Walking Disasters and Me-A Frightful Night – Ch 93

Walking Disasters and Me-A Frightful Night – Ch 93

My eyes shoot open to the sound of rusted metal, hinges sounding like they've never been oiled in their life as a door loudly protests its way open somewhere nearby. I gasp as I take in the space around me, a small flickering oil lamp hanging off a snarled hook barely illuminating the several dangling chains and sickles that fall to from the ceiling like icicles off a roof in winter. The floor below me is old and rotten, planks of damp wood and the smell of decay permeating the stale, iron-tinted air as I shakily stand up, my head colliding painfully with one of the clawed ends of metal lying in wait for me.
I hiss and rub my head, finding a wet splotch where the throbbing pain now waves from, like a dull and present beat of a drum that only adds to my harried emotions and mind. I move closer to the light, noticing a similarly water-rotted closed door to the side of the stationary light, and start to inspect myself, to try and figure out what the hell is going on. I look down, my body present in the light just enough to notice worn and tattered jeans, old sneakers with fraying threads of fabric laces barely holding firm as they secure them to my feet. A ripped in the middle band t-shirt, though the name is mercurial and faded, the exposed skin of my stomach chilling in the growingly cold sensation that I am lost in more ways than one right now.
My heartbeat rapidly increases in my chest as I examine my arms, noticing scratch marks and freshly healed lines of dried blood from this point or that, the implication heavy and foreign to me as my memory offers no salvation. No indication of how those marks got there or where I am. Another witch's cry of an opening door echoes into the dead atmosphere of the room -
closer
this time - before sound again retreats into silence, my breath coming in quick as the fear of discovery settles into me. I don't know
why
I would be scared to be found, I sure as
shit
need help right now, but something deep and primal in me screams to not let whoever is trapsing the world outside this door to find me here. At least, not without a weapon.
With shaky and sweaty palms, I do my best to remain silent as I pluck ancient lighting tool from its gnarled resting place, easing it off the flaky metal as I begin to bob and weave my fragile steps through the tentacles of chains around me. I barely notice the discoloration underneath every drooping metal stalactite, dark and seeping into every fibrous beam of the boards below them.
Blood
. I feel my chest tighten, eyes going stark wide as I nearly fumble the only source of protection from the encroaching darkness, my mind reeling and screaming in untold dangerous and scenarios as I hear another signal of life outside my own twisted entrapment.
The shrill whine of yet another complaining barrier being opened, silence, and then...
footsteps
. Slow, plodding. Dragging and off kilter. Several of them.
Dozens
. Low groans start to bleed their way through the cacophony of their stilted march, off tune, guttural, and raspy. Like they are in constant pain, moaning out the injustice of their fates. Or simply too far gone to still the trembling breath in their lungs. With renewed purpose, the creeping claws of fear gripping my heart and lungs in a vice, I turn back to my growingly suffocating enclosure, desperation filling me as I search for any means to defend myself from... whoever is outside.
Whatever
is outside...
My eyes finally land upon a table at the end of the room, just underneath a pane of fogged glass that seems to be
just
too small for me to try and escape through going by my large chest and wide hips. Cursing my
bountiful
anatomy, I rush over as quietly as I can, dodging the sure to give me away alarms of the chains before I finally reach my destination, relief flooding through me at my discovery. A machete, simple and hand crafted by the looks of things, but still metal and sharp.
I pick it up, the slight scratching of its blade against the table as I do so making me stop dead in my tracks. I close my eyes and listen, facing away from the door as my blood pounds its rushing pace in my ears, heart flooding icy cold liquid through my veins. But, again to my relief, I don't hear anything coming from outside the room...
Wait
...
Just when I turn to look back towards the door, dozens of grasping, decayed hands showing bone and falling tendons of flesh pierce through its flimsy structure in a crash of violence, melting faces of flesh behind them snarl with gnashing teeth, screaming out in a mindless concert of animalistic anger. And
hunger
.
I can't help but scream, dropping the oil lantern to the floor in a panic as I grip the machete with both hands, my body shaking just as violently as these... these...
Zombies
. In an instant, I recognize the word, my fear flipping on itself and then compounding as I realize I am locked in a room, my only exit now completely ripped from me like my flesh will soon be as the horde finally finishes breaching the barrier of the entry way. They spill out over themselves, the first few to make it through the threshold toppling down and getting trampled by the dozens more that seek to feast upon my life.
Paralyzed by fear, holding the machete in front of me like my last hope of salvation, I scream into the rotted halls wordlessly, the first of the walking dead having nearly reached my position as rattling chains sway behind it while I was lost in a panic at their terrifying sight. Just when it looks like the lead zombie will take its first bite, my shaking arms failing to follow the commands of my brain to raise the weapon and kill it as its yellowed and hollowed out teeth are revealed by its ever-widening maw, a new sound breaks into the chaos.
The rapid and loud series of pop-pop-pop-pops that are utterly familiar to me, their sound arresting the zombies' attentions as the back line gets mowed down in sprays of clotted and already dead ichor. Feral screams sound into the space as the majority of them turn to face this new threat, but the closest one to me merely turns back around and lunges again with outstretched hands and hungry, faded eyes. I scream again as I do the only thing I can think of and kick the monster square in its hollowed-out chest, the force of my impact sending it flying and exploding through the warped wood of the walls as well as a few of its other risen counterparts.
I stare bewildered at the sight, until something clicks in my mind once again, and I realize who and what I am. I'm
Amelia "Aims" Dufort
, and I won't take no
shit
from some B-list Hollywood monsters!! The machete turns into my favored weapon, the dual winged spear, as I charge the freshly turned around zombies with a yell of defiance. I cleave six in half with a single swipe of the spear, the echoing gunfire hailing down its fury from the other side of the massed monsters as I twirl and devote myself to dispatching the rest of these goopy undead fucks.
The room becomes painted in fresh carnage to match the old I had found, entrails and body parts strewn in a chaotic medley as I twist and stab. Twirl and hook. Punch and kick. Mutilated body parts wetly slapping the ground until finally, the agonized groans of these poor mother fuckers are silent once and for all. With a few recovering breaths, my adrenaline still spiking like crazy, I hear the sound of footsteps yet again. But this time, they are uniform, and seemingly from a singular person. Someone wearing boots or some other heavy footwear, as the steps are loud and determined as they echo along the haunted halls of the building we're in.
On principle, I flip the spear up into a neutral stance, tip pointed directly toward whoever is going to come through the door. Even if they
are
my savior, I've seen enough horror movies through covered eyes to know you
never
to trust the first person who offers you help. Either they're about to get
ganked
, or they're
going
to gank
you
in act three, and I'm not
getting ganked
, got it!?!
Rambling mania aside, I lie in wait for the newcomer / savior, my heartbeat thudding loudly in my chest before a single, feminine hand waves briefly in the empty space of the destroyed doorway. "Hey~! If you're still alive in there, don't like, shoot or stab me~! I'm friendly I swear! Okay, I'm coming in now!"
The voice is as familiar as it is heavenly, my spear clanging to the ground in a loud of metal and wood as I fall to my knees, my clothes splooshing into the still wet floorboards curtesy of my recent dismembering campaign. The most
radiant
being of my life, even if I didn't understand it fully when we were together, walks slowly into view, her chestnut brown hair curling softly in a high ponytail, her eyes made of the deepest pools of honey scanning the room before landing on my own, widening as they do. Her curvy figure hemmed in by a tight, white shirt which shows off her breasts underneath a large, spiked leather jacket, red woolen armbands adorning her wrists as her waist holds up a pair of faded navy blue jeans with a spiked belt from Hot Topic. Boots, heavy in make and black in color, also are adorned in spikes along the sides, as well as the tips of the toe, the laces equally midnight and tightly secured and fastened to her shin.
I look back up to take in the finer details of my sister, the smudges of dirt on her face mixed with camo paint - two heavy black bars, roughly two fingers wide, underneath her eyes on her cheeks - the wrap of cloth around one of her pale yet muscled arms that holds a fading yet unmistakable blotch of red where a wound lies underneath, a pair of thick biker goggles resting atop her head, the strap underneath her ponytail securing the lenses. She holds a rifle, an M4 Carbine if my brain is working correctly, and saddled at her hip is a machete like I had found as well as a Beretta M9 in a pistol holder.
She seems to reach the same realization as me, rushing to my side as she jumps and maneuvers her way past the rotting corpses of the undead, their putrid stench all waving away as she kneels down and wraps me in the warmest, most crushing hug I've ever had in my life. "Sandra..." I whisper out against the side of her face, half in disbelief and half in awe, my heart screaming and bounding with joy as my soul spins in a prismatic kaleidoscope light. Her sweaty and gun smoked but still unique to her scent filling my mind, her charming laugh as she nestles next to my ear, her easy strength that keeps my growingly limp body vertical, all of it threatening to overwhelm me as we lock in rapturous embrace.
I nearly break down and cry, the tangible, real weight of my lost sister pressing into me once again, the constant toll of having her broken inside of me, desperate to try and fix. The plaguing memories and moments of realization that she was trying to show me something more, trying to tell me how she felt, yet I could not see, crashing into me. The fucked-up situation we're in being the only thing keeping me grounded enough to just bask in all of those feelings, all of her heavenly body as she presses into me, without devolving to a blubbering, needy mess.
We stay joined for a few moments more, Sandy gently waving our connected forms as she giggles and hums happily against my flowing red hair. I can't help but do the same between choked sobs, tears spilling unbidden as I nuzzle and rub my face to every square inch I can reach, my hands flying to her back to dig in violently against her protective jacket. Eventually, the perfect woman leans back and gives me a wide smile before she says joyously, "
Amelia~
!! You're
here!
I was just trying out how to make video games while I've been adrift, since it got kind of boring to just replay the same broken memories over, and
over
, and
over
again! Do you like it?! I made a mix of the Resident Evil games and Chainsaw Massacre~! I thought the elements blended well, the suspense that then bleeds into chaotic panic and action really amplifying each other in the best way~! Hehe~!"
My eyes go into spirals at the deluge of rapid words, all spoken in a deific voice that makes my heart swell even if the speed at which they were spoken makes me lose the plot somewhat. And I thought I was bad at rambling... I forget how much of a
chaos goblin
Sandy can be when she's excited~! I laugh as I raise a hand to her cheek, shaking my head as I gather my thoughts, "W-Well, I think if you were going for traumatizing fear, you
really
hit the nail on the head, you adrenaline junkie!! I just about
pissed my pants
before I "woke up" so to speak!! I was gonna get nommed by a zombie!" I give her a playful shove to which her smile only widens, eyes sparkling in mischief as she gives me a wink.
"I'd never let that happen to my precious sister~. I was right there at the door, ready to come in and save... well, whoever was here. To be
fair
, I didn't know it was you until I saw you. Oh!! Great job on laying the hurt down on these bozos by the way~! You're such a
kickass bitch
with that spear of yours~!" Sandy praises, her arms wrapping me in a hug once more as she wiggles us this way and that.
The instant and extreme blush that washes over my face after she calls me her precious sister is only beaten by the surprised, then cheeky grin on Sandra as she notices. "Aw~. You're
always
so weird with compliments, baby girl, but I know why. It's cute regardless though~. Now then, wanna get out of this yucky pile of blood and gore and go play some more? Or did you want to talk like last time?"
I huff as she stands, offer a hand to me which I take as she helps me up. "Well, we probably should talk. And honestly... I'm not good with scary stuff still. Not to say you didn't do a great job of it!! I was
terrified
, top marks! But yeah, can we go to a quieter place? I... I think I know what we need to do to start healing those broken memories you've been having."
Sandy nods as the entire space fizzles out of existence, replaced with a dark night sky as we are laying down in a field of grass out in the country. I recognize this immediately as the time Sandy snuck me out of the house with a few beers to go look at the stars after I had gone back to live with our parents. A beer bottle floats into view, the brown glass of its neck shimmering in the moon light as Sandra offers it to me. I smile, taking the chilly beverage and raising it to my lips, scowling at the bitter and unpleasant taste as she laughs to my side.
"Ugh! Why did we ever
drink
this shit?? The stuff on Mara is so much better than... whatever this is." I huff out as I set the bottle in the grass beside me.
"Well~..." Sandy says as she turns to face me and smiles, head supported by the crook of an arm, "We didn't really have a lot of options back here, at home. The nearest
real
liquor store was like, 30 miles away so we had to just get the cheapo shit from the gas station down the road. I agree though, it
is
trash."
I hum back indifferently, laying back on the grass as I stare up at the similar yet still slightly off sparkling constellations above us. After a few beats of silence, I ask out to her, "So... you remember the last time? Where we talked and apparently hugged and stuff?"
It's her turn to hum, the rumble of her voice echoing inside of me, the lovely sound making my heart skip a beat before she replies, "I do. I thought I wouldn't, but I remember all of it. Sounds like you don't though?"
I turn my head toward her again, blue waves of sadness thrumming from the phrasing of her words even if her tone held no animosity or concern. "I... I don't. I'm
sorry
. When I woke up, I tried to...
journal
it or something, but by the time I got to a pen and paper, the dream had already slipped from my mind. I just remember feeling loved, accepted, and at peace."
She reaches out to touch my face, her warm and soft hand stroking my cheek softly as she just gives me a smile. "Hey, hey. It's okay, Aims. You can't control everything, alright? Sometimes things like that happen, things that are outside of your influence, and you just have to roll with it. You're always looking for the perfect answer, to be the best person you can be to everyone, but that only drives you into madness as you try, cope, and fight to maintain yourself in a sea of what you think people think of you. Always desperate to please everyone, never wanting to hurt anyone's feelings, but losing yourself in the process..."
I choke out a sob as she hits the nail on the head, my eyes glistening in tears as she opens her arms toward me. I scoot and wiggle my way into her embrace, soft shudders of breath escaping me as her hands come up to send lightning bolts through my body while she strokes my hair. "It's
okay
, baby girl. I know you just want everyone around you to be happy, and that you've only ever wanted to feel that happiness and love in return. You're such a good,
sweet
girl, and I am so proud to have you as my sister. I love you, Amelia."
"I love you too, Sandra." I say between sobs, my heart aching and singing in both the release of pure unfiltered emotion and the joy at having her beside me like this again. "I... I don't know how long you've felt more than just like sisters. I know that I would do anything for you, and that it breaks my heart that I didn't see those feelings back on Earth. I'm sorry I left you all alone like that, that you didn't think or feel safe enough to come to me with those thoughts while I was so broken and barely functioning."
I raise up from her embrace, my tears plodding onto the earthen ground below us, sometimes dancing on top of her arms first as I stare down with conviction, "I will
never
be that weak again. I won't
ever
be in such a state that you can't tell me what you feel, even if its something we might disagree on. I love you, more than anything ever in the world or worlds or whatever!! I
will
bring you
back
to me, and
nothing
is going to tear us apart like this
ever again
."
Sandra looks to me with surprise, the space around us rippling with the certainty of my words before she widens her smile in a way that steals all of my breath, her hands stroking my cheeks as she says, "You were
never
weak, Amelia. You've
always
been the strongest person in my life. I
love you
more than existence itself. If I didn't have you in my life, I wouldn't have a life at all. I promise to tell you anything and everything about why and how I feel that way, after I'm... back to normal. You deserve to know
every
little detail,
every
emotion, and I want to give that to you, more than
anything
I've ever wanted." I nod as I lean down, my fury subsiding as she holds me to her chest. "Now then, what did you want to try to help me get some of those memories back?"
"Right," I sniff as I cuddle into her breasts, my voice slightly muffled by her pleasant and soft flesh, "We need to start going through our memories while I'm dreaming, or I guess you could start up again too instead of making the next triple A horror game that no-one's ever going to play~." She leans my head back slightly to flick my forehead, my pained cry loud and exaggerated as she sticks her tongue out at me.
"
Jerk!
" I huff out in indignation before I return the facial gesture, then nuzzle back into her cleavage. "But yeah, that's the plan. Your personality and stuff got hurt when we got here, or maybe before? We're not really sure. Ios and I, I mean. She's the-"
"I know who Ios is, silly." Sandra chides playfully above me, her hand still stroking my hair as she laughs.
"R-right, sorry. Well, anyways, that's what we need to do. Go on a lovely stroll through memory lane, letting you see as much of my remembrance of you to hopefully kickstart your recovery, let you regain some of your soul's structure. It's complicated and simple all at the same time, and
annoying
as shit that I have to be asleep to do it..."
Sandra moves back enough to unplug me from her breasts, my legs still locked around her waist as I whine from the lack of comforting grounding as she looks at me with a serious expression, "Aims, do
not
stop living your life to bring me back. I'm not going anywhere, I'm right here. We will absolutely spend all of your nights doing exactly what you said, but I
will
be upset at you if you abandon everyone and everything to bring me back. Do you understand me?"
"How..." I gasp out, my eyes becoming downcast as she catches me thinking exactly that, "How did you know..."
"Pfft." Sandra laughs out, her smile returning, "You're a
very
complex, lovely, and romantic person. You would absolutely give up everything to rush and bring me back, and I can feel it in my heart that you still want to. I
love
you, and that is only growing stronger from your pure desire to do that, but you
deserve
to be happy. You
deserve
to be with people who love you too. Like I said, I'm not going anywhere, okay? Let time pass through instead of thinking its passing you by."
I sigh as I look up to her, my burning soul screaming at me to just ignore what she's said and do nothing but sleep for the next month, year, however long it takes to bring her back...
But those eyes
. Those wells of honey boring into me, breaking through straight to my core makes me tear up, the fleeting ambition dying before it began as I just cuddle into her once again, my tears dampening her chest. "
O-okay
... I just... I
miss
you
so much
. I want you beside me
every
second
of every day, especially after all I've learned about us, about this world. It's so
amazing
, Sandy. We can do
anything
, be
anyone
, and we already have people that love us to bits and want us to thrive. I... I want you with me for
all
of that..."
"I
know
, baby girl~. And I want to be there,
trust me
. But not at the expense of your growth and recovery, and your happiness. I'll keep focusing on going through those old memories while you're living your life, you come back and find me whenever you go to rest." She begins to stand up, my heartbeat rapidly increasing as the surroundings begin to fade and dim, darkness encroaching in a slow and permanent march as I cling to her tightly, raising up with her.
"
Shh
... It's
okay
Aims. We're just going to be apart for a little bit; you'll be back here with me before you know it." I cry loudly as I cling to her, my words fumbling and incomplete as my hands tear against her naked skin now, too lost in the sudden collapsing dream to notice before she holds my face in her hands. "It's
okay
, honey. I
love
you."
With firm grip, fingers splayed across my cheeks, she lifts my head to hers, my heart thudding violently in my chest as I close my eyes, the soft press of pliant lips on mine the last thing I feel before my eyes open in alarm, the pleasure dungeon ceiling in frame once again.

A Frightful Night – Ch 93