Demigods vs Zombies (Demigod Story) (Rot & Ruin)

Chapter 12

Bob stepped to the side so we could walk past him. James took the lead while I followed behind to examine the stranger a little further. He was tall, well he was tall to me because he towered over me. (I'm a bit...short). He was short for a grown man, just about an inch taller than James. Bob wore a clearly old gray shirt that was covered in multiple food stains. The shirt displayed a logo that had a bunny wearing sunglasses while playing a large drum that said "Energizer" on it.
I stopped looking at him after three seconds to turn my attention back to wear I was headed. I stepped into the living room and my mind was instantly blown. The wooden floor shone as though it had recently been polished and the crème colored walls were so spotless that you'd think that the wall had been painted within the last few days. The walls displayed breath-taking paintings of scenery that seemed to be of a purified world. I stared at the paintings, trying to recall the last time that I'd seen an actual painting-not just a framed picture of one. Those were the first paintings that I've ever seen.
"Like 'em?" Bob asked as he plopped onto a white leather couch. "They're probably all worth a couple pretty pennies by now," he laughed. "Since painting gain value after the artists die."
I managed to keep my eyes from wandering from him to the paintings and forced the corners of my mouth to curve into a smile. I coughed up a short laugh as though I found his joke funny to keep him from seeing how much it hurt me.
"Say, girl. You remind me of someone," he told me. I racked my mind for people that resembled me, I stopped when my brother came up as a result. "Your eyes...they be lookin' a lot like that one guy that was the star of that movie... He's really famous. Oh yeah, he was posing in a movie poster with his arms flexed. Now that is a gun show that I wouldn't want to miss!"
"Oh, you mean Tristian McLean?" I realized, my eyes widened as I remembered him. I had forgotten about him and wondered whether he was still alive. Bob eagerly nodded in response and smiled. "Yeah, he's my uncle".
"If only my partner were here, he would've loved to meet you!" Bob blurted. "Is he really tall in person? Oh! How does he dress in real life?"
"Well..." I awkwardly started. "I actually never met him since he's always busy, but I think that I had a few play dates with his daughter when I was little."
"Over here, Cress," James called from across the room. He was sitting on a roller chair in front of an apple computer. I walked over to where he sat and looked at the screen. It only displayed a buffering symbol as it took its dandy time searching for a signal. After about twenty seconds, a blank internet window popped up while the mouse's icon started with the buffering crap. Both of my fingers were crossed as I silently prayed to Hermes that a home screen would pop up. To answer my prayers, a message finally popped up.
"Loss of Internet Connection," James read it out loud. "Just as I predicted, we risked our lives for nothing."
I refused to believe what he said and pushed him off of the chair before clicking the search bar and typing in random searches. "Taylor Swift" "How to gain internet connection" "Randy McLean", all of those I searched and the computer came up with the same result. "Loss of Internet Connection".
"What did y'all come here for again?" Robert called from the couch.
"Information; we want to know what happened after the zombie disease popped up," I impatiently reminded him. "But the Internet is not working so there's no way to find out."
"The Interweb might be the best source, but I was watching TV the first week. Before the cable went out too," he told us. "Now, I can only watch movies. Whoever owned this house is obsessed with Tristian McLean because he plays a part in almost every single movie that I've played here."
"Okay, that's great. Now about what has been happening over the past few weeks..." I tried to get him to focus.
"He's a really great actor, I must say. What about his sibling that's your parent? Are they working in the arts?"
"No, he's working as a 24/7 cannibal," I told him without emotion. "Now, what do you know?"
"Boy, so much had happened. It's really bad in New York City, about a .00003% chance of someone living there. The government sort of panicked so they bombed it. Yeah, they killed those zombies but all of the living came back. That, radio-play? Stereo-game? That thing that the bomb sets off-"
"You mean, radioactivity?" James blandly suggested.
"That's it, radioactivity that was going on with the zombies. It was so strong that people just instantly died when by it," he said..
I took a deep breath before continuing to keep myself from slapping him. Yes, he was giving me information, but not the information that I need. "How about shelters, are there any of those? Maybe even an armory that set up a camp for survivors?"
"Yes there is. The closest place is up north, around five hundred miles. They're called 'Nine Towns', meaning that there are nine towns. The closest town is called 'Mountain Side', about fifty miles closer than the second-closest one. Plenty of what you call 'bounty-hunters' started up. They take down the zombies real fast, so they'll probably make it around our town in a few years at the rate that they're going at."
"Why not drive there? A two day trip can't be too bad. If you can afford this nice house then there's probably a nice car in the garage," I suggested.
"I hate to break it to you missy, but I'm not the owner. This is the summer home of one of those rich people. I just broke in here when I saw my first zombie. Besides, there is a nice BMW, but I can't find the key. Besides, there isn't much gas around since the pumps stopped working so cars are death beds if it runs out of gas and them things are around it," Robert explained. "You'll be walking those miles unless you've got a horse or bike."
The conversation was cut short when a loud crashing happened, sounding like a wrecking ball had crashed into the house. A monster had broken through the wall, chunks of brick and plaster were spread around the floor underneath it. It stood in front of the gaping hole that it had used as an entrance. I had forgotten that I was a demigod, which meant that monsters still existed and wanted to kill me.
The monster was like a lion, but had a face of some sort of deadly troll along with elfish ears. The mane was thick, covering the neck and most of the shoulders of the beast. Its body looked as though it were made of pure muscle, sort of like those of body builders. Its claws looked as though they were made of stainless steel, putting my dagger to shame.
The most concerning part of the monster was its arching tail. The tail itself looked to belong to an enormous scorpion; the tip resembled a spiked pine cone.
I stared in fear at the creature, there was no way that my dagger could take it down since it was not made of bronze; the only metal that can cause the death of a monster. It seemed like I was staring death right in the face.
I glanced over at the chair that James had been sitting just a few moments ago, it was empty. I figured that he must've left to save himself, I don't blame him. If I had the chance, I would ditch the scene in a heartbeat.
That's the moment that the monster snarled and pounced.