Dream of the Dead

David woke to the dreaded alarm clock. Grabbing his smokes he shuts the God damn thing off, puts a cigarette to his lips, lights it. Inhaling deeply he sits up and exhales, slowly. A cloud of smoke creates a haze in the early morning light. A tough day is in front of him, a few days ago Davids sister was killed in car accident. He had seen her mangled body. Puffing on his cigarette he thought about what had happened to Lisa, she was always so cautious. She was killed when a cop hit her car while pursuing a stolen car. Needless to say the car thief got away that day, and the cop. David was the only family Lisa had. They were close but hadn’t seen each other for several years. He put out his cigarette, stood up and stretched, then walked to the bathroom. He couldn’t help his thoughts being consumed by Lisa’s death but he had problems of his own that would have to wait.

Arriving at the funeral home David hesitated, he smoked before going in. David took a flask from his jacket pocket and drank a generous amount of the swill he always carries. He knew they would be there, associates he had pulled a few jobs with, childhood friends. It wasn’t long before David saw Billy, a very big man, ringleader of a group of low level criminals so called friends. David knew that things wouldn’t get out of hand today, not on this day. They were all there to say goodbye to Lisa. There were so many people David didn’t know, they started approaching David with their condolences. He had thoughts of getting out of there. Lisa is dead, she’s not coming back, he thought.

The day was dark and grey, an uneasiness in the air. David had that feeling he gets when doing a job or sensing that something isn't quite right. He watched as the pallbearers carried Lisa to her grave. The funeral was a brief, a short sermon. David was glad to have it behind him and wanted to get away from there as quick as he could. He knew that Billy would want to talk.

As David headed to his car, Billy caught up with him. Billy asked David where he had stashed the money. David wouldn't tell him just yet, he wanted to stay alive. They had pulled a job together a few months back and were nearly caught. David had hidden the money until everything died down, he felt it hadn't. The ground began to shake beneath their feet. They looked around the cemetery to see what was going on and saw very peculiar things. The earth began to move, creatures, things not quite of this world, the dead were rising. People ran for their cars, some being ripped apart and eaten. David couldn't believe what he was seeing. Reaching for his .38 concealed under his jacket he froze for just a second, he knew how to keep it together. David knew that Billy and the others would be armed. A mob of grotesque, decaying, dead people were coming their way and David and the others knew what they were after. David raises his gun and begins shooting.