-04-

“You Have Been Craving It, Xander. You Need The Real Thing”

Five days had passed since that morning Sergeant Xapper awoke to the zombie invasion. Any human zombies he encountered were either eaten or burned. Wild animal zombies continued to invade Fort Blackwood. Luckily, none were as vicious or daunting to defeat as the bear.

The power went out after day three and Xapper turned his smartphone off to save the battery. He still had trouble figuring out how to use it. And without power, Xapper had to call off his zombie hunting at dusk. Lately, it was mostly zombies like squirrels and raccoons that wandered into the base.

Killing and eating zombies became a routine for Xapper. He ate his fill of meat and organs and brains then burned the rest. He cut out a hole in a wooden chair and placed a bucket under it. This allowed him to avoid using a toilet and fish out the obsidian.

Xapper had gathered a stockpile of obsidian or “rock” as he came to call it. He used the rock chunks to grant himself a few wishes. He wished for the gray in his hair to go away. He wished for his vision to be sharper. He wished to have greater stamina and reflexes.

Sacrificing obsidian to improve himself became an addiction. But the meat of zombie animals was only producing obsidian the size of pebbles. And after all his wishes were granted, his rock stock was running thin. So Xapper made plans to leave the base.

Xeak said little as long as Xapper ate. Sometimes Xapper would talk to the doll but it would stay silent. He wondered if he had truly gone mad. Or if the whole thing was some endless nightmare on loop.

Before turning his smartphone off, Xapper tried to call his daughter. Worry and dread festered in him because she never responded back before the power went out. He knew texting and email were a thing but he had no idea how to do any of it on the smartphone.

Xapper was never good with technology. He tried to get the base’s radio to work but all he got was static. He tried to use his smartphone to call for help but his calls were never answered. He had no idea what was happening outside of Fort Blackwood.

But Xapper knew there were more zombies out there.

It was a gut feeling, some primal instinct telling him that the horror stretched out further past the borders of the base. So on the sixth day, Xapper made preparations to leave the base and head for his daughter’s university.

Xapper laid out a map in Lieutenant Pyre’s office and planned out his route.

“Fort Blackwood is here in Redmoose County and she’s in Miskatonic County,” muttered Xapper.

Redmoose County was at the very northern edge of Maine along the border of Canada. There was still debt to whether the county was part of the United States or Canada. Fort Blackwood was technically a joint venture between the Canadian and US militaries.

Xapper thought for a moment about how many visiting Canadian soldiers he ate. It did not really matter because once a soldier became a zombie, their nationality died with them. He put the dreadful thought out of his mind and made notes on his route. He would have to drive from Redmoose, Maine all the way to Arkham, Massachusetts.

Xapper did the math and calculated how long the drive would take.

“It’s nine hours straight there then adding breaks and avoiding driving at night,” mumbled Xapper. “Crap, that’s a whole day’s drive. I’d have to start driving at the crack of dawn.”

“And what about the town, Xander?” asked Xeak. “Are you going to abandon the survivors?”

“Don’t guilt trip me,” said Xapper. “You only want me to go to town to eat more zombies.”

“You have been craving it, Xander. You need the real thing.”

Xapper hated himself for missing the flesh of human zombies. The meat rivaled that of any animal, even the zombie bear. But he put his hunger on hold and focused. Xapper had a duty and it was his duty as a soldier to assist the residence of Redmoose.

He folded the map and his notes together and put them in his rucksack. He then raided the base for supplies, most of which he planned to give to the surviving residence. Xapper loaded a supply truck with whatever was useful, such as MREs, fresh clothing, toilet paper, and what spare gas he could find.

Xapper filled a few socks with rocks and hid them in the front seat. Why he was hiding the rocks was unknown even to him. It felt right to keep it hidden from prying eyes.

The last thing Xapper did was raid Pyre’s liquor cabinet. He tried to drink some Jack Daniels but the alcohol turned to mist the moment it came to his lips. Xeak giggled and Xapper groaned in frustration. He then put Pyre’s collection of bottles into the truck.

Xapper left his rucksack and bat in the front seat but kept his peacemaker on him. He was ready to leave the base but it was getting dark. He decided to head for Redmoose first thing in the morning. He walked towards his hut but stopped when he heard a familiar animal cry.

“Awe hell, that’s a damn moose,” said Xapper. “I wondered when any of them would show up.”

“Moose is on the menu, Xander,” chuckled Xeak.

“Hell no,” whispered Xapper as he rushed towards his hut. “A single bear is one thing. But a whole horde of zombie moose is something I ain’t gonna fool with.”

“It’s only one, Xander,” said Xeak confidently. “You could take it.”

More moose calls echoed through the fading dusk. They were filled with anger and madness. Their cries only sped up Xapper’s pace.

Xapper shook his head and retreated into his hut. “Nope. Nope, nope, nope.”

Xapper sat on his cot and drew his peacemaker. The moose calls raged on as the sun faded. They stopped once it was completely dark. Xapper then lay on his cot but kept his revolver in hand.

He tried to shut his eyes but his nerves were on edge. He stayed perfectly still as he listened for any movement. And much to his dismay, there came movement outside his hut. Heavy and laborious breathing verberated against the walls.

Xapper saw faint shadows outside his window. They had great antlers and large snouts. He considered letting off a warning shot. But he learned from days of fighting the undead that gunfire did not scare them.

It only pissed them off.

Xapper then heard footsteps slowly walk away from his hut. He took a chance and ventured to his window. He could see better than he ever could, thanks to the wishes he made with his obsidian. He was able to see the faint outline of the moose horde.

There were five of them and they gathered around the pile of burned corpses. The bodies were ash but still the moose picked through the soot. Xapper watched them, his peacemaker clenched in his hand.

He considered sneaking out and fleeing to the truck. Suddenly, a fur drenched in crimson blocked his view of the moose. A single white eye gawked at Xapper. In his panic, he fired off three shots. He immediately regretted the decision.

“Awe, hell's bells!”

The moose outside the window cried out and the others responded with angry calls. Xapper threw his cot against the broken window and pushed his dressing to the door to create a barricade. Moose antlers then stabbed through the hut’s walls.

Xapper fired in all directions and screamed at the moose.

“You want some? Come get some, you ugly bastards!”

“Should have kept your bat, Xander,” said Xeak. “You have obsidian on you, right?”

“Of course I still got rock on me,” said Xapper as he reloaded and fired. “Fat good it will do me without my bat.”

“You are running out of bullets, Xander,” said Xeak.

“Enough with the stupid commentary, yarn boy,” bellowed Xapper. “It’s not helping.”

“Grab some obsidian and hold it tight, Xander.”

Xapper grabbed some rocks from his pocket and held them with his free hand. Smoke lifted from between his fingers and the rocks changed shape. Xapper opened his hand and found that the obsidian had turned into bullets that were just right for his peacemaker.

He loaded one obsidian bullet into the chamber. A moose rammed its head through the door. The dresser kept the moose from charging at Xapper. He took aim as the moose opened its maw and trilled at him.

“Smile, you son of a bitch,” said Xapper as he opened fire.

Dark purple sparks erupted from the barrel. Suddenly, a swarm of shadowy locusts covered the moose. Its flesh was eaten away to the bone in seconds. It staggered away from the door and the other moose fled and cried out in terror.

The decaying zombie moose fell away from the door. Xapper exited his hut and watched as all that remained of the zombie was bone covered in a green slime. The shadowy bugs vanished soon after the moose turned to bone.

Xapper kicked open the skull and it was hollow. There was nothing left for him to eat. He looked at his revolver with mixed feelings.

“Right, that’s a last resort then,” said Xapper.

“It is, Xander,” said Xeak. “Don’t get carried away.”

Xapper heard a creaking sound and watched as his hut fell to pieces. He had little time to mourn for his fallen hut because the moose that fled were still out there. They called out and more moose responded.

Xapper reloaded his peacemaker with obsidian bullets as he retreated to the truck. He hopped into the driver’s seat and started the truck. When the lights came on, three sets of gaping moose jaws roared at him.

He backed the truck away from them and slammed into two more moose that were behind him. The truck was sturdy though and withstood the girth of solid moose. Xapper steadied the steering wheel and drove straight towards the exit.

Red fur zoomed past the headlights. The moose rammed into the truck but Xapper was able to keep the truck from tipping over. He rolled down his windows and fired blindly with his obsidian bullets.

There were groans of agony as the shadowy bugs attacked the zombie moose. Xapper was almost at the exit when he saw a moose twice the size of the others. Its antlers spread out wider than the truck and the big moose lowered its head to stop Xapper in his tracks.

Xapper shook his head and pulled out a handful of rocks.

“This better work,” he said as he pressed the obsidian against the steering wheel.

His vision blurred as smoke billowed from his hand. The truck shook before it reached the giant moose. The truck then became surrounded by thousands of shadow bugs.

The last thing Xapper saw before his vision went dark was a spry of black blood against the windshield . . .

🍴🧠

Xapper opened his eyes and found himself standing on an asteroid floating in space. Staring down at him was Nar-Goathgeir. There was an air of displeasure around her.

“You again? What is it this time?” asked Xapper.

Xeak then spoke up, “She is not happy you’ve been abusing her blessing, Xander. You’ve been very careless with your obsidian.”

“Forgive me for getting a little careless when I’m being attacked by freaking zombie moose!” screamed Xapper. He then pointed at the bug goddess. “And if you’re going to give me a power like that then don’t expect me to use it sparingly when I’m under attack!”

Xapper’s ears suddenly rang and his skull felt like it was going to explode.

“Don’t yell at our Goddess, Xander. She doesn’t like that,” warned Xeak.

“Damn it all to hell, alright, alright, I am sorry,” grumbled Xapper. The ringing and pain went away after he apologized.

“She has given us a great purpose, Xander,” said Xeak. “We must purge the undead from the universe.”

“Well, the whole universe may be a little above my paygrade but I’ll do what I can on planet Earth,” said Xapper. There came a whispering in the void of space that was mixed with buzzing. “Did she say something, Xeak? What’s she saying?”

“She is going to limit your use of obsidian from here on, Xander,” said Xeak. “She wants you to focus on our purpose. Which is to eat and keep eating.”

“Right, I should've seen that coming,” said Xapper. “The genie limits her wishes, yeah, yeah.” He then bowed sarcastically at Nar-Goathgeir. “Anything else, your majesty?”

More whispering and buzzing echoed around him. Xeak then said, “The Goddess said there is another in Redmoose. She wants you to join forces with them and eat together.”

“The more the merrier,” said Xapper.

A sudden feeling of relief then came over him. Someone else was suffering the same curse. He had to find them before making his way to Arkham. Having someone other than Xeak to talk to would do wonders for his sanity.

Nar-Goathgeir then spoke a single word: “PURGE!”

Xapper then woke up.

🍴🧠

He was back in the truck and passed the exit of the base. He turned his wiper blades on to clean the black blood from the window. And the truck was back to normal. The moose horde gave chase until Xapper was down the road and far away from the base.

He watched in the side mirror as the moose horde vanished into the night. Xapper then proceeded to drive to the edge of town. He was eager to find this other cursed person the bug goddess spoke of. But he was tired and after another grueling fight, he needed the rest.

“You keep quiet now, Xeak,” demanded Xapper. “Just give me a few hours.”

“Alright, Xander. You have your rest. Plenty to eat tomorrow.”

Xapper used his rucksack as a pillow, reloaded his revolver with regular bullets, and then closed his eyes. It took some time for the adrenaline to simmer away. Soon Xapper finally fell asleep.

Little did Xapper know that someone from the town of Redmoose was watching him until dawn.

To Be Continue . . .