Q washed up in the sink and brushed his teeth. He emerged from the bathroom feeling much refreshed. His parent’s door was still shut, and all was silent. Q considered briefly whether he should knock on the door. If there was work today, they would be late by now.
Maybe they’ve already heard back from the farm.
He felt a moment of concern as he stood in front of their door. His dad had been upset last night, but he was curious to find out how his mom was doing and raised his hand to knock; then he froze.
I should just let them sleep it off.
He shook his head, lowered his hand, and retreated to his room. Q got dressed silently. If his parents needed some peace and quiet, well, then he would give it to them. He was just pulling on his socks when he heard a scream.
“No Rico! No, don’t! AAAH!”
What the fuck?
Q rushed to his window but couldn’t see anything. The screaming kept going. The teen ran out of his room and towards the front door without a second thought. He barely noticed the banging around in his parents’ bedroom as he ran past. He scooped up his runners on the way out of the door, donning them on the top porch step outside.
BANG.
The screen door slammed shut behind him.
“Sorry!” he yelled over his shoulder as he sped down the steps and towards the screams. Q was more curious than scared. Domestic violence happened all the time in Verde Acres, but this sounded pretty severe.
It was coming from the next street. He ran past a man dressed in nothing but a t-shirt and boxer shorts, who was obviously also headed to the disturbance. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the man flash his arm out at him, or so he thought.
Sorry, old man. I got no time for you. Q kept running.
There, he thought excitedly as he saw a commotion up ahead. It looked like several people were fighting right on the front lawn. He noticed several more people heading towards the disturbance and hoped they didn’t break it up before he got there. Some of the brawls in this neighborhood were legendary.
He skidded to a stop in front of the house. It took his mind a moment to register what he was seeing. A woman was lying facedown on the driveway; blood leaked from her head and traveled in small rivulets towards Q’s runners. Another person was literally getting pounded in the middle of the yard by several people, including an elderly lady, a young woman and a guy with a huge knife sticking out of his chest. Q couldn’t believe his eyes. This guy should be dead, yet there he was, swinging his fists like an angry toddler.
An angry toddler with the strength of a full-grown man, Q corrected when he saw the damage being done.
They continued to swing wildly at the feebly struggling form, hitting each other as often as their target. They were on their knees and kept pounding on the body even though the person had stopped struggling. One of them, the younger woman, lunged in with a wide-open mouth, intending to bite the victim, just as the old lady swung her fist.
Q heard the tiniest popping sound as the old woman caught the other woman in the eye.
An involuntary grunt escaped Q’s mouth as he saw the source of that popping sound. It was her eye, a chunk of which was now torn out of the woman’s socket. Another grunt escaped him as he saw that she was looking directly at him.
Q gasped in shock as the assailants stopped their attack immediately, and all looked straight at him.
“What the...?” he muttered. He was momentarily transfixed by those crazed stares.
Until they started getting to their feet. That broke Q’s paralysis, and he backed up a step. Then another — never taking his eyes off the three figures now shuffling towards him.
Q took another step and lost his balance as he stepped off the curb. He wind-milled his arms and legs before landing hard on his backside. Adrenaline had set in, and he crab-walked several yards away. His eyes were glued to the three people coming towards him. They had reached the edge of the yard.
A smack behind him made him look over his shoulder to see another person falling face-first into the pavement. It was a chubby man who lifted his face off the pavement and stared at Q with impossibly wide eyes. A large piece of his cheek was missing, and it looked like his jaw was broken, yet the guy did not utter a sound. He immediately started getting to his hands and knees.
“N-No.” Q couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
He caught more movement and saw the guy in the boxer shorts he had passed earlier. This man, too, seemed possessed. He stepped onto the street with his mouth gaping in a silent scream.
You’ve got to go! Q’s mind yelled at him, yet he was frozen in fear.
You got to get out of here! Q’s mind screamed as two of the three freaks stepped on to the road.
GET UP! GET OUT! Q’s mind screeched as the chubby zombie crawled closer and reached out for him.
“What the fuck is going on here?”
A man had shown up. His yell snapped Q out of his paralysis. He rolled over, away from the chubby guy, hopped onto his feet, and ran to the far curb.
“Enzo! Are you OK? Sue? What are you doing?” the man called as one of the zombies peeled away from chasing Q.
“Yo, dude!” Q called. He added, recognizing the man, “Carlos, get the fuck away from them! These guys are crazy! They killed those people.”
But it was too late. Carlos
