Hello, I hope everyone's Halloween was fantastic!! I also wanted to thank everyone who wrote and/or read for 13 Days, 13 Shorts. This year's writing festival was the most successful and was nothing short of an absolute joy to read. It is honestly incredible to be surrounded by so many talented people.
From werewolves to killer potatoes, from prose to poetry, everyone had such unique approaches to the run of the mill Halloween topics (except for killer potatoes of course, that one is less Halloween canon and more Goosebumps book reference). I would name names and cite examples of excellence but I would just end up re-posting the shorts because they were all so fun to read.
Again, thank you and maybe we'll all reunite for 10 Days Till Thanksgiving (haha I'm joking, that's a terrible idea).
Have a wonderful November, everyone
Sunday, November 1, 2009
13 Days, 13 Shorts: Vampires
And to wrap our 13 day writing festival a poem that touches on one of the hottest Halloween topics by one of our hottest writers.
VAMPIRES by Ben Margalith
They hurt, I didn't expect that.
Of course though, that's what they're built for, to hurt- to hunt.
Sleek Form born from Darkest Function.
My two white stallions seated on their red hill,
Glimmering as they bask in the twinkling curtain-sky
(The heavens themselves peek to witness).
They are themselves- hunger.
Twinned Reapers; Scythes forged for death by death.
Enders which doth mock the meat they feed on.
Ambivalent, Innocent, Elemental Wraiths.
De Leon's well in their summits peaks.
They hurt.
VAMPIRES by Ben Margalith
They hurt, I didn't expect that.
Of course though, that's what they're built for, to hurt- to hunt.
Sleek Form born from Darkest Function.
My two white stallions seated on their red hill,
Glimmering as they bask in the twinkling curtain-sky
(The heavens themselves peek to witness).
They are themselves- hunger.
Twinned Reapers; Scythes forged for death by death.
Enders which doth mock the meat they feed on.
Ambivalent, Innocent, Elemental Wraiths.
De Leon's well in their summits peaks.
They hurt.
13 Days, 13 Shorts: Zombies pt II
And now for the exciting conclusion to Imran's short about zombies!
“The Year is 2015. Date: August 6th…” Master Sergeant Torres sat on a creaking weapons crate as he began typing his data log entry. He grumbled to himself as he typed in “Sergeant Major Harper. KIA.”
“Technically he ain’t killed in action sir.” Torres looked behind him to see Corporal McLain snap into a salute.
“Well, there ain’t any other goddamn thing to put. He got bit, and he told us to kill him. Dismissed.”
McLain let his hand drop to his side. Torres never liked it when one of their own died. Especially when it was an officer. He was the next highest ranking officer, and now he was in charge. His platoon of 37 men had taken refuge in an abandoned newspaper printing center after they had been ambushed by the infected. They had been ordered by the government to test a new “vaccine” after all the previous antidotes had failed, all the platoon knows is that something was living on the inside of that cold metal container they had brought with them and its nickname is “Vampire.”
“We’ve got a wave of drones out there! Suit up!”
One of the privates called through the rusty building causing it to slightly shutter. Torres immediately jumped to his feet followed by McLain.
“I want those Leviathan Antitank Missiles prepped for any Bulldozers, and I wanted them ready 30 seconds ago.”
Torres grabbed a MP-5 as he ordered his soldiers to take defensive positions.
“Red Squad, guard the rear, watch for Crawlers!”
With only 37 men left, he couldn’t be too cautious and he didn’t want anymore casualties.
“Here they are!”
They opened fire on the mindless drones as they ran forward; many were crawling their way up the barricades.
“Fire in the hole!”
The ground rumbled as the fragment grenade blasted the ground around them.
“They’re here! The Crawlers! The-“
Torres whipped his head around to see one of his Specialists fall under the weight of a Crawler, screaming for mercy.
“Get off of him!”
He ran forward and unloaded a full clip into the zombie which fell back writhing in blood. He dragged out his M9 pistol and shot his comrade three times in the head with crisp precision. He made a mental note of the soldier’s death, marked as K.I.A.
“Officer! Behi-“
The rest was a blur as he felt a pain in his back and sailed through the air and hit a metal beam. Officer McLain took the lead.
“Technicians! Prep the box; we’re going to try this new ‘vaccine’!”
Several Private ranked officers ran towards the metal cage and punched a string of codes into the verification control pad. The metal door slid off with a clang and the men seemed to cower behind their guns for fear of what behind there. The man was a blur as he leapt out from the inside of the crate and onto the back of Bulldozer. He bit into the zombie’s neck and it slumped to the ground, a pool of blood oozing from the bite marks. “Vampire” then looked up at the army men, teeth bared, hissing. Master Sergeant Torres got up from the rubble he had fallen in and walked up to the so called “vaccine.”
“So, you’re our guy, huh?”
He held out his hand to shake the others.
“I am experiment #177. The government has injected me with a serum that can counteract most zombie infections and infectious materials. Please to meet you.”
He took Torres’s hand and shook it vigorously. Torres dropped his hand and continued.
“So the government finally made something that can clean up their own mess? Maybe we shouldn’t trust them anymore. Anyways you saved our hide.”
“It’s my job.”
Torres nodded.
“Blue Team, I want you to salvage and scrounge all weapons and ammo you can find. Yellow One: count the diseased and mark it in the log.”
He turned to his new ally.
“We’ll need you in the front lines; this is going to be a tough battle.”
The “Vampire” nodded stiffly.
--
“Three years have passed since then.”
Torres spoke to the camera.
“We made a beautiful stand with the aid of a new weapon. The ‘Vaccine.’ But it was bittersweet. We lost many men, and they made a counter attack on Experiment #177, codename “Vampire.” I am now Command Sergeant Major, but none of that matters. The government has fallen. Our hope for humanity has fallen. If you are out there, anywhere, hear me out. No- *ksh* Nowhere is safe.”
A man holding a guitar picked up the superannuated portable TV. and watched it as he maliciously licked his lips. He asked his colleague, who was wearing a plastic bio suit, how long this video had been playing. They smiled at each other as the words excitedly escaped his lips:
“That has been there for decades!”
“The Year is 2015. Date: August 6th…” Master Sergeant Torres sat on a creaking weapons crate as he began typing his data log entry. He grumbled to himself as he typed in “Sergeant Major Harper. KIA.”
“Technically he ain’t killed in action sir.” Torres looked behind him to see Corporal McLain snap into a salute.
“Well, there ain’t any other goddamn thing to put. He got bit, and he told us to kill him. Dismissed.”
McLain let his hand drop to his side. Torres never liked it when one of their own died. Especially when it was an officer. He was the next highest ranking officer, and now he was in charge. His platoon of 37 men had taken refuge in an abandoned newspaper printing center after they had been ambushed by the infected. They had been ordered by the government to test a new “vaccine” after all the previous antidotes had failed, all the platoon knows is that something was living on the inside of that cold metal container they had brought with them and its nickname is “Vampire.”
“We’ve got a wave of drones out there! Suit up!”
One of the privates called through the rusty building causing it to slightly shutter. Torres immediately jumped to his feet followed by McLain.
“I want those Leviathan Antitank Missiles prepped for any Bulldozers, and I wanted them ready 30 seconds ago.”
Torres grabbed a MP-5 as he ordered his soldiers to take defensive positions.
“Red Squad, guard the rear, watch for Crawlers!”
With only 37 men left, he couldn’t be too cautious and he didn’t want anymore casualties.
“Here they are!”
They opened fire on the mindless drones as they ran forward; many were crawling their way up the barricades.
“Fire in the hole!”
The ground rumbled as the fragment grenade blasted the ground around them.
“They’re here! The Crawlers! The-“
Torres whipped his head around to see one of his Specialists fall under the weight of a Crawler, screaming for mercy.
“Get off of him!”
He ran forward and unloaded a full clip into the zombie which fell back writhing in blood. He dragged out his M9 pistol and shot his comrade three times in the head with crisp precision. He made a mental note of the soldier’s death, marked as K.I.A.
“Officer! Behi-“
The rest was a blur as he felt a pain in his back and sailed through the air and hit a metal beam. Officer McLain took the lead.
“Technicians! Prep the box; we’re going to try this new ‘vaccine’!”
Several Private ranked officers ran towards the metal cage and punched a string of codes into the verification control pad. The metal door slid off with a clang and the men seemed to cower behind their guns for fear of what behind there. The man was a blur as he leapt out from the inside of the crate and onto the back of Bulldozer. He bit into the zombie’s neck and it slumped to the ground, a pool of blood oozing from the bite marks. “Vampire” then looked up at the army men, teeth bared, hissing. Master Sergeant Torres got up from the rubble he had fallen in and walked up to the so called “vaccine.”
“So, you’re our guy, huh?”
He held out his hand to shake the others.
“I am experiment #177. The government has injected me with a serum that can counteract most zombie infections and infectious materials. Please to meet you.”
He took Torres’s hand and shook it vigorously. Torres dropped his hand and continued.
“So the government finally made something that can clean up their own mess? Maybe we shouldn’t trust them anymore. Anyways you saved our hide.”
“It’s my job.”
Torres nodded.
“Blue Team, I want you to salvage and scrounge all weapons and ammo you can find. Yellow One: count the diseased and mark it in the log.”
He turned to his new ally.
“We’ll need you in the front lines; this is going to be a tough battle.”
The “Vampire” nodded stiffly.
--
“Three years have passed since then.”
Torres spoke to the camera.
“We made a beautiful stand with the aid of a new weapon. The ‘Vaccine.’ But it was bittersweet. We lost many men, and they made a counter attack on Experiment #177, codename “Vampire.” I am now Command Sergeant Major, but none of that matters. The government has fallen. Our hope for humanity has fallen. If you are out there, anywhere, hear me out. No- *ksh* Nowhere is safe.”
A man holding a guitar picked up the superannuated portable TV. and watched it as he maliciously licked his lips. He asked his colleague, who was wearing a plastic bio suit, how long this video had been playing. They smiled at each other as the words excitedly escaped his lips:
“That has been there for decades!”
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