30 Days of Undead Summer

June 9 -- #FridayFreeForAll

June 9 -- Anything zombie related

Brenda kept low as she moved down the street. It had been days since the zombies brought the city to an end, possibly even the world. She'd been alone since the beginning and it still surprised her that not only was she still alive, she hadn't seen a single other living person. There was the beacon, of course. That flashing red light that called to her from on top of that new condo tower but before she could gather the courage to go check it out the building actually exploded. She didn't know what happened and she had never seen a real explosion before. Even from a distance it was enough to terrify her. Now she was lost in a part of town she never would have went into when the world still made sense.

This part of town had been known for its high crime rates, she had always been told horror stories about what would happen if she ventured too far into it. Now it didn't seem to matter, no neighborhood was safe any more. The best thing she could hope to do now was just keep moving and try to stay alive. She was doing such a good job at not being seen that when she heard something approaching she was already out of sight before it could notice her. She peered out from her hiding spot and noticed that it was a person walking down the street, not a zombie. She had a baseball bat over her shoulder and she was wearing a purple satin wind breaker.

Brenda couldn't believe it. There was another person, another living person! "Hey!" she called out without thinking. "You're alive."

The young woman turned her head towards Brenda and smiled. "Yeah, I'm alive," she said. "I guess you are too."

"Are you alone? Are there more people out there somewhere?"

"Yeah," she said, "My boyfriend's waiting back at home with two of his buddies. I'm just out looking for food."

"Can I join you? I just... I know we don't know each other but I haven't seen anyone else since this all started. I'm hungry, and alone, and scared."

The woman smiled and held out her arms to Brenda. "Of course, come on."

"Oh thank you, thank you!" Brenda ran to the woman and they hugged. "You have no idea what this means to me. My name is Brenda."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Sugar."

"Sugar?"

"Yeah, that's my name and yeah, it's the name my mama gave me. Come on back with me now and we'll get you safe."

"I thought you were looking for food."

Sugar smiled at Brenda. "I think we'll be okay for now. Besides, you look tired." She led Brenda back to a ramshackle old home and unlocked the door. "This isn't really where Ruby lives you know. More like a place of business. His real place is real nice, all shiny and new."

"You guys got stuck here though?"

"Yeah, unfortunately. Come on, we'll get you comfy." Sugar led the way to the stairs that led to the basement. Brenda looked down into the dark and it didn't make her feel comfortable.

"I don't know, I think I'd rather stay up here."

"Don't be stupid, the basement doesn't have any windows, easier to hide down there. Besides, Ruby Bear would probably like to meet you." Sugar gestured for Brenda to lead the way down the stairs. "Go on."

Brenda started down into the basement. The meager amount of light that came in from the upstairs revealed heavy wooden crates all over the place. "Just what kinda business was your boyfriend into?"

"Uh," Sugar said with a nervous smile. "Imports, I guess."

Brenda smiled at the coincidence. "Funny, I did the same thing."

"Oh, I doubt it was the same."

Brenda began to turn around to face Sugar just in time to see her bat come swinging through the air. It cracked against her skull and she tumbled down the rest of the stairs. Brenda tried to curse Sugar but her pain was so overwhelming all she could do was scream wordlessly.

"I'm so sorry," Sugar said as she came down after Brenda. "Really, I am. It's just... he gets so hungry." She swung the bat again and Brenda's world went black.

---

When Brenda opened her eyes, the first thing she felt was pain. In her head, in her back, in her legs. Everything hurt, but especially her legs. The second thing she felt was the heavy metal shackle around her neck. Panic started to set in but when she looked around the room it only got worse. She was chained to the wall, Sugar had broken her legs.

"I wish I could just kill you."

Brenda was shocked to hear Sugar's voice. She turned to the other woman, who was crying in the corner.

"He won't eat the dead ones though, he likes them better alive."

"What are you talking about? Let me go!"

"I can't, I'm sorry, I am." Sugar wiped the tears from her face and stood up. "I gotta go now, I don't like watching it." She started walking slowly up the creaking steps and Brenda heard someone else shuffling around in the basement. Out of the shadows came a large man, or at least he used to be a man. He wasn't alone, either. Three zombies were chained along side her and she was helpless to stop them as they pulled her close and bit into her flesh.