Barely Alive (First Draft Edition)

Chapter 3- Dragged Down Deep

Chapter 3- Dragged Down Deep

Ella thought her day was going great until she got pulled underground. It was a normal Saturday for her. She woke up cooked for her guardians then got kicked for over cooking the toast. After her guardians left for work Ella made herself some pancakes then opened a book she found in zombies at the library.

She was determined to find out everything she can on zombies. Ever since yesterday's incident she was so u sure on to trust them or not. They could be pretending to be her friend just to eat her brains. Or maybe all they wanted was more Rice Krsipe treats.

Then again maybe they really wanted to be friends with Ella. The thought of that made Ella a bit happy. She's always longed for a friend. Only the librarian has ever smiled at Ella, well in a good way. But yesterday when Jasper helped Ella, she felt a feeling she hasn't felt in a long time. Joy.

Ella took a bite from her breakfast and flipped through the pages of the book. From her reading she learned that zombies prefer to eat mature brains and they normally don't like to be spotted by humans. The attention makes them uneasy causing them to eat whatever is bugging them.

The thought zombies only eating mature brains struck Ella. That could be why they didn't hurt her. Ella brushed the thought away and finished her breakfast.

After she got ready for the day, Ella headed over to the graveyard to do her daily Rice Krsipe project.

Just as Ella stopped at the graves she noticed spray painted across the four headstone the words: "Here Lies Ella's Brains:)"

Ella grumbled and used her magic to summon a bucket of water and a sponge. She knelt down on the ground and placed four Rice Krispe treats on the graves before washing the paint off.

Ella rolled up her sleeves and began to scrub the red paint off the first stone. It look a while to get the paint off the first headstone. As she scooted over to the second stone she paused and read the engraving in it.

The stone said, "Quincey Samuels. Born: 1930 Died: 1946". Ella soon realized that all four zombies shared the same last names. Which meant they were all brothers. And all of them are super old.

Ella began to scrub again when a sound rushed behind her. Slowly, she turned to she the ground move. Suddenly, a hand popped out of the grave and patted the area around it. It touched the Rice Krispe treat and pulled it down.

Ella smiled then took another treat out from her bag then sat it back on the grave. A moment passed before the hand emerged from the ground again and touched the treat.

Just before the hand pulled the Rice Krispe treat into the ground it paused as if it knew something was going on.

Within the blink of an eye the hand disappeared then shot out in front of Ella. She yelped and the hand grabbed her thin ankle and tugged on it. Ella's whole body was pulled into the ground. She couldn't breath for only a moment until she fell into an open space.

She groaned and sat up while rubbing her aching head. Ella paused then looked up to see Jasper waving her.

Ella yelped and scrambled over to the wall seeing the four brothers glaring at her. Then they noticed her back pack overflowing with Rice Krispe treats. They smiled and sat by the bag then began to eat the treats.

Jasper turned to Ella and held out a Rice Krispe treat. Slowly, she moved towards him and took the treat. As Ella quietly peeled the wrapper off the treat she noticed Axe, the youngest of the brothers, was giving her the creepy stare. Ella gulped and took a bite from the treat feeling uneasy about the situation.

Finally Ella found the courage to break the awkward silence. "I was cleaning off some spray paint on your headstone someone painted. I think I can get it off."

Jasper smiled and nodded his head. Ella nodded back and glanced around the room she was in. It was cement and it looked like it broke off into a room. To her right was a door that lead somewhere she didn't dare to find out. Above her was a dirty lightbulb that lit the room. Ella's guess was this was a maintenance room by a sewer pipe.

In the corner of the room sat a old, dirty couch and a broken television set surrounded by what looked like ripped comic books and video games. Can zombies even play video games? Ella thought.

Ella finished eating the treat then sat quietly while rubbing the cut on her hand from this mornings punishment from her guardians.

Jasper looked up from his treat and noticed Ella's cuts and bruises. He stood up and shuffled over the the second room. A minute passed before he scuffled over to Ella with a rag in hand.

He sat down next to Ella and wiped the blood from her hands and face. When he was done he pulled out a tiny bandaid and stuck it over Ella's cut. He frowned and gave Ella a questionable look on probably why she was so beat up.

"Oh. Um, my guardian did that this morning for burning there food on accident" Ella explained. "And my black eye is from yesterday when Billy Hanks punched me." Jasper had a sad look on his face.

Ella thought Jasper wasn't the most ugliest zombie she'd seen in her books. He looked decent. All of them have pale green skin and messy brown hair. Normally people picture zombies covered in bloods and there skin falling off. Well Jasper or any of there brothers didn't really have that look. Well, Ella thought she'd seen some blood on Axes cheek, who was still giving her the creepy stare.

Jasper had big yellow eyes with dark circles around them like his brothers. He looked like the oldest too. Iggy, was the second oldest. Ella could identify Iggy by is underbite and a tooth that peaked out from the corner of his mouth. He also had many piercings in his ear and he wore a red bandanna.

The third oldest would have to be Quincey, who brought Ella here in the first place. Honestly. Ella kinda felt safe around him. He has light brown hair and a big grin. Although he's the shortest, Axe would have to be the youngest. Despite his scary stare he had choppy brown hair that fell over his eyes. And for sure, Ella could tell they were all brothers by their matching features.

Ella couldn't really see these guys being killers. Maybe thief's, but not killers.

Jasper held the rag up to Ella's eye and groaned, "are- you okay?" Ella's paused and gawked at well his English was then nodded. "I"ll be fine. I'm used to it."

Jasper looked sad and sat back. "So do you and your brothers live here?" Ella asked. Jasper nodded. "Have you lived here for a while?" Ella questioned. Jasper paused then nodded. "Do you like it here?" Ella added. Him and his brothers nodded.

Ella sighed and sat back next to Jasper. "It looked better than my place. At least you don't have people that boss you around and kick you for burning toast." Jasper tapped Ella on the shoulder and pointed up at the dirty ceiling. At first Ella was confused then she said, "you want to see my house?" Jasper nodded.

Ella hesitated for a second then said, 'we'll we do have all day... Okay! I guess you guys can take a peak. It's nothing grand though."

And that's how Ella ended up sneaking four zombies into her house unaware her guardians were going to be home sooner than she expected.

---Axe is staring you down to comment and vote. Yeah, that's right. Don't blink. He can smell fear. SO COMMENT AND VOTE!:)---