hotel.
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: Still no explanation for the mysterious disappearance of an entire
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: hotel on this remote Pacific island. It has been five
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: days since the structure simply vanished, leaving experts to scramble
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: for explanations that don't involve extraterrestrials. The family members of
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: those staying and working in the hotel say that.
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: The words were drowned out by the blood rushing in
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: my ears. Abby stumbled toward me, reaching out with her
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: right hand as she balanced on her right leg. She
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: grabbed my left hand and jammed it up to her throat.
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: It took me a moment to realize she was asking
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: me to kill her. I shook my head and yanked
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: my hand away as panic closed in. Backing toward the door,
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: my only thought was to run. But I couldn't go anywhere.
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: There was no escape. And as I backed up to
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: the doorway, I felt the strong, cold grip of hands
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: with too many fingers around my arms and legs. Something
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: slimy clamped around my face, keeping me from shouting out
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: or seeing the culprits. I fought as they dragged me
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: down the hallway, but it was no use. The observation
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: portion of the experiment was over. Now, they were going
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: to take me apart and put me back together. It
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: was my turn. He's fast, and I can't move quick
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: enough to dodge the slap. My head jerks sideways as
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: my father's hand collides with the left side of my face.
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: But this time, I keep to my feet. He releases
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: a long, wordless wail as he brings his hand back,
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: as if to hit me again. His brown eyes are
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: brimming with tears above his bushy black beard. Damn it, boy!
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: He says, voice raw with emotion. Damn it! I told you!
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: I told you! I stand defiant next to the boarded-up window.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: I managed to get one nail out before my father
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: snuck up behind me. I thought he was asleep. I
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: was wrong. You gonna hit me again? I shout. Come on!
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: He jerks forward, grabbing the base of my neck with
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: his large, calloused hands. I think he's going to throttle
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: me at first, but he yanks me toward his chest,
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: pulling me into a too-tight hug. What can I do
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: to make you understand? He whimpers. Tell me what I
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: can do. Over his shoulder, I see my sister appear
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: in the hall outside the den, drawn by the resounding slap.
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: She runs up in her sock feet, short, brunette hair
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: bouncing as she rushes into the room. What happened? She asks.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: Dad doesn't answer. He just shifts and pulls Amy in
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: with one arm, hugging us both tight. I know this
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: is hard, he says to us. Hardest thing ever, really.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: But I need you two to understand that you can't leave.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: You can't. It's not safe out there. It's the same
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: story we've been told for the last two years, and
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: it's getting old. I push away, slipping my head out
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: of his arm. I wasn't going to leave, I say.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: I just wanted to look. I just wanted to see
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: the trees and the sun for a change. Dad shakes
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: his head, letting go of Amy. That's how it starts,
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: he says. First, you'll only want to look. Then you'll
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: want to venture into the yard. Then you'll want to
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: head into the woods. Best to just not start. I'm sorry,
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: but that's the way it is. It's been two years, Daddy.
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: Amy says. Can't we just look out? Just for a
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: few minutes? I mean, you get to go outside. Why
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: can't we? Dad shakes his head again, wiping tears away.
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: I know you're both at an age where staying cooped
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: up in here seems like the worst thing possible. I
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: remember being 17, but I can't imagine how hard this
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: is on you both. I never had to go through
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: anything like this when I was your age. But the
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: fact is... You need to be mentally prepared to go
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: out there. Because they'll try to trick you. They will.
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: Who will, I ask. Them, he says. They're the ones
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: out there now. There are no more people like you
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: or me. That's what you keep saying, I say. But
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: how are we supposed to believe you if we haven't
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: ever seen them? This is not up for discussion. You're
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: not ready. And if I find you trying to pry
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: another board off a window or open a door, I'll
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: be forced to institute a strict lockdown. Stricter than this?
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: I say, nearly shouting. But my dad is already walking
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: out of the room. A few moments later, he returns
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: with a hammer and several nails. He repairs the damage
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: I did and adds an extra nail to each side
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: of the board covering the window. It's about time to
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: start dinner, he says. You two better get to it.
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: Amy and I share a look. Then we walk out
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: of the den, heading for the kitchen. I heard a
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: plane again. I tell her when we're out of earshot.
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: Her eyes widen. You did? Smiling at her excitement. She's
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: only a year younger than me, but she'll always be
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: my baby sister. Sure did. That's why I was trying
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: to get the board off. I thought Dad was napping.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: I wish I could hear a plane, Amy says. Or anything, really.
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: I thought I heard an engine too the other day,
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: I tell her. But it might have been thunder. It
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: was so distant, I couldn't tell. We fall silent as
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: we reach the kitchen. Dad spent a couple of hours
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: outside today, harvesting vegetables from the garden and slaughtering a
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: chicken for our next few meals. What I wouldn't give
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: to go outside with him, even for just a few minutes.
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: But no, he says I'm not ready. Thinks I'm still
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: just a kid, We start preparing dinner, working in silence.
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: Dad comes through the kitchen with the hammer and heads
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: down to his room on the first floor. When dinner
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: is almost ready, I head downstairs to tell Dad. As
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: I approach his room, I pass the back door, which
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: is locked from the inside with a metal chain around
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: two metal hasps, one fixed to the door and the
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: other to the wall. Dad keeps the padlock key around
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: his neck. The other door to the cabin is so
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: boarded up that it would take me hours to get
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: it open. As always, I check to see if the
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: lock is securely fastened. It is. I notice Dad's door
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: is closed, which is only the case when he's drinking,
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: something that's been happening more and more recently. I don't
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: know how much liquor he managed to stow away before
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: we went into lockdown, but he must be getting low.
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: Pausing outside his room, I press my ear to the door.
• 36:42
  Speaker 3: Every day they keep pushing me and pushing me, I
• 36:45
  Speaker 3: hear him say. And it's getting harder and harder for
• 36:48
  Speaker 3: me to resist them. Sometimes I just want to give in.
• 36:52
  Speaker 3: To let them do whatever they want. At least it
• 36:54
  Speaker 3: would end the turmoil. I wouldn't have to feel like
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: this anymore. There's a pause. And I hear the sound
• 37:01
  Speaker 3: of liquid gurgling from a bottle. It's my dad taking
• 37:05
  Speaker 3: a swig of liquor. I knock on the door even
• 37:08
  Speaker 3: as I turn the knob and walk in.
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: Startled, my dad quickly puts the bottle of whiskey down
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: beside the recliner he's sitting in. He has a framed
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: photo of my mother in his left hand. Dinner's about ready,
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: I say. Okay, he says, sniffling. I'm coming. We don't
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: talk much through dinner. When we're done eating, Amy and
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: I do the cleanup. Then she heads to her room
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: just down the hall from mine on the second floor.
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: I go to my room and collapse onto my bed.
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: As I lie in my bed, staring at the board
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: over my window with nails every two inches, I hear
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: a strange murmuring from outside. At first, I think it's
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: the wind, but it seems to get louder or closer,
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: and I realize it's people. I can't hear what they're saying,
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: but the conversation seems casual, judging by the tone. Sounds
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: like a couple of girls walking by in the woods, chatting.
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: I jump up from my bed and rush to Amy's room.
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: Did you hear that? I ask. She sits up in
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: her bed, setting her book aside. Hear what? People, I say. Outside,
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: I hear them talking. Really? Yes, I say. Just be
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: quiet for a minute. We stay still, listening. I even
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: hold my breath. But I can't hear the people anymore.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: I don't hear anything, Amy says. They must be gone.
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: But they can't have made it far. If we can
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: get out there... You're kidding, Amy says.
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: How?
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: You heard what Dad said. He's been drinking, I tell her.
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: I bet I can get the key from around his neck.
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: Amy's eyes go wide as her mouth drops open. It's unthinkable.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: You wouldn't.
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: Why not?
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: I say. Dad goes out there every couple of days.
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: Why the hell can't we? If he comes back fine,
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: then we can too. Amy bites her lip, considering. You
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: really hurt people? And a plane? I really did. I say.
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: I mean, what if this is all just made up?
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: Amy shakes her head. She says. I say. Something happened,
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: even if they didn't know exactly what. Yeah, I know
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: something happened, I say. But that was two years ago.
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: What if everything is fine now? I mean, why else
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: would there be planes flying around and people hiking through
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: the woods? Maybe, Amy says. And why would it be
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: safe for Dad to go out, but not us? Does
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: that make any sense to you? No. I think Dad
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: has just gone off the deep end. Since Mom died,
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: he's terrified of losing us. So he's kept us cooped
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: up in here, even though whatever happened is cured or
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: solved or whatever. Amy looks like she's coming around, but
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: she's not quite there yet. So I push on. Listen, Amy.
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: I heard Dad talking to Mom's picture again tonight. He
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: feels guilty. He was saying how he wanted us to
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: just do whatever we want so he could stop feeling guilty.
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: He said that. I nod. Yeah, in so many words.
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: Amy takes a deep breath. Okay, she says. See if
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: you can get the key. But if you get caught,
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: I didn't know anything about it. I smile. Deal. I
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: can hear my dad snoring as I creep down the stairs.
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: His door is open. as it usually is, because he
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: likes to be able to hear if we start messing
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: with the chain on the back door. As I get
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: to his door, I look inside. He's passed out in
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: the recliner next to his bed, my mom's picture in
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: his lap, and I can see the padlock key on
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: the leather strap around his neck. Moving closer, I stop
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: and wait.
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: Dad?
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: I whisper. Nothing. He's out. Using just the tips of
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: my fingers... I twist the necklace so I can see
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: the metal clasp. I unhook the clasp and then pull
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: the necklace off. My dad doesn't make a move. I
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: head back over to the stairwell to find Amy there,
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: her shoes on and my shoes in her hand. She
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: gives them to me and I put them on as
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: quickly as I can. I'm shaking with excitement. She also
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: has a flashlight. I probably would have forgotten about a
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: flashlight in my excitement. Moving as slowly and as gently
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: as possible, I undo the padlock and remove the chain,
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: setting it down next to the doorway. Then I unlock
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: the two dead bolts and the knob. Amy and I
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: look at each other in the dimly lit hallway. We smile.
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: The smell of pine trees and fresh earth overwhelms me
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: as I open the door. Amy and I slip out
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: into the darkness. I shut the door gently behind us.
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: Amy clicks the flashlight on and shines it around. Our
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: yard is fenced in. and there are several raised garden
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: beds within the chain-link fencing. The chicken coop is on
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: the other side of the cabin. We can hear the
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: chickens clucking every so often. She turns the beam outward,
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: shining at the pine trees around the property. There's nothing
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: much to see, just trees. But it's still the thrill
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: of a lifetime for me, being outside after so long.
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: The sound of a young woman's laughter splits the air
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: from off in the woods. Did you hear that? I
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: ask Amy. She nods, smiling. When I look back out
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: into the woods, I notice the glow of a fire
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: illuminating the trees just over the low ridge. Suddenly, I
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: can smell the fire on the wind. Let's go check
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: it out, I say, heading toward the gate without waiting
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: for an answer. Amy follows, lighting the way. As we
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: approach the crest, we slow down, looking over. Sure enough,
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: there are three teenage girls sitting around a campfire, joking
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: and laughing. Amy and I look at each other with
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: wide eyes. As we're about to discuss our next move,
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: one of the girls calls out to us. Hey, don't
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: be scared. Come join us. She's a very pretty girl.
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: In fact, all of them are. I can't believe my luck.
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: I say. I start forward and Amy follows a few
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: steps behind. All three faces are turned toward us, smiling
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: and easygoing. I'm Jenny. The one who already spoke says.
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: Do you guys live in that cabin down there? Yeah,
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: I say. I'm Brandon, and this is Amy. Nice to
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: meet you, Jared, Amy says. I turn to look at her. Jared,
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: I think. What is she talking about?
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: No!
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: A scream cuts the air from behind us. My dad!
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: Amy and I flinch, turning around at the same time
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: to see dad running toward us through the woods, his
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: shotgun in hand. Get away! Get back! What? I say,
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: turning back around to face the teenagers. Jenny, the nearest one,
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: lunges at me. As her hands touch the skin of
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: my neck, reality seems to rip before my eyes. No
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: longer is there a pretty teenage girl in front of me.
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: There's a creature with wide, deep-set eyes and a craggy,
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: blackish-gray face. A crooked grin with cracked teeth sits on
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: the bottom half of its face, under red slits for nostrils.
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: Its tendril-like fingers wrap around my throat. I can feel
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: something entering my skull, but I'm not sure if it's
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: something physical or more of a psychological invasion. They'll try
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: to trick you, my dad said earlier. His words repeat
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: in my head as terror freezes my bones. After a moment,
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: I feel a terrible, unending crack form in my mind.
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: A world too awful to comprehend suddenly becomes my reality.
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: I can feel billions of other minds locked in with mine.
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: all half insane and gibbering, pleading for release. I can
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: feel all their pain and their sorrow and their fear,
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: and it's never ending. And I can feel them, the creatures,
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: feeding on it. I understand them, suddenly. Time folds in
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: on itself, and I can see them, taunting my father
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: on the days he came outside to work in the
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: garden or get eggs. I can see them, taking the
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: form of my mother, telling him things that only she
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: could know. They tried to get him to come out
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: into the woods. into their territory, but he resisted. Until now.
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: Until I drew him out here. I'm vaguely aware of
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: the sound of a shotgun going off. A creature screams.
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: I notice out of the corner of my eye a
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: creature pouncing on Amy, and I can feel it as
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: her mind joins the fray, adding her darkness to the
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: infinite turmoil. The shotgun fires again, and another creature screams,
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: but it's not dead. They can't die. Not with violence.
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: Only starvation. Starvation. My dad comes into view. I see
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: him look from me to Amy and back as he
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: pumps another shell into the chamber. Then he turns the
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: barrel on himself. The shotgun fires, and then I'm pulled
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: out all the way out of reality and into hell.
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: But before my world becomes nothing but agony, my last
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: coherent thought is for my dad. At least he escaped
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: this fate. Where are you taking me? My younger sister
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: giggled as she looked out the car window at the woods.
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: I told you, it's a surprise. You'll see soon enough.
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: Her face got suddenly serious, and she peered at me
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: so intently that I had to slow down a bit
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: on the dirt road to gaze back at her. Wait,
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: she said. You're not taking me out to murder me,
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: are you? My mouth dropped open and my eyes went wide. Uh, no.
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: We both fell into laughter. Tears streamed down my cheeks
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: as I finally got myself under control, my gasps dying down.
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: It was a good laugh with Serena. It felt like
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: old times, better times. We lapsed into a comfortable silence
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: as I steered the car down the narrow road, the
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: headlights picking out little more than shapes from the trees.
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: Then the structure came into view up ahead, the glowing
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: lights of the towering mansion appearing through a gap in
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: the foliage. Wow! Serena said.' I wonder who lives there?''
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: You' re about to find out,' I said.' No way!' I nodded.'
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: You actually know the person who lives in that house?'
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: she asked. I nodded again.' I met him a couple
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: of months ago. The first person I thought of was you,
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: when he invited me up and I saw it the
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: first time. I know how you love these old mansions.''
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: I definitely do. I just wish it was daytime. I
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: can hardly see the architecture.' And why all the secrecy?
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: Why couldn't I tell Simon and the kids where I
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: was going? I rolled my eyes. I didn't want your
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: husband worrying and calling you every five minutes. He's such
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: a baby. My sister punched my arm and laughed. Leave
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: him alone. He's sweet. Just trust me, I said. There's
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: more than just the house waiting. I promise. Ten minutes later,
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: we pulled up to the unique mountainside mansions. There was
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: a fountain in the middle of the circular driveway, red
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: lights shining up from the water as it burbled away.
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: After I'd parked, we got out of the car and
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: marveled at the structure. There were three chimneys sticking up
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: and two peaked towers with arch-style windows. The roofs were
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: all steeply pitched, giving the house itself the appearance of
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: some especially brutal mountain range. Looking at my sister while
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: she babbled on in architect-speak, I had a moment of regret.
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: I suddenly wanted to tell her that plans had changed
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: before whisking her back down the mountain. With some effort,
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: I shoved my regret deep down, knowing that what came
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: next would absolutely be worth it. It would be worth anything.
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: I just had to keep my nerve for a little longer.
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: I knocked on the heavy and ornately carved wooden door
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: and waited. The door opened, revealing Horace. in all his
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: pale and handsome glory. A tall man dressed in an
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: immaculate black suit with a red tie, Horace smiled without
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: showing his teeth as he took us in with lively eyes.
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: His brown hair was pulled back into a bun, and
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: his cheeks were clean. Come in, Jackson. This must be
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: your lovely sister, Serena. We stepped inside as Serena shook
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: Horace's hand and gushed about his house. Thank you, he said.
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: I spent many years perfecting the design. He led us
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: through the house. which was draped in finery and decorated
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: in dark hues. He came to a metal door, which
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: he opened before standing aside, gesturing for us to enter.
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: We're doing this now? I asked, suddenly sweating. Why wouldn't we?
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: Boris asked. Doing what? Serena said. She seemed to sense
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: that something was off. Maybe it was the pitch-dark room
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: waiting for us. Your brother has orchestrated a little surprise
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: for you, Boris said, Smiling again without showing his teeth,
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: Serena hesitated. Please, he said. I'm sure you will quite
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: like it. Serena walked into the dark room. I paused
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: and looked at Horace. The edge of his lip twitched
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: as his eyes bore into me. Swallowing, I walked into
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: the room. Horace stepped inside after us, swinging the door
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: shut and removing any source of light. but it was
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: only dark for a moment before the lights came on.
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: I gasped, looking around the room at the collection of
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: severed human heads preserved in glass cases filled with liquid.
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: What is this? Serena asked, stepping close to me. This
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: is the one room I never showed your brother, Horace said.
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: What's going on, Horace?
• 50:58
  Speaker 2: I asked.
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: I brought her here. Now you keep your promise. What?
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: Serena said. What promise? Horace finally smiled fully, revealing long
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: and sharp bangs. Yes, why don't you tell her? It's nothing,
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: I said. Just a misunderstanding. Tell her! Horace shouted, his
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: voice a growl as he rushed to me and grabbed
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: me by the neck. Half choking, I said. I have
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: a brain tumor, Serena. There's no cure. No cure but
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: what Horace can give me. Serena was back against the
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: only wall without shelves. She was shaking. What can he
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: give you? She asked. Eternal life, Horace said. He was
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: ready to trade you to me for eternal life. No,
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: my sister said. No, he wouldn't. You wouldn't. I looked
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: at her, willing her to see my side of it.
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: But there was no understanding in her eyes. Only the
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: cold realization that Horace was telling the truth. All these
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: people were trying to kill to attain immortality. Horace said,
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: gesturing at the heads. They all wanted to deal with
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: the devil. They may not have gotten what they wanted,
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: but they got what they deserved. He lifted me off
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: the ground by my neck. I felt the cartilage in
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: my throat breaking as his cold hand clamped down. I
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: kicked my feet and punched at him, but it was
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: as if he was made of stone. Horace took something
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: from his jacket pocket and poured it into my grimacing mouth.
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: The coppery taste left no doubt in my mind as
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: to what it was, but I didn't know why. Leave
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: now and forget what you saw here, Horace said. He
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: dug into my pocket and retrieved the keys, tossing them
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: to my sister. Serena rushed out of the room a
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: moment before I felt Horace's other hand on my skull.
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: He was digging into the flesh of my neck with
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: claw-like fingers, pulling one way on my skull and the
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: other on my body. You know that old thing about
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: vampires dying by decapitation? He asked me. Well, it's wrong.
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: The head lives, you see. It can live forever. The
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: pain came to a crescendo as skin and muscle ripped,
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: followed shortly by the wet cracking pop of my spine settling.
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: My vision tilted, the room spinning as my head fell
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: down to crack on the concrete floor. My vision darkened.
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: I tumbled through death, a savage existence where endless hands
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: pulled at my very essence, ripping my soul apart and
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: leaving only tatters. I was sure years had passed when
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: my vision came slowly back, and I saw Horus. He
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: was lifting me up and dumping me into a jar
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: on a shelf. Not all of me, though. I could
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: see my body on the floor, fresh blood all around it.
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: The blood he'd poured into my mouth was his blood.
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: He'd done it. He'd followed through on his promise. He
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: turned me into a vampire. And then he'd taken my head.
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: I pull my girlfriend out of the way as the
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: bus comes bouncing up onto the sidewalk, smashing into the
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: building we just exited 30 seconds ago. We end up
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: lying on the sidewalk, the front wheel of the bus
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: barely a foot away. Inside the bus, people are screaming.
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: One woman jumps up and pounds on the door, but
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: the bus driver isn't in any state to open it.
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: There's a guy punching on his neck, another woman with
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: cloudy eyes, and blood smeared all over her mouth appears
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: behind the screaming woman at the door. Blood splatters the
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: glass panels, has teeth, rip open skin, and arteries. I
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: look around at the city street, unable to comprehend what's happening,
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: even though it has been going on for a good
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: half an hour now. Abandoned cars clutter the street, Sons
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: of gunfire come from all around, only overtaken by the
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: screams and shouts of terrified people. A small group of
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: people run down the opposite sidewalk, chased by two zombies.
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: That's what they are, after all. There's no doubting it.
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: They're f * * * ing zombies. The guy in
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: the lead has a pistol, and, without looking, he aims
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: it backward and fires. Only he doesn't shoot one of
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: the zombies. He shoots a teenage girl that was running
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: behind him. She falls to the ground. dead from the
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: shot to the chest. Looking over his shoulder, he sees
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: what he's done. He comes to a stop, staring in
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: abject horror at the dead girl. The rest of his
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: group keeps running, leaving him to his fate. A moment later,
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: the two zombies crash into him, tackling him to the ground.
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: One of them bites his neck, the other latches onto
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: his arm. All this happens in the span of a
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: few breaths. Maya and I scramble up off the ground
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: and resume our run down the sidewalk. I'm sweating in
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: the summer sun. My hand is slick as I grab
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: hold of Maya. We turn a corner, just a block
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: from the sporting goods store that is our destination. There's
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: chaos here too. It's everywhere. A window in the building
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: towering over us breaks, and we look up, seeing two
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: bodies falling down. They land on top of an SUV.
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: breaking the windows and denting the roof. The one who
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: landed first is clearly dead, but the other one is
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: a zombie. Although half its limbs are broken, it turns
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: its head toward us, snapping its jaws and snarling as
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: it tries to use its broken body to get to us. Apparently,
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: they don't want dead flesh. Even newly dead people are
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: of no interest. They want the living. We move fast,
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: feet crunching on glass as we hurry down the sidewalk.
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: The sporting goods store is on the corner. As we
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: duck inside, the thrumming sound of a. 50 caliber machine
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: gun grows closer. We crouch down and look out the
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: windows as a military Humvee goes tearing down the block.
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: The soldier manning the. 50 cal is screaming as he
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: fires into a horde of zombies running after the vehicle.
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: The massive bullets blow many of the zombies apart, severing
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: heads and limbs. But there's just so many of them.
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: The horde passes by, a parade of the walking dead,
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: growling and shrieking and snapping their jaws. Once they are gone,
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: Maya and I move into the wrecked store. Many people
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: had the same idea, apparently, because the place has been ransacked.
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: There are still people inside, gathering up items and looking
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: at us warily. Still inside. We move through the clutter,
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: picking up items that will be of use. There are
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: some hiking backpacks left and we grab them, using them
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: to hold things like fire starters, pocket knives, and lengths
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: of paracord. All the water filters in the camping meals
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: have been cleaned out, and so have all the guns.
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: What about hatchets? Maya asks as we look around for weapons.
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: Good idea, I say, and we move through the store
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: toward where I think hatchets will be. But as we
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: pass a climbing section, I spot a lone ice axe
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: hanging from a rack. I step into the aisle and
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: grab the piece of equipment ice climbers use, thinking it
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: will do nicely as a zombie killer. Behind me, Maya
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: lets out a frightened squeal. I spin around and see
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: a man with long, dark hair and wild eyes holding
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: a rifle to my girlfriend's head. Give me that thing.
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: the man says, gesturing at the ice axe. You already
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: have a gun, I say, trying to keep my voice calm.
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: You won't be able to use both, and we have nothing.
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: I said give it to me. Maya looks at me, pleading.
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: I nod my head and shift to hold out the
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: item to the man. There's a flash of quick movement,
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: and the guy's head is yanked backward by his hair.
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: He fires the gun as the zombies pull him to
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: the ground, the bullet ending up somewhere in the ceiling.
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: The man screams as the zombie clamps down on his nose.
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: I know the noise will bring more zombies, so I
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: step forward. and slam the sharp end of the ice
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: axe into the zombie's head the thing goes stiff for
• 59:15
  Speaker 1: a moment then it goes limp i step over and
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: put my foot against the rifle keeping the guy from
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: using it as i wrench the axe out of the
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: zombie's head the guy is still screaming plus he's been
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: bitten he's as good as dead So I use the
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: ice axe on him, and he goes quiet. The sounds
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: of gunfire and shouting and cars crashing and the occasional
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: explosion are still coming from outside. So I hope we
• 59:41
  Speaker 1: won't have any zombies coming for us soon. Maybe they
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: didn't hear the screaming thanks to all the noise. I
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: hand the ice axe to a stunned Maya and grab
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: the rifle and the guy's backpack. It contains bullets, some food,
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: a couple of water filters, and a well-worn stuffed bear.
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: Tossing the bear out, I take the backpack. We need
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: to go, out the back. As we move that way,
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: a woman's scream pierces the air, much louder than the
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: man's was. Maya and I turn, seeing a woman and
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: a little girl standing nearby, staring at the dead man
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: with the long hair. Suddenly, the bear makes sense. It
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: must belong to the little girl. Stop screaming! I shout.
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 1: You killed him! The woman screams. You killed Jamie! She
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: reaches behind her back for something. She must have a pistol.
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: I drop the backpack and rack the bolt on the rifle,
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: ejecting the shell and loading another one. The woman brings
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: a revolver out, and I have no time to aim
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: the rifle. I shoot from the hip, hitting the woman
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: in the face. She falls to the floor, blood splattering
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: her daughter. Let's move, I say to Maya, picking up
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: the backpack I dropped. My girlfriend looks at me like
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 1: I'm insane. We can't just leave her here. I glance
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: at the little girl, who looks at her dead parents
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: for a long moment before her face screws up and
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: she starts bawling. Maya steps toward her, but I stick
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: the barrel of the rifle out, keeping her from moving.
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: We won't last an hour with her, I say. It's
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: not happening. It's suicide. The girl's bawling is getting louder.
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: If the gunshots haven't already attracted zombies, the crying will soon.
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: We're not just leaving her, Maya says again, shoving me
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: and heading toward the girl. I quickly load another shell
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: into the rifle. I take aim, and I fire. The
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: crying stops. There, I say. Problem solved. Now let's f
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: * * * ing go, Maya. Running footsteps come from
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: the front of the store. Zombies coming fast. Maya looks
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: at me with an expression I've never seen before. It's
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: not hard to read, though. Disgust, shock, and maybe a
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 1: little hate. But she hears the footsteps too. And as
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 1: I move toward the back of the store, loading another
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: bullet into the chamber, she follows me. She'll come around eventually.
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: Her old way of thinking about the world will change.
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: And when that happens, she'll thank me. I'm confident she'll
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: come around. But if she doesn't, I would hate to
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: have to kill her too. I awoke to the sound
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 1: of tapping. I blinked. My eyes blurry. I tried to
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: focus on my surroundings. I'm still here, I realized quickly,
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: glancing around through the dark. I'm still in the internet cafe.
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: I leaned back in my chair, stretching my arms and
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 1: rolling my shoulders, allowing myself a groan of discomfort. When
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: I got here this evening, it was relatively busy. People
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: were all around me, drinking their coffees and using the computers.
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: Who in this day and age even needs to come
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: to a place like this? I had wondered as I
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: sat down for the first time. I don't own a
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 1: computer myself, and my phone broke a few nights ago,
• 1:03:01
  Speaker 1: so that's my excuse. I'd been using this place to
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 1: send my emails. The World Wide Web, it's simply called.
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 1: The words World Wide were in faded white neon lights,
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: with Web in a soft, flickering neon green light. Not
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 1: sure what the copyright is on such a name, but
• 1:03:22
  Speaker 1: I guess that's neither here nor there. The place was
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: shrouded in darkness when I awoke. There was no one
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: there but me. The hell? I muttered quietly. Did they
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 1: close up shop without even waking me? The desks and
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 1: tables around me disappeared into the shadows and the gloom,
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: giving the main room the eerie illusion of infinity, stretching
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: out into the void in all directions. and there it
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: was again, that tapping. It was ever so slightly. It
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: was too loud to be coming from the computers, and yet,
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: not loud enough for me to place its source. Hello?
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: I called out into the gloom, but my voice was
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: simply swallowed by the shadows. A shiver passed across me,
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 1: and I decided that it was time to leave. I
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 1: grabbed my belongings and stuffed them into my bag, I
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 1: stood up, feeling the joints in my legs crack just
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 1: a little. I'm getting old, I muttered to no one.
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: I was about to make my way through the dark
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: to the exit when the sound of the tapping caught
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 1: my attention for a third time. I shot an anxious
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: glance over my shoulder and paused at what I saw.
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: A doorway, one I had not been previously aware of.
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: Perhaps because it was unassuming or not obvious in the daylight.
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 1: But at that moment... Whilst the world was dipped in darkness,
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 1: the edges of this doorway glowed bright. A soft, glowing green.
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 1: And against my sense of better judgment, my curiosity was piqued.
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 2: Should I?
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: I thought to myself. I paused for a second to think.
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 1: I'd clearly been shut in here by mistake, and was
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 1: unlikely to get such an opportunity as this one again.
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: I'd take a quick peek through the doorway, just to see,
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 1: and that would be that. I headed deeper into the building,
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 1: towards the glowing green door. As I got closer, I
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 1: started to feel vibrations through the floor. They grew more
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: intense as I approached. I couldn't deny my anxiety, but
• 1:05:32
  Speaker 1: there was excitement there too. After one final and very
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 1: brief hesitation, I put my hand on the door and
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 1: pushed it open, peering inside to take a look at
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 1: its hidden secrets. Honestly, I expected a simple server room,
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 1: one with glowing green lights or something But this, this
• 1:05:50
  Speaker 1: was not what I was prepared to see. It was
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: a room far larger than the first, bathed in a
• 1:05:56
  Speaker 1: dim green glow emanating from an enormous pile of clustered
• 1:05:59
  Speaker 1: orbs in the room's center. They were piled up high
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 1: above a collection of busted and broken tables. There were
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 1: desks still intact in the room, each with their own
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 1: computer atop it. The screens were switched on, all glowing green.
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 1: I could have turned back here. I could have left
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 1: this place behind. but I did not. Instead, I pushed forward.
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 1: Unable to prevent the rush of curiosity, I stumbled forwards.
• 1:06:28
  Speaker 1: I imagined telling my little brother all about this place.
• 1:06:31
  Speaker 1: He loves mysterious and strange, secret places. I weaved my
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 1: way between the desks, pausing as the same tapping sound
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 1: as before started up again. Was it coming from the keyboards?
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: I wondered, casting my gaze across the computers all around me.
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 1: but none of them stirred. Swallowing, I made my way
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 1: to the base of the great cluster of orbs. Each
• 1:06:56
  Speaker 1: orb was of such a size that I doubted I'd
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 1: be able to carry more than one at a time,
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 1: if I were so inclined. I pressed a finger against
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 1: the closest, shivering with discomfort at the white-green strands that
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 1: pulled away from its surface as I retracted my hand.
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 1: I wiped it on my jeans and took a step back,
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 1: I reached into my pocket for my phone, with the
• 1:07:17
  Speaker 1: aim of taking a picture. And as I did so,
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 1: my eye caught sight of a figure in the distance.
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 1: A shadowed silhouette, seated silently at one of the computers.
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 1: I cried out in alarm, dropping the phone on the
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: floor with a clatter. My heart pounded as I stared
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 1: at this mystery inhabitant. Uh, hello? I called feebly, crouching
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 1: carefully to grab my device. The sound of the tapping
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: began again, fading in, then back out of focus. This
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 1: was another chance for me to go. I could have
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 1: fled back across the room and out through the doorway,
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 1: but again, I did not. I approached the figure. What
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 1: are you doing in here? I asked them, my sense
• 1:08:02
  Speaker 1: of sight adjusting gradually as the seated figure became clearer
• 1:08:05
  Speaker 1: through the shadows. When at last they were visible, I
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 1: froze at once, staring wide-eyed at the person before me.
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 1: She was a woman, All the color was drained from
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 1: her skin. She was sitting rigidly at the desk, with
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 1: her hands fixed on the keyboard. Are you... are you okay?
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 1: I tried to ask, but my voice was hoarse and
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 1: barely came out above a whisper. The woman did not reply.
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 1: A quick glance to her fingers showed me they were
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 1: not moving at all. The green glow from the screen
• 1:08:39
  Speaker 1: reflected off the surface of her eyes. Bulged veins, frozen
• 1:08:43
  Speaker 1: in place. stood out on her neck and across her arms.
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: With my throat death dry, I reached out for her,
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 1: my hands shaking. Can I help you? I whispered, and
• 1:08:53
  Speaker 1: in response, her eyes flickered suddenly over to mine. I
• 1:08:57
  Speaker 1: cried out in horror and surprise, and started to cry.
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 1: backwards into a desk with a loud thud the woman
• 1:09:03
  Speaker 1: stared at me perhaps unable to do anything else her
• 1:09:06
  Speaker 1: eyes were wide and in them i saw only terror
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 1: i tried to make my escape scrambling away and crashing
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 1: past the computers in my retreat i passed by the
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 1: great mountain of the pale green orbs and just as
• 1:09:18
  Speaker 1: i was approaching the doorway I stopped. Just one last time,
• 1:09:23
  Speaker 1: one last fateful time, I listened to the sound of
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 1: that relentless tapping. It was louder this time, much louder. Louder,
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 1: and directly above me. Slowly, I lifted my gaze to
• 1:09:39
  Speaker 1: the shadows of the ceiling, and there in the darkness,
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 1: my eyes met with eight Eight green eyes, a splash
• 1:09:47
  Speaker 1: of white-green saliva dripped from the creature's clicking, leaking fangs
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 1: and onto my shirt. Struck with such a horror as
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 1: I have never experienced before, I found myself unable to move.
• 1:09:59
  Speaker 1: The nightmare on the ceiling above me, a great and
• 1:10:01
  Speaker 1: monstrous spider, scuttled into position. And down came its stinger,
• 1:10:06
  Speaker 1: sharp and quick. It thrusted into the side of my chest,
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: and before I could react, I felt a deep and
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: overwhelming heat begin to rush through me. Colors danced before
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 1: my eyes, and I felt my joints stiffening. I staggered
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 1: into a nearby desk and put my hand on the
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 1: chair for balance, easing myself down into it for fear
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 1: of falling to the floor and being unable to cushion
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 1: my fall. Please. I managed to force out as my
• 1:10:31
  Speaker 1: jaw locked into place, the muscles all across my bones
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 1: tightening in unison. Waves of pain and nausea flooded through me,
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 1: but there was nothing I could do. I had my chance,
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 1: and it slipped by me. The spider made a hissing noise,
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 1: then across the ceiling it went, faster now. In the
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 1: spider's excitement, it fell upon the woman. She was paralyzed
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 1: and unable to fight back, and I, unable to look away,
• 1:11:03
  Speaker 1: was forced to watch as she was devoured. I do
• 1:11:07
  Speaker 1: not know how long she had been here. I do
• 1:11:10
  Speaker 1: not know if there are others, but the monster is
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 1: coming for me. That much is certain, and there is
• 1:11:18
  Speaker 1: nothing I can do. I am barely able to type
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 1: this message out on the computer in front of me.
• 1:11:24
  Speaker 1: I am beginning to lose all feeling in my arms
• 1:11:27
  Speaker 1: and legs. If you are receiving this message, I beg
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 1: of you, please send help. It may be too late
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 1: for me, but it could spare others. The line of
• 1:11:41
  Speaker 1: cars ahead of me curves around and down toward the
• 1:11:44
  Speaker 1: parking garage's exit, two floors below. I'm on the third
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 1: floor of the five-story garage. It's the end of another
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 1: long day. When I first started working here, I tried
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 1: to duck out of the office early so I wouldn't
• 1:11:58
  Speaker 1: have to wait 10 or 15 minutes just to get
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 1: out of the poorly designed garage. But I quickly realized
• 1:12:04
  Speaker 1: that it didn't matter what time I left. I would
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 1: always get stuck. waiting as the line slowly dwindled down.
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 1: Of course, if I wanted to stick around in the
• 1:12:14
  Speaker 1: office until seven or eight, I could get out of
• 1:12:17
  Speaker 1: the garage in a matter of minutes, but that wasn't
• 1:12:20
  Speaker 1: an option. So here I sit once again. The skyscrapers
• 1:12:25
  Speaker 1: outside are painted with the last rays of dull orange
• 1:12:28
  Speaker 1: sunshine as the night expands into its fullness. The car
• 1:12:31
  Speaker 1: ahead of me inches forward. I follow suit, moving no
• 1:12:35
  Speaker 1: more than two feet, Cars, trucks, and SUVs choke the
• 1:12:39
  Speaker 1: narrow aisle. Some poor suckers are sitting in their cars,
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 1: still in their parking spots. They won't be able to
• 1:12:46
  Speaker 1: get out for a long time. Not unless some good
• 1:12:49
  Speaker 1: Samaritan stops and lets them back up. But it won't
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 1: be me. Not today. There's some kind of commotion ahead,
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 1: where the line of cars curves to the left, down
• 1:12:59
  Speaker 1: the ramp to the second level. I hear the faint
• 1:13:02
  Speaker 1: squeal of tires over the podcast I have playing in
• 1:13:05
  Speaker 1: my vehicle. followed by the muted crash of a fender bender. Oh, great,
• 1:13:10
  Speaker 1: I say. Just what we need. Then there's another, louder crash,
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 1: and more tires squealing on the concrete. A young man
• 1:13:18
  Speaker 1: in an off-the-rack suit comes running around the corner, huffing
• 1:13:21
  Speaker 1: from sprinting up the ramp. His eyes are wide, and
• 1:13:24
  Speaker 1: he's looking at the people in the car as he passes,
• 1:13:26
  Speaker 1: yelling something. I roll down my window as he approaches. Run!
• 1:13:31
  Speaker 1: He screams. Run! Beyond him, I see several other people
• 1:13:35
  Speaker 1: run around the corner. There are men and women, all
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 1: dressed in business casual. One woman with glasses and a
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 1: tangerine dress trips just as she's rounding the concrete pillar
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 1: that blocks my view of the ramp. She lands with
• 1:13:48
  Speaker 1: her upper body visible to me, and just as she's
• 1:13:50
  Speaker 1: getting to her hands and knees, she's yanked backwards so
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 1: fast her glasses fly off. Bright lights flare from the
• 1:13:57
  Speaker 1: car in front of me as the guy puts his
• 1:13:59
  Speaker 1: sedan in reverse. Before I can react, He hits the
• 1:14:02
  Speaker 1: gas and slams into the front of my Nissan Rogue.
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 1: I look in my rearview mirror and see that the
• 1:14:08
  Speaker 1: car behind me is right on my tail. I'm not
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 1: going anywhere. Not in my vehicle, anyway. I put it
• 1:14:14
  Speaker 1: in park, panic expanding in my chest like a terrible balloon.
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 1: No more people are running up from the lower level,
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 1: but I can hear screaming from down there. I grab
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 1: my phone out of the cradle, open the door, and
• 1:14:25
  Speaker 1: jump out. And I sprint back along the line of cars,
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: heading toward the stairwell. If I can get to the ground,
• 1:14:32
  Speaker 1: I can get help. But just as I reach the stairwell,
• 1:14:35
  Speaker 1: which is next to the two elevators, I nearly crash
• 1:14:38
  Speaker 1: into a balding guy who works in my office. He's
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 1: coming up out of the stairwell. Todd, I say, looking
• 1:14:43
  Speaker 1: into his eyes. I can't look for long. There's something
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 1: about them. Something haunting. And as I glance down, I
• 1:14:50
  Speaker 1: see blood on his black shoes and brown pants. Fresh blood.
• 1:14:54
  Speaker 1: Don't go that way, he says.
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 1: What's happening? I was down there, Jamie. I saw... Something. What?
• 1:15:02
  Speaker 1: What the hell is going on? Can't we get out
• 1:15:04
  Speaker 1: that way? Todd shakes his head. It's all locked down.
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: The metal gates came down. The pedestrian doors are locked.
• 1:15:12
  Speaker 1: There's no way out down there. I run over to
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 1: the nearest side of the parking garage and look down
• 1:15:17
  Speaker 1: at the sidewalk below. As I'm watching, I see a
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 1: man jump out from the floor below, screaming. He lands
• 1:15:24
  Speaker 1: hard on his feet and curls into a roll. He
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 1: comes up and sprints into the street without so much
• 1:15:29
  Speaker 1: as a glance either way. The driver of a city
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 1: bus hits her brakes, but it's too late. The man
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 1: is lost from view as he's slammed to the ground
• 1:15:37
  Speaker 1: and pulled under the bus. Eyes wide in disbelief, the
• 1:15:40
  Speaker 1: bus driver looks around frantically. Her eyes land on the
• 1:15:43
  Speaker 1: parking garage. She sees something there, on the floor below me,
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 1: and she screams. I can hear it even though her
• 1:15:50
  Speaker 1: window is closed. She jams on the gas and the
• 1:15:53
  Speaker 1: bus streaks away. Meanwhile, other traffic has stopped on the
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 1: one-way road. People step out of their cars. Cell phones
• 1:16:00
  Speaker 1: to their ears as they call the police. Then something
• 1:16:03
  Speaker 1: large and dark soars past overhead. I look up only
• 1:16:07
  Speaker 1: to see a brief glimpse of what looks like a
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 1: large shadow disappearing around a building. The sound of metal
• 1:16:13
  Speaker 1: distorting and glass breaking draws my attention back into the garage.
• 1:16:17
  Speaker 1: People are now screaming as they ditch their cars, heading
• 1:16:20
  Speaker 1: past me up the ramp between the third and fourth floors.
• 1:16:23
  Speaker 1: I look back at the little alcove with the stairwell
• 1:16:25
  Speaker 1: and elevators. It's jammed with people, pushing and shoving. trying
• 1:16:30
  Speaker 1: to escape. A car comes flying into view like something
• 1:16:33
  Speaker 1: out of the movies, tumbling through the air. It smashes
• 1:16:36
  Speaker 1: into the alcove. I turn away on instinct before I
• 1:16:39
  Speaker 1: see the carnage and run up the ramp to the
• 1:16:41
  Speaker 1: fourth level. As I run, I call 911. I'm greeted
• 1:16:46
  Speaker 1: with a recording telling me that all call takers are busy.
• 1:16:49
  Speaker 1: Once again, I make it to the side of the
• 1:16:51
  Speaker 1: structure and look over the concrete railing. Only this time,
• 1:16:55
  Speaker 1: I'm looking down from the fourth level. Half of the
• 1:16:58
  Speaker 1: cars on the street below look to have been abandoned,
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: their doors left open, drivers nowhere in sight. As I watch,
• 1:17:05
  Speaker 1: several cars try to work their way through the abandoned vehicles.
• 1:17:09
  Speaker 1: They crash into each other at low speeds, reversing and
• 1:17:12
  Speaker 1: hitting the gas again as they frantically try to leave.
• 1:17:15
  Speaker 1: What the hell is happening? There's a whoosh sound from
• 1:17:18
  Speaker 1: above me. I look up but see nothing, just the
• 1:17:21
  Speaker 1: last of the fading twilight and the darkening sky. Meanwhile,
• 1:17:25
  Speaker 1: They're still screaming and crashing from below. I decide to
• 1:17:29
  Speaker 1: run up to the top floor of the parking structure
• 1:17:31
  Speaker 1: to try and see what's going on. Huffing, I reach
• 1:17:34
  Speaker 1: the fifth level, which is open to the sky. Buildings
• 1:17:38
  Speaker 1: of various sizes crowd the view. There's a group of
• 1:17:41
  Speaker 1: people huddling in one corner, looking fearfully up at the sky.
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 1: I glance up, trying to see what they're seeing. There's nothing,
• 1:17:49
  Speaker 1: just a sky going from dark blue to black. But
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 1: then I see something. It doesn't look like much more
• 1:17:55
  Speaker 1: than a dark shadow, detaching itself from the side of
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 1: a building, some 200 feet above. At first, I think
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 1: it's a black tarp, the way it floats. But then
• 1:18:05
  Speaker 1: it changes shape, like a bird narrowing its wings to
• 1:18:08
  Speaker 1: dive-bomb its prey. It streaks toward the group of people
• 1:18:12
  Speaker 1: at the corner, its inky blackness morphing as it goes.
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 1: The people see it coming. Some of them scream, others shout,
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 1: others pray to God. The smart ones scatter. diving under
• 1:18:24
  Speaker 1: nearby cars, or simply sprinting in any random direction. My
• 1:18:27
  Speaker 1: eyes are locked on the thing, my mind grappling, searching
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 1: for some explanation, and coming up short. The shadow swoops
• 1:18:35
  Speaker 1: down onto the remaining people. Tentacles made of the darkest
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 1: night shoot down, grabbing a half dozen of them and
• 1:18:41
  Speaker 1: yanking them off the ground. Then the shadow is airborne again,
• 1:18:45
  Speaker 1: turning on giant wings that aren't really wings at all.
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 1: The thing streaks toward me. The six screaming and pleading
• 1:18:51
  Speaker 1: people hanging beneath it. Without thinking, I reach up and
• 1:18:55
  Speaker 1: grab a woman by the leg, trying to save her,
• 1:18:57
  Speaker 1: to rip her away from the thing. My feet leave
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: the ground, and before I know it, I'm 15 feet
• 1:19:02
  Speaker 1: in the air and quickly approaching the side of the
• 1:19:04
  Speaker 1: parking garage. But my eyes are still locked on the thing,
• 1:19:08
  Speaker 1: I watch as the tentacles pull the people up into
• 1:19:10
  Speaker 1: the pool of midnight that is the creature's body. As
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 1: they're pulled up, the tops of their heads touch the underside.
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 1: Little tendrils of night creep down, shooting into their eyes,
• 1:19:20
  Speaker 1: turning them pure white. The people stop screaming as they're
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 1: pulled further in, their mouths lost to the black void.
• 1:19:28
  Speaker 1: Realizing the same fate awaits me, I finally wrench my
• 1:19:31
  Speaker 1: eyes away and look down past my feet. The cars
• 1:19:35
  Speaker 1: below are the size of hot wheels. The parking garage
• 1:19:37
  Speaker 1: is several hundred feet under and behind me. But I
• 1:19:40
  Speaker 1: see that we're approaching a skyscraper. My hands are sweaty
• 1:19:44
  Speaker 1: around the woman's ankle. My shoulders scream from holding my weight.
• 1:19:48
  Speaker 1: The people are now up to their waists in the creature.
• 1:19:51
  Speaker 1: Just a few more moments and I'll be sucked in too.
• 1:19:54
  Speaker 1: I look toward the skyscraper. Yes, the creature's going to
• 1:19:57
  Speaker 1: fly over it. My hands are slippery. Just another couple
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 1: of moments. Just as I'm about to let go, the
• 1:20:03
  Speaker 1: creature changes direction, skimming over the corner of the skyscraper.
• 1:20:07
  Speaker 1: I have no choice. I let go and slam into
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: the edge of the building, hooking my arms over the side.
• 1:20:13
  Speaker 1: My feet scramble for purchase on the vertical exterior. With
• 1:20:17
  Speaker 1: a loud grunt, I pull myself over and collapse onto
• 1:20:20
  Speaker 1: the flat roof. On my back, I look up at
• 1:20:23
  Speaker 1: the sky, breathing hard, processing what just happened. I can
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 1: see a couple of bright stars coming out despite the
• 1:20:31
  Speaker 1: city's light pollution. From far down below, I hear a
• 1:20:35
  Speaker 1: symphony of sirens. Finally, I get up to my knees
• 1:20:39
  Speaker 1: and look out to the west. From here, I can
• 1:20:42
  Speaker 1: see far enough to spot the western horizon, where the
• 1:20:45
  Speaker 1: sun is still setting. But what I see sends a
• 1:20:48
  Speaker 1: spike of pure terror into my chest. The entire western
• 1:20:52
  Speaker 1: horizon is crowded with black shadows. They undulate and swoop
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: and dive. like massive predatory birds in a flock large
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 1: enough to blot out the sun. Holy s * * *,
• 1:21:06
  Speaker 1: I say, slamming the door just a split second before
• 1:21:09
  Speaker 1: bodies crash into it on the other side. Ezra appears
• 1:21:12
  Speaker 1: from behind me with the metal bar we use as
• 1:21:14
  Speaker 1: a barricade. He sets it across the door, into the
• 1:21:18
  Speaker 1: brackets we installed on either side. It's a metal door,
• 1:21:22
  Speaker 1: and the zombies will give up pretty soon, once they
• 1:21:24
  Speaker 1: no longer hear us. Facing each other and breathing hard,
• 1:21:28
  Speaker 1: Ezra and I smile and then break into laughter. That
• 1:21:32
  Speaker 1: was close, he says. Too close, I say. We were
• 1:21:36
  Speaker 1: just on a supply run, but we'd been surprised by
• 1:21:39
  Speaker 1: a small group of zombies when we were still a
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 1: good quarter of a mile away from our building. Things
• 1:21:45
  Speaker 1: just got out of hand from there. Before we knew it,
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 1: we were surrounded. We had to jump onto the line
• 1:21:51
  Speaker 1: of cars we used as barricades because, somehow... a bunch
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 1: of zombies had gotten past them. So we were running
• 1:21:58
  Speaker 1: on the tops of these cars, scrambling up onto the
• 1:22:01
  Speaker 1: SUVs and vans while these zombies were following us. Both
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 1: Ezra and I fell at least once and had zombies
• 1:22:08
  Speaker 1: biting the pads we wore around our legs and arms.
• 1:22:11
  Speaker 1: But once we got to a place where the horde
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 1: wasn't so thick, we jumped off the cars, using our
• 1:22:16
  Speaker 1: weapons to bash any zombies that got close. Now, as
• 1:22:20
  Speaker 1: we head toward the stairs, I place my hammer coated
• 1:22:24
  Speaker 1: with blood and brains, in its little slot by the door.
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 1: Ezra does the same with his hatchet. And then we
• 1:22:31
  Speaker 1: head upstairs to take off the pads and go through
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 1: the supplies we gathered. We stop in the living room
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 1: at the very top of the apartment. There are two
• 1:22:40
  Speaker 1: couches set up in the room, facing each other. There's
• 1:22:43
  Speaker 1: no electricity for television anymore, meaning we have to entertain
• 1:22:47
  Speaker 1: each other. So we lounge on the couches, and tell
• 1:22:51
  Speaker 1: stories when we're not struggling to survive. I sit on
• 1:22:54
  Speaker 1: the brown faux leather couch, while Ezra sits on the
• 1:22:57
  Speaker 1: dark green one. We generally don't use guns when we're out,
• 1:23:01
  Speaker 1: unless we absolutely have to because they make too much
• 1:23:04
  Speaker 1: noise and attract tons of zombies. But we keep them
• 1:23:08
  Speaker 1: on us just in case. I set my Sig Sauer
• 1:23:11
  Speaker 1: pistol down on a little table next to my couch,
• 1:23:14
  Speaker 1: and Ezra does the same with his Ruger. Even before
• 1:23:17
  Speaker 1: the apocalypse, my brother and I spent a lot of
• 1:23:20
  Speaker 1: time together. We've always been close, and people would often
• 1:23:24
  Speaker 1: mistake us for twins. But we're not twins. We're a
• 1:23:27
  Speaker 1: year apart. As I remove the pad on my left arm,
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: I see something that sends my heart into overdrive. The
• 1:23:35
  Speaker 1: padding has a tear in it, and there's blood coming
• 1:23:37
  Speaker 1: from a minor wound underneath. I twist the pad so
• 1:23:40
  Speaker 1: the tear isn't visible to my brother and glance up
• 1:23:43
  Speaker 1: at him. He's removing the pads on his shins. He
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 1: looks up at me. What's up? Nothing, I lie. I
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 1: was just thinking about mom and dad. He nods sadly
• 1:23:54
  Speaker 1: and goes back to his work. What am I doing,
• 1:23:57
  Speaker 1: I think. I need to tell him. I'm going to
• 1:24:00
  Speaker 1: turn in less than an hour. I have to tell him.
• 1:24:04
  Speaker 1: We've always said that we'd let the other one do
• 1:24:07
  Speaker 1: the job if we ever got bit. We made each
• 1:24:09
  Speaker 1: other promise. I knew this day might come, but now
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 1: that it's here, I can't seem to find the words
• 1:24:16
  Speaker 1: to tell Ezra. Staring down at my lap, I'm overcome
• 1:24:20
  Speaker 1: with sadness. It's a sadness so heavy and unrelenting that
• 1:24:24
  Speaker 1: my thoughts jumble into a despair, black as night and
• 1:24:28
  Speaker 1: sharp as a razor. Then I look up at Ezra
• 1:24:32
  Speaker 1: and see that he's pointing his gun at me. You're
• 1:24:34
  Speaker 1: a bit, aren't you? He asks. I nod, tears spilling
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 1: down my unshaven cheeks. God damn it! He sighs. Well...
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: Let's get this over with. Downstairs? I nod again. Ezra
• 1:24:50
  Speaker 1: keeps the gun pointed at me as I move to
• 1:24:52
  Speaker 1: get up, but I catch a glimpse of red on
• 1:24:54
  Speaker 1: my brother's shin. There's a crescent of bloody marks just
• 1:24:58
  Speaker 1: above the top of his boot, freezing where I am
• 1:25:01
  Speaker 1: on the edge of the couch. I point a hand
• 1:25:03
  Speaker 1: at the wound. Ezra leans down and looks at it,
• 1:25:06
  Speaker 1: gun still pointed at me. Son of a bitch, he says.
• 1:25:11
  Speaker 1: I move to reach for my gun, just in case
• 1:25:13
  Speaker 1: he turns before me. But Ezra stops me. He says,
• 1:25:18
  Speaker 1: don't do it. What do you mean don't do it?
• 1:25:21
  Speaker 1: You're bit too. Maybe it's just a scrape. Maybe it's
• 1:25:25
  Speaker 1: not actually a bite. I can see the teeth marks, Ezra.
• 1:25:28
  Speaker 1: It's a bite. I reach for my gun again and
• 1:25:31
  Speaker 1: Ezra fires his, shooting a hole in the couch inches
• 1:25:34
  Speaker 1: from me. Shouting in anger, I reach for and grab
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 1: my gun. Ezra fires again, this time hitting me in
• 1:25:40
  Speaker 1: the stomach. The impact of the bullet reverberating through my
• 1:25:44
  Speaker 1: body with sickening force. I level my gun at him
• 1:25:48
  Speaker 1: and fire, shooting my brother in the right arm, halfway
• 1:25:51
  Speaker 1: between the elbow and shoulder. What the f * * *,
• 1:25:54
  Speaker 1: he says, trying to raise his gun again. But his
• 1:25:57
  Speaker 1: arm isn't working properly, and he can barely move his hand.
• 1:26:01
  Speaker 1: Don't do it, I say. The pain suddenly comes in
• 1:26:04
  Speaker 1: a wave, and I cry out, clutching my stomach with
• 1:26:07
  Speaker 1: my free hand. Oh god, it hurts. Ezra reaches across
• 1:26:12
  Speaker 1: and grabs his gun with his left hand. But before
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 1: he can get it up, I fire again, hitting him
• 1:26:17
  Speaker 1: in the chest. He goes limp and slumps down, the
• 1:26:21
  Speaker 1: gun falling to the floor. The pain in my stomach intensifies,
• 1:26:25
  Speaker 1: and it's all I can do to stay conscious. But
• 1:26:28
  Speaker 1: it doesn't work for long. Darkness takes me, and I
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 1: pass out. I have no idea how much time has
• 1:26:35
  Speaker 1: passed when consciousness comes screaming back. I wake as the
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 1: immense pain in my gut is joined by an awful
• 1:26:42
  Speaker 1: pain in my neck. I open my eyes to see Ezra,
• 1:26:45
  Speaker 1: now a zombie, ripping a chunk of flesh from my neck.
• 1:26:49
  Speaker 1: Raising my gun, I shoot him in the head. He
• 1:26:52
  Speaker 1: falls to the floor between the two couches. As I
• 1:26:55
  Speaker 1: put the barrel to my head, something occurs to me.
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 1: I should have changed by now from the first bite.
• 1:27:01
  Speaker 1: I set the weapon down in my lap. I'm losing
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 1: blood quickly from both my stomach wound and my neck.
• 1:27:07
  Speaker 1: I don't have long... I adjust the pad on my
• 1:27:09
  Speaker 1: left arm to get a better look at the bite,
• 1:27:12
  Speaker 1: and I see a small sliver of glass that I
• 1:27:14
  Speaker 1: didn't see before. It was hidden by the pad. I
• 1:27:18
  Speaker 1: remove the pad and the piece of glass and look
• 1:27:20
  Speaker 1: at the wound. It's a cut. A cut from a
• 1:27:23
  Speaker 1: piece of glass from when I fell onto a car's
• 1:27:25
  Speaker 1: back window. How did I not remember that? I smile.
• 1:27:30
  Speaker 1: It's kind of funny, actually. Hilarious, really. It makes perfect
• 1:27:34
  Speaker 1: sense that Ezra and I would go out this way,
• 1:27:37
  Speaker 1: even if one of us didn't have to It's 3.15 a.m.
• 1:27:46
  Speaker 1: The front page of a newspaper filtered across the road,
• 1:27:50
  Speaker 1: carelessly blown in the breeze. The sky was black and moonless,
• 1:27:55
  Speaker 1: and the two men who crept across the street far
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 1: below casted shadows thrown only by the flickering blue-green neon
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 1: of a nearby sign. These two were the sole people
• 1:28:05
  Speaker 1: on the street at this time, and they glanced this
• 1:28:08
  Speaker 1: way and that before hiding themselves in the alcove of
• 1:28:12
  Speaker 1: their target's entrance. the building, the Cyber Café. The Cyber
• 1:28:18
  Speaker 1: Café was an old, disused wreck. It went by the
• 1:28:22
  Speaker 1: name of The Banquet back when it was open, God
• 1:28:25
  Speaker 1: knows when. It was a curious name for an internet café,
• 1:28:30
  Speaker 1: but there was probably some long-forgotten reason behind it. The
• 1:28:33
  Speaker 1: place had no visible security besides a simple metal grate
• 1:28:36
  Speaker 1: across the window and a rusted old padlock on the door.
• 1:28:41
  Speaker 1: It was chosen as the night's target by the two
• 1:28:43
  Speaker 1: men because of the building's age and its potential for
• 1:28:47
  Speaker 1: high-value stock left abandoned inside. Come on, Axel, get it open,
• 1:28:52
  Speaker 1: hissed the man with a shading of red stubble across
• 1:28:55
  Speaker 1: his lower jaw. Raph was his name. Give me a
• 1:28:59
  Speaker 1: goddamn second, man, his compatriot replied, grunting as he cracked
• 1:29:04
  Speaker 1: the padlock at last with a crunch and a shower
• 1:29:07
  Speaker 1: of rusted metal. A wire was inserted into the final lock,
• 1:29:11
  Speaker 1: the one embedded in the door itself, and a minute
• 1:29:14
  Speaker 1: later the men were in. With a long, low creak,
• 1:29:18
  Speaker 1: the door was pushed inwards, and as they had predicted,
• 1:29:21
  Speaker 1: no alarm bells were sounded. Raph grinned and rubbed his
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 1: hands together. leading the way into the abandoned building. The
• 1:29:29
  Speaker 1: place was thick with dust, broken desk chairs lay heaped
• 1:29:33
  Speaker 1: in the corners, and the desks themselves stood scattered clumsily
• 1:29:37
  Speaker 1: across the entry room, as if they had been pushed
• 1:29:39
  Speaker 1: to the side and just left there, no one ever
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 1: bothering to return them to their original positions. A faded
• 1:29:47
  Speaker 1: poster that hung on the wall advised its readers on
• 1:29:49
  Speaker 1: the importance of staying safe online, and featured an array
• 1:29:53
  Speaker 1: of cartoon children in colorful outfits. all using computers. In
• 1:29:58
  Speaker 1: the darkness and the gloom, however, these children appeared unsettling.
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 1: Their eyes were just a little too wide, their smiles ingenuine,
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 1: and none of the characters on the posters seemed to
• 1:30:12
  Speaker 1: be looking at their computers. Every one of them stared out,
• 1:30:16
  Speaker 1: watching over the inhabitants of the room. And in that
• 1:30:20
  Speaker 1: particular moment, the inhabitants were Axel and Raph. Both men
• 1:30:26
  Speaker 1: shivered in discomfort, though neither admitted their reaction to one another.
• 1:30:30
  Speaker 1: There's nothing good in here, bro, said Axel, running a
• 1:30:33
  Speaker 1: finger across the surface of one of the empty desks
• 1:30:36
  Speaker 1: and flicking away the grime. You just don't know good
• 1:30:39
  Speaker 1: loot when you see it, Raph replied with a murmur.
• 1:30:43
  Speaker 1: Check the cupboards for parts, anything metal, circuits, screens, we'll
• 1:30:47
  Speaker 1: take the lot. Get them in the bag and if
• 1:30:50
  Speaker 1: there's more, we'll use the van. There's a couple of
• 1:30:53
  Speaker 1: doors back there. Axel said with a nod, gesturing further
• 1:30:56
  Speaker 1: back into the shadows of the cafe. Storage, probably. All right,
• 1:31:01
  Speaker 1: I'll go and check it. Raph eased his way through
• 1:31:04
  Speaker 1: the room and through one of the doors at the back,
• 1:31:07
  Speaker 1: well away from the meager blue light that spilled in
• 1:31:10
  Speaker 1: from the street. What he saw there surprised him. Jesus!
• 1:31:14
  Speaker 2: Hey, Axel!
• 1:31:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah? Come check it. Forget the parts, bro. We've hit
• 1:31:21
  Speaker 1: the jackpot here. Axel followed on behind, and together the
• 1:31:25
  Speaker 1: two men stepped into the room, awestruck. This second room
• 1:31:29
  Speaker 1: was far longer than the first, and it was illuminated
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 1: with a sole, quietly buzzing beam in the ceiling. The
• 1:31:36
  Speaker 1: beam was once one of many, a dozen or more
• 1:31:38
  Speaker 1: by the looks of it, but it was now the
• 1:31:41
  Speaker 1: last light source remaining, and its brothers had long since
• 1:31:44
  Speaker 1: gone dark. It revealed to the men the sickly blue-yellow
• 1:31:48
  Speaker 1: patterns across the wall, like something straight out of the 90s,
• 1:31:53
  Speaker 1: and it showcased the rows upon rows of computers, stretching
• 1:31:57
  Speaker 1: away into the shadows before them. The computers were not
• 1:32:01
  Speaker 1: particularly new. They didn't look like models from the past decade,
• 1:32:05
  Speaker 1: but still, they were undamaged and would make decent stock.
• 1:32:10
  Speaker 1: Very decent stock indeed. Just look at all this. Why
• 1:32:14
  Speaker 1: the hell would these get left behind, do you think?
• 1:32:17
  Speaker 1: Axel asked, his footsteps echoing as he moved deeper into
• 1:32:20
  Speaker 1: the room. Who cares? They probably forgot all about them,
• 1:32:24
  Speaker 1: Raph replied, scratching the stubble across his chin. This is great.
• 1:32:29
  Speaker 1: How many can we grab, then? We can fit a
• 1:32:32
  Speaker 1: whole load into the van. More if we aren't too
• 1:32:34
  Speaker 1: concerned about potential damage. We should try and keep them safe.
• 1:32:38
  Speaker 1: They look in pretty good condition. Axel crouched down and
• 1:32:41
  Speaker 1: rubbed his hands across one of the computers, pressing and
• 1:32:45
  Speaker 1: trying the buttons on the sides. Yeah, yeah, you're right.
• 1:32:49
  Speaker 1: We can always come back again tomorrow. Or hell, later
• 1:32:52
  Speaker 1: tonight if we're quick enough. Raph mused, but his train
• 1:32:55
  Speaker 1: of thought was interrupted by a loud, sudden, high-pitched jingle.
• 1:33:00
  Speaker 1: Like the gradual beeping sound of a power-up noise compressed
• 1:33:03
  Speaker 1: into a single second. Both men jumped back in surprise
• 1:33:07
  Speaker 1: as the monitor Axel was playing with shined suddenly into life.
• 1:33:11
  Speaker 1: Where once there was nothing but an old, dark screen,
• 1:33:14
  Speaker 1: There was now a radiant blue background humming discordantly with
• 1:33:18
  Speaker 1: the buzz of the overhead light. What the- Axel began,
• 1:33:23
  Speaker 1: narrowing his eyes in uncertainty. He returned to the computer,
• 1:33:27
  Speaker 1: tapped the screen with his finger a few times, making
• 1:33:30
  Speaker 1: dull thunks against the glass. He gave the monitor a shake,
• 1:33:34
  Speaker 1: and in response, an 8-bit image appeared upon the screen,
• 1:33:38
  Speaker 1: accompanied by a quick error sound, like something you'd expect
• 1:33:41
  Speaker 1: to hear on one of Windows' older systems. XP, maybe.
• 1:33:46
  Speaker 1: Perhaps even 95. But the image in question was a
• 1:33:49
  Speaker 1: very simple, pixelated smiley face. You know the kind. A circle,
• 1:33:55
  Speaker 1: two soulless dots for eyes, and a long, inverted arch
• 1:33:59
  Speaker 1: for a mouth, curved up along the cheeks. The smiley
• 1:34:03
  Speaker 1: stared out at the men, and the men stared back.
• 1:34:07
  Speaker 1: Heart beating fast, though not quite sure as to why,
• 1:34:10
  Speaker 1: Raph spoke out first into the gloom. The hell is that?
• 1:34:14
  Speaker 1: He murmured, barely above a whisper. Couldn't say, Axel replied
• 1:34:19
  Speaker 1: in the same tone. Eyes glued to the screen. Should
• 1:34:24
  Speaker 1: we turn it off? Damn right we're gonna turn it off.
• 1:34:27
  Speaker 1: It's giving me the creeps. Just press the power button.
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 1: Please don't, came a crackly, distorted voice from the speakers.
• 1:34:35
  Speaker 1: The line of the smiley's mouth began to glitch and ripple.
• 1:34:39
  Speaker 1: Raph felt the blood drain from his body. and his
• 1:34:42
  Speaker 1: composure cracked as it cooled. His throat dried up and
• 1:34:46
  Speaker 1: he found himself unable to speak. Axel stared between them.
• 1:34:50
  Speaker 2: Did.
• 1:34:51
  Speaker 1: did he just respond to you, Raph? He asked, his
• 1:34:55
  Speaker 1: voice wavering. Raph struggled for a voice. It did. I
• 1:35:00
  Speaker 1: swear it. I told you to turn it off, and
• 1:35:02
  Speaker 1: the screen replied. Please. It said again, the speakers fizzing
• 1:35:07
  Speaker 1: and crackling.
• 1:35:08
  Speaker 2: Please don't.
• 1:35:10
  Speaker 1: Raph wanted to turn tail and run, to get the
• 1:35:13
  Speaker 1: hell out of there, but Axel stepped closer. Why not?
• 1:35:17
  Speaker 1: he asked, hands clenched at his sides. The pixels of
• 1:35:21
  Speaker 1: the smiley jumped and flickered, the monitor hummed, and the
• 1:35:25
  Speaker 1: blue of its light reflected like water in the men's eyes.
• 1:35:28
  Speaker 1: If you turn off the computer, I won't be able
• 1:35:31
  Speaker 1: to invite you to the banquet. The banquet? Axel repeated. What?
• 1:35:37
  Speaker 1: What banquet?
• 1:35:38
  Speaker 2: You're both invited to the banquet.
• 1:35:40
  Speaker 1: Please come and join us. There is plenty to go around,
• 1:35:44
  Speaker 1: said the smiley. Raph reached down and grabbed the sleeve
• 1:35:47
  Speaker 1: of his friend's jacket. Let's go, man, he muttered. Let's
• 1:35:51
  Speaker 1: just get the hell out. Over to their left, another
• 1:35:54
  Speaker 1: monitor flickered to life. That same rapid startup sound, that
• 1:35:59
  Speaker 1: same blue screen, another low hum to accompany the first,
• 1:36:03
  Speaker 1: and then finally, another smiley. Glitching into life with the
• 1:36:07
  Speaker 1: error noise, cutting through the room's tension like a sharpened blade.'
• 1:36:10
  Speaker 1: Help us,' said the face.' Help us.' The smile flickered
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 1: briefly to a frown, and then back. After a pause,
• 1:36:19
  Speaker 1: it spoke on.' Please, help us serve.
• 1:36:22
  Speaker 2: There is so much to go around.
• 1:36:24
  Speaker 1: We require your assistance.' A third monitor burst into life,
• 1:36:29
  Speaker 1: way towards the back of the room. The startup sounds
• 1:36:33
  Speaker 1: echoed between the walls and the voice was deep and low.
• 1:36:36
  Speaker 1: Don't leave us alone down in the dark. A banquet
• 1:36:39
  Speaker 1: is greater with guests. Greater with guests. Whispers a fourth smiley.
• 1:36:44
  Speaker 1: And then, a fifth. All around, the startup sounds became
• 1:36:48
  Speaker 1: louder and louder. Deafening, almost. A cacophony of glitching, beeping errors.
• 1:36:54
  Speaker 1: Greater with guests.
• 1:36:55
  Speaker 2: The banquet is just downstairs.
• 1:36:57
  Speaker 1: Greater with guests. Please, won't you join us? Come join
• 1:37:01
  Speaker 1: us downstairs for the banquet. Greater with guests. and at
• 1:37:05
  Speaker 1: last the two men could take no more. Axel broke first,
• 1:37:09
  Speaker 1: turning and making a break for the door. The spell
• 1:37:12
  Speaker 1: over Raph was also snapped in this instant, and they
• 1:37:15
  Speaker 1: barreled back through the open doorway and clattered and shoved
• 1:37:18
  Speaker 1: their way through the main room, past the desks and
• 1:37:21
  Speaker 1: back through the door and into the glare of the
• 1:37:23
  Speaker 1: neon lights outside. They tore down the length of the
• 1:37:26
  Speaker 1: street and clambered chaotically into their van, not bothering to
• 1:37:30
  Speaker 1: take even a second to mask or to hide their
• 1:37:32
  Speaker 1: presence there on that night. They drove, and they did
• 1:37:35
  Speaker 1: not stop until they were miles and miles away. They
• 1:37:41
  Speaker 1: contacted the authorities eventually. An unlikely turn of events for
• 1:37:45
  Speaker 1: a pair in such a profession as they. But the
• 1:37:48
  Speaker 1: police were called nonetheless, and the cybercafe was duly explored.
• 1:37:53
  Speaker 1: There were only two cops that went in at first,
• 1:37:56
  Speaker 1: not really believing that they'd find anything. But that soon
• 1:38:00
  Speaker 1: changed when they passed through the second door. when they
• 1:38:03
  Speaker 1: ventured downstairs and discovered what lay beneath. What they found
• 1:38:08
  Speaker 1: was a long, low table in a dark and blood-stained room,
• 1:38:12
  Speaker 1: a table adorned with plate after plate of fetid, rotted food.
• 1:38:17
  Speaker 1: And seated at this table, at regular intervals, were no
• 1:38:21
  Speaker 1: less than two dozen corpses, chained to their chairs and
• 1:38:25
  Speaker 1: connected to the walls with wires protruding unnaturally from bumps
• 1:38:28
  Speaker 1: in the skin. and their faces were carved and ruined
• 1:38:33
  Speaker 1: with the marks of the smiley. A circle cut around
• 1:38:36
  Speaker 1: the edge deep into the skin, two deep soulless dots
• 1:38:40
  Speaker 1: for eyes, gaping holes, and a long inverted arch through
• 1:38:45
  Speaker 1: the mouth. curved up slick along the cheeks.
• 1:38:48
  Speaker 2: Please, won't you join us?
• 1:38:54
  Speaker 1: When I first heard the screams from the kitchen, I
• 1:38:56
  Speaker 1: was sure it was a joke. If you've ever worked
• 1:38:59
  Speaker 1: in a restaurant, you know how crazy things can get
• 1:39:02
  Speaker 1: in the kitchen. People are always messing with each other, arguing, yelling,
• 1:39:07
  Speaker 1: or just being really weird to make their co-workers laugh.
• 1:39:10
  Speaker 1: After the screams, I looked up from my seat in
• 1:39:13
  Speaker 1: the delivery driver pickup area. and soon went back to
• 1:39:16
  Speaker 1: messing around on my phone. It was late on a
• 1:39:19
  Speaker 1: Friday night, and I was at a local chain restaurant
• 1:39:22
  Speaker 1: waiting for a delivery order. I worked for * *
• 1:39:25
  Speaker 1: * * at the time while I went through school.
• 1:39:29
  Speaker 1: The dining area of the restaurant was pretty dead, with
• 1:39:32
  Speaker 1: only two tables occupied, and the people at them were
• 1:39:35
  Speaker 1: mostly just chatting and drinking. I was sitting near the
• 1:39:38
  Speaker 1: kitchen in one of the three chairs next to the
• 1:39:40
  Speaker 1: side entrance. I'd picked up from this restaurant many times before,
• 1:39:45
  Speaker 1: so I knew the deal. Usually, there were two or
• 1:39:49
  Speaker 1: three dashers waiting for food, but this night, it was
• 1:39:52
  Speaker 1: just me. The scream had clearly come from the kitchen.
• 1:39:57
  Speaker 1: It was a man's scream, I was pretty sure, but high-pitched.
• 1:40:01
  Speaker 1: That was kind of why I thought it was a joke.
• 1:40:04
  Speaker 1: I looked at the flimsy swinging doors to the kitchen
• 1:40:07
  Speaker 1: on my left, but didn't see anything. That was when
• 1:40:10
  Speaker 1: I put my attention back on my phone. Then the
• 1:40:13
  Speaker 1: sound of raised voices came from the kitchen. It sounded
• 1:40:17
  Speaker 1: like people were getting riled up back there. I looked
• 1:40:20
  Speaker 1: out into the dining area, front of house they call it,
• 1:40:24
  Speaker 1: and saw the people at the tables looking back toward
• 1:40:26
  Speaker 1: the kitchen, even though they couldn't see the doors from
• 1:40:29
  Speaker 1: where they were. When I turned my head the other way,
• 1:40:33
  Speaker 1: I saw movement through the little square windows on the
• 1:40:35
  Speaker 1: kitchen doors. It looked like two people moved past the
• 1:40:38
  Speaker 1: doors quickly, but it was hard to tell. It was
• 1:40:42
  Speaker 1: really just a blurb. Then I heard a man shout, No!
• 1:40:46
  Speaker 1: There was a couple of inches of clearance at the
• 1:40:48
  Speaker 1: bottom of the doors, and I could see shadows moving
• 1:40:50
  Speaker 1: through the crack, as though someone was moving back and forth,
• 1:40:55
  Speaker 1: shaking violently. After a moment, the shadows stopped moving, and
• 1:41:00
  Speaker 1: there was a thud. There was movement, and I looked
• 1:41:03
  Speaker 1: up at the window on the left-hand door, seeing a
• 1:41:06
  Speaker 1: face staring out at me. I immediately knew something was
• 1:41:10
  Speaker 1: wrong with the guy. His eyes were too wide, and
• 1:41:13
  Speaker 1: he had a massive grin on his face, but his
• 1:41:16
  Speaker 1: teeth weren't white. They were red with blood. His skin
• 1:41:20
  Speaker 1: was bright pink and bubbly. I thought at first that
• 1:41:23
  Speaker 1: he was wearing a mask, but then I realized he'd
• 1:41:27
  Speaker 1: suffered third-degree burns all over his face. I sat there
• 1:41:31
  Speaker 1: petrified as the guy stared at me. I don't know
• 1:41:35
  Speaker 1: how much time passed, but it seemed like a full minute.
• 1:41:39
  Speaker 1: When I was sure he was going to push through
• 1:41:41
  Speaker 1: the door and come toward me, He suddenly looked down
• 1:41:43
  Speaker 1: at his feet. I followed his gaze, peering at the
• 1:41:47
  Speaker 1: crack between the bottom of the door and the kitchen's
• 1:41:49
  Speaker 1: white tile floor, and I saw what he was looking at.
• 1:41:54
  Speaker 1: There was an expanding pool of blood there, and it
• 1:41:57
  Speaker 1: had gotten on his shoes. He sidestepped over to the
• 1:42:01
  Speaker 1: other window and started staring at me again for a
• 1:42:04
  Speaker 1: few seconds before he shrieked, making me jump. I ran
• 1:42:08
  Speaker 1: over to the people in the dining area, waving my arms.
• 1:42:11
  Speaker 1: Get out of here! I said. We gotta go! The
• 1:42:14
  Speaker 1: people were confused at first, but as I got closer,
• 1:42:17
  Speaker 1: their faces contorted with fear.
• 1:42:20
  Speaker 2: Run!
• 1:42:21
  Speaker 1: One man shouted, pointing over my shoulder. Turning, I saw
• 1:42:25
  Speaker 1: the man with the burned face just two steps behind me,
• 1:42:28
  Speaker 1: a huge, bloody knife held in one fist. He sliced
• 1:42:31
  Speaker 1: out at me with a knife, which I barely dodged
• 1:42:34
  Speaker 1: by jerking my upper body back. As I scrambled away
• 1:42:37
  Speaker 1: from him, backpedaling, I tripped over a chair and fell
• 1:42:40
  Speaker 1: to the floor. The man with the knife loomed over me,
• 1:42:43
  Speaker 1: still wearing that awful grin even though he must have
• 1:42:45
  Speaker 1: been in tremendous pain. He raised the knife and swung
• 1:42:49
  Speaker 1: it down at me. I could do nothing but put
• 1:42:52
  Speaker 1: my hands up so he wouldn't cut my face. But
• 1:42:54
  Speaker 1: before his blade reached me, A chair slammed into him,
• 1:42:58
  Speaker 1: knocking the knife out of his hand and sending him
• 1:43:00
  Speaker 1: stumbling back. One of the patrons had thrown it at him,
• 1:43:04
  Speaker 1: and another one came and grabbed me up. We all
• 1:43:07
  Speaker 1: ran out of the restaurant together, looking over our shoulders
• 1:43:10
  Speaker 1: to see if the crazed employee would come out. But
• 1:43:13
  Speaker 1: he didn't. The police showed up not long after that.
• 1:43:17
  Speaker 1: One of the employees, who had run out the back
• 1:43:19
  Speaker 1: of the restaurant when the guy went crazy, had called
• 1:43:21
  Speaker 1: the cops. The police arrested the guy, but the two
• 1:43:25
  Speaker 1: people he stabbed in the kitchen died from their wounds.
• 1:43:29
  Speaker 1: I heard later that the man stuck his own face
• 1:43:31
  Speaker 1: in a vat of boiling oil before stabbing the two
• 1:43:34
  Speaker 1: guys in the kitchen. Apparently, there wasn't any sign that
• 1:43:38
  Speaker 1: the guy was close to snapping. He wasn't getting fired.
• 1:43:42
  Speaker 1: He had never acted crazy before. There hadn't even been
• 1:43:46
  Speaker 1: a simple disagreement before it happened. He just grabbed a knife,
• 1:43:50
  Speaker 1: stuck his face in a vat of hot oil, and
• 1:43:53
  Speaker 1: then started killing his coworkers. He just snapped. Just like that.
• 1:44:00
  Speaker 1: Thanks for watching. Be sure to subscribe and smash that
• 1:44:02
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• 1:44:07
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