Chapter 1
Bad Dream
In my dream I was being chased by bloodthirsty zombies who, "surprisingly", looked a lot like my plethora of cousins. Silly isn't it? They'd consistently given me the heeby jeebies but this was downright ridiculous. I mean I knew they always looked like they wanted to bite your head off but this zombie stuff was way too extreme.
And my location? Chile. Talk about strange. You would think I'd end up somewhere famous-like say, Egypt. Or maybe France. Rome, perhaps? Even Checkoslovakia made sense. I definitely wouldn't mind running into Frankenstein's monster on the way. In fact, I'd happily visit Count Dracula in Transylvania if I were given the choice.
Basically, right now, I'd rather be anywhere else doing anything else than be in the middle of nowhere being stalked by zombie cousins.
So here I was, crouched at the base of a juniper tree thinking frantically back to a discussion we'd once had in literature, "how to survive a zombie invasion". The gist of this "master plan" had involved the installation of a zombie escape hatch in the back wall of the house, and for the poor unfortunate souls stuck on the second floor, a roll-down ladder. Genius. Pure genius. Too bad it didn't apply to my current situation-I wasn't exactly in a house, just in the middle of a godforsaken jungle. I'd have to remember to get the hatch installed when I woke up.
If I woke up...
A loud moan snapped me out of my reverie. I didn't even have time to blink before a 25% decayed hand reached out from behind the tree and made a swipe at me. I turned around and gawked, horrified. Oh no. I knew that face anywhere. It was Cousin Henry. Only it wasn't him. This-thing-in front of me was nothing like him while simultaneously it was everything like him. He still had his honey blond hair but it was matted in dried blood. His eye was actually sagging out of its socket and his mandible was visible underneath his papery skin. He looked awful.
"Get away, get away, GET AWAY!" I screeched swatting unsuccessfully at his skeletal hand. Any other sensible person would've run away screaming as they went, but no. I had to stay there and defend myself. Like an idiot. I was just about to stand up and unleash my single-handed fury when I heard it. I froze. It was a chorus of voices. No-not voices. Moans. I looked up to see every single one of my cousins in existence forming a circle around me. Figures.
They glared at me, hostility and malevolence trickling out of their zombified pores. Girl, you are screwed; my inner voice stated the obvious. Well, I thought, only one thing left to do.
"Judith! What a pleasant surprise! I thought you were in Turkey." I said in a bubble of hysteria to my least favorite cousin.
No one was fooled. Judith just scowled at me. Hatred was nearly a tangible aura around her. Her horrid green eyes locked with mine and she inched forward moaning. I flinched. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. The moaning got louder and louder and more synchronized. They started toward me. All of them. I was being herded into a corner. On the edge of the clearing, I spotted Anna, my five year old cousin. I gagged. Half her face was missing. Her tongue lolled out from the side of her face. She opened her mouth and hissed.
Oh, come on. This kind of stuff ALWAYS worked in movies. Why wouldn't it work now? This was a dream after all. It was just my subconscious and technically I should be able to influence it somehow. Right?
There was no hope for me now. The zombies were all advancing on me. I was as good as dead.
I started hyperventilating. What to do, what to do...
Plan B.
I screamed. All the terror that had built up inside me was released into an earsplitting bona fide girl scream. I shrieked and shrieked until I thought my head would explode. And then, I collapsed and darkness washed over me...
