Zombie Walk
Catelyn scanned the walkers as more and more of them showed up dressed in zombie-ware. The remaining light of day revealed the ripped clothes, dark eyes, and special effects make-up that shuffled between the old cemetery’s gravestones. Next to Catelyn was her best friend Roman, who was a veteran of the Zombie Walk. Besides the standard zombie attire, he emphasized on the special effects. On his head was a fake gash with a fake brain exposed.
“So, you’re ready to be part of something cool?” Roman asked, his fake lazy eyelid fluttering.
“I guess so. I hope I look the part,” Catelyn said, and she glanced down at her costume. “You look great.” She said.
“Don’t worry about it. Just follow me, and you’ll have fun,” Roman said as he led the way to the start of the walk.
“Do they typically have these walks in a cemetery?”
“No, this year they decided to do it differently since it’s close to Halloween.”
They made their way to a large gathering that stood waiting on a road; on each side were the gravestones. Catelyn felt as if she were mingling in between corn stalks; above the crowd, the lamps flicked on, and the full moon hung low. From where she stood, she could see a banner flapping. Before Catelyn could ask Roman what it was for, the banner moved forward along with the first wave of zombie walkers.
“You gotta limp like you see in those zombie movies,” Roman said, and he demonstrated by dragging his left foot and swinging his arms.
Catelyn peered at the others, and with some visual pointers, she mimicked the cadence of the zombies. Before she allowed the warming sensation of feeling foolish to settle in, she focused on her rhythm. Roman leered at her and gave her a crooked thumbs up. The zombie walkers followed the road deeper into the cemetery.
Between the bodies, Catelyn could see the graves, some more elaborate than others. Sneaking close to the ground, a fog drifted over the tombstones as if it was keeping pace with them. Catelyn frowned. Is that part of the walk? She turned to Roman, and a scream erupted from the back, drowning out the scraping of the zombie footsteps. Roman snickered.
“They must have a group of non-zombies somewhere. They’re probably reenacting a typical movie scene,” Roman explained.
Catelyn nodded. Peering at the tombstones again, Catelyn spotted one that had an unfinished grave. Slowing her pace even more, it appeared that the dirt was piled on the sides, but she couldn’t tell for certain. More screams could be heard then the pounding of footsteps.
“Sounds like they’re getting closer,” Roman said, looking back.
Catelyn’s stomach dipped, and goosebumps raced along her skin, signaling to her that something was not right. She peered at the sea of walkers and caught sight of heads being pulled down, accompanied by the sound of snarling and squelching. Catelyn stopped her shuffling and staggered back. Roman had stopped to watch. She grabbed hold of his arm.
“I think something is going on,” Catelyn said.
Something burst through as the crowd scattered, their screams bouncing off the gravestones. It crouched, heaving in place, its breath coming in short ragged snarls. Catelyn gasped as she yanked Roman towards her. Dirt cascaded off of its body, and one of its eyeballs hung out of the socket, lolling back and forth. The scalp was peeled in places like a fileted steak, exposing its skull. It sprung at them.
Roman and Catelyn dashed, hopping over bodies and heading towards the graveyard. Catelyn pumped her legs as she typically did when she was done warming up during her morning runs. Roman kept pace since he was her regular running partner. Tendrils of fog tangled about their legs. The snarling grew fainter, and Catelyn chanced a glance over her shoulder. The thing had stumbled to the ground. Its leg was twisted at an awkward angle. Catelyn and Roman hid behind a thick tree.
“We gotta find help,” Roman said, sucking in as much air. “Looks like a bunch of drugged-up crazies showed up.”
“You think that’s what they are?” Catelyn asked.
“Yeah, what else would they be? Zombies?”
Catelyn’s face flared. She pulled out her phone from her hidden fanny pack. There was only one bar. Roman pulled out his.
“I barely have any bars,” He said.
Catelyn peered towards the road. Bodies were strewn everywhere; she noticed that many of them had walkers crouched over them, gnawing at the bodies’ necks and arms. She turned away, her stomach churning.
“Oh my god! This is bad, this is so bad,” Roman said.
Catelyn heard a rustling and turned to see one of the hungry walkers staggering towards them, its arms outstretched. It grabbed hold of Roman’s neck and began to gnash its broken teeth. Roman tripped backward and landed on his backside, the thing tumbling down onto him. Catelyn searched around for help. Her foot kicked a fallen branch. Taking it into her hands, she swung at the deformed creature. The branch hit its temple, causing it to collapse to the side. It struggled to right itself. Catelyn grabbed Roman by the arm and pulled him up.
“Are you okay?” She asked, pulling him away from the thing.
“Yeah, I think so, “Roman said as he rubbed his neck. “I think it only scratched me.”
“Come on! Let’s get to our cars. The entrance to the cemetery should be this way,”
They dashed up and over a hill, dodging gravestones in the fog and night. Catelyn could see the wrought iron gateway to the street. Pushing herself to go faster, her foot caught on something, and she tripped. Skidding along the grass, Catelyn brought her arms forward to stop the momentum.
She glanced back and saw that it was a hand sticking out of the ground. Then, another hand wriggled its way out. Roman was yanking Catelyn up when all around them, the ground burst in sequence. Catelyn stumbled in place, using Roman as leverage to propel herself forward. Arms tore at their clothes and pinched their skins as they pushed and kicked through the mass.
Dashing under the archway of the cemetery entrance as if they were marathon runners, Catelyn and Roman kept running until they reached Catelyn’s car. They leaned against the Subaru, gasping.
“We should check for a signal,” Catelyn said as she pulled out her phone.
She peered down at it, squinting under the light of the lamppost. Roman’s hand landed on her phone; his skin seemed blotchy. Wondering what Roman wanted, she glanced at him. Roman’s face was covered in spidery black veins, and his eyes had changed into milky orb. He snarled and lunged at Catelyn.
