Beginning Draft

The following story is one that I am writing mainly for a few close friends of mine, but anyone is welcome to read it and leave comments.

This story is based on the assumption that the "End of Days" will begin during the Winter Solstice, in the year 2012. Nostradamus predicted that in the end of days, the dead will walk the earth with the living, and will devour living flesh. The ancient Mayans' calendar ended on the Winter Solstice of 2012... if the calendar ends... couldn't that symbolize the End of Days? Nostradamus' predictions state that mankind will perish in either 3786 or 3797, which he refers to as the "End of the World", not the End of Days, so perhaps mankind will persevere until then...

That said, let us begin...





"Hey Amber? Mind if I grab some ice cream from downstairs?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen.

"I guess not, but don't take too much, we're almost out. Claire hasn't even had any yet," replied Amber, who was lying on her couch in the living room.

"Ok, sure," I said as I opened the cellar door and descended the stairs. "I hate it down here..." I said to myself as I glanced into the dark, deserted bedroom beneath the stairs. I walked the short distance to the freezer, and opened it. I grabbed the first tub of ice cream I saw, and hastily returned upstairs.

"God I hate it down there. I always expect something to be waiting down there to get me. And why is the light switch all the way across the room down there? It's safer to face the darkness!" I exclaimed as I got a bowl and spoon from the cupboard, and began to dish out ice cream.

"Claire, you want some while I'm at it?"

"Not yet, put it in the fridge-freezer and I'll get it later," she replied, not looking away from her computer.My name is Erika. Claire and Amber are my two best friends, and live together in Claire's house. I've known them since junior high, so... for twelve years now. I met them in the year 2000, and it's now 2012. We've been best friends ever since the start. I am attending university, and am in the middle of an 8 year program. This year however, I am taking a term off, to relax, and am living with Claire and Amber.

"Wanna play something?" Amber asked, not looking up from the game she was playing.

"Sure! I can play and eat." I replied and picked up a controller. We started playing, and were soon zoned into the game, not paying much attention to anything else. Time slowly passed, and we switched games from time to time. This was the optimum way to spend my year off: lounging around playing video games, not worrying about anything else.

After a while I decided to give my eyes a break and take a short walk outside to stretch my legs.
"Hey you two, I'm just going to go outside for a minute to get rid of the cramps in my legs, I'll be right back," I said as I stood up from my personal couch and handed Claire my controller.

"Alright, but it's getting dark out, so don't take too long. This area gets kinda creepy at night," Claire responded as she took a seat and prepared to play the game. I put on my sneakers and trenchcoat and walked outside, making sure to close the doors behind me so that no kittens would escape into the night.
As I walked down from the front steps of Claire's house, I stopped to gaze at the red sky made by the sunset. "Hmmm... does that mean it's going to be good weather tomorrow? Or does it mean that it will be bad out tomorrow...? Good weather, that's right! I can never keep that straight," I spoke softly to myself to avoid getting nervous, and also to keep my mind from wandering to places where it would surely result in me panicking and getting freaked out over nothing. I'm not very fond of being all alone, especially after dusk.

After walking about on the short grass of the lawn for some time, the dew began to seep into my sneakers. Soon I felt the unsatisfying feeling of having one's shoes become waterlogged. So I decided to go back indoors before I got sick with a cold.

"That didn't take you long," Amber chuckled when I returned. "What's it like out there?"

"Well, the sun is just going down for the night, and the dew is setting in early tonight. I would guess that it's a few degrees below the freezing point mark, but it's probably not, since the dew isn't frozen, which is still quite normal for this time of year. Speaking of which, today is the first official day of Winter, December 21! There are some strong gusts of wind, but not strong enough to cause any damages or to deserve worry." I replied, trying to imitate the voice of a television weatherman.

"Did you two hear anything just now?" Claire asked nervously as I finished my report.

"Don't think so," Amber replied. "after all, over the sound of Erika preaching the weather, and the noises of this game, I doubt we could hear anything outside."

"Well, I think I did... could you two come with me to check it out? It sounded like a gun shot!"

"It was probably just in the game, but I'll go with you," I replied as I put down my controller. Amber remained on the couch while Claire and I went outside to investigate. We walked slowly and cautiously around Claire's medium-sized house, but found nothing. "It feels like it's colder than when I was out here just a few minutes ago. We might be in for a cold night. Look, I don't see anything, so, can we go back inside now?"

"I know I heard something..." Claire said quietly as we rounded the corner of the house and prepared to head back inside. "Wait, look! George's door is open... uhhh... can you go check it out?"

"Why me? You're the paranoid one here!" I exclaimed and threw Claire a skeptical look. George is Claire's neighbour.

"Remember? George hates me, and he hates Amber, but he doesn't know you well, so he'll be nicer to you. So just go check it out, will you? Then we can go back inside."

"Alright fine, whatever," I said, somewhat annoyed by now. I walked across the short lawn to George's house and climbed his front steps. "Hello? George? Are you there?" I waited for an answer, but only heard the soft noise of a television in the background. I knocked loudly on the door, but again there was no answer. I yelled across to Claire, who was waiting patiently near her house. "Claire? He's not coming to the door! Should I just, close the door and come back? Or do I go in?"

"... knock and go in I guess. What if he's in trouble?" Claire yelled in return.

"Ok, but if he freaks out at me, I'm blaming it on you!" I yelled as I entered the house. I had never been inside of George's house before, and had kind of hoped I never would have had to. I continued to call to him as I explored his house, which was about the same size as Claire's. As I reached George's bedroom, and opened the door, I turned and ran out of the house at what I saw. As I emerged into the daylight I screamed. "Claire!! Claire come quick! George's in trouble! Get in here!" Claire hesitated for a moment, then ran as fast as she could toward me and George's home. We ran inside and made our way to the bedroom, where George was lying on the floor... dead.

"Wh... what.. what happened to him? Why is he... Oh my God..." Claire stammered as she looked on in horror. George was lying on the floor, almost unrecognizable, a look of pure horror on his face. Blood covered the room.

"I don't know Claire.... I just don't know... it looks like he's been attacked by an animal, like a pitbull or something... there's blood everywhere..." I replied, then something even more terrifying came upon me. I spun around in shock and exclaimed, "Claire! We left Amber alone in your house! We have to get back to her! Come on!" Claire was still facing the body on the floor, staring in disbelief. She slowly turned and followed me, silently. We ran to Claire's house, where the door was open. "Did we leave the door open Claire?" I asked as we approached the building.

"I.. I don't think so," Claire replied, as she regained her senses. We hurried inside, where we saw Amber trying to capture one of Claire's kittens to prevent her from going outside.

"Could you please close the door? The wind blew it open." Amber yelled to us. I closed the door and ran to the phone. "Who are you calling in such a hurry?" she asked.

"The police..." I said as I picked up the phone.

"What?! Why? What did you two find out there?"

"Amber... George is... dead...," Claire said solemnly.

"...what happened? How is he dead?"

"He was attacked... we're not sure by what. That's why I'm calling the police... listen you two, whoever... or whatever... killed George is probably still in the area. Amber, I need to you secure the doors... that means going downstairs. Take your metal pole from your couch and be careful." I said, then turned to face Claire.

"Claire, I need you to make sure that all the windows are closed... and try to cover them all over with something, like a blanket, so no one can see inside the house."

"I'm on it," Claire replied as she started down the hall. By now Amber was returning from the livingroom, with a 5-foot metal pole in her hands. Amber always kept that pole under the couch cushions, just in case.

"Be careful you two. I'm going to call for help, then I'll join you downstairs Amber. We should block that door somehow." I said as I dialed 911. Within a few seconds an automated voice system picked up.

'Thank you for calling our emergency response unit. Please use your phone to answer the following questions, so that we can help you as best as possible. If your emergency involves a fire, please press one... if your emergency involves poison of some sort, please press two... if your emergency involves a death or someone who is in danger of dying, please press three...' I pressed the three key quickly on Claire's phone. 'Please hold while you are forwarded to the police.'

"Oh my God!" I yelled in frustration. "This is so
much slower than it used to be! Back when we could actually talk to real operators!"

'Thank you for waiting. Unfortunately, all of our emergency response units are offline at this time. Please record a message, including your name, phone number, and the nature of your emergency, and we will contact you as soon as one of our teams becomes available.' I proceeded to tell my name and Claire's phone number into the system. I then gave a quick rundown of our situation, then hung up the phone. I ran into the living room and grabbed Claire's decorative katana from behind my couch, and then went downstairs to help Amber.

"Are they on their way then?" Amber asked as I came into view.

"...no... no one's coming... all of their emergency units are offline... we're on our own... now let's get this door blocked." I replied and looked around for anything heavy we could use.

"How about the clothes washer and dryer? those are heavy." Amber suggested.

"Ok good idea. We'll put the washer against the door, and the dryer right behind it. Then we can turn the freezer sideways and it will stretch from the door to the opposite wall. Those three machines in a line should be long enough to make it to the wall," I replied. We then proceeded to set up our barricade. When we were finished, we returned to the main floor, where Claire was already finished with the windows. "Nicely done Claire. Did you get the windows in the spare room too?"

"Yea, I got them all. And I pulled my couch up further so it is blocking the front door in the living room, "She replied.

"Good thinking. Is there a way to lock the main door?" I asked.

"Already took care of that too," Claire said smiling at how she had thought ahead.

"Ok then... I'm out of ideas... what should we do now?" I asked as I took a seat in the living room.

"Hmm... how about we move mom's television into
the livingroom so we can keep it on the news?" Amber suggested.

"Why would we want the news?" Claire asked.

"Well, Erika said that all the emergency units are offline... I figure we should keep the news on to find out why. But we'll also need something to keep us occupied tonight. So we'll use the big T.V. to play games or watch movies... I'd say it's a safe bet that none of us will be able to sleep tonight after what's happened." Amber said as she walked down the hall.