Halloween Story

I thought it might be fun to try something a little different this time around, so here is a (sorta) lighthearted Halloween story I wrote for you to enjoy.

Dinner Plans

            Xan flung his hand up toward his neck, trying to tighten his black tie. His flaky, greenish skin showed through the suit jacket sleeve that had been torn off on his last outing. He lolled his eyes toward his friend, Josh. “Mmm?” he groaned, his eyebrows (or what was left of them) raised.

            “Unnnhh,” Josh answered, nodding jerkily.

            Xan lumbered out of the house, his right foot dragging behind him. It took ten minutes to shuffle the five houses to Susan’s house. Her main floor windows had pieces of wood nailed across them while just a few shards of glass remained in the top floor windows.

            He limped up her porch steps. Xan knocked on her front door until his two middle fingers fell off. She opened the door at the same time he stooped to retrieve his digits. “Mmmm,” he groaned.

            Susan responded with a groan and a wave behind her to her roommate. Xan caught her arm just before it detached. She looked at him sideways. “Unnhhh,” she said, trying to stretch her lips into a smile without them disintegrating.

            The couple hobbled their way together, almost touching hands, but keeping some distance to avoid knocking one another’s limbs off. Xan thought Susan looked beautiful with her blue dress accentuating the grayish tint of her skin. The shreds revealing her stomach were quite fashionable. He hoped she had clumped her auburn hair just for him. And her perfume of decaying flesh sent shivers up his broken spine. Xan was pleased with himself that he had made reservations at the finest restaurant for tonight.

            They stumped along for over half an hour, the half-moon lighting their path, before Xan pointed at the trees a few yards in front of them. Susan turned, her eyes wide, and groaned, “Mmmm?” When Xan nodded, Susan grabbed his arm, dislocating it at the elbow. He reattached it, excited by her reaction. Everything was going to be perfect.

            After they reached the clearing in the trees, they waited for another twenty minutes or so while other couples shuffled in. They all stood in a loose circle around the edge of the clearing. Xan noted that everyone dressed in his and her finest ripped tuxedos and evening gowns – almost like Prom in years past.

            Finally an older zombie thumped to the middle of the clearing, a squirming sack weighing him down. He dropped the sack with a thud; a muffled moan issued from it. He turned in a small circle with his arms open wide, surveying the customers. “Hmmm,” he groaned with his arms raised. A cacophony of groans replied as the circle slowly tightened. 

The zombie in the middle leaned down and untied the sack. As he tugged on it, a blond teenage girl tumbled from its interior. She wore a gold sparkly dress. Xan nodded that the restaurant even maintained their fine atmosphere throughout the menu.

The girl, missing one high-heeled shoe, shrieked from the ground. Even so, she leaped to her feet. She rushed to one side of the circle, but one of the patrons lunged at her. She jumped back and screamed. She yanked her remaining shoe off and threw it at the zombie, lodging it in his shoulder.

A couple nearly reached her before she noticed their approach. Eyes wide, she screeched and ran the opposite direction. But her escape was blocked there as well.

Xan tugged Susan back a little from the rest of the circle, leaving a hole in the group. They hid in the shadow of a tree just outside the circle. Finally, the girl saw the small gap in the crowd. She ran toward it. This was exactly what Xan had planned so many nights for.

Arms reached out to catch the girl before she could escape, but they were too slow for the human’s speed. Zombies glared at Xan for his carelessness. But Xan knew what he was doing.

Just before the girl broke free from the circle, Xan heaved himself into the opening. The girl’s momentum prevented her from stopping, and instead she rushed straight into his chest. Expecting that, he had spread his legs as widely as he could get them. Luckily, Susan realized what he was doing and stood behind him. The inertia of the impact passed through Xan and into Susan, causing her to fall and lose a foot, but Xan remained upright.

The girl screamed as Xan caught her shoulder with one hand. He reached his other hand to the top of her head. With the swiftest, and most terrifying movement possible for a zombie, he jerked both hands in opposite directions, silencing the girl as her neck snapped.

For several moments, there was no sound, not even breathing, in the clearing. Eyebrows raised. Conversation started with quiet groans directed at partners. Then louder grunts, groans, and nods of approval were directed from the other patrons toward Xan.

Holding the rag doll in one hand, Xan turned back to Susan. He would have offered to help her up, but that would have only managed in pulling his own arm off. Instead, he showed her the prize while she gingerly regained her feet. Her eyes reflected the moonlight. The atmosphere was exquisite.

Susan offered him a rock she had brought from the ground. Xan smashed it against the corpse’s head. He peeled back the scalp and pulled off the shattered skull, revealing a bloody maze of a brain. He offered it toward Susan.

“Mmmm?” Susan groaned.

Xan shook the body once toward her and nodded.

Susan reached in carefully and wrapped her hands around the brain. She pulled firmly until the brain stem detached from the rest of the body. Xan tossed the corpse into crowd. He could hear the other zombies fighting over the spoils as he stared into Susan’s eyes.

Susan extended the brain to him, but Xan shook his head. She risked a full smile before tearing a bite off.

Together, as though by candlelight, they shared their delicacy.

Xan had shown Susan he loved her with a love that lasts forever. A love that will sacrifice anything, even brains, for the other.

A true zombie love.