Joices: DevastationofZhaddi (Chapter 2)

JOICES

Chapter 2:
Chip City

Joe dived to the side as the Joice snapped at him.
“Oh my God!” shouted Brian. “Not Joices! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” said Joe. “Look, we’ve got to get into shelter!”
“Why?” asked Brian in panic.
“Just trust me!” shouted Joe. He grabbed Brian’s arm and lead him into the mall that they were just outside of. People were screaming like crazy. Joe saw a little girl trying on a shirt (over the one she’s wearing) with her mom.
“Go hide!” shouted Joe.
The mother looked weirdly at Joe. “What in heaven’s name are you talking about?” she asked suspiciously. “Are you shoplifting?”
“Joices are attacking!” Joe yelled. “We’ve got to hide!” A vision flashed in Joe’s head. He saw a Joice smashing through the mall window. “They’re coming!”
“How do you know?” asked Brian oddly.
Bernom bom, bom. Bernom bom, bom.
“Did you hear that?” asked Brian.
“Who’s got the music going?” asked the mother.
“I think they played a little song,” said the little girl.
“Let’s get outta here!!” shouted Joe harshly. “Are you coming?”
He bolted up the empty hallway and Brian followed. But the mother and daughter stayed behind. In a few seconds, they all heard a smash at the window, and six Joices flew into the hallway.
“RUN!” screamed Joe. Brian and Joe picked up speed and the other two people screamed and curdled. Joe looked back and saw blood splatter against the floor and two dead bodies fall to the ground. Then Brian shrieked and sped up at an impossible speed, but then Joe found himself doing so as well.
They ran and ran as they heard the roars of the Joices coming closer.
Joe finally started to see people.
“Go hide somewhere!” Joe shouted. “Before they see you!” Each time, the person Joe yelled at just looked at him in disbelief until they saw the Joices, and then they screamed and ran. Joe started to hear the roars really loud and he started to feel Joice’s breath on the back of his neck. Joe swung around and the closer Joice snatched the back of his shirt just in time. But Joe nailed the other Joice with a backhander and it flew at Brian. Brian panicked and fell over. Joe stopped to turn around but got lifted off his feet and flung sideways.
“BRIAN!” Joe shouted really loud as he smashed right through a glass door and landed on his back out on the sidewalk. Pedestrians stopped and looked at him in horror. Joe felt like he couldn’t move. The back of his head and his elbows were bleeding pretty bad. He tried to get up, but couldn’t move.
“Brian,” he forced out and coughed. “I… need… to get… to… B… Brian.” Joe raised his head a bit just to see through the door but he couldn’t. He dropped his head to the ground helplessly. But his heart jumped when he heard some rustling and frustrated Joice noises from beside him. He turned his head to the side and saw an injured Joice trying to get up as well. He was so hurt; he just closed his eyes, and blacked out.
*
Joe suddenly opened his eyes and saw people sitting around him. He was in something, something moving pretty fast. The people were doctors, maybe nurses. They were looking concerned at Joe. Joe suddenly had no pain. It was all gone. He sat up instantly.
“Sit down, Joe,” said a nurse. “Relax, you’re going to the hospital.”
“I need to get to Brian,” said Joe quickly.
“I’m right here,” said a voice. Joe turned to the side and felt a huge whiff of relief. His friend Brian was sitting there, looking very concerned as well.
“Brian!” said Joe. “What happened? What did the Joices do?”
“The Joices are all gone, lay down!” said a nurse.
Joe turned his head swiftly. “I wasn’t talking to you, wait your turn.” Then he looked back at Brian. “Did the Joices do anything to you? Did they kill anyone else?”
“I killed the one that attacked me,” said Brian, smiling. “I put my knee on it and applied all my weight. Then I went to you and saw that you were out cold. I stomped on the injured Joice and called for an ambulance.”
“Well I’m fine now,” said Joe, glaring at the interrupter. “And I need to get to a police station.”
“You’re not going anywhere!” said the interrupting nurse. “You’re injured and you need medical attention!”
“I’m just fine!” shouted Joe, getting angry.
“You were thrown through a window and bleeding severely!” shouted the nurse.
“Uhhm, sir,” said another nurse, looking confused. “The bleeding has stopped and his condition is normal.”
“What!?” said the interrupting nurse.
“Look,” said the other. The nurse looked, and sure enough, Joe’s condition was normal with the bleeding stopped.
“That’s impossible!”
“I don’t have time for this!” said Joe. “C’mon Brian!” Joe jumped up and kicked the doors of the back of the ambulance open. Before anyone could do anything, Joe jumped right out and rolled onto the grass.
All the nurses looked confused and shocked. Brian just shrugged his shoulders, and jumped out after Joe.
Joe and Brian were on the side of the road watching cars zip by.
“Do you have any wounds from the Joice?” asked Joe.
“Nope,” said Brian. “I took on that Joice just fine.”
“You know, lots of people who were in your position would have died,” said Joe. “You must have a good amount of courage to stay focused while a Joice was gnawing at you.”
“Look at you,” said Brian. “Why are you making a big deal out of it? I had only one on me.”
“Joices are more dangerous than you think,” said Joe. “They killed the mother and daughter in the mall, they wiped out nearly the whole Coal Police Department, killed my mom, and my murdered my foster parents!”
“They did-“
“And who knows how many people they killed that I didn’t witness!?”
“Joe, calm down!” said Brian firmly. “You never told me that they killed your mom and your foster parents!”
“I didn’t have time to,” replied Joe. “There was too much happening lately.”
“But how did you survive the attacks on your parents?” asked Brian. “Did you hide or something?”
“I killed them,” answered Joe.
“There we go,” said Brian. “You’re making a big deal out of me killing one Joice when you killed how many?”
“I didn’t kill the ones who killed my mom, and I barely killed any at the Police Department,” said Joe. “I only really killed the ones that attacked my foster parents.”
“Which was how many?” asked Brian.
“About three or four,” answered Joe. Brian opened his mouth to say something, but Joe said, “My foster parents did help out a bit.”
“But they died,” said Brian.
“They died, but they still helped!” said Joe fiercely.
“I’m sorry,” said Brian. “I shouldn’t nag an orphan.”
“Please don’t call me an orphan,” said Joe uncomfortably. “That name just gives me a feeling of alienation or something.”
“How about I call you a kid who lost his parents?” asked Brian.
“Sounds fair,” replied Joe. “Now let’s find a police station.”
Joe and Brian got up and searched for a police station, but first they made a stop at Brian’s new house.
“Wow,” said Joe. “The furniture’s moved in and everything.”
“Yeah,” said Brian awkwardly. “Strange isn’t it?”
Joe walked to the fridge and opened it. “Got milk?” asked Joe.
“Plenty,” answered Brian. “I just need some orange juice.”
Joe went upstairs to find Brian’s room and heard a scream from outside. He quickly ran to the upstairs hall window and looked out, but everything was fine. He must have heard it in his head. But then he remembered: he could sense when Joices were going to attack.
“Brian!” yelled Joe. “Go hide! NOW!”
“What?” asked Brian from downstairs.
“Joices are going to attack here! We’ve got to HIDE RIGHT NOW!!!”
Brian instantly ran upstairs. “Where are we going to hide?” he asked.
“Follow me,” answered Joe. He led them down the hall. “I don’t know this place,” Joe remarked, “but I know Joices.” He opened a door and saw what he wanted: an empty closet. “We just need to be somewhere where the Joices won’t see us or can’t get to.” They went in and closed the door, and then they heard the scream.
“How do you keep on knowing?” asked Brian.
“I can sense them,” said Joe. “I don’t know why, but I just can. Trust me, my senses are never wrong. I’ve proven it twice already, to you. It’s proven itself to me many times.”
“Alright already, just be quiet,” said Brian. They both went silent. But the silence was broken by a window crashing. Joe gulped hard. He had a vision of six Joices entering Brian’s house. Joe and Brian heard them flying around, searching. They came upstairs and kept zipping by outside the closet. Joe started to sweat and felt his own heart, plus Brian’s pounding loudly.
Somehow it caught the Joices attention.
One, then two, then three, then four, then five, then six Joices started pounding on the closet where Joe and Brian were hiding.
“What are we going to do?” whispered Joe, frozen in terror. “Does this door have a lock?”
“Why?” asked Brian.
“Just in case they turn the doorknob somehow,” replied Joe, getting really nervous.
“They couldn’t do that,” said Brian in disbelief. But then, one of the Joices stopped and went to the doorknob. Joe heard a soft ting sound, and the doorknob began to move, faster and faster. Joe motioned to go to the door and grab it, but the door opened a bit and a Joice snout popped through the crack. Instead, Joe kicked the door shut and punctured it into the Joice. The Joice instantly died. But five more pushed on the door with all their strength and them put together in one, they pushed the door open over the strength of Joe’s leg. Then they swarmed into the small closet to strike.
Joe ducked as a Joice snapped at him, and then he realized a metal pole going across the top of the closet that was meant to hold up coat hangers. Joe grabbed at it and a Joice snapped onto his forearm. He yelled in pain and pulled off the metal pole. Brian gave a shout of pain as well. Joe smashed a mid-flight Joice and flattened it against the wall. Another Joice snatched at Joe but got the pole as Joe swung it in front. Brian seemed to have yanked the Joice free on him and bashed it against the wall. The other Joice was also gnawing at Joe’s pole. Brian pulled one off and stomped on it. Joe started bashing the other against the wall but it wouldn’t let go of the pole. Joe kept bashing and killed it. There was one more left and it was on Joe’s forearm. Brian took the pole and slipped it in between the Joice’s mouth and Joe’s forearm. Joe closed his eyes hard.
“Rip it!” he shouted. Brian thrusted the pole outward and tore off the Joice, but the Joice pulled some of Joe’s skin with it. Joe bellowed out in great pain, and punched the Joice as hard as he could. The Joice was flattened between Joe’s fist and the wall, and Joe put a couple cracks in the wall.
“Are you okay?” asked Brian.
“I’m alive,” answered Joe. “You’re alive. Now we’ve got to get something around this bloody forearm and – WHAT THE!?” he suddenly shouted. He saw Brian’s ribs. They were gashed open severely and blood was just rushing out.
“What?” asked Brian.
“You, you’re ribs!” shouted Joe, and pointed.
Brian winced. “It does hurt a bit,” he said. “But it’s not that bad.”
“Take a look!” said Joe fiercely. Brian looked down, and gasped.
“Okay, maybe it is bad!” he looked like he was about to faint. “Let’s, just, let’s, let’s get something on that,” he said.
They both went downstairs. Joe opened a cupboard and took out some long white bandages. He wrapped them around Brian’s stomach so much that there was barely any left when he was finished. Brian grabbed his bandaged wound and winced in pain. Joe wrapped the remaining bandages around one and a half times and stopped, leaving some left.
Joe looked out of the window and saw Joices everywhere. There was a restaurant right across the street from Brian’s house, and Joe saw about a thousand Joices swirling around, attacking all the outside-eaters. About every two minutes, a couple Joices smashed through the restaurant windows to attack some indoor-eaters. Joe was getting fed up with the blood, until he saw a vision of three Joices smashing through Brian’s window.
“Not again!” shouted Joe.
“Oh no!” said Brian in terror, knowing what Joe meant. Joe grabbed a pillow from the couch in the living room, and crawled under the kitchen table. (Which was against the wall in Brian’s house.)
“Get behind!” Joe instructed. Brian nodded and crawled behind Joe. “I should be able to old them off with this pillow.” Joe closed his eyes and began to hope that they wouldn’t come.
“They’re not coming,” Joe said to himself under his breath. “We are going to be fine.” His heart was pounding fiercely with terror and great fear.
“Man, these Joices have killed people!” said Brian in a panicked voice. “We could be next!”
“Shh!” said Joe strictly. “They are not going to come,” he hoped some more. For some reason, he thought that if he hoped hard enough, they wouldn’t come. They waited and waited very quietly as Joe kept saying they won’t come in his head. They were waiting well over five minutes.
“The Joices should have come by now,” said Joe. Brian was absolutely pale and his breathing was frightening.
Then there was a sound, but it was different from the low beat music. It was high-pitched, and not scary at all. It gave you a good feeling rather than the feeling of dread.
Dee, de-lee dee, dee, dee, dee! Was sort of what it sounded like.
“What was that?” asked Brian.
“When a Joice is coming,” explained Joe. “It makes a low-beat scary music. (Brian nodded.) But I think that when they’re not coming, it makes a high-beat happy music.”
“But your senses said that they were coming,” said Brian.
“Yes,” agreed Joe. “But I think that when you truly hope that they won’t come, you either hear the scary music, or the happy music. The scary music means they’re coming, and the happy music means they’re not coming, at the moment.” Joe smiled at this, because he was glad that the Joices wouldn’t come. (For now.)
“You’re a real professional at this Joice stuff aren’t you?” asked Brian.
“I’m pretty sure I am,” replied Joe. “Now, we gotta do something about this. We gotta feel safe for a while. And make sure the Joices can’t get us in here.”
“We could go into the basement, and board off the windows and door,” suggested Brian.
“Yeah,” said Joe. “We just need to hold in there long enough for people to get attacked a lot and take the Joices seriously.”
“Let’s go then,” said Brian. So Joe and Brian walked outside to buy their materials.
“I hope that the Joices are gone,” said Brain.
“I’m pretty sure they are,” replied Joe. They walked outside, and saw a lot of dead people, but no remaining Joices.
“Man, these Joices are so evil!” said Brian fearfully. “This is not good!”
“Just keep walking,” said Joe. So they walked on the sidewalk passing by all sorts of dead bodies and puddles of blood until they made it to the hardware store.
“We need nail guns, nails, and wooden boards,” Joe said to the man behind the counter. “Do you have it?”
“I don’t know about the wooden boards,” said the man. “But we do got nail guns and bags of nails.”
“Okay,” said Joe. “We need two nail guns and about three bags of nails.”
“Yeah, that should do it,” said Brian.
“Sure thing,” said the man. He walked away, and came back with the requested objects.
“That’ll be $46.98,” said the man. Brian took out a fifty-dollar bill and handed it to the guy.
“All right,” said the guy, taking the fifty and putting it in the cash register. “$3.02 is your change.” He handed Brian three dollars and two cents. Brian put it in his pocket.
“Thanks,” said Joe. “Do you know where we could get wooden boards?” asked Joe.
“I don’t know much about this town,” said the guy. “I moved in here last month, and I really can’t help you out.”
Joe nodded and he and Brian walked out of the store.
“I think I have some wooden boards in my basement,” said Brian.
“Well,” said Joe. “Let’s check it out then.” He suddenly had a quick vision of a Joice latched onto a little girl’s throat.
“RUN!” shouted Joe, looking at Brian. “They’re coming!” They both burst out into a sprint and ran down the sidewalk towards Brian’s house.
“Can’t we hope for them not to come?” asked Brian, panting.
“We have to be focused for that,” said Joe. “But we have to keep running so we’re not outside when they come. And there’s no use hoping then.”





Chapter 3:
Taking Action

They jetted in through Brian’s front door, shut it, and locked it. Then they headed down to the basement with their things.
Bernom, bom, bom. Bernom, bom, bom.
“They are here!” said Brian, showing Joe some wooden boards. “I knew my mom mentioned something about it!”
“Phew,” said Joe. “I thought you were talking about Joices for a second there.”
“Let’s get boarding!” said Brain. First, they started nailing the rectangular boards onto one of the windows. (There were two in the basement.) The boards were like strips, or floorboards, so they didn’t cover a whole window with just one. You needed about three. So Joe and Brian were nailing three boards up against the window.
When they were finished the third one, Joe said, “We should board off the door leading upstairs now,” said Joe. “So the Joices can’t open it like they opened the closet.” They heard a window smashing from upstairs.
“We better hurry!” said Brian worriedly. Joe nodded, and felt another feeling of dread and utter fear. They ran over to the door and started nailing boards onto it (over the cracks, so the door can’t open) in a hurry. Then they started to hear bangs on the door they were nailing. They finished off one last board, and decided to board off the final window. They ran over and nailed on the first board, and then the second. Then they put the third one in place, but before they could touch it with a nail, a Joice smashed through the window and broke the board in half, flying right into the basement. It turned and headed for Joe, but Joe jumped out of the way and it flew into the wall. Then it was dazed for a second, long enough for Brian to smash it into the wall with a wooden board. Brain picked up both halves of the broken board, and nailed one nail into the end of each, so that there was a spike (nail) sticking out for a weapon.
“You all right?” Brian asked Joe.
“I’m fine,” answered Joe, getting up. “What’s this?”
Brian handed Joe one of the weapons. “We can use these to kill the Joices easier,” said Brian.
“It’s gonna be hard to get them isn’t it?” asked Joe.
“Yeah, but we can still use them.”
Then Joe flinched. “The window!” he shouted in fear. “Cover it!” They hurriedly picked up a full board and nailed it successfully onto the window, so it was completely covered.
“Well,” said Joe. “At least now we can have some time off from the Joices and just think and explain for a while.”
“All right,” said Brian. “Explain everything to me.”
Joe thought of the best way to explain to Brian about what happen. “I was thirteen,” explained Joe. “I was lying in my bed, and my mom told me good night. She went to her room, and a Joice, the very first Joice, crashed through my window and tried to kill me. I escaped that one, but more came and managed to kill my mom. Then they left me alone. I called the cops, and they came to see what happened. They saw my dead mom, and accused me of killing her. Then they got a call from their base that they needed help immediately. So they all drove back to the Coal Police Department with me. There were Joices there and they slaughtered nearly all of the policemen. I survived along with five others. Then a year passed while I lived with my foster parents and the Joices weren’t showing up for awhile. But soon, this morning, two Joices attacked. I survived that, but my TV didn’t, and then three others attacked my foster parents. I went to help but they managed to kill the foster parents, but then they must’ve been too tired or something and I was able to survive. So I decided to take the bus outta there and I found you.”
Brian was nodding now and then through Joe’s story. “Joe Sage,” said Brian. “The first one ever to be attacked by a Joice. You are lucky to be alive. And I guess so am I. Now I know your story, want to hear mine?”
Joe looked at Brian in shock. “You have a story?” he asked.
Brian nodded.
“About Joices?”
Brian nodded again.
“Well let’s hear it!”
“Okay,” said Brian. “I was minding my own business bench pressing one-sixty in my basement, and I hear a window smash. At first I thought it was just mom dropping a dish, but then I remembered that my parents were out. So I put down my weights and went upstairs to investigate. And right when I reached the top, I thought I was hallucinating. I saw a big brick-sized winged creature with really sharp teeth flapping towards me at high-speed. My first instinct was to block it with my forearms, so I did.” (Joe winced at that last part.) “It bit right into my left forearm and didn’t let go. My next first instinct was to bash it into the wall, so I did. And I killed it. My parents got home an hour later and saw my arm bleeding. I told them that I cut myself with a knife.”
“You really follow your instincts don’t you?” asked Joe playfully. “So when did this happen?”
“About a year ago,” answered Brian. He pushed his sleeve behind his elbow and showed Joe the scar. It was about eight white lines across his forearms. Joe suspected that it was Joice teeth scraping downwards. He winced again.
“Well, you are so lucky that only one attacked you. If there were four or five, or even six, you’d be in big trouble.”
“Yeah,” said Brian. “I finally realize that. I first thought that they were pretty much weaklings, but they can put an incredible amount of damage on you! Look at my ribs!”
“I’d rather not,” said Joe, smiling. “Well, I’m glad you clued in. You really need to be careful around those Joices or they’ll kill you.”
BANG!!
Joe and Brian’s heads shot their look right at one of the windows as they heard the noise.
BANG!! BANG!! BANG, BANG, BANG!!
“Some really angry Joices are really trying to get in through that really secured window, but two ‘reallys’ beats one,” said Joe, shocked. “I think. I hope those boards hold.”
“They should,” said Brian. One of the nails on one of the boards suddenly shot out and fell to the ground. Joe gulped.
“We gotta get outta here!” he said worriedly. They got up and ran to the door, holding their boards with spikes. They placed the weapons down and started to pull on the boards that were holding the door shut. When they had two off, another nail popped out of the Joice attacked board.
“Hurry!” shouted Joe, yanking off the third. Brian pulled off the last one and they both picked up their weapon boards and ran upstairs to the kitchen.
“Now it’s time to carry out that plan I had earlier,” said Joe. They each grabbed a pillow and ran under the kitchen table. They heard a big BANG!! and a crash. Then they heard Joice screams and roars and flapping.
“Here they come,” said Joe. “The door’s open.” Joe and Brian raised their pillows as the Joices zipped around the corner and headed for the kitchen. There were six of them. They spotted the table and the people under it.
“Get ready,” said Brian. The Joices dove down and swerved straight for under the table. The first one came up to Joe and Joe blocked it perfectly. It bounced off of the pillow and flew right into the jaws of another Joice. Joe hit that one away too with the pillow and it crashed into the leg of the table, really hard. Brian had already killed two as well, so Joe and Brian dived out from the table as it crashed down onto the two remaining Joices. Joe and Brian ran up to the table and started jumping up and down on it, killing any survivors.
“We actually survived without a scratch,” said Brian. “That’s rare.”
“I know,” said Joe, smiling. “It was a good plan I guess.” Joe turned away from the puddle of blood under the table. “What now?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” said Brian.
“I think it's time for a little idea I had in mind,” said Joe, smiling.
“What idea is that?” asked Brian.
“You'll see,” said Joe, walking over to the TV and turning it on to the news channel. He sat down to watch. Brian sat down beside him.
“It looks like Joices have become the major situation at hand,” said the reporter. Joe shook is head as if saying: it's about time. “Joices have been attacking citizens from all over, and they seemed to have attacked a near by mall in Chip City. Residences are slowly dying, and not much people are surviving the dreadful Joices. We've tried to get a hold of young Joe Sage, who was at the Coal Police Department when the Joices first attacked. But we haven't been able to find young Joe, and are continuing our search. Police officers, too, have been unsuccessfully looking for this scared orphan. We really need an idea to stop this dreadful gash in life.”
“I hate when people call me an orphan,” said Joe.
“Hey man," said Brian excitedly. “You're on the news! You're name was declared on TV! You're famous!”
“Not in the exact way I plan to be,” replied Joe. “So they finally need an idea huh? Well I'll give them one!” He picked up the phone and dialled 9-1-1.
I know I didn't used to believe in phoning the cops, but I think they understand now thought Joe.
“Hello?” answered a weary cop voice.
“Hi officer,” replied Joe in a serious important voice. “I'm Joe Sage, and I have an idea to defend ourselves against the Joices!”
“JOE SAGE!” exclaimed the cop. “Hey Eddie! It's Joe Sage! He's on the phone!”
Another line picked up. “Hello,” said a serious voice. “I am officer Ed Wayne, and I'd like you to tell me where you are.”
“No time for that,” said Joe impatiently. “I need to tell you an important idea I have to defend ourselves against the Joices.”
“If you say to give everyone weapons, too bad. Tons of people came up with that one already and it's all non-sense. We ain't doing that.”
“I know, that's not my idea.”
“Oh, okay then, what is it?”
“Joice detector watches. They tell time, detect Joices, and fit easily onto your wrist. What do you think?”
“Hey, that's not a bad idea. We can tell the news people that and get some workers to create thousands of them. All we need is some Joice DNA. Now where in the world are you?”
“That doesn't really matter,” answered Joe slowly. Maybe I should hang up he thought.
“We need to put you somewhere, unless you're already under adult supervision. May I speak to your legal guardian?”
“I don't have-“ Brian tapped Joe on the shoulder and motioned for Joe to give him the phone. “Uh, okay then. One second.” He handed the phone to Brian.
Brian cleared his throat, and in a deep voice he said, “Hello, my name is Brian Mayhem, and I am his legal guardian right now.”
“But this paper says that his guardians are Tom and Sue Droozy,” said the cop. "Where are they?”
“His old foster parents?”
“Yeah.”
“They were sadly attacked by Joices and killed. Joe narrowly and luckily escaped and called me from a pay phone. I picked him up and brought him here. That was a bunch of hours ago.”
“I see sir, have a good day.”
“Good bye.”
“Bye.”
The cop hung up, and then Brian.
“That was easy,” said Brian. “All I did was lower my voice, and it was simple!”
“Well, maybe by tomorrow the idea of mine will be on the news,” replied Joe. “Let’s hope.”






Chapter 4:
The Joice-Detector Watch

The next day, Joe and Brian woke up early to watch the news. They turned it on and sat down. Brian turned it to the news channel, and then watched through the news for two hours. They were really bored, when they suddenly saw the picture of a Joice.
“Now, back to the story about Joices. The police have informed us that Joe Sage has called them and reported a brilliant idea of Joice-defense. The police told us that building a Joice-detector watch will help prevent deaths. It detects Joices five minutes before a Joice attacks, so you can prepare or hide. They are being sold everywhere for an average price of $25.00 each.
“But the mystery of Joice attacks is that the survivors reported that they heard an eerie low-beat sound around five seconds before every Joice attack. We don’t know if this is a fact, or a coincidence, but every survivor of a Joice attack has agreed that they heard a strange sound.”
“See!” exclaimed Joe, looking at Brian. “Do you believe me that the music was because the Joices are coming in about five seconds??”
“Yes,” said Brian. “I believed you about that already.”
They focused on the news again.
“We are going to take a short brake but we’ll be back to you after this commercial to talk about possibilities of the largest massacre yet!”
It went to a commercial and it had a fake Joice on strings chasing a woman down an alleyway. More fake Joices appeared on the other side and as soon as she was about to be brutally gashed to death by claws and teeth of bloodthirsty cold-blooded ruthless Joices, the screen went black and it showed a watch. A cool watch. A watch with blue straps and a green middle section. The screen of the watch (where usually the time is) glowed red. A voice in the background said, “Have Joices got you worried about an attack on you? Are you scared they’ll come unexpectedly when you’re not prepared? Well Joe Sage has come up with an idea to BE prepared. Buy the Joice-detector watch! It tells time normally, but when it senses a Joice coming, the watch says ‘what’s up?”. Then you know the Joices are coming and you’ll be prepared! The watch detects it averagely around five minutes before the attack, so be prepared!”
“Well, my idea is a success,” said Joe hopefully. “For now.”
“I’m sure it’ll do great,” said Brian. Joe turned off the TV and went into the kitchen. He sat there and got lost in thought. He was thinking about what his future was going to turn out like. But his thoughts were interrupted by a vision. He saw a dozen Joices swoop down and carry off a girl on the sidewalk. He looked outside the kitchen window out on the sidewalk, and sure enough, there was a girl skipping towards her house.
“Oh for crying out loud!” shouted Joe.
“What?” asked Brian as Joe sped to the door.
Joe swung it open and yelled, “Get outta here!” The girl looked at him awkwardly. “Quick, RUN! THE JOICES ARE COMING! GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE AND FIND SOME BLOODY SHELTER BEFORE YOU GET TORN TO SHREDS!”
The girl screamed and started to run as soon as Joe got to “COMING!”
“What was that about?” asked Brian, getting up.
“I saw a vision of a girl being attacked by Joices,” replied Joe.
“Man, Joices are showing up too much lately!” complained Brian. “Can’t we get a week’s break from them?!”
They suddenly heard a scream from outside. Joe looked out the window and saw the girl running back up towards Brian’s house.
“Oh crap,” said Joe. “My vision’s about to come true, she’s heading this way with Joices on her tail!” Joe opened the door and went outside.
“HELP!” screamed the little girl. Joe ran toward her, to meet her halfway. A Joice suddenly chomped onto her hair, and some more on her arms. Right before Joe was able to reach her, she was lifted from the ground and up into the sky. The little girl was screaming and crying. Joe picked up a big rock and chucked it up at the Joices but missed.
“NO!” shouted Joe. “LET GO OF HER!” But then, she slipped from the Joices’ teeth bleeding heavily in the arms and losing lots of hair. “Whoa!” Joe said to himself quickly. He ran underneath her with his arms out and she landed right into his arms, and he fell over onto his back, breaking her fall.
“Are you all right?” asked Joe.
She didn’t answer.
“This isn’t good,” Joe said to himself. Brian came running over.
“What happened?” called Brian.
“Some Joices lifted her up and dropped her, but I caught her,” answered Joe. The girl’s head was bleeding. “She doesn’t look so good.”
“Kaylie!” called a woman from far away. “Come in for dinner, where are you?”
“That might be where she lives,” said Brian.
“Let’s hope, we should bring her there,” replied Joe. Joe got up, still holding “Kaylie” in his arms. They walked to the house where the woman called. Brian knocked on the door.
The woman opened the door and screamed. “What happened to my poor baby Kaylie?!” she exclaimed. “Who did this?!”
“She was attacked by Joices Ma’am,” said Joe seriously. “They lifted her 20 feet in the air by the arms and hair and dropped her. I was lucky to be there as she fell, I caught her and prevented her from possible death. I heard her screams as the Joices were chasing her, so I tried to save her, but the Joices got her and took her into the air. She should probably get to the hospital.”
“Oh my gosh,” replied the lady, who was in shock. “Is, is she alive?”
“She might be unconscious or in shock, but I’m pretty sure she’s alive,” answered Joe.
“How did you know she lived here?”
“Well, we assumed she did when you called her in for dinner.”
“Oh,” she said, taking her daughter. “Well thank you very much, I’m so glad you were there. What can I do to repay you?”
“Just keep safe,” said Brian, trying to put a good impression on her like Joe did.
She smiled, waved, and shut the door. Joe and Brian looked at each other, and headed back home.

*

No Joices attacked them after that that day. But the next day, Joe and Brian decided to buy some Joice Detector Watches just to fit in.
“If we buy some, you’ll know when they’re coming too!” said Joe, excited that his idea was a success.
So they walked to the average market store with money. They picked out Joice-Detector Watches from the shelf in which was almost out of stock. They brought it up to the counter and put it on the top.
“Two Joice-Detector watches please,” said Brian.
“They’re six dollars each…” said the storeowner beeping them through. “Plus tax is six ninety, that comes to thirteen dollars and eighty cents. Thank you.”
“Pricey, huh?” said Brian, paying the man and taking the watches.
They walked home and sat on the couch to think. The phone rang. Joe decided to get it, so he walked over and picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Hi. Is this Joe Sage?”
“Yes it is. Who’s speaking?”
“This is the School Board of Chip City. Now that you’re a new resident here, we want to make sure you’re going to attend school. School starts in two weeks, as it always starts in September. You are required to attend school.”
“Well how do I get into school? What school do I go to?”
“How old are you?”
“I’m fourteen, I turn fifteen next year on June 13th.”
“Haven’t you been in school before?”
“My mom got me into schools, and my foster parents, but I’ve never done it.”
“Your legal guardian should know. Where’s he or she?”
“I doubt he knows how to. He’s not that old.”
“A legal guardian has to be an adult you know?”
“He’s an adult. He just became one. He’s my best friend.”
“I see. We’ll send you registration papers. I believe you’ll be going into high school. You’ll need to choose your courses.”
“Ma’am, what if I don’t want to go to school?”
“That’s not an option. You are required to go to school!”
“Fine, calm down, I understand, don’t have a cow now! Just send the papers!” Then he hung up. “What a spaz,” he commented to Brian.
“Oh well. Most serious school board women are like that,” replied Brian.
“Man, I have to go to High School this year,” said Joe nervously.
“Oh, don’t worry about that, it’s easy in grade nine, just make sure you choose the applied classes, not academic,” replied Brian.
“What’s the difference?” asked Joe.
“For all the courses that involve brain power like English, math, geography, and subjects like that you can choose to take the course in applied or academic,” explained Brian. “Applied is easier and academic is harder. But the courses like gym and tech and art are ‘open’ and are always the same skill level. Just make sure you choose applied for all the classes that have a choice.”
“I see,” said Joe, understanding. “Did you do that, and pass everything?”
“Yes, in fact I did,” said Brian. “Trust me, it’ll be easy.”
“Okay then,” replied Joe.
Suddenly, the Joice-Detector watch spoke up.
What’s up? What’s up?
“Uh-oh,” said Joe calmly. “I think that means Joices are coming.”
“Or it could mean all the Joices are dead and the world is saved,” laughed Brian.
“Keep dreaming,” replied Joe. Then he saw it. He saw a vision of Joices gnawing at Brian’s throat, blood everywhere.
“Brian, be very careful,” said Joe.
“What’s the matter?”
“Joices are gonna attack soon, so we’ve got to hide, or think of a plan.”
“Let’s do both!” replied Brian, heading for the closet. Joe followed and ran to the closet.
“Brian,” said Joe. “Maybe you should put something around your neck. Maybe a scarf or something.”
“We don’t have enough time now,” disagreed Brian. “The Joices will get us if we leave.”
“Anyway, I have somewhat of an idea of what’s happening. The Joices attacked me last year, and had a huge raid on the Police Department in Coal city. They took a break for an entire year after only managing one major raid. Suddenly, they’re back again and attacking way more frequently. Plus, they’re attacking in Chip city now. They’re not attacking much anywhere else, but they’re going crazy here in Chip city. Don’t you think it’s too much of a coincidence that they’re always around me?”
“Actually yes,” replied Brian, thinking about it. “I did get attacked last year, but by only one. I hid the Joice’s body and cleaned the walls. In Capital city, Joices weren’t even mentioned on the news. Meaning that I was most likely the only one to get attacked, or the only one to survive an attack. Why do you think one Joice would attack me and no one else would survive? If not that, why would nobody else get attacked?”
“I think you have a point,” agreed Joe. “Was it coincidence that we were attacked, or was it fate that we met each other?”
“And what about the whole year off part?” asked Brian. “What’s that all about?”
“I may sound crazy,” said Joe. “But I think they might have been planning this out. They sent minor attacks to me and you to figure out our weaknesses, and sent a major one on the Police Department to figure out a Police Force’s weaknesses. And I guess the weaknesses that the Joices came up with is that there’s better strength in numbers.”
“And that’s why they waited a year,” said Brian, finishing off Joe’s sentence. “They were somewhat building an army. But why would they do this?”
“Something’s not right,” said Joe. “Why were we the only ones to be attacked, and why did we happen to meat each other? It definitely couldn’t be a coincidence, and if it’s not, than what the hell is the reason?”
“I just don’t know,” admitted Brian, shaking his head.
“And how the hell did Joices exist?!” Joe exclaimed. Right after he said that, as if on cue, they heard a noise.
Bernom, bom, bom. Bernom, bom, bom.
“Crap,” muttered Brian. “Joe, this is not good.”
“It’s worse than you think,” replied Joe. “Why didn’t the watch detect this?” He looked at his watch, and saw that it said 4:59. “It’s not 4:59,” he complained. He pressed the reset button just as they heard flapping coming into the house. Joe and Brian suddenly fell silent.
The Joices were angrily flapping and roaring. After a while, the flaps and roars stopped. Joe slowly opened the door and noticed that there were no more Joices to be seen.
“We really have to be careful,” said Joe. Brian was behind him, and Joe was looking out the window. For some reason Joe had an immense feeling of dread in his heart. He suddenly had a frightful idea and swung right around as fast as he could. He saw a Joice heading for Brian from behind him. Brian turned around in alarm from the sound of flapping. The only thing Joe could think to do was to swing his arm around Brian’s neck from behind as if he was in a chokehold, but for protection. Joe felt the Joice bite his elbow and he lost the feeling in his forearm. His arm fell from around Brian’s neck and the Joice was chewing on Joe’s forearm. The next thing Joe knew was that Brian had slammed a piece of wood with a nail in it right into the Joice’s head, killing it instantly.
Joe and Brian were in shock. “You saved my life,” said Brian. “How’d you know it was going for my throat?”
“I had a vision earlier,” replied Joe. “Before we went into the closet. I saw a Joice tearing your throat open.”
Brian rubbed his throat with his fingers. “Now I know why you told me to wear a scarf. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to get you into a panic,” explained Joe. Then he winced in severe pain and was clutching his elbow.
“Are you all right?” asked Brian, looking really concerned. “Your elbow looks absolutely hideous!”
Joe chuckled quietly. “I can’t feel my forearm at all,” answered Joe. “Nor can I move it in any way. Plus, my elbow’s hurting more than ever. It’s throbbing as if there’s a huge heart in my elbow.”
“That seriously can’t be good,” replied Brian, looking extremely concerned. “We should really get that looked at.”
“Just as long as it’s not that annoying interrupting nurse that I had to escape from that one time,” said Joe, trying to smile. “By the way, we need to set this watch. What time is it?”
“It’s-“
I’m fine, I’m fine.
Joe and Brian stared at the watch in complete confusion. “Did the watch just tell us it was fine?” asked Brian, scratching his head. “I knew this watch could detect Joices, but the ad never said anything about them talking.”
“It couldn’t have been socially talking to us,” replied Joe, examining the watch. “’I’m fine’ must mean something. Was there a manual or something that came with the watch?”
“Actually there was,” answered Brian, shoving his hand into his pocket and pulling out a small crumpled booklet. He opened it and started reading it in his head. “I don’t think it says anything about the ‘I’m fine’ thing,” said Brian, shaking his head in disappointment. “It tells us what all the buttons mean, and that when the watch says ‘what’s up’ it means that Joices will attack soon. There’s nothing in here about ‘I’m fine’ or about the watch being able to talk.”
Joe grabbed the booklet. “Obviously the watch can’t talk,” said Joe in annoyance. “I already knew that.” He read the whole thing and threw in to the floor. “Something is very strange. This watch might be malfunctioning or something. It did forget to say what’s up last time the Joices attacked.”
Brian looked at Joe awkwardly. “How’s your elbow doing?”
Suddenly Joe breathed in sharply and grabbed his elbow. “Ouch!” he said. “I can move it now, but it really hurts when I do.” He walked over to the sink in the kitchen and washed all the blood away.
“I think you’ll need bandages on that, too,” said Brian. “Speaking of bandages, how’s your other arm doing?”
“It doesn’t hurt,” replied Joe. He took the bandages off his former injury and the bleeding had stopped and was almost a giant scab. “Wow, it’s healing already. Amazing, huh? That wound was huge and deep!”
“That’s really strange,” said Brian suspiciously.
“A lot of things are strange lately,” replied Joe, drying off his elbow and getting more bandages. “Remember in the ambulance?”
Brian nodded. “Do you think we should upgrade our weapons?” he asked. “And get something better than this board with a nail? This thing only works if the Joice is holding still, like when it was latched on to your elbow.”
“Maybe we should pay a visit to the CPD,” suggested Joe. “Get ourselves some protection for a while to think things over.”
Brian just shook his head. “No,” he said firmly. “No, no, definitely not. The police won’t just welcome you inside and give you a gun. You know what they’ll do? They’ll set you up in a goddamn orphanage, that’s what they’ll do. We are not that desperate, and we’re not going to take such a desperate measure!”
“All right,” said Joe. “Fine, calm yourself. I have a better idea. We should find a building, lock all the doors, block all the windows, and survive.”
“We tried that in my basement already,” refused Brian. “Boarded windows don’t hold Joices out.”
“I’m not talking about boarded windows. I’m talking about something close to a bomb shelter.”
“And where are we going to find something like that?”
“Nowhere by ourselves,” hinted Joe. “We’ll get help. We’ll gather survivors and work together as a team to defend the ultimate Fort.”
“And we shall call it: Fort Sage!” joked Brian. “Look, I doubt that this’ll work.”
“Well it’s the only plan we’ve got,” said Joe. “We’ll do it about a week after I start school, so I can get to know the other kids and learn more about this city.”
“That’s a pretty good idea,” said Brian.
Joe and Brian settled down for a couple hours, and it was getting late. They were watching TV, ignoring the messed up house, and trying to clear their minds for the time being.
Joe noticed his watch, and saw the time was 4:02. “I still need to set this watch,” said Joe. “It keeps slipping my mind.”
“I don’t think time’s very important right now,” said Brian. “The watch is meant for detecting Joices.”
“It always helps to know the time,” said Joe playfully. He reset the watch and instantly had a vision when he did. He saw the watch on his wrist and it said, “I’m fine, I’m fine.”
“Brian,” said Joe. “Brian, I just had a vision!”
“Holy hell!” complained Brian. “Those damn Joices!” He jumped to his feet.
“No, no,” said Joe. “Don’t worry, it wasn’t about Joices this time. It was about the watch. It said the ‘I’m fine’ thing again right after I reset it.”
“Didn’t you reset your watch during the last attack?” asked Brian. Joe nodded. “And then when the Joices were gone it said I’m fine.”
“Maybe it says I’m fine when the Joices are clear,” suggested Joe. “And only when you reset your watch…” he trailed off and thought for a second. He suddenly remembered that the watch said 4:59 when he reset it during the Joice attack, and 4:02 when he reset it this time. “When you reset your watch during four, maybe. Because both times were at four o’clock.”
“Or maybe it’s if you reset it before five o’clock,” suggested Brian. “The whole superstitious bit. Your dad died when you were five, there’s a relation there.”
“Brian you’re a genius!” said Joe. “Not about the second part, but I bet you’re right! If we reset the watch before five, maybe Joices won’t attack as often.” He quickly set the alarm for 4:55. “Now I’ll remember to reset it.”
“Joe, I was just kidding,” replied Brian. “You don’t actually think that, do you?”
“I know this sounds crazy, (Brian nodded) but yes, I do think so. Last time I reset it they haven’t attacked since.”
“Hello! They were attacked when you did it. Remember what they did to your elbow?”
“That attack already started, though,” argued Joe. “Plus, all but one of the Joices left. The watch may be driving them off a bit when it’s reset before five. But it’s not perfect, meaning some Joices will still attack, but not as many.”
“Or,” said Brian. “That was a coincidence, and resetting the watch does crap-all.”
“My visions are not coincidences!” he yelled, and suddenly the watch went I’m fine. I’m fine. Joe raised his eyebrows at Brian. “No Joices,” he assured him.

(Chapter five will be on a separate item)