Two Page Shorts - Nick Venom (big ebook reader txt) 📗

mirror on the driver’s side and watched as Joyce pummeled the guy into pieces using a wrench she got from his car. Joyce became rather dangerous. Max prepared for kills while Joyce did everything on a whim. It took Max years to kill Toby or the kids. Joyce, simply, ran into every fight with no weapons and hope. Hope that she’ll pick up a weapon during the fight.

Max waited for Joyce to return, her hands drenched in blood. I need to get rid of her. She’s a liability, he thought. He wasn’t wrong. Max used the shadows to his advantage and killed with silence while Joyce shouted and alerted her prey. Toby or Lo never saw Max coming, but Marie was given all the time in the world to prepare for Joyce. Max watched as another car appeared behind them. “Go!” Max shouted. Joyce slammed on the gas pedal, throwing them into the dashboard. The car caught it's full momentum and continued down the road while the car behind them stopped to check out the truck and report it to the police. Max sighed. On his belt was five daggers and his ax was under the seat. A shotgun was held in the glove department.

“Family Reunion! November 15th will see the family together again after the tragedy that fell Toby and his wife. Everybody is invited to come to mourn the death and celebrate life.” This was worded on a postcard sent by Logan Riser to his entire family. One, somehow, appearing for Max. “Can’t wait to see you there. Logan Riser”

The epic conclusion to The Halloween Riser franchise will arrive with the fourth installment, The Halloween Riser IV: Reunion. This short story concludes the storyline of The Halloween Riser and Joyce The Ripper. Infamous killers that devastated the East Emerald area.

No Escape: Part II

A year had passed since we discovered Grandville, which turned out to be a gated community controlled by wealthy people - who were kinder than what I expected. When we found out that rich people controlled the community, I expected them to degrade us and treat us as peasants, but they didn’t do anything like that. They cared about us and were nice enough to allow us to enter, albeit with some restrictions and precautions. 

After several months of working to prove we weren’t trying to destroy the community or cause unrest, the restrictions were taken off and we enjoyed the same freedom as the others. Everybody was allowed to do whatever they want, which they did almost instantly.

Nine months into our stay, Echo and Ghost have turned in their resignation. They no longer want to be in the army anymore. It’s saddening to see them leave our squad, but it’s not like they ventured away from us. Echo had told me that he intends on becoming a farmer and living “a quiet life” while Ghost has taken up painting and is even being praised for his artwork. I never saw him smile as much as he did when being praised. He enjoyed it more than any day in the military, maybe even more than his past life.

As for the others, they decided to stay in the squad. Scarecrow and Frost don’t intend on staying in the community and have expressed their need to leave. They want to continue venturing around what's left of America, not cooped up in a gated community. I shared the same intent, however, I’m hesitant on leaving the others behind, even though they insist on staying. 

Jacob and Jessica have decided to stay and there’s no way to convince them otherwise. Though, that seems like the better choice for them. They lost two of their friends, able to bury one while the other must still be in Chicago, his skeleton being the only thing remaining beside the crashed bird.

They deserve to be here and be happy. From what I could tell, they were flirting with each other and, in a month or two, it wouldn’t be weird to think they began dating. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they aren’t dating already with all of that flirting and tension. 

Anyways, ignoring them all, what has changed about me? I’m not sure. The doctor, Mr. Rowley, told me to write down everything that has changed about me, my family, my friends, and my surroundings. My family’s most likely dead, my friends are all changing, my surroundings are the same, and I don’t think I’ve changed. What do I write about now? There’s nothing else to report anymore… aside from that, I turned 31 a handful of days ago. Nothing more, nothing less.” 

I finished writing into my black journal (the journal had seen better days), leaving it on my desk in my personal apartment. The apartment was the size of an average living room, created by the people in charge, known as the Heads, slicing up the houses into small portions for everybody to have a slice.

I turned away from the desk, dressed in my camouflage uniform with a bulletproof vest on, before heading towards the door, opening it, and walking outside. I shielded my eyes from the overhead sun with my hands, lingering in the outside sun for a few moments before moving forward. 

I basked in the warmth of the sun as I crossed the road in front of my house and headed down the sidewalk to a house at the end of the cul de sac. The house was directly across from the main gate of the community, acting as the capitol building of Grandville. 

As I approached the capitol building, two guards---young lanky men---nodded their heads at me. One of them opened the door, giving me easy access to the house. They then closed it behind me.

The people inside the building noticed me, nodding their heads. “Good afternoon, Everest.” One of the people said. The person was a middle-aged man, Brian Holt, the leader of the community. “Got enough sleep?”

I nodded my head. “Enough to keep going, at least,” I told them. 

Holt nodded. “You’re really leaving?” He asked.

I nodded. “One of my men had gained contact with a military fort not too far from here. However, he lost contact with them some time ago. Plus… we’re itching to go back out. It’s been a year since we arrived and, unlike the others, we can’t sit still and farm.” I told them.

Holt and the people around him nodded. “Well… good luck out there, Everest. Be wary of the monsters outside, some of the guards noticed some… evolvers.” He warned.

I nodded, thanking him before leaving. I headed out of the building and towards the main gate where Scarecrow and Frost waited for me in the humvee, loaded with what little ammunition we have. 

As I appeared in their sights, they waved at me. “Ready to leave?” Scarecrow asked, standing by the driver’s door. He opened it, waiting for me. “Everything’s inside, we’re ready to leave when you are.”

“Not without saying bye.” Ghost remarked, grinning. He appeared behind us, waving. By his side were Echo and the others. 

“I can’t believe it’s time for you to leave, sir.” Echo said.

I turned to face them, grinning. “If something happens, we’ll be right back. Don’t worry about us - three damned bastards who can’t sit still.”

“If I could, I would have settled down already.” Frost joked. “Not getting into a humvee smelling like lemons and limes with barely enough ammunition to work the fifty.” 

“You sound like you could get a girl if you tried,” Scarecrow said, mocking Frost. 

Frost glared at Scarecrow. “Well… I don’t see you with a girl.”

“Believe me, I have one. She… She’s just very shy.” Scarecrow said. However, nobody believed him.

“Anyways, make sure you two protect this place in our stead,” I told Ghost and Echo. During our stay here, I, alongside my squad, taught the poorly trained bodyguards and citizens to protect the community. Even so, we were still stronger than our “disciples.”

“What about us? We know how to fight.” Jacob said with a foolish grin on his face. It was nice to see the young man smiling in contrast to how he was after Luke and Harper’s deaths. 

“Yeah, we know how to use guns now,” Jessica added.

I shook my head playfully. “When you can beat Ghost or Echo, then I’ll rely on you,” I said before turning away from them. “But you two have done better,” I said, giving them some praise for the work they’ve done. They had been training alongside the bodyguards and citizens to grow stronger and had been doing well - well enough to earn my praise, anyways. 

I turned my attention back to Scarecrow, nodding at him. He understood what the nod meant, sliding into the driver’s seat. Frost followed his lead, getting into the back and popping out of the hatch on the roof connected to the machine gun. 

As they got in, I slid into the passenger’s seat. I noticed Ghost and Jacob pushing ahead of us, opening the gate. They ushered us outside, all of them waving at us as we rolled away. We waved back for a few moments before we turned away from them. The gate was locked behind us, now leaving us in the outside world. 

Scarecrow drove from the community to the nearby highway, traveling through the clutter of cars awaiting us. He maneuvered the humvee around effortlessly, dodging and weaving through the maze of cars. After several moments of silence after escaping the massive wall of cars and reaching the empty road, I asked Frost, “has Oxford Base contacted you since?”

“No, sir. I haven’t been in contact with them since three days ago. I’m not sure what happened, since I couldn’t hear any gunfire or growls of the zombies. Maybe they ran out of electricity or something.”

I nodded. “Anything could’ve happened. Keep your guards up.”

“Yes, sir.” Scarecrow and Frost remarked. A few seconds later, silence overtook the car, however, it wasn’t suffocating. Each of us was looking at the scenery as we passed by it. Nature had already begun reclaiming what we, humans, took from her. The highway was relatively clean of weeds and trees, but it was also a decent distance away from the sea of trees lining both sides of the roads; it also helped that the hallway was above the tops of the trees.

Everything was strangely beautiful - the sights of nature and lack of traffic. It was all beautiful.

Over an hour later, we arrived at Oxford Base and found it in shambles. The building was slowly being reclaimed by nature and many windows and doors were smashed in. It looked abandoned, supported by the vehicles parked outside, all of them dented as if the Hulk had smashed into them.

“You sure this is the place? It’s a… It’s a piece of work, for sure.” I remarked, staring at the building, which was no bigger than a mansion. No parts of it resembled a fortress housing American scientists and soldiers. 

Frost, who had gotten down from the machine gun pit, nodded his head. “It should be. Maybe it’s just the outside that looks terrible. I don’t ever remember seeing or hearing about any windows in the room they were in, so they could be underground.” He explained.

I nodded my head, gripping my rifle. I double-checked the magazine before getting out