《You're Never Too Far From Home》 Prologue: The Start And End Of The Apocalypse. ¡°And then i said, yeah you can plow that dog of a wife too!¡± A rambunctious round of laughter erupted from the group of men, save for one, as the red bearded man finished his story. The story itself wasn''t funny or interesting to the group of men, as the tale had been shared a countless times before. The group of men were merely high off their rockers and well past sober as they continued their chatter in the pub. It was high past evening and the group had been drinking at their favorite table in the only notable pub in Amberdale, the Otter¡¯s Burrow, right next to the window and not to far from the door. A heavy sigh erupts from one side of the table where the 5 or so men were seated. The red bearded man who had just told the story looked towards the source to see a black haired middle aged man, with streaks of grey showing in his roots. The black haired fellow''s drink looked as if the man had barely touched it. The man himself paid little attention to the glance of his companion as he stared off towards the window solemnly. "C''mon pal, you didnt like the story?" ¡°You know just as well as i do that i love that story to bits Randal, but you''ve must''ve told it a hundred times now! don''t you have any thing else?¡± said the man who had not laugh to his red haired friend ¡°C''mon Phil, you know i don''t have any other stories. Liven up a bit will ya? You''ve been down all day.¡± Phil sighed as he swished his drink around, listening to the clinking of ice on glass, before taking a long sip. ¡°You know the works.¡± Sighed Phil "Management keeps ''cutting'' costs, which we all know means they''re just laying off whoever can be replaced with something cheaper, And our so-called ''Great'' Mayor Rudolf decided to start ''redecorating'' again and we all know what that means." A few nods went up around the table at the mention of Mayor Rudolf and his desire to Expand the town while raising taxes whenever he could. ¡°Tell me about it. Just last week Mayor Rudolf raised our already abysmally high taxes in the name of ¡°Renovations. Sure it''s not like we can''t afford it, but still there was that new TV i''ve had my eyes on for a while now¡± Randall took a long gulp of his ale before settling back in his seat after revealing his petty concerns to the group. ¡°Ya¡¯ kner what els?¡± Spoke another man, this one a bit on the overweight side and drop dead drunk as obvious due to his slurred speaking. The voice of the large man boomed within the bar and drew the eyes of a couple nearby patrons. ¡° teh only darn thing i¡¯ve seen changed in this town are those brand spankin¡¯ new tourist traps along main street¡±The man vented angrily to the group. Again a round of nods flew up around the table, even Phil and Randall couldn''t help but agree to his point. The man could''ve easily have stopped right there and got back to his drink in hand but for whatever reason, his eyes flared as he climbed up on top of the table in his stupor, announcing his nearly incoherent rambling to the entire bar. ¡°Why Dern we jus¡¯ go up ter Mr.Hammock and that counsel o¡¯ city plannahs of his and giv¡¯ em what for?!¡± A mumble started up in the burrow as patrons all over started agreeing to the drunken words of the lone man. Phil couldn''t help but chuckle to himself as the bar started riling themselves up. Randal soon joined his friends at the bemusing sight of their friend trying to spark a revolution in a bar full of drunks and deadbeats who should''ve moved on a good while ago. Trying to save his companion some face, Phil called to him "Come down from there already, Will. You''ve made a big enough fool of yourself today." ¡°Why don''t you come up ¡®ere instead!¡± The drunk man named Will shouted at Phil, nearly falling off of the table as he went. He managed to steady himself on the table and started taking another large gulp from his glass and had easily downed a good qaurter of the brothy amber liquid when a sudden boot hit him sqaure in the jaw, toppling him off of the table and into a heap on the floor, landing with a thud. ¡°I Dont need anymore dirt tracks on my table, Will!¡± The bar owner called out from behind the counter. Phil couldn''t see below his waist, but he had the weirdest hunch that he was probably missing a shoe right about now. The bar owner was an aged man who was clearly balding as the only tuft of hair that remains on his head were at the sides and above his lips. In contrast to his age, the bar owner was a large man, easily peaking 6 feets and had a strangely muscular body that betrayed the aged look His grey hair and his bushy mustache gave him. He wore a blue dress shirt with rolled up sleeves and a long white apron. ¡°Aha, Sorry about that Cap¡¯. You know how Will gets after a few drinks¡± Randal called out. Former captain Nigel Leghorn gave a faint nod to Randall. Though his service ended long ago, he was highly regarded within the small town of Amberdale and most of his patrons if they cared enough to swing by would call him Cap¡¯ out of habit, It pretty mucch became his nickname. ¡°Aye, i know it better than i¡¯d of wanted to. One of you boys better get him out of here before he starts drooling on my floor again.¡± The bar owner responded before getting back to shining the glass in his hands. The glass was long since cleaned but the bar owner enjoyed the soft squeaking sound that came from the rubbing of cloth on glass. Randall turned back to the men at the table. ¡°Alright, so who¡¯s driving the deadbeat over here back to his home today?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do it¡± Phil said ¡°I gotta get home to the misses anyways, it¡¯s gotten pretty late already.¡± Phil noted at the dark sky outside the bar window. Randall nodded to his old friend ¡°Drive safely man, you know how the roads get at these times.¡± ¡°Che, You mean empty and barren?¡± ¡°Hey you never know. A deer might suddenly appear in your headlights.¡± ¡°Yeah sure a deer.¡± Phil downed the rest of his drink in an instant before getting up and heading towards the still on the floor Will. He gave the sleeping man a good few kicks to the rear before giving up and deciding to just haul the man into his car. Thankfully Will was a particularly light fellow and phil managed to heave him over his shoulder after a couple failed attempts. ¡°I¡¯ll be going out now, cya tomorrow Cap¡¯ ¡° The bar owner merely grunted and waved the lad off. Phil shook his head as a smile crossed his lips. The cap was always a blunt fellow and his attitude helped improve his mood a bit. Will didn¡¯t drive a car, as he liked to walk more so to take it slow and earn him some well needed exercise instead of reducing his carbon footprint. So Phil opted to take the out-cold man into the passenger seat of his black sedan. Moments later Phil took his seat in the driver¡¯s and started the car before pulling his sedan out of the half full parking lot and onto the barren streets of east Amberdale. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. His wife and daughter were going to have his head for this. Abigail especially was sure to give him a headache for not coming home sooner. Phil wondered if he couldn¡¯t come up with some story to get out of this but when nothing came to mind he gave up on the thought and pulled out of the driveway. Minutes later, Phil and will were cruising down the main streets of amberdale. The town didnt have alot of roads and no one was walking this late at night so Phil took the moment to enjoy the solemnity of the night, whistling a soft tune he remembered hearing on the radio earlier to himself.Will, on the other hand, had opted to start muttering in his sleep. Phil began to turn down on the street he normally drove on his route back to His and Will¡¯s home, only to stomp on the breaks. ¡°Damn it all!¡± Phil cursed as his sedan came to a screeching halt. The road in front of him were blocked. A few seconds of investigating made it obvious that it was all for more town ¡°Renovations¡±. Phil could¡¯ve swore that the path wasn¡¯t blocked this early so he assumed they must¡¯ve started this afternoon. He cursed his luck as he backed out and was forced to take a detour near the ¡°abandoned district.¡± ¡®The abandoned district¡¯ Despite its name, actually isn¡¯t abandoned due to the interest in the last couple of years in the Victorian architecture of the it¡¯s buildings. A century ago the buildings might¡¯ve been considered well cared for. Nowadays it was merely a graveyard for the dozen of aged mansions left in disrepair, forgotten and untouched in the years as it was considered both a piece of history to the town and a piece for storytelling. It was late autumn, and the trees that were bountiful along the sides of the district had long since dropped their leaves, leaving their bare branches to strike out menacingly in the dark headlight of the sedan. If Phil was honest to himself, he''d rather be anywhere but this lone desolate road that rain parrallel to the fenced area of the Abandoned district. Why was it fenced? Phil didnt remember, but as someone who¡¯s lived in Amberdale most of his life, it was of little surprise that he did not hold the abandoned district, due to the few rumors that floated around about the district. Tales of ghouls, Monsters, Portals to hell, and unsolved murders started popping in Phil''s head, distracting the man from the dark winding road. In fact, he was so distracted he never noticed the bloody object that hopped in front of his car and slammed into the hood of it with a thump. Will shouted at Phil and Phil slammed on the breaks. ¡°Did we just hit a person?¡± ¡°You mean did ¡®you¡¯ just hit a person.¡± ¡°Seriously Will, now¡¯s not the time.¡± He rolled the windows of his side of the car down and poked his head out. ¡°HEY! You okay over there!¡± No response came back. Will was practically quivering in his seat, completely out of his drunken stupor. ¡°I think we should just leave for now¡± whispered will. ¡°Hey-¡± Phil started again, convinced he had hit a person but unwilling to step out of the car at the time. The body on the ground did not respond again. instead it opted to drag itself off of the ground and stumble near the hood of the car. Phil let out a relieved sigh as the figure turned out to be okay for the most part couldn''t make out any distinguishing features besides the massive amount of red on their body and the slack way they moved ¡°You don''t look so good man, how about you hop in the back and i take you down to the hospital?¡± The person didn''t say anything. It was then that Phil noticed the massive gash across their stomach. Any normal person would''ve long since Bled out. As this fact came to light, something started to click in the mind of Phil, although he couldn''t quite put it in words¡­. Thankfully Will was still here to make that analogy for him. ¡°Oh heck Phil, i don''t think that''s a person.¡± ¡°Yeah I''m thinking the same thing, but if its not a person, what is it?¡± The bloody ¡®person'' in front of them answered the question for it as it came i to the headlights of the car. Bloody red eyes, yellow teeth, long gnarly fingernails. A low snarl erupted from the lips of the creature as it started pounding on the hub of the sedan. ¡°Ah heck man, it''s a bonafide zombie!¡± ¡°Shit, what do we do?¡± ¡°I don''t fucking know, run it over again!¡± Phil shrugged as he pulled the car into reverse, making the ¡®zombie'' in front of them stumble forward before it began trying to limp towards the car again. Once they were a good 20 feet away from it, will shouted. ¡°Alright, Now floor it!¡± With no sense of hesitation, Phil slammed on the gas pedal and the black sedan sped towards the figure. Seconds later a sickening crunch is heard from underneath the car as they ice the first undead they''ve ever seen. For good measures, Phil threw the sedan into reverse once more, making sure to land right on top of the body before speeding forward again in silence. Will and Phil''s hearts were pounding as they neared wills house, but even so Will somehow managed to slip back into his drunken sleep. Will¡¯s house was the closest of the two, It only took about 10 minutes for them to get there after crossing that desolate road from before. The drive over to his place was the easy part, the hard part was waking up the bastard and getting him out of the car. Phil tried shaking the drunk awake again but to no luck. Thankfully, Phil always carried a bottle of water or two in his car¡­ ¡°.....HEY!¡± Will screamed as he awoke, drenched in water for some unknown reason. ¡°You might wanna get a towel¡± Phil mentioned as he snickered to himself at his friend. Will hopped out of the car, an annoyed expression adorned on his face, and started muttering to himself but Phil wasn¡¯t worried. This was an average day with William, the town drunk. After William¡¯s door shut with a slam, Phil looked down at his watch. It was well past 11 at the moment and Phil sighed as he slumped back into his seat. His wife and daughter were going to have his head for this. Abigail especially was sure to give him a headache for not coming home sooner. Phil wondered if he couldn¡¯t come up with some story to get out of this. ¡®Maybe they¡¯ll believe I killed a zombie on the way?¡¯ Phil amused as he pulled out of Will¡¯s driveway and turned down the street towards his home a couple of blocks over. And that, is how Phil and Will singlehandedly prevented the zombie apocalypse before it could begin. Chapter 1:The Story Actually Begins. ¡°...Every small town has its fair share of secrets, and Amberdale is no exeception." "On the dark, crumbling corner of East Elmer Blvd. there lies a descecrated house left in shambles. It was once your average suburban home and at one point it might''ve been a lovely place to live in , The once lovely two story home was a mess." The rusty-brown paint of its walls had long since been chipped and weathered by nature and age. Most of the windows had holes in them as a results of years of abuse by the local populace of vagrants and miscreants deadset on leaving their marks on theancient property. The humble home that owed its The chimney that once stood proud had collapsed long ago and the wooden walls looked rotten and marred by decades of negligence. And this house wasn''t alone. Rows of houses in the same state as the first laid everywhere in the abandoned district of Amberdale, and it''s been that way for decades, centuries even. You would think a town wouldn''t leave such property and future land lots to waste away preoccupied by unused space, but there was a reason both city planners and residents of Amberdale considered the abandoned district hallow ground and fenced off the area with barbed wires. It was cursed, Or at least everyone thought so. There wasn''t any sign of an unholy fire, nor was it the sight of a mass disappearance. Some say a witch massacred the citizens living in that area, sacrificing the souls of the recently deceased as fuel for one of her blasphemous rituals, others say a midwife, desperate for love and attention, asked a demon for a child. But all of that just sounds ridiculous. Simply the speculations of retired seniors and young minded youths looking for a bit of excitement in the small little town. But then, if the abandoned district wasn''t cursed and was simply a tale for good parents to tell their wispful children late at night, then where did the story of it being cursed come from? Who''s to say that Will Flannel, the Amberdale registered drunk, really hadn''t seen a person in one of the buildings in the abandoned district? Who''s to say that Sheriff McHarth really hadn''t heard screams of terror in one of the ¡®abandoned'' houses? And who''s to say that Daniel Copper, State renowned chef and local owner of ¡®The Rebound¡¯ didn''t see a bloody person standing in the street of the abandoned district for a moment before he disappeared into thin air? Well stay tuned for next time for more ¡°Mystery Diver!¡± to find out. I''m Jonah K. Bailey, signing off. Good night folks, andIf you enjoyed the show or just want to share one of your own close callswith the supernatural displayed on our show, just go to our website at www-¡± The Television flickered for a moment before shutting off as Nikolaiturned it off with the help of his handy dandy TV remote.the absence of the television''s light left the draw room pitch black save for what little Nikolai could still see in the dark expanse. "Fucking hell" remarked Nikolai as he lounged back into the sofa of the couch, staring at the blank screen for a moment as he reveled in the quiet of his living room. His gaze shifted over to the clock on the wall adjacent to him, The hands of the clock rested narrowly on 5 am. It was 11 pm when he started binge watching reruns of old public network shows and he regretted doing so. His eyes ached from constant exposure and he rubbed them before blinking rapidly, trying to regain some feeling in the corner of them. it wasn¡¯t a school night so he wasn''t too worried about his parents busting him at this hour, though it would still be one helluva pain to sit through. Still, his Mom was sure to have his head if she saw how much time he had spent watching ¡°Mystery Divers!¡±last night. ¡°Mystery Divers!¡± Was a local ghost hunting channel that ran on the public broadcasting channel that also managed a radio show that ran for most of the day, although it acted more like a news station then anything else. that was intent on proving there was something strange going on in everything. They once featured an episode on Kentwood High¡¯s Mystery meat friday special, sure that it contained some monster meat or human flesh. Turns out, it was just refrigerated shrimp and day-old tuna. Nikolai wasn¡¯t normally one for the supernatural, it never interested him before. Who cares if a ghost is scaring away house buyers? If he was a ghost he¡¯d do the same thing, just because he¡¯s dead doesn¡¯t mean he can¡¯t keep his home. But still, Nikolai found himself tuning into the show more and more often. It started with listening in on the radio while driving to school with his older brother, Rudy. Then he started actively flipping the TV to the public access channel, and Now he finds himself staying up late at night just so he can watch as many reruns of the show as he can he can fit in a saturday night. Why was he so attracted to a show that never once proven itself true? Well if Nikolai had to answer that question, then it''d of definitly had been The thought of going out in the wild, catching bad guys, solving crimes, discovering ancient civilizations, and just Indiana Jones-ing it up in general excited him to no end. But there was one tiny problem that cockblocked his eternal love for the wind, just one itsy-bitsy notation that just won¡¯t leave him alone. Amberdale is SUPER boring, for Nikolai at the very least. Who cares if they have a great high school basketball team? Who cares if they''re the state champions in football and soccer? Not Nikolai, not even a little. Most towns or cities as old as Amberdale usually had a folktale, a myth, or some kind of legend or bogeyman parents would tell their kids at bedtime, but Amberdale had none of that. There was no interdimensional conspiracy taking place here, no Space-warping alien in a box to whisk Nikolai off to speak with the devil himself. Hell,listening to his neighbor ¡° Mamma Gertrude¡± prattle on about her traveling days was more interesting than half the things in this small town off of route 72. Still, Nikolai was never one to take it lying down. If he couldn¡¯t find adventure than he might as well make his own, And that¡¯s exactly what he and his best friends,Thomas and Andrew, planned on doing that saturday. It was going to be another 2 hours before the sunrises and another 8 hours before his friends came over to explore, leaving Nikolai with more time on his hands then he knows what to do with. Nikolai thought about turning the TV back on to see if anything else is on but it just felt redundant to do so. Instead he picked himself out of the sofa cushion and grudgingly made his way over to the bathroom down the hall. With a satisfying ¡®click'', Nikolai locked the bathroom door. He turned to face the mirror that hanged above the bathroom sink and slightly cringed at the sight of himself. His orange hair was a disheveled mess and his amber brown eyes were bloodshot to the core. He still wore the same blue T-shirt he had on yesterday which he didn''t mind much, save for the mustard stain on the bottom of it from last night¡¯s ¡°Hot Dog Palooza¡¯¡¯ as Rudy likes to put it. Long story short, he was a mess. He slipped off his shirt and walked across the length of the bathroom so that he was as far as possible from the hamper as he could. The bathroom was fairly large and Nikolai¡¯s mom just had it renovated a couple of days ago so the freshly marbled floor sparkled a little as he went to line up the shot. Taking a stance, Nikolai balls up his shirt and gets ready to throw it. ¡°He lines up the hit, He aims! He shoots!¡± Nikolai throws the balled up shirt at the laundry hamper, it soars through the air and hits the rim of the basket... ¡° He-¡± ...Only for it to bounce right off of it and onto the floor -missed?!¡± Feeling disappointed and slightly embarrassed that he even did this in the first place, Nikolai picks up the shirt and just tosses it into the hammer, No fanfare to greet his shameful display of skills. With a sigh, Nikolai strips the rest of his clothes off and grabs a bar of soap and his toothbrush before hopping into the shower. He didn''t want to waste time and planned on brushing his teeth and taking his shower at the same time. Placing the toothbrush in a cup hanging on the rail of the shower, Nikolai blindly twisted the shower handle and was immediately greeted with cold, chilly water. ¡°Hieeee!¡± screeched Nikolai as he hopped out of the tub without a shred of pride and freezing his balls off. Raising his hands to his mouth, Nikolai checked to see if anyone woke up after hearing his scream. After a full two minutes pass, Nikolai sighed with relief as he hopped into the shower once more and made extra sure the shower was on hot and not cold. The shower head erupted with warm water and Nikolai felt a sense of calm run over him as the warm rain splattered on his person. Once he got over the euphoric feeling of being hit with warm water after being soaked in cold, Nikolai¡¯s mind wandered back to that episode of Mystery Divers he was watching before he shut the TV off. The abandoned district was always a spooky topic of conversation for the residents of Amberdale. Back in the early founding of the town, the abandoned district was known as the prosperous east side of Amberdale. Mines were plenty and close knitted back then filled with all manners of gold, iron, and other impure metals. A creek ran through the town running east to west and the district was the best place in the city to catch a cod or two. Nikolai tried to remember more about the Amberdale Abandoned district, but nothing came to mind. He probably should¡¯ve paid more attention in history class but he was always tired in Mr. Randolph''s First period history class, The man was as monotone as a metronome. Deciding he¡¯s washed himself well enough so far, Nikolai turned off the hot stream of water coming from the shower nozzle and grabbed the white towel hanging not to far from the shower. After a few minutes of admiring himself in the mirror (and a round of embarrassing flexing) Nikolai was hopping down the stairs donning a mostly clean green and yellow striped hoodie and shorts before stepping onto the porch of his parent¡¯s faded orange suburban home. He gave a slight glance towards the poorly managed garden and scoffed before heading into the garage. The lights flickered on as nikolai flipped the switch and he was quickly greeted by the warming mess that was the garage. Books, old games, stupid christmas knick knacks and more laid strewn about the garage in mounds of junk that were haphazardly pushed to the side. The garage was a bit on the large side, having the capacity to hold two cars within alongside the junkpile that took a good third of the room. ¡°Alright, now where did i put that bike..¡± Nikolai said to no one in particular as he started sifting through the seeded garage. There was plenty of sacred memorabilia and artifacts his mom and dad had stored, But the treasures of his parents years of undertone hoarding wasn''t the reason for Nikolai¡¯s being here. Nikolai walked past his Dad¡¯s black sudan and headed towards the red pickup truck at the far side of the garage that belonged to his big brother, Rudy. Rudy knew fully well that someone like him having a red, nearly rusted, ford pickup truck was as stereotypical as can be but for whatever reason ( probably just to bother Nikolai with it) he kept the thing like a prized horse and would customarily ride it up and down the streets every few nights, guzzling gas and sodas along the way. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. But enough about that archaic car, Nikolai had a bike he needed to find Nikolai wrapped around to the back of the truck. He tries looking into the bed of it to see if his bike had been stored in the back of it only to be sorefully disappointed. He was sure he had left his bike under a green tarp in the back of the rustic red accident-to-be but when it became apparent it wasn''t there he couldnt help but sigh to himself. ¡®Rudy probably moved it¡¯ Nikolai surmised and he sighed once more as he realize he was going to have to walk without his prized bike. Making sure to turn off the lights as he went, Nikolai strolled out to the front of the house and stood on the sidewalk, facing the rows of houses that ran down both sides of his parent¡¯s house. some of them varied in colours but all of them followed the same static design. Two floors, a ramped roof, maybe a basement, maybe a garage or two, but regardless they all felt the same to Nikolai. Nikolai¡¯s eyes gazed up at the early twilight sky. He still had a good hour and a bit until sunrise so most of the stores and places he¡¯d have wanted to go to were either closed or he just didn''t feel safe in. Just because he wanted some excitement didn''t mean he want to get involved in some underworld crime affair that may or may not exist. It probably does though, you can never be too cautious. Nikolai went back to sitting at his doorsteps, feeling the creeping sensation of boredom coming onto him when a brilliant idea popped into his heads. Well, brilliant for Nikolai anyways. ¡®If i''m going to be bored, I should be bored on a full stomach!¡¯ He thought as he figuratively gave himself a pat on the back. He picked himself up off of the wooden porch and started marching down the street. There was a convenience store he frequented not to far from where he lived and he had haphazardly decided to buy some snacks there to enjoy in the meantime. ¡®And hey, Why don''t i buy some supplies for our trip later?¡¯ He thought as he neared the sliding doors of the small convenience store, having only walked not even 10 minutes to reach his destination He was faced with a blast of cool breeze as he stepped within the confines of the convenience store, although the breeze wasn¡¯t very different from the cold autumn air that was fluttering about. He glanced around the convenience store before his eyes settled on the slushie machine off to the side of the store. As much as he¡¯d like to buy one, he decided it would be better to spend as much as he could on some drinks and grab any ¡®essential¡¯ that came to mind before he¡¯d go for one. Before he started his spending spree though, Nikolai glanced over to the cashier. They were nose deep in a printed article from ¡®Mystery Divers¡¯. He didn''t recognize the issue so he assumed it was new, but onto more pressing matters. ¡®Let¡¯s see here¡­ potato chips, nacho chips, cone shaped chips covered in chocolate, chocolate pretzels, Gummy bears, Gummy worms, Gummy Gum shaped gum. Am i missing anything?¡¯ he asked himself as he looked at the his arms full of junk food. He made sure to only grab what was essential, so why were his hands already filled? He didn''t even get started on the drinks yet. ¡®¡¯Oh yeah, The Fairy Cola!¡¯¡¯ He remarked as he remembered the Cherry-Apple flavored off brand delight that he and his friends had an appeal to. Nikolai heaved his mountain of junk over into the aisle over where the refrigerators stood. He knew for sure there¡¯d be a six pack or two of Fairy Cola for him to snag. But as he crossed into the aisle, a look of shock and surprise crossed his face as the drink he had expected to find was replaced With boxes of so called Advent orange soda. Ugh. Nikolai tried looking in the next couple of refrigerators for any sign of his favorite soda but after a few minutes of searching, all he could find were either more Advent packing or some cheesy brand that his fully developed, cherry-loving tongue refused to have any relations with. ¡®Where O¡¯ where could my cherry flavored prince be¡¯ Nikolai imagined his tongue saying as he gave up on the search for Fairy Cola. The lack of sleep was probably hitting him harder than he initially thought if he was going to start thinking of a korean drama starring his tongue and cherry flavored confectionery. ¡®I guess Thomas or Andrew could pick some up on the way¡¯ Nikolai shrugged as he started to lug his exceedingly large amount of junk food towards the counter. The content in his arms spilled all over countertop, Catching the eye of the cashier who looked over the pages of his paperback issue. The cashier''s eyes lit up as he looked over at Nikolai and he thumbed down the top corner of the page before setting the paper down and turning to face Nikolai. ¡°Nikolai! I didn''t expect to see you for another couple of hours man¡± The store clerk started talking excitedly before he noticed the dark circles around my eyes. ¡°Stayed up watching reruns i presume?¡± ¡°I didn''t expect to be here for while either Rodney, but you know how it is sometimes.¡± Nikolai said with a smile at his good friend. ¡°Sheesh, you know it¡¯s bad for you to stay up all night right?¡± ¡°Coming from you, that means nothing¡± Nikolai remarked as he points to the similar dark circles underneath Rodney¡¯s eyes. Rodney was a devoted reader and listener of Mystery Divers and was one of the main reasons he got into it in the first place. He was a good friend of Rudy as they both starred on football team in highschool, Although Rodney was a year ahead of him in classes. Rodney was the one who got Rudy listening to Mystery Divers on the radio every morning, so in a way he¡¯s completely responsible for Nikolai¡¯s current affliction with the show. A classic patient zero. Rodney was probably 19 now, though Nikolai never bothered to ask. With short yellow stubbles adorning his chin that matched his short blonde hair and bags under his eyes, Nikolai could only assume the man had either stayed up late like he had or had just gotten out of bed late ¡°Hehe, you got me there. My alarm woke me up an hour earlier than it should¡¯ve today.¡± ¡°You didn''t set it right?¡± ¡°Of course i did. Well, i think i did. I sorta just stumbled into bed after spending way too much time arguing the latest Mystery Divers issue online.¡± Rodney rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled at the thought ¡°What were you defending?¡± Asked Nikolai curiously, sure that his friend would never try and argue a point against his favorite source of untypical news. ¡°Oh you know, some snark calling Mystery Divers a load of baloney after posting that article about Will and Phil running over a zombie near the abandoned district. I admit it sounds pretty far fetched to me but I was already too invested to back out by that point. We argued up until one in the morning.¡± Rodney laughed nervously before he noticed the pile of chips that laid on the counter in front of him again. ¡°You probably want me to ring those up for you, huh? Alright gimme a sec¡± Rodney quickly got down to work as he somehow rapidly and accurately scanned all of the items in 23 seconds top. Just one of Rodney¡¯s many useless skills. ¡°Alright that¡¯s 4 potato chips, 2 large bag of White Chocolate Pretzels, 3 Haribanana Gummy Bears, several small packs of ¡°Gummy Gum shaped Gum¡±, 2 bags of Chocolate Dunces, and a package of Spicy Vacho Nachos. Did you get everything you¡¯d like or is there something you¡¯d like to add? Nikolai nodded as he pointed at rodney¡¯s issue of Mystery Divers. He only heard tidbits about Will¡¯s finding on the T.V and was interested in finding out more for himself in the issues. Rodney smirked a bit to himself as he pulled a copy from behind the counter and slid it to Nikolai. ¡°Your total Rings up to be about $17.85¡± Nikolai nodded again as he handed his old pal a $20 dollar bill. His mind started wandering as he started to wonder when candy became so expensive. ¡°Do you need a bag or are you going to try and hercules this stuff back to your house?¡± ¡°What do you think?¡± Nikolai replied as he rolled up his green and yellow sleeves on his right arm and started flexing. ¡°I think you¡¯re going to need two bags¡± Said rodney as he pulled two plastic bags and started packing Nikolai¡¯s items into them ¡°You¡¯re darn right I do¡± replied nikolai once more without an ounce of shame as he grabbed the two bags before making his way for the sliding doors. ¡°Cya around Rodney, I hope you don''t get swathed by spider-cows¡± ¡°Hope you don''t get abducted by duck billed, two-faced aliens¡± Nikolai laughed as he stepped out into the dark twilight and although the laughter died down, he continued to snicker about it to himself, all the way from the convenience store to his front doorstep where he had to abruptly stop his merriment for fear of someone hearing him. that someone, he hoped wouldn¡¯t be his mother. He had already peaked into the living room window and saw no signs of life in the house, but you could never be too safe. Holding his ¡®groceries¡¯ in one hand, Nikolai slowly turned open the doorknob and opened the door, realizing his mistake as he had forgotten to lock the doors before he had left this morning. The door creaked a bit, but to a manageable extent. Once the door was wide enough, Nikolai quietly clambered into the house and closed the door behind him. This time making ¡®extra¡¯ sure he locked it this time. Nikolai slowly drew his gaze across his house. The Kitchen stood not to far off from the door to his right and the entrance to the living room which stood off down the hall and to the right had no lights coming from its chamber. There were no lights down the corridor near the stairs, no signs of life in his silent home. Feeling victorious in his little excursion, Nikolai drew a sigh of relief before he stepped into the kitchen. He turned on the oven light so as to have some reprieve from the darkness that still enveloped the house. He decided to set the bags on top of the black countertop in the kitchen and took one of the potato chips out of the bag. ¡®I¡¯m sure Thomas and Andrew wouldn¡¯t mind me taking a chip or two. Heck they wouldn¡¯t even know about it!¡¯ Thought Nikolai as he prepared to open the bags of salty goodness. But before he could even pull them open, something stopped Nikolai in his tracks. ¡°You¡¯ve got some nerves coming home this early in the morning with a load of chips...¡± A gruff voice called out from behind him.¡°And you didn''t bring any for me¡± Nikolai could practically hear the smirk in the voice and sighed. He had been caught, and he had been caught by one of the worse people to get caught by. He slowly turned around, chip still in hand, as he faced the voice. Standing a few feets away was an orange, almost blood red hair coloured man. He was a good 5 inches taller than Nikolai at the very least and was probably only slightly shorter than Rodney. Although Nikolai wasn¡¯t drastically weak or anything, This man before him almost made him want to crumble. That man was none other than his older Rudy. ¡®Why¡¯d it have to be Rudy?¡¯ Thought Nikolai,unable to recover from the scare of being caught by someone who¡¯d not only take his chips, but would probably report him to Mom if he didn''t give him one. ...And to think this morning started off so well. Chapter 2: Hey, thats not bad Huh? Proofreading? I''ve never heard of it. ============================================================================= ¡°Alright Rudy, What do you want?¡± Nikolai sighed as he inwardly sweated. He knew Rudy was fully capable of hounding him for some of his snacks, and he was sure he¡¯d use their mother as leverage against him. Nikolai knew just how effective that was, considering he¡¯s used it against Rudy himself on numerous occasions. ¡°Got any gummy worms?¡± ¡°...Why gummy worms? You¡¯re usually gunning after my pretzels.¡± Nikolai stammered due to the slight shock of knowing he¡¯d get to keep his chocolate pretzels for once, and he wanted the gummy worms too! Although it disdained Nikolai a little to lose a bit of his haul, it would be a lot easier to buy Rudy¡¯s silence now then it would be to negotiate his innocence to his lawyer of a mom. ¡°Even I need to cut back every now and then, Little bro. Gotta watch my weight.¡± Rudy replied as he patted his stomach underneath his shirt. Nikolai scoffed, knowing full well Rudy could work off any extra calories in one of his many workout regimes and that he was already a perfect image of a young student-athlete, Even though he was only a junior. You don¡¯t become one of the star athlete¡¯s at Kentwood High by doing any less. But it¡¯s not like Nikolai was bothered by the sudden change in flavor. The only reason he got gummy worms was to satisfy Thomas¡¯s sweet tooth, and he was sure that Thomas would much rather enjoy white chocolate pretzels then a pack of gummy worms. Nikolai reached into the plastic bag with the gummy worms and tossed it to his older brother who promptly snatched it out of the air. Rudy popped open his bag of worms and pulled out nearly a handful of gummy worms and threw them into his mouth.Nikolai soon followed with his own bag of salty potato chips, unwilling to wait any longer to get his intake of sodium and potato slices. After a short instance of munching between the two, Rudy loudly gulped the chewed gummy worms before he turned to Nikolai. ¡°Why did you buy this much junk in the first place?¡± Said Rudy as he aimed a thumb at the two bags so obviously filled with snacks. ¡°It¡¯s for my stake out.¡± Nikolai answered after tossing another chip into his mouth. ¡°Steak out? And you didn¡¯t buy any meat? For shame Nikolai, for shame.¡± ¡°You know what i meant, Rudy. I already told you about our trip later today¡± Rudy only smirked in response before he shuffled over to the bags and began ruffling through them. ¡°Cut that out man, I need those for later¡± Nikolai hissed at his brother to no avail. Rudy started unpacking the plastic bags and when he reached the bottom he turned to his little brother and asked ¡°What? No fairy cola?¡± ¡°Sadly no.¡± ¡°How could you not grab any Fairy cola? It¡¯s literally the staple drink for any and every ¡®Steak¡¯ out¡± Nikolai shrugged. ¡°There weren¡¯t any Fairy Cola to grab. All they had was some shoddy orange soda called Advent, And it¡¯s not a cook off Rudy¡± ¡°Not without any meat it isn''t.¡± Rudy remarked before chuckling to himself. Rudy took it on himself to stuff the snacks back into the plastic bags. He quickly repacked everything into the two bags besides the paperback issue which he held in his hands. ¡°Why¡¯d you buy this anyways?¡± he asked as he flaunted the paperback issue in Nikolai¡¯s direction. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me Rodney turned you into a conspiracy theorist as well man¡± ¡°Who knows? I mean, i did see a cloud outside i could¡¯ve sworn looked like a UFO. Maybe i should send that in a letter to Jonah?¡± Nikolai said with amusement ¡°Oh no he got you too!¡± Rudy whined with fake worry as he bit the blue end of a Red & Blue gummy worm. Nikolai finished his bag of potato chips and he balled the orange packaging. Having the feint thought of wanting to redeem his mishap earlier, Nikolai walked to the side of the kitchen farthest from the trashcan and gets into the shooting position he had earlier. Noticing this, Rudy quickly swallowed the gummy worms he had stuffed in his mouth. ¡°Choke! Choke! Choke! Choke!¡± Rudy chanted hushly. Nikolai rolled his eyes and without a moment of hesitation, took his shot. ¡®He shoots!-¡¯ The announcer in Nikolai¡¯s head calls out. The balled up plastic flew out of Nikolai¡¯s hand. It was in the air for only a couple of seconds before it landed softly.. Into the hands of Rudy who had moved in front of the trash can. ¡®He missed again. There¡¯s no way that''ll bode well for his point avg.¡¯ The announcer¡¯s words ring unhappily in Nikolai¡¯s head. ¡°C¡¯mon Rudy, that wasn''t not cool¡± Nikolai gloomed. ¡°Well than i guess you and it have something in common then¡± Rudy jokingly chided. ¡°Intercept my shot and hit me with a clapback? Where¡¯s your famed sportsmanship Rudy? Where¡¯s your love of the game¡± ¡°In the same place this ball of trash is going in¡± Rudy promptly slammed the balled up bag into the trashcan and laughed to himself as he grabbed his gummy worms before he nudges Nikolai¡¯s arms with his elbow. Alright we''ve screwed around enough. You wanna go watch some TV man? Sure, Only if i get dibs on the remote replied Nikolai. Fine, but if it¡¯s more reruns of Mystery Divers just know that i''m sure to wrassle you for that remote You mean wrestle? Rudy shook his head. ¡°Wrassle.¡± Nikolai shrugged his shoulder before grabbing the plastic bags and stuffing them in an empty cabinet for later before he and rudy strode off for the living room. Rudy plopped onto the couch infront of the TV, taking up all of the seats. Nikolai decided to take the arm chair that stood adjacent to the TV before he flicked its black screen to life. Not having the slightest inclination to find out what Rudy meant by ¡®Wrassle¡¯, Nikolai made sure to stay off of the public broadcasting channel and started flipping through the other thousands of channels bright House provided. He had flipped past several spanish operas and an old sitcom from the 1980s before he finally landed on a half-decent sci-fi channel playing old black and white episodes of a show reminiscent of the twilight zone. ¡°Aww, Why couldn¡¯t they play Sharkbearigator instead!¡± Rudy exclaimed. Sharkbearigator was one of the many CGI movies this particular channel held, and it certainly wasn¡¯t one of its best either. Nikolai always suspected that Rudy liked that movie for ironic purposes much like himself but Rudy would never give him a straight answer, regardless of the amount of times he¡¯s asked. They had apparently landed smack-dab in the middle of the climax of the episode, as a clown, a fireman, and a chef were about to reveal who it was that murdered the constable, although to Nikolai it was clearly the Butler¡¯s Wife. She was way too suspicious with all of that sweat dripping on her forehead. The chef started explaining how they found the murderer, with the Clown making balloon animals for visual reference. Nikolai and Rudy were so enraptured by the brilliant deductions (Though it was the balloons that really grabbed their attentions since the clown made them all on-screen) that they never heard the footsteps coming down the stairs and stopping behind Nikolai¡¯s armchair. ¡°It was the clown all along!¡± a deep voice loudly whispered into Nikolai¡¯s ear as a large hand suddenly landed on Nikolai¡¯s shoulder, making the unsuspecting child to jump out response. Rudy started laughing at Nikolai. Nikolai glowered at Rudy before he turned around. A mountain of a man stood behind the chair that previously held Nikolai¡¯s behind. Although Nikolai could barely see the man in the light of the television, he could easily make out the white rows of teeth that sat in the brimming smile adorning the lumberjack bearded face. ¡°Thanks for the heart attack, Dad.¡± ¡°Anytime Nick, anytime¡± replied Nikolai¡¯s dad, Henry, still smiling. Few people were allowed to call Nikolai, ¡®Nick¡¯, and it goes without saying that his dad was one of them. Nikolai always felt like he shouldve taken after his dad more. Even though they shared the same orange, nearly blonde shaggy hair, the same sloped amber eyes, and as his mom has told him on several occasion, the same smile. They didnt share the same massive height, but that doesnt mean Nikolai couldn''t hope for his second puberty to grow into his father''s height. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. His father was a towering figure in the house, owning quite a few inches and pounds over the second biggest person in the house, Rudy. Although his father wasn¡¯t as muscular or toned as he was years before he became a middle aged Dad, he still showed sign of strength as Rudy could barely hold a candle against their father in a armwrestling match ¡°How¡¯d you know we were down here?¡± Nikolai asked his father. ¡°Are you kidding me? I could hear the T.V. all night. You really need to work on being sneaky Nick.¡± replied the man as he fell back into Nikolai¡¯s seat, slightly sinking into the heavy cushions of the armchair. ¡°Does that mean Mom heard it as well?¡± ¡°You can bet your allowance on that one, champ. If it wasn¡¯t her night to take care of your baby sister she¡¯d have stormed down here a long time ago¡± Nikolai''s expression visibly fell.He already knew that If his Dad had heard the television all night, then surely his mother would¡¯ve heard it too. She was truly a beast of a woman, Albeit one that took her responsibilities seriously. I wouldn''t be too worried about it Nick. She¡¯s caught your bum of a brother over there doing worse before, and he got off pretty lightly ¡°Lightly? You call getting my truck taken away until I finished doing the dishes everyday for a month straight easy?¡± the so called bum of a brother sputtered, mouth full of gummy worms. There was a surprisingly large amount of gummy worms in that bag. ¡°It¡¯s a lot easier than having to use a fork to eat cereal. You know how hard it is to eat cheerios with only a fork? It''s practically impossible i tell ya. ¡°Sheesh Dad, what¡¯d you do to deserve that.¡± ¡°...Your mother is a sensitive woman Nikolai, lets leave it at that. I almost had to eat all of my meals in my car. You know how horrible milk would be for my seats?¡± ¡°Speaking of which, we¡¯re out of milk Dad.¡± Rudy chimed in. ¡°Yeah i was just about to grab to pick some up while i make a quick run down to that general store a couple miles down. We¡¯re out of formula for the baby.¡± ¡°Little Jessica isn¡¯t give you to much trouble is she?¡± Nikolai asked his dad who promptly shook his head in reply. ¡°She¡¯s sound asleep for now, although your mom is exhausted now after spending half the night with her. I''m just hoping to get her some well deserved rest¡± ¡°Can i come with you then, there were a few essential things i forgot to buy earlier¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see why not. If it¡¯s not too expensive i¡¯ll add your stuff to my receipt. You coming along too, Rudy?¡± ¡°Nah, someone¡¯s gotta keep the TV company Dad, and there''s no way Jessica is well equipped to take care of that job. But feel free to buy me some ice tea¡± Rudy dumped the rest of the gummy worms in his mouth and balled up the bag in his hand before he made his way out of the living room and into the kitchen, probably to forage through the fridge. ¡°Well we might as well get a move on, I¡¯ll go start the car. Maybe we can grab some hoagies along the way too¡± Nikolai nodded. ¡°Alright dad, just let me grab my phone before we go¡± ¡°Just don''t take too long¡± Nikolai nodded again before (quietly) dashing up the stairs. After a spell of tiptoeing past the room of his mother and baby Jessica, Nikolai was greeted by the sight of the wooden door leading into his room, which he quickly hopped into. Nikolai always liked his brightly coloured room, although it was a bit childish for someone of his age. The walls were each painted a bright colour. The one farthest from the door was a neon green. The two walls adjacent to that one were yellow and purple. As for the wall holding the door? It was a vibrant cyan blue. With posters on display everywhere like some sort of bad cartoonish museum. Nikolai couldn''t help but gaze at at the marvel that was the posters garnishing his walls. One had a realistic looking squirrel with a metal nut in it''s mouth while the other was one of a normal suburban man Being stalked by anthropomorphic lions, rhinos, and even a funny looking elephant in camouflage while holding tranquilizer guns. A simple ironic twist on animal poaching situation.There a lot of other similar looking posters around the room, some being straight political cartoons that had appealed to Nikolai. Why did Nikolai have so many posters? Well one faithful day of stalking the internet, He had found a bounty of funny and ¡®retro-styled¡¯ looking posters. They were insanely cheap so Nikolai couldn¡¯t help but buy the posters in bulk. Needless to say it was worth every penny, Especially for the poster of a surfing shark he had hanging over his bed. Nikolai always kept his phone on the nightstand next to his bed. He had put it in charge the night before so there was no chance he¡¯d have to worry about anything like his batteries dying on him halfway through the day. His phone could last nearly 10 hours if he managed his battery right. He debated whether or not he should bring a drawstring bag or something of that sort with him on their trip to the store but decided he had already wasted too much time on this subject and just grabbed his phone before making his way back down the stairs, making sure to tiptoe past his mother¡¯s room as he was sure she was asleep alongside the baby, not that he¡¯d want to prove whether that was true or not. It only took a few minutes for Nikolai and his Dad to get strapped into the seats of the father¡¯s black sedan, and it took even less time for them to pull out into the driveway and make their way down the now sunlit roads of amberdale. ¡°You mind if i put on a song, Nick?¡± Henry asked his son as they slowed to a stop at a redlight. They were a few blocks away from home now but far from the general store. The general store was almost halfway across the town they lived in, making it a needlessly long trip. ¡°You¡¯re not gonna play that cheesy song again, are you?¡± ¡°Hey it might be cheesy, but it¡¯s also a classic¡± replied Henry as he pulled the album out of a nearby compartment. ¡°Dad, Queen, is a classic. The Beatles, are a classic. Earth, Wind and Fire, are a classic. Even the guy with the pompadour in A Goofy Movie was a classic. A cheesy love song you made in your garage with your friends isn¡¯t a classic¡± ¡°Hey, Powerline isn¡¯t a classic. The goofy movie only came out in 1995. ¡°Yeah but he¡¯s still good at what he does, Unlike you and your badnmates in that album¡± ¡°Oh, So you¡¯re a critic now?¡± ¡°And a darn good one at that. You should see my badge, just had it polished¡± Henry laughed as Nikolai puffed out his chest, showing his dad the pretend badge on his chest. As the laughter started to subside, Henry popped the disc out of it¡¯s case and slid it into the dvd player his car still had. The DVD player whirred for a moment before cackling to life. A band of what sounds like a bass guitar, an electric guitar which Nikolai assumed was his Dad as his father had pictures of a younger him holding a guitar, and a drum set. The drummer knocked his drumsticks together several times before the group jumped in. It only took a second after that for the lead singer to grab the mic and start singing. ¡°banana cabana swinging by the palm trees. take a dip inside the sea, lose yourself in the fantasy. Splash upstream or down by the bay, it doesnt matter baby, nah, either way. You¡¯re living in a world brought upon a dream, Yeah this is your one-time Fantasy!-¡± The song continued for another 4 minutes, every second was filled with some cheesy reference to a beach or a cove.Nikolai didn¡¯t think the verse itself was bad. What sucked was that his Dad had thought it was a good idea for him to sing along in the car. It wasn¡¯t. And it didn¡¯t help that the album had 5 other songs that his Dad knew the lyrics to by heart. Safe to say, the car was never a moment silence in the 20 minutes it took for them to get to the somewhat secluded blue painted roadside truckstop of a store, much to the chagrin of Nikolai''s ears.