The next morning Aidan woke up to the smell of pancakes. As he looked into the kitchen he could see Jackson and Shae standing at the stove. Beside them on the counter was a sizeable plate of fresh pancakes. Suddenly Aidan was dizzy with hunger, and his stomach made a loud noise.
“Oh, you’re awake!” Jackson said and turned around.
“You could HEAR that?” Aidan asked amazedly.
“Sweetie, I think you could wake up a whole house.” Shae said
Aidan blushed with embarrassment.
“Don’t worry about it. You should hear my stomach roaring when I’m hungry!” Jackson said.
Shae nodded at him. “It’s like a druid tank.”
“Come and help us kill these.” Jackson said, pointing at the plate of pancakes.
They sat down and somehow managed to finish the whole plate. Guess they were hungry.
“Thank you so much guys, but I really have to get going again.” Aidan said.
“Where to?” Jackson asked.
“To the city where Drew lives.”
“But she’s not going to be there when you get there.” Jackson said.
“What! Why not?” Aidan asked. He looked very upset.
“Her dad runs a safe-zone north of here, in her hometown. I’m sure she’s found a way to get there by now.” Shae said
“Oh. How do I get there?” Aidan asked.
“Well. It just so happens that WE are going there to – and we know the way!” Jackson said with a huge smile.
“Great! Let’s go then.” Aidan said and started to move towards the door.
“Whoa now, slow down man! We have to pack our bags.” Jackson said.
Aidan looked at them in complete helplessness. Then he sat down on the couch with a resigned look on his face.
Jackson and Shae started to do the dishes, and then went to have a shower. It took them more than an hour to get ready and packed. Aidan was miserable but realized that there was nothing he could to.
“Ok, let’s go.” Jackson said.
“Finally!” Aidan said.
Shae and Jackson smiled at his impatience: so cute!
“Ok, were do we go?” Aidan said as they started the car.
“Take a left here.”
“But the sign there says to go in the other direction.” Aidan protested
“Yes, but first we’re going to town. I have to get Christmas presents for my parents.” (“And Shae” he mouthed)
Aidan nearly drove into the ditch.
“Hey! Take it easy there!” Jackson said holding on to the door.
“How are you even going to buy something when all the shops are closed because of the curfew?” Aidan tried to reason with Jackson
“I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” Jackson smiled
It was hopeless. Aidan would have to go along with this idiocy.
They drove into the city center and had no trouble finding a parking spot next to the city center.
“Now, be very quiet out there,” Jackson said. “or we will attract the attention of them.”
“Who?” Aidan asked. “The military?”
“No, the… mob.” Shae said
“You mean the mafia?” Aidan asked.
“No silly! In terms that you will understand: the horde.” Jackson explained. “And I’m not talking about sworn enemies of the Alliance...”
“Oh my God! Are you serious!? Are there ZOMBIES out there?” Aidan screamed.
“Shut up!” Jackson wheezed. “Be quiet for God’s sake!”
“We don’t think that they’re actually zombies, Aidan, but they certainly do act in a strange way. Whenever someone makes a lot of noise they all come running from everywhere. No one knows what they want – everyone just runs away as fast as they can.” Shae said
“I see.” Aidan said. “And you want to go Christmas shopping.”
“Do you have any idea of how sad my mom would be if I didn’t get her something?” Jackson asked rhetorically. “Any way, let’s get going.”
They left the car and started walking towards the very closed mall. Aidan had no idea of how Jackson intended to get in there, and neither had Jackson.
“Psst.”
“What was that!” Aidan said. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Jackson asked.
“Psssssst!”
“That!”
“I didn’t hear anything.” Jackson said
“I heard it.” Shae said quietly, but Jackson did not hear her.
“Pssst! Up here.”
This time Jackson heard it to and they all looked up around them. On a balcony up in the mall a familiar looking boy was standing, jumping up and down with excitement.
“Finally! Are you deaf or something?” He said
“Boris!” Jackson said with a huge smile. “Boy am I glad to see you!”
“You know this guy?” Aidan asked
“How did you get in there?” Shae asked Boris
“Well, I was sitting in the dressing room in a store, reading a very interesting comic book – here look.” He pulled out something of his backpack that looked vaguely like X-Men, or possibly Transformers. It might even be Bamse, on this distance it was hard to determine. “And then I guess they shut down the mall because of the virus.”
“You didn’t notice everyone leaving?” Aidan asked with disbelief
“I was really caught up in the story, OK!” Boris said defensively
“Can you get us in there somehow?” Jackson asked
“Sure thing. I was just about to use this rope to climb down, but I’m sure it works both ways.” Boris grinned
Sure enough there was a rather sturdy rope hanging from the balcony. After a bit of effort they all managed to climb up.
“Why do you want to get in here anyway?” Boris asked
“I have to buy Christmas presents.” Jackson explained, while Aidan was rolling his eyes behind his back.
Boris looked a bit confused and was about to ask who the dude was when he realized what Jackson had just said. “Oh, man! I had COMPLETELY forgotten about that. I have to get something for my mom.” He turned around and headed into the mall.
Aidan looked at Shae, who shrugged and followed Boris. Aidan looked at Jackson.
“After you.” Jackson motioned towards the door.
They walked inside the empty mall. All the stores were still open, but it was pitch black. Not even the emergency light worked.
“Over here, let’s get you some flashlights.” Boris called from the other end of the mall.
They followed him up the still escalator and into a store that had a vast supply of everything you might need. When they passed the computer section Aidan had to fight the urge to grab something. They quickly find some flashlights and headed downstairs again.
“Uhm, could you please stay in one store for a while?” Jackson asked Shae
Shae looked very happy and headed off towards her favorite store. After half an hour or so they all gathered up again. Jackson was carrying a huge bag full of wrapped up presents. Boris was carrying a beautiful vase, and even Aidan was carrying a few packages.
“I might as well get something to.” He said and blushed
“Good initiative.” Jackson smiled
“Aren’t you going to wrap that vase?” Shae asked Boris
“Muh? Oh, yeah… I probably should.” He headed off to the store upstairs, where he knew they had the necessary supplies.
Shae followed him. She did not trust his ability to do it properly and after a few minutes of fumbling she kindly pointed out that he might want to use a box.
10 minutes later they were done and after another 15 minutes they had solved the logistical problem of getting all the presents down to the street. They went to the car and quickly loaded everything inside. The trunk was now quite full of stuff.
“So where are we going?” Boris asked
“To the safe-zone up north.” Aidan said
“Great, but first I need to drop the present off at my moms place…” Boris said
“What!?” Aidan exclaimed
“…in case I don’t see her again before Christmas. Who are you anyway?”
15 comments:
And Aidan's plot armour thickens: He feels guilty stealing things in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, and he's rash and wants to leave right away. Both are typical hero traits - being of idiotically high moral fibre, and never stopping for deliberation.
Aidan also just boosted Drew's survival chances, since he's out looking for her - which means she's important to the hero somehow. If Drew dies, it will inevitably be when Aidan is just around the corner - not a moment sooner.
Also: "No one knows what they want – everyone just runs away as fast as they can." - AHA! See! Party on a lawn with traffic cones on their heads! It's what all zombies want. I've been telling ya.
Why can't we have friends?
You guys are off doing Christmas shoplifting while we're busy being eaten by zombies. I call unfair.
Also: I assume that the zombies haven't started raiding stores, and from what they said, it doesn't really seem as if they have killed anyone... Shouldn't they start starving to death soon? Assuming they have a metabolism?
We don't have any friends! This is getting weird. Is this a pointer from you Kristin? =)
Haha XD If this is Kristin's way of giving pointers, I feel sorry for "Jackson" and "Boris".
Well, the more Aidan becomes the hero, the more certain it is that Drew will die. Not until right before or right as they meet, but yes. I'm screwed.
And yay dad!
Im sure Aidan will become a zombie long before you die, D. Just because she (Kristin) can.
...or maybe thats just the way Drew dies...
Such pessimism!
I have to point this out.
How in all the world did "Boris" manage to sit, in the dressing room of a mall, reading a (one, 1) comic book,FOR TWO WEEKS?!
See, this is why computers are like wives, and should not be shared. Above comment was mine.
You are reading the sentence too literal. At the exact time when the mall closed and and curfew took effect, Boris was sitting in a dressing room. Since then he had lived in the mall. Also; he has been there for just a little over one week.
Since when was perfect logic and realism a requirement for these calendars? Because then I think we have to retroactively fail them all :P
Pessimistic? I'm not pessimistic. I'm the one rooting for "party with the zombies", remember? People dying just means they can join the cool kids with the traffic cones!
btw "it's like a druid tank" is the best line I've read since... longtime.
My honest-to-god mental image when I read "druid tank" was a huge aquarium full of bearded dudes swimming around.
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