The Grave Digger

Plans Turned Sour

Overnight, a small suburban town called Neighborville had become the epicenter of the zombie apocalypse. It was mostly devoid of human presence, but one woman was too stubborn to flee. 

Jade Cohen never had an exciting life and it was always a mundane ritual for her. She was buried in debt from six years of tuition fees, unable to even feed herself.

One day, her luck changed for the worse.  

--

Stepping out of her car, Jade looks down at the flyer again. "Of course this old-ass house is it," she mumbles to herself. Traveling alone was dangerous enough with the whole 'zombie apocalypse' thing. Traveling alone to a rotten old house is a whole nother level of idiotic.

The August breeze sweeps hair off her shoulders, tossing it behind her head. She sighs and stuffs her hands in her pockets. "Out of all the places it could be--no, of course it's here. They did this just to scare me," she grumbles.

Right now, she's so far in-debt she can't afford Ramen from the gas station. The cashier gives it to her free after hours, probably out of pity. According to the flyer, this job pays a ridiculously high amount of money. Just the thought of it makes the 24 year old salivate.

Upon reaching the door, Jade knocks on its decayed wood surface, avoiding the maggots burrowing through it. Her eyes roll as it creaks open. "Of-fucking-course," she hisses.

"Hello,"she pokes her head through the doorway. Looking back at the flyer, she reads off her employer's name, "Fayre?...Are you in there?"

Something clatters against the floor in another room. "Yes, yes, just a moment, darling. Are you Jade? The girl who called?" Her voice bounces with eagerness, like a toddler being offered ice cream.

"That's me." She steps through the foyer, closing the door behind her. The hinges groan as it swings shut. "Do you need any help?"

"That would be wonderful. I'm in the kitchen, dear." Another crash fills the house, followed by a frustrated sigh.

Jade tramps through the house, old floorboards creaking under her weight. Inhaling dust off old furniture, she sneezes loudly before she steps through the doorway.

"Sorry about that, it's my al-"

Swiftly shoved against a nearby wall, she heaves as the breath leaves her lungs. A tall woman with dusty rose hair jams a needle into her neck, grinning. Fayre watches the contents of the syringe drain with absolute glee. A craze glints off her eyes.

Jade's vision quickly fades.

--

A muffled chatter brings her back to consciousness.

Jade's eye's blink open slowly as she takes in a dimly lit room. She recognizes the woman from earlier talking to a shorter figure.

Cotton stuffed in her ears, she can't understand what they're saying. She tries to lift her head, but a restraint stops her at the neck.

Steel beams run across concrete walls, fortifying the room like a nuclear shelter. The only source of light is a screen attached to a large machine. Buttons and levers cover its face under bottles of various chemicals. A heart rate, her heart rate, beeps rhythmically in the background.

The cold touch of metal restraints on Jade's wrists force a shiver from her. Metal clacks against metal and the clamor alerts the two individuals.

Fayre turns around, smiling at her captive. She coos something delicately as she approaches, producing a full syringe from a pocket in her long white lab coat.